The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-03-24

The Capital Required-$24, O0O, 900 Estima-
ted To Be Placed in Circulation.

| NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
ted To Be Placed in Circulation.
New York Mail and Express.
In about week the base ball season will have
been regularly opened. To the ordinary OBJ
server and the uninterested this announcement
may not prove or any moment, but when one
considers the amount of money that will be put
in circulation the return to sthe diamond" OF
the ball-players assumes almos. a serious aspect
Base ball has long borne the soubrequet OF ma
tional game but it is now more than game-it
is business-and the men engaged In it con-
tend that it should be so recognized by the
courts. A prominent member of the oldest asso-
citation in the country and leading dealer in
base ball goods, said TO reporter in speaking on
the subject:
Heretofore the courts have decided that base
ball was not a business and a case brought by a
player against club was thrown out of court,
the judge declining to take cognizance of it. I
do not think any such decision will be rendered
again. Why, base ball puts millions of dollars
in circulation every year"
The gentleman was asked to explain, and con-
tinued: Last season there were over / 200 pro-
fessional ball-payers engaged in the game or
these the League employed in championship
matches 168 players, the American Association
225, the Eastern League 49, the Northwestern
220 and the Union Association 153
''This number will be greatly swelled this
year. and do not think that it is putting the
figure too high to say that there will be 1900
regularly employed ball-players in the field. In
duultl0n TO LneSo LHere are nunureuS OF semi
profeSSiOnalS-men who are engaged at some
other work-who play ball occasionally for
money. Then there are the umpires, who make
living during the season out of the games
Now, when you consider that the salary list of
none of the League clubs is under $25, 00O you
can estimate what is paid to ball-piayers alone,
besides other expenses There are eight clubs
in each of five associations, which will average
salary list of 5000. 600, making for the five most
prominent associations an aggregate of s., 000.-
q b0 nj 10
largest expense for any single item, is not half
of the legitimate outlay for al-playing
''All of the League clubs travel something like
5000 miles to play the games and they do not
travel on passes either Take the National. the
Eastern Western and Southern leagues and the
American Association. There are forty clubs,
each one carrying an average OF eleven men, who
travel an average of 5000 miles each, making
200,0 600 miles travelled, which, multiplied by
eleven. the number of men in each club, gives a
total of 2, 200, 600 miles. OF get rates.
bat there is considerable over a million dollars
paid out for railroad fare.
Another big item is the hotel bills All clubs
stop at the best hotels. ball player must have
good bed and good meals if he is expected to
keep his temper and play good ball The better
fare he gets TIE better humor he is in, and conse
quently the better he will play ball discon
tented man will not do anything we'll, simply be-
cause he is compelled to, and there is nothing a
man can do more easily than to 'muff' ball
without the intention becoming apparent to the
on-looker.
well, taking eleven men to club. as we did
before, we can estimate our hotel bills. Each
club plays eight games with each of the others
away from home. That will make 800 games,
and the average number of days to play their
games away from home will be nine, allowing
for intervening Sundays and an occasional
double game on holidays This gives us $3.50
days for which 440 men will pay an average of
50 per day. or So 534 400 paid in hotel bills. Then
there is bus and car fare, which will add few
thousands to this amount There already you
have something like So, DOC, 900 base ball men
put into circulation
Does that end the expendituresW
"By no means. Fully two million balls are
used during the season. not by the professional
clubs, but mean by all ball players amateurs
average IS cents. The League ball is more OK
pensive. but those used in the championship
games make the smallest portion of this item.
Millions of yards of yarn used in the man
ufacture of the balls, and another great industry
is thus benefited by base ball. The manufact-
ure of the base ball alone gives employment to
nearly 500 people. Then there are the bats, the
bases the uniforms. caps and shoes peculiar
shoe is required ard costs an average of So per
pair. Some clubs pay as high as 81 per pair. /
believe the Athletic club of Philadelphia paid
that for their shoes last year. See how the thing
swels! We will lump all these things and put
couple of more millions in the estimate to repre-
sent them
NOW, you see Wudt IHe outlay u.s. 10 make
it even, and the figure. I do not think. is much
out of the way, we will say the professional ball
clubs will spend $8000000 this season. They,
all expect to make money and everything prem
Uses realization of their hopes Just triple
that and we will have $24, GOO 000 the public who
patronize the game contributing the added $16-
900. 600. That much money is circulated through
the medium of professional base ball. You can
put on few hundred thousand more to repre-
sent the interstate semi professionals and am
ate and ba nv tba
in attending the outside games. 1t looks some
thing like business, doesn't it2"
The reporter was forced to admit that it did