St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-18
WILL PLAY BALL.
The Fifteen Young Athletes
Who Will Wear the Mime
apolis Uniform
And Contest for the Pennant
for 1888 in the Western
Association.
A Review of the Base Ball Sta
tistics and the Prospects
for This Year.
Why the Old Team Lost Games
So Easily and the People
Lost Confidence.
Money for Ball Playing, But
Not a Cent for Amateur
Exhibitions.
The Public Knows What It
Wants and Will Not Be
Hoodwinked.

UH-7 G~ be- fee b prrle,d' in to
last place; as the case may be. The
GLOBE has no prediction to make as to
The number of the notch in which the
Minneapolis team will find itself when
the final reckoning comes, and prefers
TO let the team make its own record and
talk of it afterward. With all conf
dence, however, the statement may be
made that the team is superior to that Of
last year and will play better ball; but
the conditions of the new Western
association are far different from those
of the defunct Northwestern league and
comparisons are impossible. Minneap-
oils will play better ball than last year,
but better ball than last year may not
mean even as good place as fifth,
among teams which will all outrank the
eight teams of the old league. What
Kansas City, Des MONIES or Omaha may
develop is entirely unknown, and not
until the first series of games closes, ii
then, can any definite comparison be
made.
Manager Gooding is disposed to say
nothing as to the relative efficiency of
his team, but thinks he has a good ag-
gTegation of ball talent and is willing to
spend money to improve it. In getting
his material he has acted on the princi-
meanta correspOndingly large return in
patronage, and the result will show the
wisdom of his course. The past policy
of the Minneapolis management has
been niggardly from necessity rather
than choice, and the effects of tina change
will at once be made apparent. The
present management seems to be imam
cially 'sWell heeled," and as the sinewS
of war are Indispensable to a good ball
team as to any other enterprise, the i'm
provement should show itself right
speedily.
In past years Minneapolis has failed
to make a really creditable showing
through easily-discerned causes. There
may be such thing as bad luck, but it
is never persistent, and it will not ac-
count for some of the poor eX-
hibitions to which local patrons
have too often been treated. Through
out last year one additional good player
would have saved one-third of the de-
feats suffered by the home team. There
never was a second baseman through
out the season. Peak was miserable
player and worse batter, and through
the weak spot at second base victory
after victory was thrown away. No
change was acceptable. MeiSter was
played there and HAYES was forced
there, put D0tn were out OF Inelr ele-
ment. A man for the base could easily
have been secured, but was not, and the
result is too apparent. The effect OF
this weak spot was to utterly ruin the
usefulness of Shaw at short. He lacked
the close support that must accompany
his difficult position, and the democrat
ization was easily communicated to him.
Another potent cause for the loss of
many games was the absence of full
fielding force. Camel played himself
out in the left field early in the season,
but his place was never filled. A
pitcher was sent into left field, which he
not only failed to cover, but spoiled him
self for work in the box. How could a
team be expected to win under such cir
cumstanceS? 1t was absurd. Double
duty may be economy in salary sense,
but it is dead loss through the gate re-
CENTS,