“I thought you said it only took one man to catch a ball.” Again Hal tried to explain. “You see, when a batter hits the ball the fielders try to stop it and throw it to the base ahead of the runner. If the ball gets there before the batter, he’s out. If he gets there first he is still in the game. The player who throws to the base is credited with an assist, or a put out if he catches the ball before it hits the ground.” “But why doesn’t the batter run if he hit the ball?” “Foul ball,” said Hal. “A foul ball, that is a ball which strikes the ground outside of those white lines” (pointing to the foul lines left and right) “doesn’t count as a hit. For a hit, a ball must be fair, which means striking inside those lines. A foul ball counts as a strike, but if it is caught it’s an out.” “I see,” said Parker. The game had meantime proceeded. Ross had three balls and two strikes. The pitcher sent up the deciding one. “Four balls, take your base,” called the umpire. Ross walked down to first. “Why doesn’t he run?” asked Parker. “He doesn’t have to run,” replied Hal. “But you said if he got four balls he could run to first base.” This showed Hal that Parker was absorbing the points and he took some encouragement. “They usually let them walk on four balls, as he can take his base on a walk by the time the pitcher is ready again,” he replied. By this time Ross had reached first and was standing there with one foot on the bag. “Why doesn’t he take the base if it is his?” was the next question. “He doesn’t really take the base,” explained Hal. “He is simply entitled to go to it and be ready to run to second base.” He saw that he would have to be very careful in his choice of words if he was to teach Parker much of the game. Everson was next at bat. He hit the first ball for a long fly to left and started on a slow trot toward first, while Ross remained at the bag. “Why doesn’t the fellow on first run?” asked Parker. “He is waiting to see if the ball is caught,” said Hal. “Can’t he run unless the ball is caught?” Parker went on. “Not on a fly. He has to wait until the ball is caught. After a fly is caught he can run to the next base.” The fielder muffed the ball and Ross ran like the wind to second, Everson reaching first easily. “I thought you said he couldn’t run until the ball was caught. That fellow out there missed it,” came from Parker. “I ought to have told you at first that if a fielder muffs a fly ball everybody runs, except in the case of a foul,” explained Hal. “Yes, but there are only two of them running,” Parker replied. Hal laughed. Everybody near them was paying more attention to them than to the game. They were calling Parker “the Rube.” One freshman said: “Get a copy of the ‘Book of Rules,’ Rube, and learn it by heart before the next game.”