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 as to be—in the opinion of the Umpire—unfit for fair use, he shall, upon appeal by either Captain, at once put the alternate ball into play and call for a new one.

THE BAT.

The Bat:

Must be made wholly of hard wood except that the handle maybe wound with twine, or a granulated substance applied, not to exceed eighteen inches from the end.

It must be round, not exceed two and one-half inches in diameter in the thickest part, and must not exceed forty-two inches in length.

THE PLAYERS AND THEIR POSITIONS.

The players of each club in a game shall be nine in number, one of whom shall act as Captain, and in no case shall less than nine men be allowed to play on each side.

The players' positions shall be such as may be assigned them by their Captain, except that the Pitcher must take the position as defined in Rules 8 and 20.

Players in uniform shall not be permitted to occupy seats among the Spectators.

Every Club shall adopt uniforms for its players, but no player shall attach anything to the sole or heel of his shoes other than the ordinary base ball shoe plate.

PLAYERS' BENCHES.

The Players' Benches must be furnished by the Home Club, and placed upon a portion of the ground outside of, and not nearer than twenty-five feet to, the Players' Lines. One such bench must be for the exclusive use of the visiting club and one for the exclusive use of the home club, and the players of the competing teams shall be required to occupy their respective benches during the progress of the game.

THE GAME.

Every Championship Game must be commenced not later than two hours before sunset.

A Game shall consist of nine innings to each contesting nine, except that

(a) If the side first at bat scores less runs in nine innings than the other side has scored in eight innings, the game shall then terminate.

(b) If the side last at bat in the ninth innings scores the winning run before the third man is out, the game shall terminate.