Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1911-05-25
THE VALUE
OF BASE
RUNNING
BY Manager Hugh Duffy

by vi dudSeF hu2u Duliy
Base stealing is one of the accom-
plshments of a ball player that re-
quires more than an ordinary amount
of skill
Speed, of course, IS essential to the
good base runner, but it is no always
the fastest man that does the most
pilferlng of bases. The man who
uses his head and knows when to take
advantage of the opportunities fire.
quently makes up for the lack Of
speed.
| have known some rather slow
runners who were grand base steal-l
ers. And / have known other play
ers who could run 100 yards in ten
seconds fiat, who We're always getting
caught when trying to steal a base.
The base runner who signals that
he is going to steal is an easy man
to catch, for the catcher who is wise
quickly realizes he is about to go
down.
On the other hand, the base run
ner who watches the pitcher careful
ly and takes advantage of the windup
(for some pitchers when they break
into the major leagues bring their
minor league tricks with them), or
of some other notion that loses time,
Will gain a step or two on the fastest
runners. AS a general thing a good
base runner notes carefully the foot
of the pitcher for some popularity
that indicates he is about to deliver
the ball.
To get long lead off first is essen
ton wheR~a runner intends to steal
second A six-foot lead often means
a stolen base in the race between the
runner and the ball thrown by the
backstop
The clever runner keeps the pitcher
worried and frequently makes him
nervous.
The runner who can draw a throw
from the pitcher to first frequently
advances by reason of a wild throw
or a muff of the first baseman. It
requires considerable skill to return
to first from a long lead when the
pitcher whips the ball across the dia-
mond.
Base runners should keep an eye on
the pitcher every minute and watch
for his motion to discover if he in
tends to pitch or throw to first
They should have the distance they
stand from the bag measured to the
fraction of an inch, to be able to get
hand or foot on the base before the
first baseman can touch them.
A good base runner always has
slide or lodging motion which helps
him get around the second baseman
at the end of the sprint.
Fielder Jones used to slide around
the infielder in a way that made him
extremely difficult to touch. With
his body on the ground he would
shove one foot onto the bag and get
away with a stolen base, often when
the fielder had the ball in time to re-
tire him, but for his cleverness.
Base stealing cannot be overesti-
mated a value in winning games.
Many tight game has been decided
by one stolen base. If the runner
that gets on first can make his way to
the next station unaided, he is in
IA position to score on a long single,
while it would be next to impossible
to score from frs on a two-basa hit
unless it was an exceptionally long
hit, and he a particularly fast run
advocate more practice of base
running. Ty Cobb is as valuable 20
the Detroit club because of his Won
derful base running as for his
as many games by his ability to get
around the bases as he does with his
batting
Many players fail to make good on
the paths because they fail to keep
track of the ball They run blindly.
It is necessary to know just where
the ball is all the time, but it is not
Leocssary to turn and watch the ball
to know here it is, and thus inter-
fere with a runners speed, | con-
s,der a good base runner as valuable
as a good hitter When find the
combination in one man | consider
] q i 4