Morning journal and courier., 1889-04-09
Base-Rall i'm England.


 Every body is now asking his friend in a Doubtful kind of wac what he thinks of base ball. Londoners are, or ought to be, now in a position to give their verdict upon this important question The Chicago and All America teams have performed four times in London before large crowds of spectators at Leyton Saturday 5000 persons watched the game. Oar visitors, therefore cannot complain that they have been treated with indifference, whatever judgment is passed upon the game they introduce to us, Most Londoners who take any interest at all in sports have considered it duty to pay the base ball players a visit, and to inform themselves fully and truly upon the nature of the game, keeping their minds open and purged, so far as possible, from all passion and prejudice. We are not prepared to say that it is altogether possible to judge with out prejudice game which the Americans have presumptuously preferred to cricket Apollo might have listened to the pipe of Marsyas with equanimity, and even with pleasure, had he not known that Marsyas was setting up as his superior. But let us try to forget and forgive this, and judge baseball on it's merits. One of these mer- it's is that it is not spun out over two or three days. Americans, who are so busy that they cannot find leisure for cricket, manage to find it for game, which single afternoon is sufficient to decide As for the essentials of the game, it would be singular if they did not strike some cords of sympa- thy in the English breast, considering that they are the same as those of 'srounders. Founders" was once much played on every village green; even now iG enjoys considera- ble vogue as Sunday amusement in the outskirts of London; and several of our metropolitan public schools find s'round- ers," or a variety of the game, peculiarly we'll adapted to their Tagged play-grounds. Consequently we must have latent affinities for baseball. But of course, the American game was developed greatly. One of the chief pleasures of the schoolhoy's life used to consist in "scorching"-that is, picking up the ball when the adversary had missed striking it. and slinging it with unerring aim at his retreating form. The baseball is nearly as heavy cricket-ball, and conse- quently it can be well understood that this pleasing feature has been eliminated, and the most diverting incidents of the game are the feints of the runners attempting to run from base to base. The pitcher, known in 'srounders" as the "feeder," the batsman, and the catcher are specialists, just as we find some cricketors preeminent in bowling. batting, or fielding. In fact, base ball is a science.
 Whether It IS worth taklngIthe trouble to acquire this science is another matter. Base- ball as candidate for entrance into the list of British sports labors under the disadvan- tage of finding the field nearly full already of more or less scientific games in which the youth of our islands are drilled while yet st school. At the same time, we must admit that the demand for athletic games is so brisk that base ball may possibly appeal to some tastes, some pockets, or some oppor tunities which the present supply of open-air amusements fails to satisfy. Many new games have been invented, adopted, or re- vived in these islands during the last ten or twenty years-lawn tennis, hockey, and la- crosse among the number. The last ment- toned, as everybody knows, was an impor- tation from Canada, introduced by two exhibition teams of Canadian and North American Indians. It is an age for devisinp new games, borrowing foreign, and furbish- ing up old ones. If the ghost of strounders" is sneaking about anywhere, he will aid and abet the efforts of the base ballers to reha- bilitate him. It would, moreover, be pleas- ant if we were enabled to meet the Ameri. cans in some other sport besides rowing. yachting, and athletics.