fielder fails to make a play that he should
fairly have been expected to make.

A fly is a hit caught before touching the ground.

A muff is made when a "fly" or thrown ball, striking fairly in the hands
of a fielder, is not caught.

A grounder is a hit along the ground.

A steal is made when a base-runner gets from one base to another without
the assistance of a base hit or an error.

A wild pitch is a ball thrown by the pitcher out of the fair reach of
the catcher, and on which a base-runner gains a base.

A passed ball is a throw by the pitcher which the catcher should stop
but fails, and by his failure a base-runner gains a base.

For the purpose of distinction, the nine fielders are subdivided into
The Battery, The In-field, and The Out-field. The Battery means the
Pitcher and Catcher, the In-field includes the First, Second, and Third
Basemen, and the Short-stop; and the Outfield is composed of the Left,
Centre, and Right Fielders.

As for the theory of the game, remember that there are opposing sides,
each of which has nine turns at the bat, i.e., nine innings, and the
object each inning is to score as many runs as possible. A run is scored
every time a player gets entirely around the bases, either by his own
hit alone or by the help of succeeding batters, or by the errors of the
opposing fielders, and the team making the most runs in nine innings is
declared the winner. An inning is ended when three of the batting side
have been "put out," and a player may be put out in various ways, as
before enumerated. The umpire is not trying to be unfair, he is doing
the best he can, and instead of abuse he is often deserving of sympathy.

CHAPTER II. TRAINING.

Some one has truthfully said, that ball players, like poets and cooks,
are born, not made, though once born, their development, like that of
their fellow-artists, may be greatly aided by judicious coaching. Of
what this training shall consist becomes then a question of much
importance.

The only way to learn base-ball is to play it, and it is a trite saying
that the best practice for a ball player is base-ball itself. Still,
there are points outside of the game, such as the preliminary training,
diet, and exercise, an observance of which will be of great advantage
when the regular work is begun. The method and style of play and the
points of each position are given in the subsequent chapters, so that I
shall here speak only of those points which come u