Inside baseball is an
offensive strategy that focuses on teamwork and good execution. It usually centers on tactics that keep the ball in the
infield:
walks,
base hits,
bunts, and
stolen bases. One such play, where the
batter deliberately strikes the pitched ball downward onto the infield surface with sufficient force such that the ball rebounds skyward, allowing the batter to reach first base safely before the opposing team can field the ball, remains known as a
Baltimore chop. Another term in use in the 1890s for this style was "scientific baseball", referring to calculated one-run game strategies based on intelligent, cooperative actions of the players. A 1911 article in
The New York Times described "scientific baseball":Scientific baseball of to-day – "inside ball" they call it – consists in making the opposing team think you are going to make a play one way, then shift suddenly and do it in another. McGraw in his book writes: "So-called inside baseball is mostly bunk. It is merely working out of definite plans that the public does not observe". This strategy did not rely on big hits and
home runs ==See also==