New Britain herald., 1916-12-09
PLAYING THE GAME
 IN OLDEN TIMES
Ball Players Were Once Allowed
 to Roam About Lot


 player when it comes his time to bat It is a period in the players life when 1 he sinks all mean or great qaltleS l into the determination to smash the ball as hard and as far as possible l All other considerations dwindle into l insignif1cance. He is 8 barbarian so far as feelings of the pitcher are con- cerned, although the two may be the l best of friends. The ball must be hit and hit with cruel might. Therefore in his eagerness while waiting for his turn, he unconsciously edges nearer and nearer to the home plate until he 1 actually interferes with the smooth 1 operation of the game.
 1 That was the case before the lines l were drawn beyond which he was not allowed to stray. and these were not l laid down until 1877, a year after the birth of the National league. Before 1 that year the players of the side at bat were permitted to roam upon foul ground all over the field. and also to ] congregate around the home plate. There were no provisions made for a l bench. The players were tacitly al lowed to use a bench of any descrip- tion. or chairs for that matter, and could place it anywhere they pleased.
 
 adopted requiring the home club to furnish players bench twelve feet long, and immovably fastened to the ground, at each end of which bat rack was fixed, each holding twenty bats, one of which racks was exclus- 1Vely used by the visiting team and the other by the home team. There was no particular location designated, except that the bench had to be placed upon a portion of the ground outside the players lines, which we~, drawn fifty feet from the foul lines.
 AS will be seen. one bench was thought sufficient. each team having the same right to use it. The players then were not so numerous as they are now, first because the professional game was still young, and, second, be- cause no substitutes were allowed, ex- cept in case of illness or injury to any of the regular men. Tn 1886. how over, two benches were required. one for each contesting team.
 Another Change.
 The next change was in 1892. when ! the players benches were not allowed ] to be placed nearer than 25 feet from , the players lines. Tn 1893 the bat 1 racks were done away with. and it was then that the players began to [ spread their bats in all kinds of fancy : figures before their respecvtive bench es only to disturb them ruthlessly in order to chase away a hoodoo or coax ' the favor of fortune. It was the pe- l riod when all the bats of team were ;. choked into common bag and the 1 club assumed the responsibility for their safe delivery at the next stop ping place.
 The number of players on a team
 now increased with the popularity of l the game. The bench was not large l enough to accommodate the actual
 players, to say nothing of the "butters
 in" who thought themselves privileg-
 ed to seat. Therefore in 1906, it was
 explicitly ruled that. outside of the
 players, only the president of the club
 and the manager of the team were a1- 1 lowed to sit on the bench. In 1899
 the president had to vacate and the manager alone was entitled to a seat,
 in addition to the players which is the i rule to this day. when all save the
 leader must be in uniform.
 In the same year. 1899. the rule
 makers ordered that the bench be
 covered with a roof and closed at the
 back and each end. but in fear the players would sufTocate not more than l l six inches wide was allowed under the roof for ventilation. By that time the benches on all ground had been , moved back hard against the grand stand.
 Can't Be Chummy. From an early time players in uni
 form were never allowed to seal
 themselves among the spectators
 When there were no benches, the players lay or sat around the diamond
 at their ease. To hold him on the
 bench, when the bench was intro
 duced, the umpire empowered tf 3 fine the recalcitrant player 50 anf
 finally to eject him from the ground:
 if he did not obey within one minute This remains the rule to the presen l day
 Sometimes in the Olden days the e batter took his time when called te | bat especially when the delay was tt v the advantage of his side. He wa I then so slow in reaching the home = plate that it became intensely exas
 perating. To obviate this in somt r measure, the umpire. when he called r for the batter. was instructed to vel - also for the man Ion deck;" that is d the next man to the batter in the bat 0 ting order. Many not so old reader g can no doubt remember the familia tt cry of Smith at bat and Jones ol l. deck" Even now i. can be heard oc @ casionally when some veteran of th e game is asked to umpire . a scru1 l. game.
 l. Before 1876 batter could be de - clared out if he did not respond to tn e call, but the matter of time to do s
 was left to the discretion of the um
 pire. In that year. however, it wa
 peremptorily decreed that "any bats
 man failing to take his position at ba $ within three minutes after the umpir II bar oa1,ed for the striker shall be de