<h2><SPAN name="JOUEZ_BALLE" id="JOUEZ_BALLE">JOUEZ BALLE!</SPAN></h2>
<p>New and better ideas of child education are steadily making their way.
Nearly every one now acknowledges that the school room should be
primarily a place of entertainment, that the true vocation of the
teacher is to amuse in an instructive manner, and that study is really a
scientific form of play. Also, it is quite generally admitted that
methods which involve mental effort on the part of the child are not to
be tolerated.</p>
<p>So much progress has already been made. But now there has just appeared
a book which bids fair to carry the educational advance as far ahead
again. This book, entitled "A Baseball Primer of French," substitutes
for the conventional pedantry of conjugations, syntax, etc., a vivid
account in French of an imaginary world's series. Any boy who studies it
will understand it instinctively; for if the foreign text prove obscure,
he has only to read the English translation underneath.</p>
<p>The author, Speed Stevens—who, it may<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</SPAN></span> be remembered, was captain of
his college nine,—shows a profound knowledge of baseball. Indeed, it is
on account of his ability as athletic coach that he holds his position
of instructor in French at Croton.</p>
<p>The following extract gives an inkling of the rare pedagogical value of
the book:</p>
<p>Dans le dixième point, avec deux hommes</p>
<blockquote><p>In the tenth period, with two men</p>
</blockquote>
<p>sur bases et un sorti, Harburg éventa. Alors</p>
<blockquote><p>on bases and one out, Harburg fanned. Then</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Bill le Rosseur ramassa sa chauve-souris et</p>
<blockquote><p>Bill the Walloper picked up his bat and</p>
</blockquote>
<p>marcha à grands pas à l'assiette. Hank</p>
<blockquote><p>strode to the plate. Hank</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Harrigan, vrai à ses lauriers de plus grand</p>
<blockquote><p>Harrigan, true to his laurels as the greatest</p>
</blockquote>
<p>vivant tournoyeur sud-patte, partit avec un</p>
<blockquote><p>living southpaw twirler, started off with a</p>
</blockquote>
<p>tirer-dedans qui faisait zip-zip, entaillant une</p>
<blockquote><p>zipping in-shoot, scoring a</p>
</blockquote>
<p>frappe. Le suivant fut un bal. Dugan, au</p>
<blockquote><p>strike. The next a ball. Dugan, on</p>
</blockquote>
<p>premier, descendit avec son bras et vola la</p>
<blockquote><p>first went down with his arm and stole</p>
</blockquote>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>deuxième base, mais Brown fut mis en dehors</p>
<blockquote><p>second base, but Brown was put out</p>
</blockquote>
<p>au troisième. Alors la cruche mis en dessus</p>
<blockquote><p>at third. Then the pitcher put over</p>
</blockquote>
<p>un bal saliveux: frappe deux. Puis, vinrent</p>
<blockquote><p>a spit-ball: strike two. Then came</p>
</blockquote>
<p>encore deux bals. Le comte était maintenant</p>
<blockquote><p>two more balls. The count was now</p>
</blockquote>
<p>trois à deux, et les éventails s'asseyaient sans haleine.</p>
<blockquote><p>three to two, and the fans sat breathless.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Bill assomma une longue mouche qui tomba</p>
<blockquote><p>Bill knocked out a long fly which fell</p>
</blockquote>
<p>volaille. Il suiva celle-ci avec une volaille</p>
<blockquote><p>foul. He followed this with a pop</p>
</blockquote>
<p>poppeuse, qui l'aurait fini n'eut été un</p>
<blockquote><p>fly, that would have finished him,</p>
</blockquote>
<p>manchon stupide de la part de l'attrappeur.</p>
<blockquote><p>but for a stupid muff by the catcher.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Harrigan devenait grincé, et Cathaway,</p>
<blockquote><p>Harrigan was becoming rattled, and Cathaway,</p>
</blockquote>
<p>voiturant de la ligne de côté, lui criait, "Bras</p>
<blockquote><p>coaching from the side-line, yelled at him, "Glass</p>
</blockquote>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>de verre! Il monte! Il monte!" La</p>
<blockquote><p>arm! He's going up! He's going up!" The</p>
</blockquote>
<p>cruche envoya une goutte facile; Bill débarqua</p>
<blockquote><p>pitcher sent an easy drop; Bill landed</p>
</blockquote>
<p>là-dessus carrément, le menant par-dessus la</p>
<blockquote><p>on it squarely, driving it over the</p>
</blockquote>
<p>tête de l'arrête-court, loin dans le champ</p>
<blockquote><p>short-stop's head, far into left</p>
</blockquote>
<p>gauche. C'était un oiseau d'une frappe. Dugan</p>
<blockquote><p>field. It was a bird of a hit. Dugan</p>
</blockquote>
<p>entailla, et puis Bill, gaiement circlant les</p>
<blockquote><p>scored, and then Bill, gaily circling the</p>
</blockquote>
<p>sacs, glissa sauf chez soi, pendant que les</p>
<blockquote><p>bags, slid safe home, as the</p>
</blockquote>
<p>blanchisseurs allaient sauvages.</p>
<blockquote><p>bleachers went wild.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</SPAN></span></p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />
1 of 2
2 of 2
Previous
Next
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.