The simplest of the three out-field positions is the left-field, and one evidence of this is seen by the fact that a left-fielder almost invariably leads in the averages. If fieldi...
Second base is the prettiest position to play of the entire in-field. In the number of chances offered it is next to first base, and in the character of the work to be done and the...
On account of the associations by which a professional game of base-ball was supposed to be surrounded, it was for a long time thought not a proper sport for the patronage of ladie...
Coaching is Divided into Three Parts: Offensive, Defensive, and the Use of Crowds to Rattle Players--Why McGraw Developed Scientific Coaching--The Important Role a Coacher Plays in...
It may or it may not be a serious reflection upon the accuracy of history that the circumstances of the invention of the first ball are enveloped in some doubt. Herodotus attribute...
From the fact that the first baseman has more chances to his credit than any other player, it might seem to the casual observer that his is the most difficult position to play; but...
Of all the players on a base-ball nine, the pitcher is the one to whom attaches the greatest importance. He is the attacking force of the nine, the positive pole of the battery, th...
Originally, it is said, the short-stop's chief function was as tender to the pitcher, though this soon became an unimportant feature of his work. The possibilities of the position...
The right field, when properly played, is the most difficult of the out- field positions. A ball hit in that direction by a right-handed hitter always describes a curve and is ther...
In the early days of the game, when the pitching was slower and fair- foul hits were allowed, the third base position was the busiest and most difficult to play of the in-field. Bu...
Behind Every Big League Ball Game there Is a Master Mind which Directs the Moves of the Players--How McGraw Won Two Pennants for the Giants from the "Bench" and Lost One by Giving...
A batsman, batter, or striker is the player who is taking his turn at bat. A base-runner is what the batter becomes instantly after having hit a fair ball, though for convenience o...
The most unsatisfactory feature in base-ball to the player himself, is batting. In theory it is so simple, yet in practice so difficult, that one is forever finding fault with hims...
Some pitchers seem to harbor the impression that nothing else is expected of them but to pitch the ball, and the effect of this opinion is to diminish their worth to a very great e...
A strategic pitcher is one who depends for success not simply on speed and curves, but who outwits the batsman by skill, who deceives his eye, and plays upon his weaknesses. What w...
Next after the pitcher, in regular order, comes the catcher. Though the negative pole of the battery, his support of the pitcher will largely influence the latter's efficiency, and...
Much of what has been said with reference to the left fielder is applicable also to the occupant of the centre field. As a fielder only, it is necessary that he should possess the...
Of the four departments of play, batting, base-running, fielding, and battery work, the most interesting is base-running. It is the most skillful, it calls into play the keenest pe...
But first as to the question of signs. Every battery, by which is meant a pitcher and catcher, must have a perfectly understood private code of signals, so that they may make known...
Under the heading of The Pitcher I have spoken of the necessity of a private code of signals between pitcher and catcher, and I also said it was the general practice now for the ca...
Curve pitching is a scientific fact, the practice of which preceded the discovery of its principle. For a long time after its existence was familiar to every ball-player and specta...
Some one has truthfully said, that ball players, like poets and cooks, are born, not made, though once born, their development, like that of their fellow-artists, may be greatly ai...
Many a Pitcher's Heart has been Broken by the Cry from the Stands, "Take Him Out"--Russell Ford of the New York Yankees was Once Beaten by a Few Foolish Words Whispered into the Ba...
A Load of Empty Barrels, Hired by John McGraw, once Pulled the Giants out of a Losing Streak--The Child of Superstition Appears to the Ball-Player in Many Forms--Various Ways in wh...
The Secret of Successful Base Running is Getting the Start--A Club Composed of Good Base Runners Is Likely to do More to Help a Pitcher Win Games than a Batting Order of Hard Hitte...
Many Pitchers Are Effective in a Big League Ball Game until that Heart-Breaking Moment Arrives Known as the "Pinch"--It Is then that the Man in the Box is Put to the Severest Test...
The Hardships of the Preliminary Practice in Limbering up Muscles and Reducing Weight for the Big Campaign--How a Ball Club is Whipped into Playing Shape--Trips to the South Not th...
The "Inside" Game is of Little Avail when a Batter Knocks a Home Run with the Bases Full--Many Times the Strategies of Managers have Failed because Opposing Clubs "Doctored" their...
Everything Fair in Baseball except the Dishonest Stealing of Signals--The National Game More a Contest of the Wits than Most Onlookers Imagine. When the Philadelphia Athletics unex...
The Championship of the National League was Decided in 1908 in One Game between the Giants and Cubs--Few Fans Know that it Was Mr. Brush who Induced the Disgruntled New York Player...