Clipping:Scientific batting; home runs exhaust the batter
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
 |
| Add a Clipping |
| Date | Saturday, April 12, 1873 |
|---|---|
| Text | Let us see, then what a player has to study in his mind as to what he has to do when he takes bat in hand to assume the offensive in a contest for the palm of superiority. Of course his main object is to score a run; but there is something to be considered beside the mere fact of obtaining the urn, and that is to secure it with the least fatigue. If the batsman hits the ball over the heads of the outfielders he gets his run at once, but at what cost? Why, at the expense of running one hundred and twenty yards at his utmost speed, the result being that he arrives home out of breath, and entirely unfit for further play without rest. If this were continued by each player, in each inning, the result would be that the strongest nine would be broken down before they had got through half the game. Now, if this style of batting is correct in one case, it is in all; but it is not skillful batting at all, for it is specially characteristic of the least skillful class of players in the whole fraternity, viz./ the “Muffins;” for this class of batsmen can hit balls for homeruns just as well as first nine players can. Again, too given a party of muscular men, with long, heavy bats, and a live, elastic ball, and the game they play is simply a contest as to which can make the most homeruns from heavy hitting, while in such games skillful fielding—which is the attractive feature of baseball, is of but little account. The science of batting, in fact, lies in that skillful use of the bat which yields the batsman first base without any extra effort in running. In order to attain this result, however, he must bring his brains into play so as to outwit his opponents by sending the ball to the field with as little expenditure of force as necessary, bit in such a manner as to render it nearly impossible for the fielders to either field it on the fly, or return it in time to put players out on the bases. |
| Source | New York Clipper |
| Tags | |
| Warning | |
| Comment | Edit with form to add a comment |
| Query | Edit with form to add a query |
| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
Comments
<comments voting="Plus" />