ion
match games have recently been played by visiting English teams which
attracted considerable attention. As a game, soccer is fast and
exciting, and splendid opportunities are given for team work; but for
some reason it has not succeeded in displacing our American game of
Rugby, although possibly it is more interesting for the spectator.

BADMINTON

An English outdoor game similar to lawn tennis but played with
shuttlecocks. The net is five feet above the ground. The shuttlecock
is a cork in which feathers have been inserted. The shuttlecock is
served and returned as in tennis and either two or four may play. A
badminton court is 30 feet wide and 44 feet long.

BANDY

A game very similar to hockey, except that it is played out of doors
instead of in a covered rink and a ball is used in place of a puck or
rubber disk.

The name "bandy" is sometimes applied also to shinney or shinty and in
England it is also applied to our American game of ice hockey.

BASEBALL

The national game of America. (See chapter on baseball.) The game is
played by eighteen persons, nine on a side, called "nines." The
positions are pitcher, catcher, first base, second base, third base,
shortstop, right-field, left-field, centre-field. The first six
positions are called the in-field, and the last three, the out-field.
The diamond or field where the game is played is a square plot of
ground with sides ninety feet long. At each corner of the square are
bases called first, second, third and home plate. A game consists of
nine innings, in each of which both teams have an opportunity to bat
the ball and to score runs. The players bat in turn and attempt to
reach the various bases without being put out by their opponents. Each
year the rules are changed in some slight particulars, consequently a
beginner in baseball must be thoroughly familiar with the rules of the
game before attempting to play. The pitcher attempts to pitch the ball
over the home plate to the catcher and the batsman endeavours to hit
it. If the ball after being hit is caught by one of the opposing
players, or if it is thrown to the base to which the batsman is
running before he reaches the base, he is "out." Otherwise he is
"safe" and will try to make the next base. If he completes the circuit
of the four bases without being put out, he scores a run for his team
or nine. When a player makes the entire circuit without being forced
to stop for safety he makes a "home r