Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 February 1887 — BASE-BALL REVISED. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BASE-BALL REVISED.

The National Game in 1887 Will Be Played Under the New Code. The Hew Field and the New Style of Pitching—Good News for Umpires. Base-ball has come to be a game of all the year round, not only for players, but for the public. No sooner is the season ended in the fall than the interest in the next season begins to be active. The thing about the game tnat is of most interest this winter is the reform of the pitching laws undertaken by the last convention. One of the most widely known base-ball writers and scorers in the country is Henry Chadwick, of Brooklyn, an oldtimer and official scorer for t«te Brooklyn Club. He was evidently built for a player, but has never devoted himself to the game professionally other than as a writer about it. When the new rul s were announced he interviewed several members of the Committee of Conference to obtain trustworthy interpretations of the changes. “The base-ball fraternity,” says Mr. Chadwick, “in 1887 will, for the first time in the history of professional ball, play under one official code of rules, viz., that authorized by the Conference Committee of the National League and the American .Association, at the meeting held in Chicago on Nov, 15 and 16, 1886, which code was afterward indorsed at the annual conventions of both organizations. On this exceptional legislative occasion not only were the members of the joint committee of each organization the ablest men that could have been selected for the purpose, but they were assisted in their important work of revising the playing rules by a special advisory committee of leading club captains of the two associations, who were invited to aid the committee by such practical suggestions as the experience of the past season pointed out as necessary. Prior to the meeting the work of amending the rules each season had been done by the delegates to the annual meetings of each organization, and the result was not only two different

codes of rules, but crude and unsatisfactory amendments, which frequently had to be changed before the close of the ensuing season. Under the new order of things, however, the promise is that the work of the Conference Committee will be found sufficiently practical to render changes unnecessary until the next annual meeting. A primary object the committee had in view in framing a new code of playing rules was to introduce such amendments as would lessen the individual responsibility of the umpire in his rendering of decisions in disputed points and transfer it to the code itself, thereby reducing the chances of disputing decisions. “The first thing the pitcher will have to attend to in studying up the new rules is the method of taking his staDd in the 4 box ’ preparatory to delivering the ball to the bat. Formerly he could hide the ball behind his back, which he is now prohibited from doing, and could stand within the lines of his position in such a way as to admit of his tuking one or two steps in delivery, as his position was then a space seven feet by four in extent, besides which he had the privilege of lifting his feet. All this is now prohibited under the new code. As the rule now is, ho must take his stand, when about to deliver the ball, within the lines of a space of ground only five feet six inches by four feet. It will be Been at a glance that the fiosition is very different from that in vogue ast season. In the first place the pitcher is now required to keep liis right foot—his left, if a left-handed pitcher —standing on the rear line of his posilion, and he is not allowed to lift his feet until the ball leaves his hand. In reality he can not pitch or throw the ball unless this foot is on tho

ground, as it is from the pressure of this foot on the ground that he derives t e power to give the last impetus to the ball in delivering it. He is also required to hold the ball so that it can be seen in his hand by the umpire.” “In such a narrow box will not the pitcher find it impossible to take the short run that has characterized the work of some qf them in the past?” “Exactly. Besides keeping his right foot—or foot, as the case may be—on the line, he is now prohibited from taking more than one step in the delivery; and when taking this one step his forward foot must touch, the ground to the left of the center line of his portion. ” “Will these rules make any material dis-

ference in the effect of the pitcher's delivery?’’ “Decidedly, yes. The changes are very important, the main effect of them being tc force the pitcher to learn to obtain a better command of the ball in delivery; and they also have the effect of reducing his power to send >n very swift calls. The double code, while it enabled him to attain greater speed in delivery, necessarily obliged him to sacrifice accuracy of aim and injury of catchers, besides placing the batsman ik the position of being obliged to devote nearly all his attention to avoid being severely hurt by being hit by the pitched ball.” “The changes as interpreted by you will not seem to be severe on the pitchers who cling nearly to the old style of pitching

wherein the arm is swung on a level with or below the hip. How about those who throw the ball?” “The rule must be followed as exactly, whatever the stylo of swinging the arm. The position it forces the thrower to take is not really any worse for him than for the Eitcher. He will stand squarely facing the ataman, take one step forward with the ball in plain sight and let it go as he pleases. It will undoubtedly make his delivery more sure. “The other important changes in the pitching rules introduce more costly penalties for unfair wild pitching. In the first Elace, the pitcher is now allowed to send in ut five unfair balls before bo becoine's liable to the penalty of giving the batsman his base on balls, and this penalty is increased by adding the charge of a base-hit against the pitcher every time a base is given on balls. Then, too, every time the pitcher hits the batsman with a pi ched ball a base is given the batsman for the error. The same penalty, too, is incurred every time the pitcher commits a balk, and the liability to balk in delivery is greatly increased under the new rules. It will be seen, therefore, that the pitcher has now to guard against three costly errors in his method of delivery, viz.: those of sending the batsman to his base on balls, for hitting him with a pitched ball, and for making a balk. This largely increased responsibility attached to the position, however, is offset by an important advantage which the new code grants to the pitcher, and that advantage ließ in the throwing out of the code of the clause in the pitching rules which requires the pitcher to send in balls ‘ high’ or ‘ low,’ as the batsman chooses to call for. A fair ball is designated, under tho new code, as ‘a ball delivered by the pitcher while standing wholly within the lines and facing the batsman, and defined in section 2 of rule 2; the ball, so delivered, to pass over the home

base, and not lower than the knee of the batsman, nor higher than his shoulder.’ The designated class of ‘high’ and ‘low’ balls thrown out under the new code were not only a detriment to the pitcher in his effort to employ strategic skill in his method of delivery, but they were the most difficult class of balls for the umpire to judge correctly. and his errors of judgment in this respect were a fruitful cause of wrangling ana ‘kicking’ by pitchers and batsmen. Under the new code, therefore, a greater latitude is given the pitcher in this respect, as he is now only called upon to send in balls ‘not higher than the batsman’s shoulder, or lower than his knee,’ and every such ball is now a fair ball, provided, of course, thdt it at the same time passes over the home plate. This is one of the most important and radical changes made in the rules for some years past, and though it may bother a few batsmen at first, it will ultimately be of ad vantage to them. One benefit it yields is that of relieving the hmpire of a very difficult part of his duties, while at the same time it affords the pitcher greater facility for strategic skill in his position. “In regard to the new rules of the new code, which refer to committing a ‘balk,’ the pitcher is far more circumscribed in h s movements than he was la«t year. The new code includes the, American Association rules of 188 G, which are as follows: ‘A balk is any motion made by the pitcher to deliver the ball to the bat without delivering it, and shall be held to include any and every accustomed motion with the hands, arms or feet, or position of the bodyassumed by the pitc'er in his delivery of the ball, and any motion calculated to deceive a base runner, except the ball be accidentally dropped; if the ball be held by the pit her so long as to delay the game unnecessarily,or any motion to deliver the ball, or the delivery of the ball to the bat by the pitcher when any part of his person is upon ground out'.ide the lines of his position, including all preliminary motions with the hands, arms, and feet.’ “The only amendment introduced in the American rules by the now code is the clause: * And any motion calculated to deceive a base runner.’ It will be readily seen that stealing bases under this rule w 11 not be as difficult as it was under the absurd ruling in vogne the latter part of las* season.” |

The Limits of a Fair all.

Position for Throwing Under the New Rules.

One of the Old Styles.

Position for Pitching.