, 1876-11-19

luC pClSOH VI plrSef. or 1DV other 0hirc
behind the fou-baIl lines ii shall be declared fouj
and the hali so hit shall be called foul by the nm
nlTs even before touching the ground if it be sec
Tho following are exceptions to the foreeoin
| section: AL bulls batted directly to the rroand
that bound Of roll within the foul lines Jetwce,
nonle n ana htsI o. home and third bases, withou
sideEed fair; all balls batted Directly to The eroun
mat bound & oI roll outside the fouilines betwecl
first touching the person of player, shall be can
| hidcfed foul. In either of these cases the 1rs
point Of contact between the batted bali and th,
| ground shall not be regarded.
| Inc i1rst paragraph OF the aborc Is made b,
consolidating the eleventh and twelfth section:
| OF the Old rule, and the second paragraph j.
new. There is very little doubt that t6is ilc;
Will ,bc adopted whether the above words arr
| or not.
:. 1t is veil known, in this connection, thai
| Harry Wright, one Of tho best living authorities
On field rules, not only Iavors tile idea but
would add to it the abolition OF the bound
catch on fouls. Last week TnE TRIBUNE com.
| mcnted on the idea, and rather discouraged it
! because It would add to the catchcr's labor. Ar.
WIleht has come to the defense Of his idea in q
letter which: though not written for publication,
IS quite proper to be giycn as being fair state.
ment Of his reasons. Following is the portion
OF the letter which relates to this subject:
1ou say, - Change not always an Improvement ~
on that we agree. It is also generally conceded
that some change should be made tending to limit
TIC discretionary power Of the umpire particularly
ball.. To that end the following change has been
suggested viz: That all hit balls that shall strike
the Ground and pass In front Of the first base or
fou.lines, shall be considered fair hits. changc
cFs and to IN audience when lit bal was fas Tan and
when 1t was foul, aud do away entirely with the
uncertainty attending tair~foul batting. In doing
away with the latter, the batsman, Of necessity,
will be compelled to strive for square hit there
1T f3rtfuh uhncn
As an offset and to cqualize the fielding and bat
ting, as ut present. another change has been
a6oen aS o} ns asa xe x thf es,e Rsaaa
tho catchers average Of '.put outs ~ and Increase
other f1elders In proportion. It is not u - sure
chance for on out OF bound catch, if not allowed,
and If ruled out players will try for the ny where
they Wonld Otherwise ct tlmes, wait for the
Of the - oveEworked catcher" the arst-named
tion, but it will also tend to decrease running
and run- getting. The work OF the catcher under
the bat must be regulated BY the battng Of his op
ponents and the fielding Of his nine. Where there
i weak battng be VIII havo out litle to do behind
much additional labor for the catcher under the bat
Seven games were played on the Boston grounds
strikers position being moved forward to its orig
inai position} and the verdict from spectators and
players WIS that It was an improvement. There
WIS no time wasted in attempting to mike fnir-
fua hits there sFerc fewer foul balls and the play
ers could zee for themselves when the ball was hit
fair or foul. and did not wait, or chm, the nm
pre for decision, but started at once for the base
when the ball went inside the foul lines. / con
kider the change an improvement, and hope it will
be enacted By the 1easae ResRastfny; s1aq ;vn,onr
The consideration Of the proposed changes in
the remainder Of the rules is necessarily de-
ferred Tor onc week.
ENGAGEMENTS OF PLAYERS.
The engagements thus Tar announced for the
Chicago team Of 1677 havo been nine in all,--
slessrs. spa1ai9g, Mcvey, Bradley, Waitt,
the necessity for another man or two has been
recognized. That one OF tho other two men
should be catcher was necessity, and, since
nearly all the best-known players in that posi-
ton were contracted with before the close OF
the season, it was the part Of wisdom for the
to select promising young player
WHO might be expected to develop. With this
object Mr. Spalding conned over the list Of
catchcrs whom he had met in amateur and semi |
By writing to Harry Y. Smith, Of m |
afanapolis, who caught for the club
slcsorley and Flint joined it, after which he
played in the field. Smith came un here Thurs
wishes was given chance to show his play in
The catcher's position, with Spal1ing as pitcher
md Barnes at second His performance was |
7cFy creditaple indeed, especially in throwing,
Il which branch Of fielding be was fully up to
my catchcrs who ever played on the grounds:
t is not, Of course, to be supposed that he will
how up as well in game, and under pressure,
IS in practice, but there was quite enough
PROMISE in his play to Justify President Hubert
n engaging him, which he promptly did, for
crn Of two years, with certain contingent
lauses-
The new man is 20 years OF age,
nd about The same height Us Barnes,
hough tritie heavier. He is yery
S-, nJ11 rf1a /
uily up to the stareiard OF the Chicago Club IN
hose essentials Of ball-p1aycr. His record 4
it'll the indianapolis Club is that Of q heaW
after and trustworthy fielder. In the first :
,g safely three times out Of five. 1t is safe to
xpect that he will deyelop into very strong
laver.
The only other engagements reported during
be last week were expected, and In No respect
urprises. They were W. II. White and james
vhite, with the Boston Club, and William L. |
[ague John J. Ryan, and Joseph ]. Gcrhardt,
ith the Louisville Club.
>'' WHAT WINS!
The Brooklyn Eage-supposcG to be Chad
ick-pofuts out the number Of games won by |
to as proof Of the perfection OF the game.
seems upon investigation that three oil these
i'd eleven between other clubs. 1nasmuch IS I
1crc never was doubt that the League clubs
7cragcd much higher as batters than the OUT
dcrs, does It not seem likely that the perfec- :
on, etc, was as much owing to the failure OF
le players to bat as to the ability Of the
hers to field? The same paper aud same
:ticle refers with something like pride
the fact that several games | !
ere played where ten or more innings were ,
,cessary to decide, and in. one case seventeen
nings were played. II this be proof OF good :
:1ding, will the writer please say how 1t was r
lat the Chicago club won the flag. They :
dn't play even one game Of over nine innings :
their whole championship contests, and yet
le writer assumes that they won the flag by |
;lding. There Is hardly ground for that | 4
leory, the fact being that they
knocked out the cake" By jam. 6
ing away with the bat and ea17sinD ;
ore runs than other club Of the eight entered l
be Eagle writer notes the fact that I42 games Z
orc won during the season in ono inning, and !
at Chicago stands first, St. Louis SECOND, and P
artford third. 1t is not out Of the way to say, 9
at Chicago won these games with the stick. '
PERSONAL AND GENERAL. 5
They talk seriously OF reVivtng the Cleveland .
>rcsl City Club in a !.
All the players connected with the Syracuse F
ars hare signed to play with that team next
ason. !" -. -, .,.. d
Series Of camcs have been arranged between | p