Norwich bulletin., 1911-03-29
SPEED AND Drawn
ON THE THIRD BAG.
steinfeIdt Tells of the Demands Of
This Position.


enced third basemen in the major
league is Steinfeldt of the Chicago
Cubs. Although he may not be a reg
ular after this year, for the reason
that he seemed to be losing his grip
last fall in the worlds series, Stein
feldt knows how to explain the intri-
cacies of play at his corner of the dia-
mond. and when asked recently to
give his view, said:
"The first thing a third baSeman
must have to be successful is a good
pair OF hands. BY this mean hands
that can stop heavy line drives and hot
ground balls. The drives on the
ground from the batSmeu down the
third base line between the fielder and
the bag are the most difficult ones to
handle, while the liners always have
an outward curve and lots of momen-
tum, because the 11itterS usually meet
a curved ball before the break or slam
a slow one.
''The third baseman must have
nerve as well as powerful hands, to-
gether with strong throwing arm
If his hands are soft some Of these
solid snlashes go through and injurt
him. He must be heavy enough and
have sufficient stamina to get in the
way of such drives and must be suf-
ficiently steady on his pins to prevent
base runners rounding the bag from
knocking him off his balance.
81 he doesn't possess a powerful
throwing arm he will not remain q
regular for any great length of time
for the reason that he must knock
down hot drives and get them over tt
first ahead of base runners. You CAM
expect third baseman. to pick VI
clearly as many drives as a Secone
baseman, for he hasn't the same
amounttof time to get set and is in
far different position. He is much
nearer the home plate and is directly
in the range of cannon shots that arr
pulled around toward him by the bats
mems swing.
1T is out of the ques ton to fall bach
behind the base line unless a third
basemam knows the hitter isn't gofnz
ticipated in a modern ball game. 1t i:
necessary to watch the batsman, base
runners and coaches very closely tt
get onto a signal before the ball leaves
the pitchers hand. He must also keeI
an eye on his own battery to know
to the batsman. The moment he sees
hunted ball rolling in his direction
he must come in at top speed and field
it to first base as quickly as possible
In many instances ahe must make z
hasty throw and trust to luck.
fbunt or poke ball toward left fielt
has increased the difficulties OF thirt
base play. It is seldom that a thirt
baseman can stand back as far as 81
feet from the home plate and in a ma
jority of plays he must take position
at least 80 feet from the hitter, wher.
he is always taking desperate chances
This makes it hard for him to covel
any great amount of ground, as he has
little or no time to move in either dl-
rection wd1en hard hit balls come hi
way.
For this reason the study of bats
men becomes an important factor ant
all third basemen to be successful
should watch the hitters and signals
closely. My advice is to try to discov.
er what kind of a ball the pitcher in.
tends to deliver. Always keep an eye
on the catcher when runners are or
second or third, because a steal ma.
draw a throw at any moment, and 9
third baseman who misses thrown
ball generally let's in a run. Never
fail to cover the base when runner
slides into it, and, if possible, keep thu
runner wide as he rounds the base
Sometimes a slight bump by the base
man will make a runner go out of hi!
path and thereby lose enough grouns
to be caught at the plate when ne
tries to score from second on a saft
hit.
Il am not an advocate of foul tao.
tics or rough ball. but think it is le-
gal to hold as much territory as the
rules permit, and to prevent a base
runner from cutting across inside o.
the bag"