The Washington times., 1926-02-03

83k1 anu TunulMgs
IN base running as in batting
he eve should always govern you
Keep your eye on the ball every
minute. Make q point Of studyinG
The actions and mannerisfns Of tbs
iopposing feeders. Concentra j OF
will do this much more rapidly than
,-ou may suppose. Take them one
at 4 time and study their habits 50
'as 10 have q pretty good idea what
they will do In certain circunl
stances. Some men win return the
hall quickly whether q play is In.
tended or not: others viii fuss
around with it to see what the base
runner fnterds to do. It is easy to
SPOT them.
Now If you observe q fielder
Who habitually fusses with the
baIl you viii often be able 60 take
fwO bases instead Of one. The
same may be said of the catcher.
study him closely and you viii
have = pretty good idea when to
steal.
BY studying the psychology Of
my opponents I soon caught the
knack OF taking an extra base.
Eanaged to play them instead Of
feIting them play me- an idea that
BID George Leidy fnsti1led in me
Nay back in my early days.
Eddie Collins has often told me
that the best base running play I
ever pulled was at his. expense and
because he took 1t for granted that
y woula act in a certain way. He
mas sent me an article he wrote
AbOut this FOR magazine.
In a game AGAINST the Athletics
u had hit two bagger into deem
right center. II was good for two
bases but apparently no more
had studied the fielder and knew
his manner Of Iobbing the bali up
making q sudden throw to second
when he thought the runner would
80 too far over the bag.
In this way ! ran down to sec
end, going about eight feet over
the bag where I pulled up as Is
20 stop. The idea of three bases
seemed out Of the question.
stopped as II TO walk leisurely
back to the bag. Just then the
fielder shot the ball to Collins. He
swung around as IL to touch me.
Instead of stopping. though. took
q fresh jump and started for third
lust as the ball was thrown. Barry
yelled to Collins too late. As he
swung around to touch me I was
shaking the dust off my clothes at
third.
Now. the point I make is that
n baIlDlayer, even with ordinary
epeed. could do that. There are
many faster men than j. My adj
vintage came In having studied
the way those two players ham
died fwO-base hits. But Collins
was too smart to ever let me do
fflaf again. He studied me after
fi,af and we used to have some
great battles Of wits.
The main thing in base running is
70 perfect your Judgment OF dis
lance and speed. In going from
second TO third, for example.
PLAYER should never be caught. He
should have enough lead before
ne starts. He should know his
own speed ana that Of the ball. IL
he has the lead he will steal the
base successfully. II he hasn't
enough lead he should never start.
That sounds simple and 1t Is
simple. Don't be afraid of it.
All base stealing depends prin-
cipaIly upon the lead the runner
takes off the base. You should
make a point of getting just as
far off the bag as possible, but
not so far that there will be any
danger of your being caught off.
Much practice of this viii soon
train your mind. The most Inn
portant point is to always have
your body in position where you
can start back to the. bag just 9s
easily as you can take the jump
toward second. Keep you feet
pretty well together 50 that you
can not be caught flat-footed-that
Is, unable to start in either direction
quickly
Many bases are stolen because
the infielders are caught mapping.
A good base runner win try to
keep them nervous and apprenen-
afve every moment Make a false
start as often as you please. the
more the better. BY being con-
stantly on your toes and active
they will be in doubt, At the same
time make point OF studying
them. Often you can tell by the
way a second baseman or short
stop moves instinctively toward the
bag which one of them is to cover.
Won can also tell by the man.
merisnls Of the catcher-sOme
eatehers-wilen he is getting