Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-02-07
BASE BALL ON THE INSIDE
WITH BILLY EVANS 1
Being His Opinions on Interesting Features and
SideEghts of the National Come.

, appears on the ascendancy, detracting
from the interest of the game. There
has always been doubt IN my nina
as to whether there IS a real deman
on the part of fandom for more hit
ting ] have alwayS wondered il Il
4 to 5 snappily playel game, wasa t
more interesting than u to 10
drawn -out affair Every now and
item ! realize the fan welcomes a
free hitting affair. but I believe he
would soon tire of IL as a regular
diet
Any suggestions of the many that
have been made that involve the
changing of the distance between
bases also the pitchers distance from
the plate to the rubber, don't strike
me with much favor. l rather think
the present size of the diamond and
the pitching distance are as they
should be. To tinker with either of
those things would be4a wild expert
ment that probably would not have
Ia worth while effect on batting condi-
tons.
1t has been suggested that no bet
ters be regarded as out on foul fly
balls that are caught. That sugges-
ton may have some merit, but /
doubt it. Some of the prettiest plays
have ever seen We're running catches
of base runner to advance after
such fly has been caught adds a
thrill to the game, because nothing
peeves fielder more than to have
runner do SO, and some remarka BILE
throws result in his effort to prevent
such a happening.
Some tinkering might be made with
the foul strike rule that would tend
to Increase the batter's chances.
Many people. some high in base ball
authority, believe the batter is getting
far too much the worst of it, by hav-
ing the first two fouls called strikes.
While they realize such a rule puts
pep into the game by speeding up
the action, they believe it too great
handicap fer most batters to over
come in their pursuit of base hits.
1t has always seemed ashame to
me to have some batsman hit one on
the nose. to the left or RICH field
corner of the park only to have that
great effort charged against him hy
having 1t called strike. It Scems
rather out of proportion TO have 4
batter hit the ball over the fence.
foul matter of inches only, and
have to suffer the penalty of having
a strike called upon him for his
mighty walIop. There might be a
zone restriction that wouli govern
what should be strike, and what
should be overlooked. Of course.
there is doubt in my mind, If it
would be possible to arrange strike
zone that would be satisfactory to all
concerned.
The making of the first two fouls
strikes was done largely to help speed
up the game. 1t did help, and it added
q considerable advantage to any margin
Z n "a hnd h. hot
time. The foul strike, on the whole, has
been very satisfactory reform, al
though there is a question IL it wasn't a
bit overdone. Possibly the calling OF
merely the first foul a strike would have
done enough toward speeding up the
game, and would not have given the
pitcher a too great margin, which now
seems the case.
Each winter brings forth much dis
cussion pertaining to a desire, almost
for more hitting. There are
particularly if no one is
getting on the bases and the feeders are
getting no opportunity to prove their
worth. A pitchers battle doesn't neces-
sarily r1ean the pitchers must do all the
work. Really l don't believe there lis a
demand for big score games. l am al
most positive low score games, in which
runners are getting on, but fine fielding
or bits OF good pitching, keeps cutting
off chances for runs, is more pleasing to
the fan than. contests with fat scores.
And after all the winter discussions de-
handing more hitting may be nothing
more than mere chatter, the opinion OF
a few authorities and not the real de-
sire of the thousands of fans My opin-'
ion is that while the pitching may have
a bit the best of it, the advantage is not,
so great that il is detracting any great
amount of interest from the game
However, it is all a matter of individual,I
opinion.