Page:Spalding's Baseball Guide (1894).djvu/62

 *ing chances for catches; and the rule is that the more such chances are given in a match the weaker the batting.

To "play for the side," in handling the bat, is to make the hits tell all the time in forwarding runners on bases; it is that which constitutes team work at the bat, and that only. The features of scientific batting are "place hitting," "facing for position," "bunting" the ball and "sacrifice" hitting, and each and all of these specialties in batting are potent factors in run getting; and the batting which tells most on the score is that which is most effective in forwarding runners, and not that which runs up a batsman's base hit averages to high figures. The true art of batting is shown when the batsman goes to the bat with the sole purpose of forwarding the runners on the bases. Then it is that place hitting—the perfection of the art—comes into play with telling effect. What constitutes place hitting is the ability to send the ball out of the fair reach of the fielders, with ''the least expenditure of strength in base running''. The model hits, in this respect, which are needed when a runner is on a base, include first, a safe tap of the ball over the heads of the in-fielders, and not far enough out to afford the out-fielders a chance for a catch; secondly, a hard hit "daisy cutter" along the ground, or a twisting hard hit "bounder" just out of fair reach of the in-fielders; thirdly, a bunted ball, so skillfully hit as to make it difficult for either the pitcher or third baseman to field the ball in time to put the runner out at the bat; fourthly a hot "liner" just above the heads of the in-fielders and too low for an out-field catch; fourthly, a telling "sacrifice" hit, made while striving for a base hit—for no sensible batsman purposely hits a ball to have himself put out; and lastly, the try for a homer over the heads of the out-fielders, only admissible when the bases are full and a desperate chance has to be made; for the 120 sprint run which every homer costs is too exhausting in its effects to be indulged in except in special cases.

The weak points in batting include, first, going up to the bat to slug at a swiftly pitched ball with all your force, in order to make a chance hit to the deep out-field; secondly, hitting at the ball without judgment as to its pace or direction, merely trusting to chance, and to hitting hard from the shoulder, as to whether the ball is sent high in the air or not hit at all. One of the most stupid plays at the bat is that of hitting hard from the shoulder at swiftly pitched balls, thereby deadening the elasticity of the ball; a quick, sharp tap of a swift ball frequently sends the ball