, 1876-11-26
c+ 1o,1is Demands Second
Place in the Race.
recct Of Forcing the Training of
Young Horses.
pndo1uhe Ahead in the New York
Billiard Tournament.
BASEBALL.

MORE ABOUT TIE NEW AC44ES-
Tn last Sundays TRIBUNE was given sketch
It some new rules which were deemed necessary
N he adopted to improve the game Many Of
+hese changes have been suggested BY other
,,ntrs than THE TRIBUNE, and cauvassed by
hetrer authority than thc writer; but it is the
aim Of the present article to get these suggcs-
+;ons when approved, into shape TO be passed
hv the League if that body deem best Last
,ee,, the consideration of the code extended
+hronoh Sec, II OF Rule S, which covered the
onestion Of suppressing fair-fouls, and advanced
. nile intended to cover that point. And in this
connection it may not be amiss to consider the
idea advanced By Mr.. Fowle, Secretary Of the st.
1ou1s Club, for getting rid Of the kind OF hit
ting objected to. He suggests TINT the home
n1ate be moved back SIX inches, aud the bats
nan be compelled By rule to strike with the full
xring Of the arm. It seems as if moving the
n1ste back would only aggravatc the foul busi-
ness and would still oblige the umpire to say
where the ball struck, which is the one thing
which We want to get rid Of. The idea that
seems most feasible to the writer-and Mr..
royle will approve it when he thinks OF it's
to get entirely rid Of the puzzling question Of
Eberc the ball struck by utterly leaving it out
Of the case, and counting only where
the ball goes to, is felded, OF
s:ons. As to the provision that
the batsman shall strike at the ball with full
swing, that seems utterly useless. Ross Barnes,
the most expert tair-foul hitter in the business,
,lyays hits them with full swing Of the bat, and
ust as hard as he strikes any other kind OF ball.
Rut to resume the consideration Of the rules:
last year, and should >be amended. As it now
stands it puts the runner out for going out Of
the line "to avoid being touched by the ball in
tie hands of q fieldcr.'' That is all right
enough, but when fielder is waiting for the
hs]1 to come to him the runner ought to have
some show to get By. This would be given him
h7 adding to the present rule these words:
but in case fielder be occupying the runners
fbe runner shall run out Of the path and behind
sid fielder, and shall not be declared out for so
doing.
There was a curious misunderstanding last
Season in the country clubs over the interprcta-
ton Of Sec Is Of Rule t. which is generally un-
derstood TO be provision for touching man
out when off base. The rule said that he
must be touched 'by fielder with the ball in
tanl4' which was interpreted By many to mean
that il the fielder had the bali in either hand
he might touch the runner With tho
othe1 and put hl1l .s'!l out" ,,o;. lhe u onls
out il. words s:in hand,'' and leave the rule to
say that the runner shall be out if he is touched
ty the fielder with the ball. The objection that
this would allow the fielder to throw the ball at
man will be seen to be invalid by examining
the meaning OF the word ''touch.''
In the last paragraph Of the same section is
found tie provision concerning the runners OBJ
struetine the bali, which is utterly crude, be-
cause it uses the word +" Intentionally" and SO
gives the umpire q right to Cccluc on mans
motives, which he never should have had at all.
The only way that seems feasible 10 get out OF
ills trouble is to put all the responsibility on
the runner, and make the last part Of the SCI
tioh read:
and Il bst,c1 ball strike him 1.-THE base-runnerl
be shall be declared out.
One Of the most extraordinary sections in the
code, and the one which seen.s t. have as little
reasun to its back as any, is Sec of Rule Z,
which provides that tue umpire shall render
no decsion unless appealed to By player II
to read:
Sec. :. The umpire shall render every decision
called for hy these rules without appeal by any
payer, unless it is expressly provided.
The last section in the rules, as they now
stand, provides that no player on the batting
fide s! s:all come within fifteen feet Of the foul
lines, and all others than the Captain and as
s!stant shall keep fifty feet away from said lines
While this has always been in force, it never
was obeyed until the Chicago Club drew the
proper Lines to aid the umpire, and insisted on
Tue observance of the rule. It would seem rs
Il these lines should be marked on every ground
and, for the purpose Of having it done, the FOL
loving addition to the eighth section has been
proposed:
Before any match game the Captain OF the visit
ins club may demand Of tho umpire that two paral:
5e lines be marked in the same way that the foul
aael with the foul lines. and the other fifty feet
from and parallel with said foul lines. And ii
the home club ehal1 refuse or neglect to make
the tben nes e as sct d9n in IN ths ton.
visiting club.
Another serious defect in the code was in
gE1ng the umpire power to say that a ball going
INTO the crowd was willfuliy" stopped or un-
Sltttnsly stopped By an outsider. No umpire
eFef could decide that question surely, and it
sS YOU'D be Quite proper to take the word "wlil,
i9liy cut altogether, and make every ball
nnNa was stopped hy an outsider dead. Inns
", xoulo put the visiting club on an equality with
Ing nome nine when playing in a crowd, which
l. y no means the case now.
one OF the most important things to be con-
eocied bE the League Us all addition to the
plas1ng rules is series Of instructions to scor-
va winch shall. il reasonably perfect, result IN
much greater uniformity in keeping the rec
I'"s' come OF the managers WHO 6lL In t1c
!Eeasgne Willard haye-rather overlooked the
Importance Of the establishment Of the uniform
ssstem desired, their idea being that they care
'el3 4!1lle how runs are made So long as their
uae gels the majority but these same men are
alaonS the class who take the most interest III
.sses asse1aSes and who pay more Or less money to
PAYERS according as their records are high or
LOW ID the published list.
.. Aast Years. method of scoring was well enough
..F IL ese1F club could have lad scorer who
"9uio o.l nave believed and practiced what every
vsner ,s scorer did; but that was impossible, and
tus result has been the undue promotion OF Ger
~ ~ payers records by one dishonest scorer
I 1as a. only one Of the eight employed by the
hs1sppe--while the players in the other cubs
- ta'e g nao to stand on the record made for them
" .1er own performances.
oeloH IS given series of rules drawn up py
rseAueman who has had good deal OF expo
a,s! .isnee IN that branch Of the game. It is not
ea a..mea that they are perfect, but they may
r raee 70 be builded on until the best system Is
RULE v11.-sCoRING.
NJ, ~ nfuer TO promote uniformity in scoring cham
1reHsnlp Games the following instructions, sue.
sssuons, and defnitone are made for the benefit OF
r"tcss Of League climbs, and they are required to
~ &C tle scores mentioned in Sec. Of Art MI.
With. e'nso'ut''n IL "s'oA1"Ane~
BArT1sG.
ert11nS l. The first item In tho tabuiated
ths a,eF The players name and position st1a't De
r s aumo*f Of timcs hr has been at bat during the
f<ap ANY time times where the player has
DEC. In the second co1urnn shonlt1 be set down