The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-11-30
Batsmen Enjoyed Privileges in Good Old
 Days of Baseball

F'orty4five years ago today, on Nov. 80, 1870, a number of men interest ed in professional baseball held a meeting in New York to consider the rules to govern ths game The dfs.- mond pastin1e as a business. proposf- tions was then in it's infancy. In 1S69s the Cincinnati Red StockinEs had been the only an-professiona club in the field, although the Philadelphia Athletics and az few other clubs had a few paid men, These maintained their amateur standing by being os- tensfbly employed as Butchers bakers or candlestick makers, although they were never found working at their trades. In 1870 there were a score or more club which paid their play CTS regular salaries, or permitted them to share in the gate receipts.
 Among the rules adopted at the New York meeting for governing the professional game was one which gave to the batter the privilege of calling for high or low ball This was nothing new, for from the dim beginnings of the game the batsmen had enjoyed that privilege. The anna feur players of the '60s could direct the pitcher to deliver the pellet knee, waist or shoulder high, as suited his fancy, and the twirler was bound to do his best to follow instructions.
 Of all the old rules governing the American pastime, this seems the strangest to the present day fan, yet it prevailed in both amateur and pro- fessional circles as late as 1886, and was not finally abolished until 1887. Since then it has been the business of the pitcher to baffle the batter. and, as a result, baseball has been almost transformed.
 For purposes of comparison the old records of baseball are well nigh use less, for the changes in the code of baseball adopted at a meeting in Cleveland in 1887 were revolutionary in their nature. The batting hero of the early, days would almost certainly be made to look like a, monkey by .a minor league twirler of the era And this brings up the question;
 If Ty Cobb could bat .369 this year when opposing pitchers master Of the flinging trade, did their darndest to put the pill where Ty didn't want it, what could the Georgia Peach accom- plish if he had the privilege of telling the twirlers exactly where he wanted 'ern ? Why, there wouldn't be enough figures in a battery of linotypes to give Tvs batting average.
 It would be a highly interesting e1l- pertinent, and one that would doubt less be welcomed by the fans, if two clubs Of major league stars should pull off 8 game under the old rules in vogue in the '7os. They rolled up some pretty big scores in those days but doubtless they would look pifflng7 compared with what could be accom- plished in that line today.
 The pitching would have to be made underhand, and curves would be taboo. Under the earliest rules the batsman could use any style, size orTweight of bat he might choose. It- could be ten feet long and weigh al hundred pounds if desired. No strtzesf would be called unless the batter1 swung and missed. In some of thee old games a. twirler put over forty on. fifty balls before a strike was called on the batsman.
 A nine-inning game under such rules, if played by stars of the present time. would probably last several days. The chief handicap to the bats1 men would probably be the rule that ''But one base al1oweC w-en the ball bounds out of the field. when struck