Athletic Sports (extract)

Physical Characteristicsof the Athlete offers the batters from two hundred to three hundred balls a game, superior de­ velopment of the right arm and shoulder is the natural result, although the gym­ nasium training counteracts in a measure this one-sided tendency. Any onefamiliar with the modern style of delivering the ball, the number of times the pitcher turns around to perplex the batter, or watchthe bases, will know that the neck and waist are called upon for a large share of work, and must be developed correspondingly. Where the arms are short, the muscles around the waist and body are used more in pitching. As the leverage in the former case is more favorable than in the latter, this advantage should naturally add to the endurance of the pitcher so favored. In striking, the muscles of the arms, chest, abdomen, and back are brought more or less vigorously into action. In running bases, the legs and arms dothe work,as in "sprinting;" but the lungs arenot brought into full play, as in running longdistances, and the lung-capacity is but slightly in­ creased. The other developments peculiar to base-ball players will, of course, depend largely upon the positions they occupy. In Fig. i 5, <2, b, we have a typical la­ crosse-player. In this game the muscles 94