Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 145, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 June 1916 — WOULD TABOO ‘TROT’ STEALS [ARTICLE]

WOULD TABOO ‘TROT’ STEALS

Move Foot to Eliminate Unwarranted Purloining of Bases in One-Sided Games. ~ 1 .There’s a movement on foot for a new rule that will cut down the basestealing averages of athletes who get a chance to bolster this percentage by trotting from sack to sack when they get on in the ninth inning and their team is hopelessly behind. , For years it has been understood among ball players that catchers won’t {even try to get runners out under such circumstances. These pilfered sacks don’t help to win the game and they’rg a regular joke. And yet a< few such donated steals may enable the lucky player to lead the league in base running, nosing out some player who has had to work for every steal. The rulemakers have J’Mjislated out credit for a steal wheh the other half of an attempted double steal fails, and now they are figuring how. to word a rule to cover this other scoring evil. - ■. . :