, 1881-04-10
Experiments by the Two Pitch"
ers on the. Eifty-F0ot
Range.
Bass.stealing Materially Facilitated
under the New Pitching
Rules.
A General State OF Efficiency in the
Team, and Promise OF Fine
Ball-Playing.
Facts and Gossip Concerning the
League Clubs in Other Cities
of the Union.

AT HOME.
Tho past week hus been n busy one In the
n,:liIl for the Ch;cago team. The belated me:n-
bers arrived In due time. and all were put At
gymnasium work until the condition OF the held
should permit outdoor practice. Since Nedncs-
,,a; the eleven regulars. assisted by Nichols, the
twelfth man engaged for help III practice, have
been batting nl,d fielding On the north end oi
tho field, which has now dried sufficiently for
ull purposes. The sOuth end OF the gr'hlnuS'
however being shaded by the grand -stsauu, Is Ill
very bad shape. The ground is covered "aIn
snow aud ice. aud the grani-stand seats arc
filled with snow. 4 great dent Of work has been
done In the way Of carting OFT snow and digging
cutters, ana unless warulcr weather sets IN
soon Il grcut deal more will have to be doae-
The base lines are too soft to allow
of using the diamond, hut under n
bright sun will soon dry out. The grounds VIII
be in fair order for the opening games with
Cleveland OH the ID, 81. and ith OF May. and tho
five-tlays' absence Of the home club Immediate
Iy following will be occupied IN tnofou3n sso-
TEN of Improvements
While the temperature has been anything but
favorable to bll-ptaying, the White Stockings
have been put through vigorous course OF
training. They are taken out on the Held Two
to three hours both forenoon and afternoon anu
made TO work every minute Of tho time ARSON
Is in the thick Of it. anu asks hooody' 70 worH
harder stay longer than he does lie VIII
have that team in good shape II nc mas 10 WoFA
nights and Sundays to do It.
Corcora,a and Goldsmith are hard at work on
the tifty-foot range, and both give promise OF
IN ctfectivcness little. # any. Impaired by tue
added i've feot. Goldsmith Ia putting on steam
rs to speed aud curve, und Is sending III oA:ls
that nearly" knock the boards OFT the fence lie
Is Il tre wild to begin with. but will work down
to close business lis he progresses. CorcoEan
gives nu sign Of cs,:1n@e in his delivery, which
is as unique and puzzllng rs ever.
Flint has entered upon the season with greater
vim than he hits shown for two years lie fe:et-
iZcs. 1t il to be presumed, that his work back or
in 1879 and that this year he must rchsscrt his
cl:,im to be considered second tt no catcher In
existence hy all increased grade OF efficiency.
lie has for 4 competitor Kelly, who means to 10
some ca1ching this year that will give him
good record und enhance his satHry-earninE ca
pacity. percy, too, is looked on us likely to de-
vclup strength behind tue bat, rs he shoW5t1 de-
cided aptitude for grabbing the cuTsers.
Nichols. the twelfth man, acts like It ball play
and is Il free, hard hitter. It Is not unlikely ne
will be permanently engaged by the Chicago
management.
some experiments hive been male in tho
matter of stealing second base under the new
pitching rules 1t is found that the added time
consumed ly the ball In rraSerslnt: the extra
five feet materially increases the cnatces ~
swift runners MAXIM. second safely on Il steal.
and that nothing less than quick and accurate
crease Ia the number ol successful larcenics OF
tag No.:,. Since Chicago has by long odds the
best base-rnnning team in tho League, the
champions should bc able to improve this open
ing more effectively than unj- OF their antaEo~
nist5.