Clipping:Claiming credit for scoring stolen bases; batting assist
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| Date | Wednesday, December 1, 1886 |
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| Text | [from a letter by Horace Fogel] Last December I wrote a lengthy article for the Press in which I proposed that the rules be so amended that a record be kept of “stolen bases” and “batting assists.” These were two pets schemes of mine that I advocated for six weeks. My matter was extensively copied by other papers, and nearly all of them made some comment on it. With a few exceptions all these comments were favorable. The Record not only commented favorably upon both schemes, but went a step further and suggested that I change my “stolen base” rule so as to provide that runner be given credit with a stolen base every time he started to steal and succeeded, no matter whether it be a “clean” steal or if the man got there through an error. I had not made this provision, but simply argued that “clean steals” be recorded. As the suggestion of my friend Mr. Gilliam was a good one, I included this in my argument the following Sunday, and if my friend Mr. Caylor will look over the Press file of last January he will find that the rule that has been in vogue all season is almost word for word as I had advocated it. The only material difference is that instead of going into the summary, where I wanted it to go, it goes in the tabulated score but, in spite of the rule, my idea is being carried out anyway by ever newspaper, as they all print it in the summary instead of the score. As stated above, my idea was endorsed by all the best scorers of the country, including Harry Wright, by whose advice the matter was submitted to all the clubs and the two presidents. Twelve of the sixteen clubs endorsed both the “stolen base” and “batting assist” schemes, but Caylor's club was not one of the twelve, and his paper was strangely silent all the time. After the Louisville meeting a certain delegate told me that the reason the “batting assist” fell through was owing to Mr. Caylor's uncompromising opposition to it. He said that Mr. Caylor claimed it was impracticable. Impracticable, indeed well, my dear Mr. Caylor, as you say in your letter, it was also thought impracticable to to score stolen bases. It has been demonstrated, however, that the latter is practicable, and it would be just as easy to score batting assists. While scoring stolen bases has no doubt had the effect of waking up sleepy base-runners, I claim that if “batting assists” were scored it would produce better team work and bring about more scientific batting than we now have. I am still as ardent an advocate of recording “batting assists” as I was a year ago. |
| Source | Sporting Life |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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