SEC. 4. Should the ball become out of shape, or cut or ripped so as to expose the yarn, or in any way so injured as to be--in the opinion of the Umpire--unfit for fair use, the Umpire, on being appealed to by either captain, shall at once put the alternate ball into play and call for a new one.

THE BAT.

RULE 13. The Bat.

SEC. 1. Must be made wholly of wood, except that the handle may be wound with twine or a granulated substance applied, not to exceed eighteen inches from the end.

SEC. 2. It must be round, except that a portion of the surface may be flat on one side, but it must not exceed two and one-half inches in diameter in the thickest part, and must not exceed forty-two inches in length.

THE PLAYERS AND THEIR POSITIONS.

RULE 14. The players of each club in a game shall be nine in number, one of whom shall act as Captain, and in no case shall less than nine men be allowed to play on each side.

RULE 15. The players' positions shall be such as may be a.s.signed them by their Captain, except that the Pitcher must take his position within the Pitcher's Lines, as defined in Rule 5. When in position on the field, all players will be designated "Fielders" in these rules.

RULE 16. Players in uniform shall not be permitted to seat themselves among the spectators.

RULE 17. Every Club shall be required to adopt uniforms for its players, and each player shall be required to present himself upon the field during said game in a neat and cleanly condition, but no player shall attach anything to the sole or heel of his shoes other than the ordinary base ball shoe plate.

THE PITCHER'S POSITION.

RULE 18. The pitcher shall take his position facing the batsman with both feet square on the ground, one foot on the rear line of the "box." He shall not raise either foot, unless in the act of delivering the ball, nor make more than one step in such delivery. He shall hold the ball, before the delivery, fairly in front of his body, and in sight of the Umpire.

When the pitcher feigns to throw the ball to a base he must resume the above position and pause momentarily before delivering the ball to the bat.

THE BATSMEN'S POSITION--ORDER OF BATTING.

RULE 19. The batsmen must take their positions within the Batsmen's Lines, as defined in Rule 9, in the order in which they are named on _the score_, which must contain the batting order of both nines, and be submitted by the Captains of the opposing teams to the Umpire before the game, and when approved by him THIS SCORE must be followed except in the case of a subst.i.tute player, in which case the subst.i.tute must take the place of the original player in the batting order. After the first inning the first striker in each inning shall be the batsman whose name follows that of the last man who has completed his turn--time at bat--in the preceding inning.

RULE 20. SEC. 1. When their side goes to the bat the players must immediately return to and seat themselves upon the players' bench and remain there until the side is put out, except when batsman or base runner. All bats not in use must be kept in the bat racks, and the two players next succeeding the batsman, in the order in which they are named on the score, must be ready with bat in hand to promptly take position as batsman; provided, that the Captain and one a.s.sistant only may occupy the s.p.a.ce between the players' lines and the Captain's lines to coach base runners.

SEC. 2. No player of the side at bat, except when Batsman, shall occupy any portion of the s.p.a.ce within the Catcher's Lines, as defined in Rule 6.

The triangular s.p.a.ce behind the Home Base is reserved for the exclusive use of the Umpire, Catcher and Batsman, and the Umpire must prohibit any player of the side "at bat" from crossing the same at any time while the ball is in the hands of, or pa.s.sing between, the Pitcher and Catcher, while standing in their positions.

SEC. 3. The players of the side "at bat" must occupy the portion of the field allotted them, but must speedily vacate any portion thereof that may be in the way of the ball, or of any Fielder attempting to catch or field it.

PLAYERS' BENCHES.

RULE 21. The Players' Benches must be furnished by the home club, and placed upon a portion of the ground outside the Players' Lines. They must be twelve feet in length, and must be immovably fastened to the ground. At the end of each bench must be immovably fixed a bat rack, with fixtures for holding twenty bats; one such rack must be designated for the exclusive use of the Visiting Club, and the other for the exclusive use of the Home Club.

THE GAME.

RULE 22 SEC. I. Every Championship Game must be commenced not later than two hours before sunset.

SEC. 2. A Game shall consist of nine innings to each contesting nine, except that,

(a) If the side first at bat scores less runs in nine innings than the other side has scored in eight innings, the game shall then terminate.

(b) If the side last at bat in the ninth inning scores the winning run before the third man is out, the game shall terminate, upon the return of the ball to the pitcher.

A TIE GAME.

RULE 23. If the score be a tie at the end of nine innings to each side, play shall only be continued until the side first at bat shall have scored one or more runs than the other side, in an equal number of innings, or until the other side shall score one or more runs than the side first at bat.

A DRAWN GAME.

RULE 24. A Drawn Game shall be declared by the Umpire when he terminates a game on account of darkness or rain, after five equal innings have been played, if the score at the time is equal on the last even innings played; but if the side that went second to bat is then at the bat, and has scored the same number of runs as the other side, the Umpire shall declare the game drawn, without regard to the score of the last equal innings.

A CALLED GAME.

RULE 25 If the Umpire calls "Game" on account of darkness or rain at any time after five innings have been completed by both sides, the score shall be that of the last equal innings played, unless the side second at bat shall have scored one or more runs than the side first at bat, in which case the score of the game shall be the total number of runs made.

A FORFEITED GAME.

RULE 26. A Forfeited Game shall be declared by the Umpire in favor of the club not in fault, at the request of such club, in the following cases:

SEC. 1. If the nine of a club fail to appear upon the field, or being upon the field, fail to begin the game within five minutes after the Umpire has called "Play," at the hour appointed for the beginning of the game, unless such delay in appearing or in commencing the game be unavoidable.

SEC. 2. If, after the game has begun, one side refuses or fails to continue playing, unless such game has been suspended or terminated by the Umpire

SEC. 3. If, after play has been suspended by the Umpire, one side fails to resume playing within five minutes after the Umpire has called "Play."

SEC. 4. If, in the opinion of the Umpire, any one of these rules is willfully violated.

SEC. 5. If, after ordering the removal of a player, as authorized by Rule 57, Sec. 5, said order is not obeyed within five minutes.

SEC. 6. In case the Umpire declares a game forfeited, he shall transmit a written notice thereof to the President of the a.s.sociation within twenty four hours thereafter.

NO GAME.

RULE 27. "No Game" shall be declared by the Umpire if he shall terminate play on account of rain or darkness, before five innings on each side are completed.

SUBSt.i.tUTES.

RULE 28. SEC. 1. In every championship game each team shall be required to have present on the field, in uniform, at least one or more subst.i.tute players.

SEC. 2. One player, whose name shall be printed on the score card as an extra player, may be subst.i.tuted at the end of any completed innings by either club, but the player retired shall not thereafter partic.i.p.ate in the game In addition thereto a subst.i.tute may be allowed at any time in place of a player disabled in the game then being played, by reason of illness or injury, of the nature and extent of which the Umpire shall be the sole judge.

SEC. 3. The Base Runner shall not have a subst.i.tute run for him, except by consent of the Captains of the contesting teams.

CHOICE OF INNINGS--CONDITION OF GROUND.

RULE 29. The choice of innings shall be given to the Captain of the Home Club, who shall also be the sole judge of the fitness of the ground for beginning a game after rain.

THE DELIVERY OF THE BALL--FAIR AND UNFAIR b.a.l.l.s.

RULE 30. A Fair Ball is a ball delivered by the Pitcher while standing wholly within the lines of his position, and facing the batsman, the ball, so delivered to pa.s.s over the home base, not lower than the batsman's knee, nor higher than his shoulder.

RULE 31. An Unfair Ball is a ball delivered by the Pitcher, as in Rule 30, except that the ball does not pa.s.s over the Home Base, or does pa.s.s over the Home Base above the batsman's shoulder, or below the knee.