Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-09-04
TIE AMERICAN BASE BALL CLUES IN ENGLAND
CRICKET vs.. BASE BALI
The Americans Astonish John Bull in Cricket

| Electors Of the national mind In all questions
| brought before Its notice, have not had fnn OPP
| portunity to scan the national game OF America
| as represented by its two leading clubs, AMI
| their criticisms are such as 70 justify the i'm
| pressions heretofore formed by your correspond
| ent and expressed in previous letters. The
| London Saturday Review in its last issue elabO-
rated to tie extent Of a CO urn its ideas OF the
| novel game in comparison with cricket. The
| man Of the Review probably witnessed one OF
| the games which were played in London. as he
| seems to have made himself familiar with the
lengthy denonstr alton Of the fact III il is fsct1
| that as a mans nature il most readily detected
| in his unguarded moments, 50 the characters
tics OF nation appear most clearly in its games
Here he takes occa aston TO speak OF the ssoool-
ness, persistency snd careful skill Of the Eng
lish, as exemplned in their cricket exercise
THE SPIRIT eP INDEPENDENCE
| which leads Americans to strike out a new
| game to be more especially their own. Still he
can hardly allow that base ball Is an American
| invention, for further on he says:
"Yet in the essence OF base ball there Is no.
| thing new. letter In the Times has pointed
| out that in l7S game called base ball va.
played by the family of Frederick, Prince OF
Wales. IL is possible that the resemblance be-
tween this and the American game OF to-day
| extends further than the name. The origin OF
| to the club bail OF the fourteenth century. In
STRUTS Sports and Pastimes there is a repre-
sentstion Of two men engaged in this smase-
| ment, OF in one very closely akin 30 IL. One IL
delivering q ball to the other, who stands with
the deprecating aspect which seems insepsrsble
from medic val figures, ready TO receive It with
/ q rude kind OF club. In this delivery OF a ball
| and its reception with bat, the germ both OF
cricket and bsse ball is easily recognI zed. IL 1.
curious that the attitude Of the two figures is
| more nearly approached in base ball thar Ia
| cricket. This may be taken as an indication
either that the American game is an interue-
| diate step between club ball and cricket, or
that the base ball players have employed Q
conservative wisdom in rejecting the branches
| to get at the root Of the tree. The former in
depreciation is likely ts find general acceptance,
| inasmuch as all men who have been schoolboys
| will recogni re in base ball the development OF
| a game which was common in their school DAYS,
and, being held inferior TO cricket, was regarded
| rather as trivial amusement wherewith TO
| while away an odd half hour than as a serious
| sport to which much time and practice were to
be devoted; Base ball is. in fact, kind OF glo-
| That the English idea Of sport lie only half
developed is plain from the
ALL ABSORBING IMPORTANCE
/ which they attach TO the batting in a game,
| their whole idea OF scientific play being bound
up in the man who chances TO be defending the
| wicket. A cricketer with whom 1 was talking
TO- day had the whole thing In q nutshell when
| he said, "You couldn't get our fellows out to
practice at shying the ball, yer know; they like
| to bat" Thus in all their practice none of the
/ gentlemen players will trouble themselves by
| throwing or catching. This is looked on as the
| drudgery Of the game, aud is zone by the hire
lings o. professionals. A gentleman player will
90 out for half an hours practice with the bat,
and will either have an automatic machine 70
bowl the ball for him, or else the professional OF
the club, who, by the way, is q mere drudge,
which we have yet visited, and doubt not it is
20 on all English grounds,
A STRICT LINE Is DRAWN
1 between the gentlemen players and the profess
| SIGNALS, the latter not being permitted 10 dine
/ with the club members, or even allO we'd access
TO the club house. Here is what the review ssys
| "That the use of the hat is not the most i'm
| portsnt feature in base ball Is at once evident.
| Thus one of the chief beauties of cricket is alb
/ sent from the game. There are none OF those
/ pretty cuts well-iudged drives, and wary re-
| ceptiOns of dangerous balls which are the de-
| light Of the spectators at Lords. On tbe other
| hand, il may be said that most Of the nlceties
| Of batting at cricket are lost upon spectators
1 without special knowledge. The hard hitting,
which appears the main object OF the batsmsn
1 at base ball appeals 20 all who see il. however
| ignorant they may be of the game"
The last sentence reveals the critics own =
| norsnce of the game and his consequent inabiI-
| shown when he contrasts pitching with bow
ling, and says that "the constant employment
of the same action by all the pitchers
| STRIKES THE ENGLISH BYE AS wRARIsoMR."
| That these deficiencies are partially made up
for appears in the following:
| "The interest lost in the matter or bowling
and batting at base ball is made up in that OF
i fielding. After due allowance is made for the
| difference between a cricket ball and the ball
| which is employed in the American game, the
| fact remains that the fielding or the American
| play ers lie singularly sccur 4te. The certainty
/ with which catches are made, the Judgment
| and quickDess with which the field back one
another up, the nestness and rspidity with
which balls are stopped and thrown in, might
serve as models TO cricketers."
Then, after noticing some OF the peculiar fea-
lures OF the game, the English mind sums up
| thus
| .'Base ball is certainly pretty to look at, aud
probably appears game of considerable skill
gathered TO itself in the process OF development
from FOUNDERS are mastered. 1t IL not likely,
| however, to become so popular in England as 70
4 endanger the reign of cricket"
Well, here we are,
BACK IN MANCHESTER
1 again, after fortnight's stay in London and
three days in smoky Sheffield. It was not a
/ Pullman car that brought US from the latter
place hither, but one Of your honest English
| coaches, or rather half a dozen Of them, with
plenty Of rattle and Jolt and no end OF dscom-
fort Manchester Is the place Of all Others we
have really had hopes Of. The reception given
/ the ball players on the former visit, and the
good crowd of spectators who came out on that
/ occasion, certainly encouraged the idea that
| the Manchester people would We come our re-
4 turn, and that pounds, shillings and pence
| would make glad the financial m sn OF the party.
| Alas! we are again disappointed in both par
1 ticu!ars; but, as they say In novels anticipate
| more anon. We reached here at noon on the
| 18th, in The midst Of pouring rsn-our faith
| full and incesssnt companion-and took quarters
| at the Queens hotel, q very comfortable place.
| The following day there was nothing 70 do, and
eened 10 Be remsrksbiv fine' an the bows mag
med themselves playing before an imm snse
| crowd. Everybody feared that the next day
1 yesterday would bring the rain, but the con-
| trary proved true. Old Trafford looked like
familiar ground, and coming upon it to play
| seemed like taking
/ 1t was q warm, close day, and tbs ground was
| in good condition for playing either cricket or
| base ball, but there we're no spectators present.
| The Manchester cricket club had taken some
1 pains to get together an eleven which would be
able to beat the American eighteen, and there
| Ia not much doubt that they thought they had
| secured such team. All their best bowlers
| were on hand, including two swift round-arm
| bowlers, and the veteran Reynolds, whose slow
/ pace with deceptive breaks Is considered very
| disastrous to bstsmen. For the bat they had
| slime strong men, one Of whom (Rowiey) hss the
l record Of the second largest SCORE ever made by
| IN amateur, he having secured 2i9 in county
| match some time ago.
TEE AMERICANS AT THE BAT.
l The wickets were pitched ut haf-past II
O'Clock on ThurDday, and the Americans having
| won the toss, went in to defend the wickets.
O'Rourke and Mc0eary faced each other, AMI
i both soon fell victims to the fast bowling,
though the little Blue Stocking did not lose his
i stumpe until he had got two splendid drives 70
Il four each. Leonard made good stand, and BY
scientific batting ran mp q score OF 10. including
i n leg hit for 8. and the EuGieh men bA0au 70