University of Chicago Nine.

Twenty-seven men are practising for the first baseball nine at the University of Chicago. A space for practising on grounders has been left in the gymnasium unfloored. Stagg bats down grounders to the candidates in succession. The players are taught the utmost quickness both in stopping the ball and in recovery, then accurately and swiftly to return it underhanded and overhanded. Much attention is given to base-sliding, head foremost as well as feet foremost, and to sliding around and in front of the base. A cage, consisting of cord netting suspended from the ceiling and enclosing a space 70 by 30 feet, will be put in position in a week or two for battery work.

In addition to the actual practice in the game, Stagg has prescribed a set of exercises intended to make the body limber. These will be taken every day. Stagg will play on the team but will not try to gain new honors in the box; he will probably take the place behind the bat, for no one has been found yet who has the making of a catcher. Nearly 150 requests for games at Chicago have been made. The guarantee asked is usually enough to cover the expenses of the nine for a week at the Fair. It is expected that a game will be arranged with Yale sometime during the spring.