Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-01-16
James A. Hart Gives His Ideas on
The Greatly Discussed
Question.
FIRST BASE ON THREE BALLS.
lie Thinks There Should be Greater
Uniformity Between the Big Base
ball Leagues Sunday Games.

Many changes in baseball rules have
been proposed during the last few
months by men who should be qualified
to gire advice on the subject, James
A. Hart Is the latest to make sugges-
tons for the improvement Of the ma
tIonal pastime. According to Gin
cinnati dispatch, he says;
Uniformity Of playing rules FOR the
whole country IL one Of the most i'm
portant and essential features Of the
game, Some OF the critics have been
saying that such variations as a foul
strike rule In one league and no such
law IN another would not matter. 1t
would matter The rules should be- kept
identical in all the leagues.
Il have been strongly in favor OF
three ball rule, giving the batsman his
base on three called balls instead Of
four, but | have decided not TO urge
It's passage this season. Let the present
rules be throughy tested for another
season, Just as they are. Were ! 10
advocate any change now, II would
seem as though ] were reCeding from
my position as an unchanged champion
OF the foul strike,
"All the changes in rules for the past
20 years have been made, not with any
idea of radical departures but to keep
the game just at Its best, and most
Of the changes have been necessitated
by the fact that the players grew 100
shrewd for the rules--outgrew the stat.
utes, and had " be governed by new
laws.
we abolished the foul-out-on-frst.
bound because the players were getting
1t down too fine Then we had TO do
away with the foul-tip-out for II came
20 such pass that the catchers were
swapping their fingers. cucklng with
their tongues, or even swapping rubber
bands, TO fool the umpres, and the en-
suing rows were endless. The abroga-
ton Of that rule lost the team had at
that time--the Bostons--the pennant,
I'VE were beaten out by one game,
and we would have won by dozen, for
John Clarkson's rise ball was always
clicking off into tip fouls, and Charlie
Bennett had the trick of mailing them
down to perfection. A little later we
found that the pitchers had gained the
over the Datsmen 10 lOp-
sided extent, and we set the pitchers
farther back In the diamond.
Then came the intentional fouling on
of good balls, and the consequent delay
ing of the games, and the foul-strlke
rule was found needful to fit the case.
"Magnates are all selfish and all In.
consistent. They inveigh against the
foul'strike rules handicapping the bats
men. and then go out and pay big sal
aries to pitchers with extra ability In
foolIng battcys. Why don't they use
only third-rate pitchers, whom the bat.
tiers could pound all over the field IL
the batting Is SO feeble? Why didn't
they retain the rules which kept the
pitcher from raising his arm higher
than his head or keep the rule which
made him plant both feet on the ground
and keep them there?
Every magnate and about every fan
looks at the rules only from his own
teams point Of view, The magnate with
a lot Of heavy hittors regards the foul
strike law as a sin and a shame. The
mnRnatp who has the fast niinhera