[Chrootssh-users] Ided into The Battery, The In-field, and

[Stickrath U. <ven...@ca...>]

Ar to notice him, pretending to be interested only in the batter, but
watching the runner closely all the time. Suddenly, and without the
least warning, he should snap the ball to the baseman. If the pitcher
will choose a time when the runner is on the move away from the base the
batter will be off his balance and may be caught before he can recover.
For the third base it may be advisable to have a signal with the baseman
to notify him of a throw. It is very seldom possible to catch a runner
off third by a throw from the pitcher, though it may sometimes be done.
Clarkson and Galvin both accomplish it at times, though they always do
it by the aid of a "balk." Clarkson's method is this: With a runner on
first and one on third, the man on first will usually try to steal
second, and if the ball is thrown there to catch him, the runner on
third tries to score. In this situation Clarkson makes a slight forward
movement of the body as though about to pitch, and the runner on third,
being anxious to get all possible ground, moves forward. With the same
motion, and before the runner can recover, Clarkson, by a prior
understanding with the third baseman, throws to the base, the baseman
meets the ball there, and before the runner has quite realized what has
happened, he is "out." I have reason to know the working of this little
scheme, because I was caught by it in Chicago last season in a very
close game. The "balk" was palpable, and I made a strenuous "kick," but
the umpire refused to see it that way. A pitcher should not be misled by
what I have said into too much throwing to bases. He should throw only
when there is a fair chance of making the put-out; for all other
purposes, as to hold the runner close to the base, a feint will answer
just as well and does not entail the possibility of an error. STRATEGY.
A strategic pitcher is one who depends for success not simply on speed
and curves, but who outwits the batsman