Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1899-09-25
PELOTA, SPANISH BALL GAME.

PELOIA, SPANISH BALL GAME.
The following description of the
Spanish game of pelota is furnished by
ex-Gov. Thomas T. Crilttenden, whose
residence in the City of Mexico, as a
United States consul, gave him plenty
of opportunity to judge of its merits:
There is not more scientific and in
teresting game played anywhere than
pelota-
It is as much more scientific than
baseball, as baseball is than the old
fashioned town ball that all men over
40 have played in their boyhood, even
in their young manhood. It is peculiar
ly Spanish game, and what makes 1t
stranger it's players are alone from the
province of Basque, and the successful
players are all Basques the world over.
It is more like racket than any other
game. An Englishman seeing it for
the first time pronounced it in his en-
thusiasm, "glorifed racket" Tt has
also some of the features of handball,
although a more difficult game to play,
requiring at all times the greatest ac-
tivity and vigilance.
If person has any knowledge OF
handbal1 or racket he or she can easily
understand how pelota is played. The
game can be played with three on a
side, but is more often played with two
on a side and sometimes player against
player, each for himself.
Such games are called pardios. In
order to simplify this article will des-
cribe a game of four players, two on
each side:
The court, or fronton, as it is called,
in which the game is played, is $50
feet long, 40 feet wide. The track, or
space from front to rear WALL is made
of asphaltum.
The front wall against which the ball
is thrown or served from a basket is so
feet high; the corresponding wall in
the rear is as high. The playing wall
must be of solid masonry, with face
of smoothly-chiseled stone or brick
laid in cement, for so great is the i'm
pact of the balls that even the best
cement is often ground to powder. The
whole ground is inclosed by walls and
is in the shape of a parallelogram to
exclude the outsider and to protect the
insiders who have paid their entrance
fee of 81.
The court has no right hand court, in
one sense of the word. In it's place
there rises tier on tier of seats, private
boxes, promenades and all the Access
series of a spectacular show, or all OF
this may be on the inside wall.
The building is sometimes covered
in by a wire netting of large meshes.
Above and over this there is placed on
an elevated floor or rafters some kind
of substance penetrated by light, and
under all this there is free room for the
circulation of the air. This substance
or cloth or whatever it is called, also
excludes the rain.
The player or pelotaro stands Is feet
back from the front wall and serves
the ball against it.
This player is called in Spanish the
"delantero," or front man, or more fire.
quently called "the server and he is
required to have a sure eye, agility,
and Judgment, for sometimes it is his
game ''to smash" or knock the ball just
above the line, Is inches above the
ground-sometimes to- hit it so hard
that it will fly backward the whole
length of the court, 100 feet.
His partner stands behind the back
man.
When the ball is served by the de-
lantero one of his opponents, the front
or rear one must return the ball be-
fore it has struck the ground more than
once, or catch it in the basket ON the
fly and return it against the wall.
When the server or his partner misses
catching the ball his side goes out and
the other side takes the ball in hand
for the purpose of serving.
The games often last from one and
one-half to two hours, sometimes two
and a half hours. In the hand of a
skillful player there is considerable
advantage in having charge of the ball.
as the player can serve it with limited
or greater force. so throwing the ball
against the wall as to have it rebound
only a few feet from it, or to any dis
lance within the so feet.
The game is played for % or g
points and each time the ball is missed
counts a point against the side MISSING