[greymule]

Many thanks, Brian.

I posted the photos of the 4th ball of two intentional walks because of how far outside the catchers stood. From the film itself, it seems that the catchers were planting themselves way outside before the release.

The catchers also often stood up as the pitcher was winding up and then moved down into the crouch as the pitcher's arm came around. Of all the differences between modern baseball and play in the 1940s, that one may be the most striking.

The photo entitled "Positioning" shows where the umps usually called plays at 1B. This was a grounder to 2B. Often they were practically on top of the bag in foul territory.

The photos of the batter with one foot apparently over the front line also reveal the lack of an inner line of the box. However, in other games, the inner line was clearly there. Maybe the groundskeepers found themselves out of lime before that game.

It is also possible that the picture of what the film claims is the first batter of the game is actually a picture of a later at bat of the same player. In those days, with their limited photographic resources, the filmmakers often did things like that. The inner line might have been rubbed away by that time (though the outer lines do look pretty good). It might also explain how the baselines got destroyed before any play had occurred. On the other hand, the films indicate that the baselines were not redrawn before every game. Evidently, as long as some kind of line was visible, they didn't bother putting new lime down, even for the World Series.

[Edited by greymule on Feb 22nd, 2006 at 09:31 AM]