The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-08-20
ADDITIONAL SPORT


Collins, Wagner, Speaker, Bush,
Keshcher, and others Among causes
to which the decline is attributed are
improvement Of team play, develop
ment Of the hit andrun play, the pig
catcher's mitt and changes In the
scoring rules. A writer in The St.
Louis Globe Dispatch discusses the
question at length as follows:
The decline Of base stealing in
baseball has been much bemoaned.
Base running has been described as a
rapidly vanishing art and all that.
That ball players nowadays don't
steal as many bases as they used to
twenty years ago is a plain, bald fact,
but that doesn't necessarily mean that
base-running has suffered to the detri-
ment of the game. On the contrary
baseball is a more scientific and in
teresting game now than when many
more bases were stolen. The high de-
yelopment of team work-which is one
reason why so many bases aren't stolen
the hit-and-run play, for instance,
has improved the game as a game,
even If doing away with some individ-
uality and initiative by individual play
ers on the bases.
Base runners are as fast as they
ever were; there are just as many of
them. and they run with just as good
Judgment.
Scoring Rules More Strict.
Aside from the subordination of the
individual to the team, there are ex-
cellent reasons why fewer bases are
stolen in the present era of the ma
tional game. For one thing, there is
big difference in the way stolen bases
are scored. Once upon a time all a
player had to do was to start for the !
next base with the pitch and he got |
credit for a steal-if he got there no |
matter what happened to the pitched |
ball. If the ball was hit he got his |
steal just the same. The present rules |
prohibit crediting a man with a steal |
II he gets to the next base aided by |
a batted ball, and that in itself makes
a difference.
But a more potent influence in re-
ducing the number Of stolen bases and
one often overlooked in discussing the
question, is the advent of the big
catchers mitt. Prior to 1890 there
were many more stolen bases than
later. The big mitt began to be used
first in 1889. but was not generally
adopted until later. Arthur Irwin
vas the man who originated. it, and
lis first experiment consisted of put
ing single piece Of leather over the
palm Of an ordinary fielder's glove. Out
IF this grew the present big glove
l'vsin experimental with his glove
through the medium Of Tom DAILY, then I
With Washington, and Pat Murphy,
hen with the Giants and now a DO ]
iceman in Worcester.
And what difference did the big {
nit make on base stealing? Just this:
I saves valuable time to the catcher in
'etting his throw away. When catchers
Ised the small fingered glove their
lands had to give when taking a
itch. The yield of the hands to swiftly
'itched balls meant that just so much
ime was lost in launching the throw. I
Also there were more passed balls IL
hen But with the huge. thick, pad t
ed glove there is practically no give. Ic
he big cushion held out in front 6
erves as pocket in which the pitched G
all stop dead and the catcher simply
icks out the ball with his other hand j
nd makes his throw. The fraction of v
lme thus saved has been the main q
eason why base stealing has fallen h
f. ic
I'D Timers Stole EN- by Hundreds. r
In 1887 Ward stole III bases, Fo-
arty 102 and Kelly "a, and there were ;
We others who stole more than fifty Il
al in
onstitute a season. In 1889 Stovev |
lole lis bases, O'Brien 103, Hamilton '
II, Long 81, WEIGH 80 and thirteen U
theirs stole more than fifty. Records
the present show no such wholesale
Quantities of steals. The record for
90S shows that Cobb stole 40 and Il
onroy and Flick IL each. In 1907 l
Wagner stole SO, Chance 81, Devlin 81 I
DIN Magee 55. But in 1909 there II
GEMS to have been an improvement in
ne American league at least, Cobb
tealing rs, Collins 81 and Bush 50. II
The 1907 guide contains this brief o
lle for stolen bases: 4
"A stolen base shall be credited to n
10 base runner whenever he adj n
ances a base unaided by base hit, a e
ut-out, fielding or a battery err n
Dr."
In the last two seasons the rule has k
cen changed to permit a runner get J
ng credit for a steal on a battery n
rror, provided he makes his start L
rior to the battery error 1t may be S
hat Cobb and Collins have been alert j
} take advantage of that change,
ut there has been no corresponding
lcrease in steals in the last two years
y National league base runners. One t
rouble always has been lack of uni /
ormity i'll scoring stolen bases. +