Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-03-10
thin BASEBALL OUTLOOK
Caylor Describes the Recent
Changes In the Rules.
THE BUNT HIT ANDTRAPPED BALL

THE BUNT HIT ANDTRAPPED BALL
Hereafter Foul Blunt Hit viii Count as
a Strike-A Fly Ball to the InfieId Is Out,
Whether Caught or Not, If the Fielder
Reaches 1T.
The month of March is the period when
professional and amateur baseball players
prepare for the work of the season Just
ahead. In little more than month cham
pionship games will be daily events. Mean
while the clubs are gathering together their
teams, fitting up their grounds and boast
ing of their prospects. Arson bet two suits
of clothes last week on his belief in his
Colts, and so the preliminary season in base
ball may be said to be open
About the first of the ma jor teams to ap-
pear on the diamond will be the ST. Louis
Browns. Mr.. Won der Abe, like the loyal
lrishman he is, has arranged a game in St.
Louis for St Patrick's day in the after
noon. Mr.. Won der Abe has always been
considered a shrewd magnate, and this last
bid for the Irish patronage does him credit.
Several of the League teams will report
at Hot Springs within the next fortnight,
the champion Bostons will make a trip
down into Virginia, and a few teams will
train at home. The Southern league has
scheduled it's championship season to begin
April H. The National league opens it's race
April 10, and the Eastern and the Western
leagues begin operations about May l.
Every indication points to wonderfully
prosperous season throughout the United
States The National league, Eastern
league, New England league, Southern
league, Western league. Western associ-
alton, Pennsylvania State league and sew
eral minor state leagues are already fully
organized and equipped and are preparing
for championship struggles. One of the
most distinctive proofs of the spreading
popularity of the national game is the fact
that while the Mississippi valley last year
had no minor baseball organization that
vast territory this year will have two power
full club com charlottesville Western league
and the Western association.
The announcement that the National
league clubs paid off nearly 100000 of in
debtedness last year, and that almost ev
cry one of them made money besides in the
face of a business depression, showed how
the interest in the game was growing 1t
is not q rash prediction to say that the in
coming season of 1894 will be as prosperous
and notable as was that of 1852 when the
sport reached its high tide of popularity.
The attendance upon the schedule meet
ing of the National league in New York on
Feb. 26 and 81 was most significant. News
papers from Boston, Washington, Louis
vile, Chicago and other cities sent staff re-
porters to the meeting, though nearly all
had resident correspondents on hand.
At this meeting several changes were
made in the playing rules which will inter
est every baseball player reader in the
Union, because the National league play
ing rules are the standard of play in every
section of the land. The bunt hit was pc
naliZed. Hereafter whenever batsmen at
tempts to bunt the ball and it rolls foul
he will be charged with strike. The OBJ
ject of the penalty strikes in two direc-
tions. 1t handicaps a few skilled men who
misused the play to foul off every fairly
pitched ball until they got their base on
balls. Latham, Hamilton and Duffy were
three of these "bunt killers" 1t will also
discourage those batsmen who wasted much
time last year and exhausted the patience
of spectators by trying to bunt when they
couldn't.
Then the trap ball was killed by new
rule, which declares that the batsman shall
be out on fly ball to the infield if an in
fielder can reach efly in time, whether he
catches it or not. This new rule was aimed
particularly at McPhee of the Cincinnatis
and Fred Pfeffer of the Louisvilles, who, to
ethe language of the boys on the sun seats,
had de play down fine as silk and made
suckers outen de guys on de bases. See?"
When an infield fly went to either of those
two players, men on bases were 'twiXt his
satanic majesty and the fathomless ocean.
If they stood still, the fly would be dropped,
and they would be forced; if they ran, the
fly would be caught, and SO the magnates
found it necessary to legislate against those
two great players.
Another new rule provides that when a
batsman is hit by ball at which he strikes
he shall not get base, as heretofore, but it
will be called strike Those were the
three important changes made in the rules
The League magnates did most popular
thing when they created the office of chief
of the umpires and appointed Harry Wright
to fill it. In thus honoring the veteran man.
ages baseball was also honored. For &c
consecutive years Mr.. Wright has been &C
lively associated with professional ball He
played his first game with the Knicker-
bockers of New York in 1856. He was cap
tain of the famous Cincinnati Red Stock
ings of 1S69-70. Then he went to Boston and
their champion team for nearly
half score of years. From Boston he went
W L IONluSIICe 1oI d COu)lc VI SettSOLS anu
there took hold of and built up the Phila-
delphia team. In his long career in base
ball he has never done disHonorable act
and is universally beloved by the public and
the players. His new duties will be to
watch the work of the umpires and see that
no incompetent man remains on the staff.
The biggest ''deal'' of the season was the
purchase of the release of Farrell and Mea-
kin by the New Yorks from the Washing
tons. The price was $500 cash and two
good players ito bootf-namely, Catcher
McMahon and Pitcher Petty. The addition
of these two men and Van Haltern to the
New York team, it is generally believed,
makes 1.-The Giants formidable bidder
for pennant honors in 1894.
Pitcher Pete McNabb, who recently shot
a young woman in Pittsburg and then
blew out his own brains, was considered