Clipping:The ideal balance of pitching and hitting; experiment with reduced number of balls
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| Date | Sunday, October 3, 1880 |
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| Text | [Buffalo vs. Chicago 10/2/1880] The average of the [proportion of first-base hits to times at bat] has been less than one hit to three times at bat. In order to put the game on an even footing as between the batting and fielding sides, it should be an even thing for the average batsman when he steps up to the plate, whether he makes a base hit or goes out. That is, the average batter should be able to make a record of .500 instead of .333, and, of course, the heavy batter should be able to do better than that. With the chances evenly balanced, there would be a good chance for the display of skill on both sides. The object of the game is to put the ball in play, and, in order to do this, it must be hit. The heart of the problem is to get frequent hits, with as few of them as possible over the heads of the outfielders, which puts it out of play, practically, for the time being. This was the point sought to be obtained in yesterday afternoon's game. To this end the number of called balls was reduced to six, and the number of strikes to three, without any “fair-ball” warning to the batsman. Narrowing the number of balls to be called to this extend forced the pitchers to be more careful in their delivery in order to avoid sending batsmen to the base on called balls. The consequence was that they were less puzzling, and the batsmen hit with more confidence. The cutting of one-fourth of the balls also had the effect of bringing batsmen to the plate in more rapid succession, thereby enlivening the game to that extent. The innovation seems a good one... |
| Source | Chicago Times |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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