The Battle of Base-Ball

C.H. Claudy might have trouble finding a publisher for his Battle of Base-ball today. His yoking of baseball to warfare—accounts of ways to “cripple the enemy” and descriptions of managers as “battlefield generals”—to teach the young and inexperienced about the game would not likely be applauded in the age of political correctness. But as Claudy says in his preface, “The points of similarity are actual, not imagined,” and he spends most of the book, meant to be both instructional and historical, demonstrating his assertion.
Originally published in 1912, this work consists of chapters on batting, running, offensive game planning, the pitcher-catcher battery, fielding, defensive strategy, umpiring, drills (titled “Battlefield and Arms”), major league regulations, and A.G. Spalding’s organizational rules. Christy Mathewson’s “How I Became a Big-League Pitcher” is also included.

C.H. Claudy was the author of 32 books and more than 1,600 essays and short stories. He freelanced for several newspapers and was a correspondent for Scientific American. His photographs of the early Wright brothers’ flights are now at the Smithsonian. The Battle of Base-ball was his only book on the national pastime.

C.H. Claudy. Series Editors Gary Mitchem and Mark Durr
Format: softcover (6 x 8)
Pages: 245
Bibliographic Info: 53 photos, index
Copyright Date: 2005
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2020-9
Imprint: McFarland
Series: The McFarland Historical Baseball Library

Acknowledgments      ix

List of Illustrations      xiii

Editors’ Note      1

Preface      5

1. Base-ball A Battle of Brains as Well as Skill      9

2. Batting      21

3. Base-running      40

4. Generalship of Offense      55

5. Defense—Pitcher and Catcher      76

6. Fielding      96

7. Generalship of Defense      118

8. Drill—Battlefield and Arms      133

9. The Rules—League Law      148

10. Umpiring and Fair Play      167

How I Became a Big-League Pitcher, by Christy Mathewson      185

A.G. Spalding’s Simplified Rules      207

Index      229

“One of the best but least-heralded developments in the recent history of baseball literature was the inauguration of the McFarland Historical Baseball Library in 2003”—I>Spitball; “[a] wonderful read for any fans of the game who want to understand [its] strategies in a new light.”—Journal of Sport History; “invaluable McFarland Historical Baseball Library series”—Edward Achorn, The Providence Journal.