Morning journal and courier., 1889-04-16
Am English View of Base-ba1l.


 It is not bad game, but to compare it to | cricket is about as reasonable as to compare an average American railway to the London and Northwestern. It is game for boys, ! not quite as good ss rounders, and inferior to hockey, but as played by the famous 'ath- letes'' of New York and Chicago it is gener- ally speaking dull, and occasionally descends to mere clowning. I will not infiict de- scription of the sport on my readers, but at the Oval, and at Lords, the batsman did not hit the ball more than once in fnn----A'0 tries: when he dia l:s UHII, he rarely got fnr,le. suan the second base, and then en- sued vast amount of tomfoolery, the man
 at the base pretending to and the man
 with the ball throwing it to the baseman,
 and so forth. This was repeated ad nauseam, the only variety being when batsman real ly got hold of bail and drove it to the deep field, in which case, willingly admit, he was generally caught out. For, to do the base ball teams justice, they catch extremely we'll, and throw in with considerable force and accuracy. am told that the great art in the game is in the "pitching,"i i. G., in throwing at the batsman, land the Daily Tele- graph gravely informs it's readers that "with- out touching ground, and in mid-sir, the ball is made to spin and twist so that when close to the base-plate it describes sharp angle up or down to right or left" The pitt cher throws from a "box" fifty feet distant from the base-plate where the batsman stands, and we are therefore asked to believe that he can throw ball for forty feet per fectly straight, and then make it turn at will like boomerang! Of course, there are good pitchers and bad ones; but to ask any man | who has ever played cricket to believe such a yarn as this is to tax credulity somewhat too l far Then there is the s'catcher," who stands behind the batsman, gloved and pad \ ded, with a sort of fencing mask on his head His duties are supposed to be dan- | gerous and difficult in the extreme; but when
 I see one ofIthese gentry take leg shooter on fast ground in the fashion of Sherwin or Filling, will believe in their superior skill. The "short stop"-a field who stands req sonably near the batsman-is also supposed | to occupy post of exceptional peril. I can only say that short-stop's position is one of perfect safety compared to that of point or | short mid-on to big hitter on fast cricket. ! As regards the lot of the umpire, l will give the opinions of an English and of an Ameri- | can journal. Says the former:
 A few paces behind the pitcher stood the umpire, | whose post from the way the ball flew past him, seemed to be no mere of @ sinecure than that of ! referee in a hoty contested prize-fight' | Says the latter.
 | He performed his duties like a man playing for | big jackpot on volcano, or counting up cash in | powder magazine, and won the admiration Of all | veterans
 To comment on such drivel as this is su- perduous, but elsewhere the ingenious l American lets the cat out of the bag. It seems that in America, when a decision is given not in accordance with the humor of | the crowd, it is common practice to Ego
 for'' the umpire. My American contempor- sry facetiously says:
 | In the old days umpres family considered
 themselves lucky if any remains of their favorite ! could be found at a In some households you see | pair of boots Q broken pipe, tattered hat, or ! something of that sort in place of honor-th9 on I ly memento that could be found after an exciting game of baseball.
 It is evident that i'll America the umpire's | post is sinecure, but at Lords I am 1 thankful to say. the lives of Farrands. West, l and others are not in serious danger during | cricket match And this is the fatuous game which we are called upon, in columns of twaddle and fustian, to fall down and
 worship; a game that for science cannot
 hold candle to cricket or tennis, to say
 nothing of lawn-tennis and racquets and l that for real active exercise cannot seriously
 be compared to football!