Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1914 — LEADING OFF FIRST BASE [ARTICLE]

LEADING OFF FIRST BASE

“There is one outsider on the Browns who should be one of the best baserunners In the American league," says Branch Rickey, the manager of the American tafi-enders. “That he isn’t is entirely due to himself. I have watched him all season and I have yet to see him slide back to first when a pitcher threw there.” There is little' doubt Rickey means Bert Shotten. “What does it prove when a man has to slide back to first to beat a pitcher’s throw?” “It means that be isn’t getting a big enough lead. It means that, instead of worrying the pitcher and thus helping the man at bat, the baserunner is underestimating his own ability. “Every inch off first base means that much less distance to cover on the steal, and every out at second on a fast man Is by a matter of Inches. “The baserunner should keep experimenting on how far he can lead off from the bag. That will be a regular feature of our curriculum in the south next spring. I want every man to take as much off first base as he possibly can. Then he’ll help the batter and he’ll worry the pitcher.”