How to Play First Base

From the first chapter... ADVANCE IN FIRST BASE PLAY In none of the seven regular fielding positions on a ball team has there been so marked and distinctive an advance in scientific system of play during the development of the sport as in the defensive methods of first base play. The past thirty years have witnessed many changes in the game, especially in the battery departments and in various phases of team work. It is known to every player and to every follower of the sport that the art of pitching has progressed rapidly and remarkably, since the days of the underhand heave. It is also well recognized that there has been a wonderful advance in the work of the man behind the bat, due largely to the introduction of large mitts, masks, protectors and shin guards. But of the seven other positions, first base alone has been most highly developed. In the old days, when professional base ball first began its long and glorious career, the requirements for playing the initial sack were not numerous. The principal requisites were height, in order that the fielder might be able to reach high throws and pull them down, and batting ability. The first sackers of the early period were almost invariably large men, of the type of Dan Brouthers, Captain Adrian C. Anson and Roger Connor, heavy hitters and long drivers. If a big man was found who could hit hard and regularly, he was usually placed at first base. The fielding requirement was small in the early days. The first baseman was expected to do little but catch thrown balls on assists from the infielders. He played close to the base, covered only a comparatively small territory and speed was not insisted on, in his case. Charley Comiskey, formerly manager of the St. Louis Browns of the old American Association, later manager of the Cincinnati Reds and for many years owner of the Chicago White Sox of the American League, was the first man to attempt a more widely diversified defensive play. Comiskey, who in his playing days was a lithe and speedy athlete, discovered that he could help his club immensely by taking a position much farther away from the bag than had ever been attempted before. He was the first guardian of the position to play what is called a deep field. He showed that first base need not be a perfunctory position, involving merely the catching of thrown balls, but that the first baseman could cut off many ground hits and fly balls by covering a wider territory than had been the custom up to his time. The winning of four pennants by the Browns under his leadership was at least in some measure due to his own advanced system of playing his position at the first corner of the diamond. Fred Tenney, who played first base for the Boston Nationals through the '90s and far into the present century, was the next man to add developments to the position. Tenney was the first great left-handed first baseman. When he started to play first base for Boston, he was a young man, just out of college, speedy and active. He played a deeper first than Comiskey and made good use of his left arm in throwing out runners at second and third bases....