The evening world., 1912-04-16

For instance" he said, "the players
on several OF the present teams have
been figuring and arguing for a year or
more on the advantage of a certain
play that may sound insignificant to tie
casual reader. Wen say there Is n
runner on second and the batter hits for
a single. II a throw Is made to the
plate to prevent the run from SCORING,
the man who hit the ball will go on to
second and anaybe bring in another
score. Some must be figured u
prevent that advance n at the same
time get the runner at the plate j. pos
yi0le.
.sThe Giants have a system which IL a
good one. but II IL opcn 20 argument.
They make the pitcher so back OF the
catcher to back up the throw from the
field. In the meantime the hrst pase-
man runs to the pitchers box. and !,
IN his Judgment the throw WEI not
carry to the plate. he interccpts II ana
nails the other runner going to second.
You see the second baseanan can pro-
tect first base in case OF n run up ana
the shortstop a cover second. Shouid
the throw get by the catcher, the
pitcher can get the ball.
The other way Of playing II is Tor the
pitcher to stick in the box and inter-
cent the throw. leaving all the Gags
DrOtecteU. III lIt thioW -
the catcher. tho beans would be
sniiied anyway The question as to
which IL the bes. play has been argued
by PLAYERS for two years. ! am In
ciIned TO like the first scheme better.
though II depends entirely upon the
stage Of the game.
II mention this Just TO show that the
players study the ine points OF the
game at all times, and it shows why
baseball has improved. -.
"Another great sign OF improvement
he went ON, 'Is sliding. II o will re-
member, in the old days the runners
| slid a forward. They were in danger
OF getting blocked ard having the.r
hands spiked, Some smart players saw
the advantage of putting the danger on
the baseman Instead OF The runner. and
began TO slide feet forward. The ad.
vantage Of this was quickly seen. ane
now all runners slide feet forward. Al
a consequence the baseman 10 more II
danger than the runner.
Another advantage or sliding zee
forward Is mat the baseman hasn'
much OF n surface to touch. The base
man gradually got on to how to touc'
runners coming In that way and the
tho hook slide was developed. This
a very necessary thing for a runner l
know nowadays. The hook slide con
slsts Of spreading the legs and throw
Ing the body to one side as the runne
iumps. He bends the leg next to IN
bag and his foot hooks to the sack an
slides his body around. On n perfec
hook slide the baseman has notHiing I
touch but the toe Of the runners shoes
and as that has sharp spikes In 1t nj
job IL not an easy one.
The ball player who does not kno'
now to slide Is badly handicapped y
baseball nowadays. aud when he get
on the bags no must be batted around
The Idea of having n sliding pit j
which TO train the players in the sprlnj
is a rood one. I think all the clue
ought to adopt II. There IL a big al
vantage In having a club on which a
the players know the art OF sliding
The art Is not SO much In getting tn
bag but In taking the slide without get
ting hurt. A finished slider knows nov
to protect himself. Many pennants ar
lost by players getting hurt. II the
don't know how TO slide, they are sur
TO get hurt. and the team will be GRIP
Piled Just that much. You take a loo
at the accidents In baseball and you wi
and q great big percentage OF them ar