he sale of base-ball goods. The
best make is buttoned to a strap which hinds tightly the lower portion
of the body, and this latter feature is itself of great advantage; not
only as a matter of comfort and safety, but also for the sake of
decency, every player should wear one of these straps, the same as
athletes do in other branches of sport.

But, after all, the important factors in successful base-running are yet
to be spoken of, and the foregoing points are merely mechanical aids.
There is no other department of play in which intelligence plays so
important a part, and no matter how clever the player as a starter,
runner, or slider, these faculties will be of little value unless
directed by a quick perception and sound judgment. Indeed, they will
often serve only as traps to lead him into difficulty.

By its very nature a quick perception is an inborn faculty of the mind,
and while it may be developed by constant use, no amount of coaching can
create it. There are some players who are no more capable of becoming
good base-runners than of living under water, so unfitted are they by
nature. The power of grasping a situation and acting upon it at once is
something which cannot be taught.

In order, however, to know when a fair opportunity presents itself, the
runner must be familiar with the chances of play, and this comes only
from experience and close observation. A runner who is thoroughly alive
to all the possibilities of the game will see a chance and gain a point
where another of less ready perception would find no opening. The former
has learned to marshal at a glance all the attendant probabilities and
possibilities and to estimate, in the same instant, the chances of
success or failure.

It is not, however, always best to accept an opportunity when presented,
even where the chances of success are largely in the runner's favor. The
stages of the game must be taken into consideration, and what may be a
perfectly commendable play in one situation may be altogether reckless
and foolhardy in another. Therefore, the most important faculty of all,
the pendulum which regulates, and the rudder which guides, is judgment.
An illustration may make my meaning clear. In the ninth inning, with a
runner on first base and the score a tie, it may be a good play for the
runner to attempt to steal second, because from there a single hit may
send him home. But suppose that, instead of the score being a tie, the
side at bat is