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 way of lessening the power of the pitcher to throw a swift ball to the bat, but it had a material effect on the delivery of pitchers, who were well practised in special curves in their delivery, and then had to practice new methods in order to get the curved ball over the plate. Some lost the efficiency of their curves under the increased distance, but majority rather improved their work by it, especially the strategic class.

THE BATTING OF 1893.

There is no questioning the fact that the batting department of the game is far behind the point of excellence reached in the fielding department, as also in the "battery" work and the base running. The cause of this lies chiefly in the failure of teams to devote as much time and attention to effective batting practice as they do to practice in pitching, fielding and base running. Look at the hours wasted each day of a match in practicing "fungo" hitting in order to give the fielders practice, in which the batsmen hit at balls falling perpendicularly to the ground, while in the game proper they face balls which come to the bat on a horizontal line. It is absurd to expect improvement in batting while this old rutty style of batting practice is indulged in. Proper training practice at the bat can only follow the plan of pitching the balls to the bat, and not by batting at balls dropping from the air.

Of course, this "fungo" practice is interesting to the crowd, from the excellent practice it gives the fielders; but if a practice pitcher was placed in the box to deliver balls to the bat, not only would practice be given to the fielders, but also practice in base running in batsmen running to first base, besides which the batsmen would be afforded opportunities to practice place hitting.

Considerable improvement was shown in the League arena in the batting department of the game in 1893 over the work done in '92, but there still remains an ample field for further advance in the art of batting. More attention, however, was given to what is termed scientific batting, last year, than ever before; the best field captains of '93 making more of a speciality of team work at the bat than a majority of their predecessors had ever attempted to do.

Nevertheless skillful handling of the ash, with the sole end in view of forwarding runners on the bases, was at a premium in '93, the majority of batsmen going in for the old method of chance hitting and for what is technically called "fungo" hitting, viz., hitting the ball high in the air to the out-field, a style of play in batting which is fruitful in yield