The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-01-15

today than they were 30 years ago.
 l do not wish to answer that ques- ton idly. I have given 1t consider able thought. In my last chapter l told of my start with the S!a Balti- more Orioles, which I will resume little further on. Prior to that I discussed the recent Worlds series. This, I believe, gives me a good chance to answer that question now. In those thirty years I have seen much of baseball. My greatest asset has been a good memory.
 Baseball Has Improved
 There is no question in my mind but that present day baseball is bet ter. Also there are more good ball players today than there ever were before, simply because there are more people playing ball.
 In those days, if you will recall. there was but one major league. There were but few minor leagues. Consequently there was not so large force of players to draw from. It is very much like a small college try ing to turn out as good football players as one of the big universities. The ones who are selected have. much more chance to be developed and polished in their profession.
 First Base Changes
 The game itself has improved in many ways. To give you an idea, 1t was not until Charley Comiskey's time that first baseman was really an infielder. Before that the first sacker stood right on the bag and balls hit between him and second base went through. l have even seen second basemen stand on the bag in the smaller games. Comiskey, Anson and others started the idea of play ing well off the bag and covered in- field ground like a second baseman, a shortstop or third baseman.
 This in turn developed the idea of the pitcher covering first base in case the first baseman had to go too far for ground ball. One new play like that usually develops another As result we work plays nowadays that were never heard of 30 years ago.
 Most of you can recall when it was considered a wonderful play for a pitcher to leave his box. race over to first base and take the throw from the first baseman. A pitcher who did this got great applause and was ex- tolIed in the newspapers for being "heady" ball player. In this day and time a pitcher is supposed to do that as a matter of course. Nothing Is thought of it. But he Is given ter rible razzing if he fails to do it.
 Covers More Ground
 Another play that has developed is of the shortstop covering third base on a bunt between third and the pitcher. If runner is on second base and the batter bunts toward third the chances are that the third baseman will be drawn In to field the ball and that third will be left un- covered.
 If both the pitcher and the third ba seman should go for the bunt it IS the duty of the shortstop to dash over and cover third base so as to take a throw.
 On more general principles, base ball has improved simply because the equipment is better. In that way 1t is much like billiards. Everything is made as nearly perfect as possible so that there can be no misjudgment of balls due to bad grounds.
 Thirty years ago we had no such perfect grass infields and outfields as we have today. The ground keepers were not expert landscape gardeners. They made a ground fairly good and let it go at that Nowadays a ball. player will kick to the groundkeeper if a single pebble interferes with the bound of a ball. The ground must not be too heavy or too fast. The grass of the infield must be as smooth as a billiard table. In the old days we had to take them as they came. Some grounds were fairly