ough about to pitch and stand there; he should take all the time the
umpire will give him. This will allow him to give and receive any
necessary signal from the catcher, it will rest him and thus enable him
to hold his speed, and, finally, it will work upon the nerves and
eyesight of the batter. The batter will grow impatient and anxious, and
unless his eyes are very strong the long strain in a bright light will
blear his sight.

FIELDING THE POSITION.

Some pitchers seem to harbor the impression that nothing else is
expected of them but to pitch the ball, and the effect of this opinion
is to diminish their worth to a very great extent: A pitcher is just as
much a fielder as any of the other players, and may render his side
efficient service by his ability to properly care for this part of his
work.

I have already spoken of throwing to bases to catch runners, and it is
unnecessary to say anything further except to again caution against too
much of it. A pitcher should throw only when there is a chance of making
the put-out.

In fielding ground-hits he must exert considerable activity on account
of the very short time allowed him. He should have the courage to face a
hard hit, because on account of the position of the second baseman and
short-stop such a hit will generally be safe if he does not stop it, or
at least turn its course. It is his place to get all "bunted" hits. It
is a mistake to break up the in-field by bringing a third baseman in
close to get hits which a live pitcher should be able to field. When a
batter who is likely to bunt the ball comes to the bat, the pitcher must
be ready at every ball pitched to move in the direction of the third
base line, where such hits are always made. There are some pitchers,
such as Galvin and Van Haltren, against whom it is not safe to try a
bunt, but, as I have said, many others seem to think they are expected
only to pitch.

On a hit to the first baseman the pitcher should cover the base, and if
the hit is slow or if the baseman fumbles it he may still have time to
toss the ball to the pitcher. The pitcher should not wait until he sees
the fumble before starting, but the instant the hit is made go for the
base; he will then be there and ready to receive the ball and not be
forced to take it on the run. So, too, the occasion may arise when he
should cover second or third, where some combination of play has taken
the baseman away and left the base uncovered. In all c