Word: basemen
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Bunt & Brag. Held down by such deadly pitching, softball games (except when some industrial giant takes on a church-league team) are low-scoring affairs. The bunt is a favorite offensive weapon. Fast-handed fielders are always ready to charge the plate; the first and third basemen often find themselves playing just a few yards from the batter. Then the second baseman covers first, the shortstop covers third and the centerfielder takes over at second. The hit-and-run is rare, since base runners are permitted no lead...
...Berger offered a diagnosis: many of the nation's athletes, from milers to football pros to schoolboy second basemen, are gobbling "pep pills" containing stimulating, habit-forming drugs like amphetamine, commonly known as "dexies" or "bennies." Prodded by Berger, the A.M.A. voted to investigate the "indiscriminate use of these agents, particularly in relation to athletic programs...
...Engle's blunt teaching methods leave his students (30 men, seven women) precious little time for cult cultivation. "Any time you get the men in a room," says the wife of one, "all they talk about is poetry or sports. At least three of them are frustrated second basemen...
...going back to the minors," he told General Manager Gabe Paul. "I don't want to become a baseball bum." Some Cincinnati fans suggested glumly that Hoak was a bum already-as a Dodger in 1954 and '55, he had looked poor next to Third Basemen Billy Cox and Jackie Robinson. Last year as a Cub, he was an unpopular and ineffectual replacement for handsome Ransom Jackson. He hit a piddling .215, set an embarrassing major-league record by striking out six times in a single game with the Giants...
Grote computed the average heights and weights of National Leaguers of 1956 and those of 1936. He found that the composite first baseman today is 6 ft. 2½ in. tall and weighs 203 Ibs., 3 in. taller and 24 Ibs. heavier than the oldtimers. Third basemen are 2 in. taller and 18 Ibs. heavier than those of 20 years ago. Outfielders average 20 Ibs. heavier. Scientists have long known that each generation of Americans is larger than its predecessor, but the trend to larger, stronger ballplayers is not merely the result of genetics and good diet. Choke batters like...