what kind of a ball is to be pitched, so that he may be in the
proper position to receive the ball, be it high or low, to left or right.
Some pitchers, however, prefer to reserve their choice of balls and
therefore do the signalling themselves. The catcher wears a mask, a
breast-pad, and a large glove, without which the position would be a very
dangerous one.

[Illustration: Diagram of Base-ball Field.]

As every batsman upon hitting the ball must run for the first-base, the
first-baseman must be a sure catch of balls thrown to head runners off,
even those thrown too low, high or wide. A tall man is usually chosen for
this position. The second-baseman usually stands about 30 ft. to the right
of second-base and back of the line between the bases, and attends to balls
batted to his side of the diamond. He also backs up any exposed position
and must be ready to cover second-base whenever a runner tries to steal
down from first-base, or whenever there is a runner on second-base, a duty
which he shares with the short-stop, whose position corresponds to that of
the second-baseman on the left side of the diamond. Short-stop must be a
quick and accurate thrower and a lively fielder, as he is required to back
up second- and third-base. Both he and the second-baseman must field ground
balls cleanly and are often called upon to catch fly balls also. The
requirements of third-baseman are very similar, but he must be an
exceptionally good thrower, as he has the longest distance to throw to the
first-base; and as he plays nearer to the batsman than do the
second-baseman and the short-stop, the balls batted in his direction are
apt to be faster and more difficult to field. One of the third-baseman's
chief duties is to be ready to run in towards the batsman to field "bunts,"
_i.e._ balls blocked by allowing them to rebound from a loosely held bat.
These commonly roll slowly in the direction of third-baseman, who, in order
to get them to first-base in time to put the runner out, must run in, pick
them up, usually with one hand, so as to be in position to throw without
the loss of an instant, and "snap" them to the first-baseman, _i.e._ throw
them underhand without taking time to raise his body to an erect position.
Many of these bunts can be fielded either by the pitcher or, if they drop
dead in front of the home-plate, by the catcher. The positions of the three
outfielders can be seen on the diagram. Their duties consist of catching
al