Omaha daily bee., 1911-03-06
STEINFELDT ON THIRD BAG
Chicago Cubs Veteran Tells How to
Play It.
DEMANDS SPEED AND Drawn
Position Calls for Versatility Man
Because of Freaks of Busy BAts-
men-Must watch the
signals.

One Of the oldest and most experienced
third baseman in the major league is
Steinfeldt Of the Chicago Cubs. Although
he may not be regular after this year,
for the reason that he seemed to be losing
his grip last fall in the worlds series
steinfeldt knows how to explain the in
tricacies of play at his corner Of the dia-
mond. and when asked recently to give his
views he said
THE first thing a third bsseman 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
batsmen down the third base line between
the fielder and the bag are the most diff
ficult ones to handle, while the liners
always have an outward curve and lots
of momentum because the hitters usually
meet a curved ball before the break or
slam a slow one.
The third baseman must have nerve
as we'll as powerful hands together with a
strong throwing arm. II his hands are
soft some Of these solid smashes may go
through and injure him. He must be
heavy enough and have sufficient stamina
to get in the way of such drives and must
be sufficiently steady on his pins to pre-
vent base runners rounding the bag from
knocking him off his balance
III he doesn't possess a powerful throw
ing arm he viii not remain a regular for
any great length OF time, for the reason
that he must knock down hot drives and
get them over to first ahead of fast base
runners You can't expect a third base
man to pick up cleanly as many drives
as a second baseman, for he hasn't the
same amount Of time to get set and is in a
far different position He is much nearer
the home plate and is directly in the range
| of cannon shots that are pulled around
| toward him by the batsmens swing
at is out of the question to fall back
| behind the base line unless a third base
man knows the hitter isn't going to bunt,
something that cannot be anticipated in a
modern ball game. 1t is necessary to watch
! the batsman, base runners and coaches
very closely TO get onto a signal before the
! BAN leaves the pitchers hand. He must
also keep an eye on his own battery TO
know what kind of ball is to be served
to the batsman The moment he sees a
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 he must make a hasty throw
and trust to luck
or poke ban toward left field has in
creased the difficulties Of third base play
It is seldom that a third baseman can stand
back as far as ninety-six feet from the
home plate and in a majority OF plays he
must take a position at least eighty feet
from the hitter. where he is always taking
desperate chances. This makes it hard fol-
him to cover any great amount of ground
as he has little or no time to move in either
direction when hard hit balls come his way
For this reason the study Of batsmeT
becomes an important factor and all thirC
basemen to be successful should watcF
the lhtters and signals closely. My advice
is to try to discover what kind of a bal
the pitcher intends to deliver. Always
keep an eye on the catcher when runners
are on second or third. because a stea
may draw a throw at any moment, and g
third baseman who misses a thrown bal
generally let's in a run. Never fail &C
cover the base when a runner slides int
II and, IL possible, keep the runner wild,
as he rounds the base. Sometimes a Sigh
bump by the baseman will make a rune
go out OF his path and thereby lose enough
ground TO be caught at the plate whel
he tries to score from second on a SAT
hit
II am not an advocate of foul tactics o
rough ball but think it is legal to hol
as much territory as the rules permit an
to prevent a base runner from cuttin
2 across inside Of the bag"