1873.11
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Outfield Duties Evolve -- Red Stockings Credited
| Salience | Noteworthy |
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| City/State/Country: | [[{{{Country}}}]] |
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| Game | Base BallBase Ball |
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| Text | The old style of playing the outfield, in which all that was required of a player was to catch the ball whenever it came near to his position, has been superseded. . . . Now, ' headwork' is considered essential. . . ." |
| Sources | New York Clipper, February 8, 1873 |
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| Comment | Richard Hershberger, 2/9/2023, 150 years ago in baseball : "advances in outfield play. This is another in the series of innovations Harry Wright made in Cincinnati, working their way into the general baseball consciousness.
Think of a Little League team. Not one of the teams you see on TV in Williamsport, but a little kid team coached by one of dads. The kids put in the outfield have figured out their spot and have a sense of the territory they are responsible for. So they go out to their spot, and if the ball comes into their territory, they do their best. If it goes into someone else's territory, they stand and watch the show.
Part of getting good is moving past this, learning where to go and make themselves useful even when the ball doesn't come to them. This stuff all had to be figured out. This was a large part of why the Red Stockings were so good. They were further along the road of figuring this stuff out, giving them a fielding advantage over those guys standing and watching the play. Here in 1873, the good teams have all got this figured out, in principle if not necessarily in detail, but it is still new enough that it is being explained here to the general baseball public."
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| Query | [] Is there a reason that the writer did not credit the Red Stockings as innovators here?
[] If the Red Stockings exhibited these types of innovations in swings to the East in 1868-1869, why are they noted only 4 or 5 years later in New York?
[] Why would RFers want to hug the right field foul line? Were hitters trying to looking for cheap hits by hitting soft liners just beyond first base? A: Perhaps to better track down errant throws to 1st base? [ba] [] What is our best source on Red Stocking innovations and how they spread? Edit with form to add a query |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Submission Note | FB Posting, 2/8/2023 |
| Has Supplemental Text |
1873.11 Outfield Duties Evolve -- Red Stockings Credited"
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