The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1911-06-13
PILFERINC A BASE
One of the Most Closely caIcu-
lated Plays In Baseball.
WORKING A DELAYED STEAL.
The Way This Clever Trick, That Was
Invented by Harry Stovey, Used to
Be Pulled Of by big Bill" LANCE.
Anson's Wasted Sacrifice Blunt.

! Anson's wasted Sacrifice Bunt.
Base stealing, the gentle art of
sprinting and hitting the dirt is the
finest drawn and most closely calcu
lated play in baseball and the one that
above all others. reveals the mathe-
NAUTICAL exactitude of the national
game" says Hugh s. Fullerton in the
American Magazine. "a player who
can run eighty-fye feet in three and
third seconds from a fiat footed
start ought to reach second base ex
actly tied with the ball. nine times
out OF ten starts, if the play is per-
fectly made by the runner, pitcher
catcher and baseman. The slightest
inaccuracy or hesitation decides the
play.
1T seems a simple matter to run
ninety feet while bail is being
thrown sixty-eight feet and caught
and thrown back approximately 1872
feet caught again and held in position
TO touch the runner. Yet there are art
and science in the feat.
There were great base runners in
the old days. This was chiefly because
In the early days stealing second base
was the chief aim of the game. Mike
Kelly. Billy Hamilton. who in two
successive seasons stole over 100 bases.
and Big Bill LANCE. who stole 100
times in one season. were all great
runners who would be great under
present conditions. ! recall wildly
Lange's one hundredth stolen base.
which established his record He was
on second base with no one out. and
Chicago needed one run to win the
game. Arson was at the bat, and
after his stolid. businesslike style. he
I poked down perfect sacrifice bunt
and went numbering toward first base
LANCE started for third base. stopped
and trotted back to second Halfway
to the bench Arson discovered where
I4ange was and came near having a
stroke of apopIexy. Lange had de
4 liberately permitted his captain to sac
rifice without advancing. Then by a
wonderful dashing start LANCE stole
third base. scored on fly. and the
game was won. Because he won the
game Arson f0rgave him. but the mod
ern player who attempted such a thing
would be suspended and fined
THE most effective steal ever devils
ed is the delayed steal. which. al
though used during the early develop
j ment of the game, was neglected for
many years until revived by Manager
/ Chance OF the Chicago Cubs 1t was
used with great effect by Bill Lange
aud appears to have been Invented By
Harry Stovpy, a wonderful base run
i nPr of the early days The theory of
the steal is 70 catch the catcher and
the intieldpr unprepared and out Of
position, and itS success lies entirely il
its uneXpectednesS
"l.ance. the leading exponent Of the
delayed steal. made it after this fash
ion. As the ball would be pitched be
would Ieaye first base at top speed
and sprint as hard as he could perhaps
twenty eigbt to thirty five feet. then
stop short. hesitate and act as II he
mad blundered and intended to try to
| regain first base If be succeeded III
dra wing the throw to first base he
proceeded to second at top speed But
in the great majority of cases the
catcher would not attempt to throw TO
either base. but would keep motioning
as if threatening to throw. and all
the time LANCE would be edging back,
inch by inch. toward first. jockeying
with the catcher. The catcher. salts
faI that ct and "a
was useless to throw TO first. would
relax from throwing position, ease
down his arm and get ready to toss
the ball back TO the pitcher. The