Page:Spalding's Baseball Guide (1894).djvu/66

 at the bat must be combined with it, and the Boston champions of 1893 practically exemplified this important point very finely. John M. Ward in commenting on the Boston's team work play in this respect, said:

"I have never, in my twelve years' experience on the diamond, seen such skillful playing. The Boston players use more headwork and signals than any other team in the country, and that alone is the reason why they can win the championship with such apparent ease. McCarthy is the chief schemer. He is the man who has introduced this new style of play into the team and he has been ably assisted by Nash, Duffy, Long, Lowe and Carroll. These men have the utmost confidence in one another's ability to carry out instructions, and they work together as one man. 'Team work in the field' used to be a prime factor in a pennant winning team, but now 'team work at the bat' is the latest wrinkle, and the Bostons have it down fine. One thing that has facilitated their innovation is an ability to bat scientifically and run bases more swiftly than players of other teams. But to this ability must be added headwork, a complete system of signals, and confidence in themselves and one another. I have made a study of the play of this team, and I find that they have won many games by scoring nearly twice as many runs as they made hits."

The fact was that the Boston team led all the clubs in total runs scored, their average of runs per game being 7-98 and their total runs 1,003, the tail end teams figures in run-getting being 5-65 average and 703 total. This shows how valuable the combination is. Ward, in his description of the strong play of the Boston team in their combination of team-work play at the bat with brainy base running, says:

"Say, for instance, that they have a man on first and nobody out. Under the old style of play a sacrifice would be the proper thing. Then the man on first would reach second while the batsman was put out. The Bostons, however, work this scheme: The man on first makes a bluff attempt to steal second, but runs back to first. By this it becomes known whether the second baseman or the short stop is going to cover second for the throw from the catcher. Then the batsman gets a signal from the man on first that he is going to steal on a certain pitched ball. The moment he starts for second the batsman just pushes the ball for the place occupied only a moment before by the infielder who has gone to cover second base. That is, if the second baseman covers the bag the batter pushes the ball slowly to right field; if it is the short stop, the ball is pushed to left field. Of course, it takes a skillful batter to do this, but they have such hitters on the Boston nine. Now, when that ball is pushed to the outfield, the man who has already started to steal second just keeps right on to third, while the batsman is safe at first. Then the trick is tried over again and in most cases successfully. The man on first makes another bluff to steal, and when the batsman learns who is to cover second base he pushes the ball out again, the man on third scoring, the man on first reaching third, and the batsman gaining first."

In Spalding's book on "," the editor has this to say on the art of base running:

"Each season's experience only shows more and more the fact that good base running is one of the most important essentials of success in winning games. Effective pitching is a great aid to success, so is skillful batting; but it is equally as necessary to a successful issue of a contest after a base has been obtained by a good hit, that other bases should be secured by skillful running of bases. It is a difficult task to get to first base safely in