Clipping:Spectators want more offense; moving the pitcher back
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| Date | Saturday, December 2, 1882 |
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| Text | [from a letter to the editor] I was glad to seem some time ago that the veteran manager, Harry Wright, would have brought forward at the coming League meeting certain changes in the rules, with the object of increasing the batting and thus adding interest to the game. I was glad to see that at last somebody seemed to appreciate the fact, that all patrons of base ball are not experts and able to thoroughly appreciate the very find displays of fielding we frequently have in games between our best professional teams to the exclusion of batting and its attendant base-running. The managers and directors of our base ball clubs should understand that they are conducting an amusement for the entertainment of the public at large, and not for the few. What would be thought of Manager Miles if he insisted in giving a continuous round of tragedies at this theaters just because many of the best posted in dramatic art claimed that such plays called for the highest exhibition of histrionic genius? The public demands all kinds of entertainments, from the highest to the lowest, from the tragedy to the comic opera, and so it is only, perhaps, in a less degree with base ball. More life must be infused into the game, more spirit and more activity, and this can not be accomplished in any other way than by increasing the batting. It gives greater opportunities for brilliant play in the out field, and for nerve and skill in the in-field, enlarges the opportunity for five base-running, and promotes a general activity. The question, then, is how are we to obtain this great desideratum? Harry Wright advocates increasing the distance from the home base to the pitcher’s box, thus intending to decrease the pitcher’s efficiency by lessening the speed of the ball, and also giving the batsman more time to judge of the curve, thus increasing his chances in hitting the ball successfully. |
| Source | Cincinnati Commercial Tribune |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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