Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium by Jessie Hubbell Bancroft (top novels of all time .txt) 📕

GROUND.—The ground is divided into two equal parts, with a line through the center. In the center of each of the two fields a circle is drawn for the captain's base, four feet in diameter. At equal distances around this a series of small circles for bases is drawn, the series outlining the arc of a large circle open to the center or dividing line. The small bases (circles) should be each three feet in diameter. Their number will depend upon the number of players, but they should not be closer than six feet to each other and ten feet from the center base.

Each base in the accompanying diagram is lettered to make clearer the order of progression, but when this order is once understood, it is not necessary to number the bases on the ground.

TEAMS.—The players are divided into two even teams, each consisting of a captain, two fielders, and a number of basemen, one for each of the small outer circles or bases. In addition, there should be a guard for each baseman and one for the captain.

The players are disposed as follows: The captain stands in the center base, with a guard outside the base. Each of the basemen stands in one of the smaller outer bases, with a guard outside his base. The fielders, at the opening of the game, face each other at the center of the dividing line.

OBJECTS OF THE GAME.—The objects of the game are (1) to send the ball in a complete circuit of the outer bases; and (2) to throw the ball from a baseman to the captain on his side of the field.

START.—The game is started by the referee throwing the ball up between the fielders, who jump for it and try to bat it toward their own captain and basemen. Whenever a score is made, the ball is put in play again as at first.

RULES.—The captain may not step outside his base. A ball caught in this way does not score, but the misstep is not a foul unless with both feet. The outer basemen may put one foot outside their bases when trying to catch the ball. A guard must stay within three feet of the base he guards, and may not step within it. Guards, of course, try to prevent the basemen from getting the ball or to prevent its being thrown to the captain, and to intercept it as it makes the round of the circle. They also try to get the ball to throw to the basemen on their own side. The fielders, aside from jumping for the ball when it is put into play, may move anywhere in the field. Their chief office is to get the balls which go out of bounds, no one else being allowed to do this. Fielders may play the ball if it comes their way, but they must not interfere with guards. A ball thrown from a guard or fielder does not score.

PROGRESSION.—The distinctive feature of this game is the method of progression. To make this plainer, the players in the diagram are designated by numbers as well as by teams. Thus, "X" indicates all players on one team, and "O" all players on the other team, each player carrying a number, X-1, X-2, X-3, etc. The method of progression is as follows:—

After the ball has scored a point, the two fielders, X-13 and O-13, move to base A. O-13, as he is now crossing to his home side of the field, goes inside of base A as baseman, and X-13 becomes his guard; the other two fielders, X-14 and O-14, go to base F, the home man, X-14, going inside the base, and O-14 becoming his guard. It will thus be seen that the two fielders bearing the lower number (13) go to the first base, A, and those bearing the higher number (14) go to the base bearing the highest letter, F. At the same time that the fielders make this change, each baseman and his attendant guard move one base farther up; that is, baseman O-1 and guard X-7 move from base A to base B; baseman O-2 and his guard X-8 move from base B to base C; and so on. The last baseman on this side, O-5, and his guard, X-11, move to the center or captain's base, the previous captain and his guard taking the place of the fielders who stood nearest base E. On the other side of the field the progression is made in the same way, so that the order of progression is always from bases A, B, C, D, and E to the captain's base, and from the captain's base to fielders. When a player has made the complete circuit of one side, he progresses from fielder's position to the opposite side; that is, after the players who started in base A (basemen O-1 and guard X-7) become fielders, they progress by going to base F, instead of back to base A. This change comes easily if the captain from the base occupied at first by X-6 always takes his place as fielder nearest base A; the fielders nearest A always going to A, and the other fielders to F.

FOULS.—(1) Touching the ball when it is in another player's hands; (2) walking or running with the ball; (3) stepping out of his base by the captain to catch the ball; (4) stepping out of the bases with both feet by the basemen; (5) moving by a guard more than three feet from the base he guards; (6) stepping over the center line into the opponents' territory; (7) two fielders from the same side going after the ball at once when it goes out of bounds.

PENALTY FOR FOULS.—No score is made on fouls, the penalty being the loss of the ball to the opposite side. The ball under these circumstances goes to the player on the other side, who stands in a corresponding position to the one who made the foul.

SCORE.—A ball thrown from a baseman to his captain scores one point. A ball completing a circuit of the outer basemen scores two points. The side wins which has the highest score when time is called. The game may be played in from thirty to sixty minutes' time.

10 to 60 players.

Gas ball.