Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-28
AREV|EW OF SPORTS,
Retrospect Of All the Leading Sport
ing Events That Have Taken
Place During This Year.
TIE EFFECTS OF BASEBALL DEALS.
Football Playing Has Made Rapid Strides
in Public Favor and lis Pros
pectS Are Bright.
TEE EFFECTS OF BASEBALL DEALS.
A GLANCE AMONG THE PUGILISTS
No Improvement Made in American sclllias-eEsat
Work BY The AthleteS

This will be the LAST review of this year in
this paper; the last occasion on which we
will have an opportunity of saying few
words during 1890, and when our next
weekly talk appears We viii have started
out on another section of our LIES journey.
hope that the journey of all Of us in 1891
will be pleasant and prosperous one, and
sincerely wish all my readers very happy
New Year. AS 1 said at the end of last
year we may have differed in opinion ve>y
much or verv little, but without that differ
ence probably our talks would not have
been half as interesting. An honest differ
ence OF opinion is often very essential
thing to progress. l Go trust, though, that
if on any occasion 1 have written anything
that would CRATE harshly on the feelings of
anyone during the expiring year that it will
be forgotten.
Sporting Features of the Year.
Well, now, according TO custom, l pro-
pose taking a retrospective view OF
the wear just ending as far as mat
tiers of a sporting kind are con-
cerned. OF course, l cont mean to say that
I'll mention every more or less important
event 1 will only deal with the most
prominent features of each branch OF sport
and see what the general effects have been.
Leading Baseball Events.
The national game, of course, claims our
attention first and 1 think state the opin-
ion of everybody when l say that the year
1890 has been a remarkable one for baseball.
Its prestige, its stability and itst general
popularity have been at stake. AS the year
vanishes like shadow to disappear forever
the battle is lost and won, and, notwith-
standing the severe ordeal the national
game has come through, there is strong
reason tor saving that ii will now 90 on to
greater prominence than it yet has seen.
Certainly, 1890 will ever be blot and a
blur in the annals Of baseball; it Will stand
out as black, cherries and painful spot
or break in an otherwise pleasant and
joyous journey of many years. Last year
al this time the baseball players of America
had dreams o. millions; they were all going
by the easiest process imaginable TO step up
from the thraldom OF a ball players
lite to the luxurious comforts of baseball
magnate. Twelve months ago to-day
it was more or less unsafe to state on
the public streets that the ball PLAYERS
anu theT enthusiastic supporters
were acting foolishly. With the dawn of
this year the revolters became more enthu-
siastic than ever and amid the tremendous
hurrah of thousands of thoughtless people
the Players League launched on one OF the
stupidest, one OF the most visionary, one of
the brieiest and one of the most unsuccess-
ful journeys that anything SO pre-
tentiou' has entered upon during
the generation. The opening of the
year gave US pictu.e OF the ball players
and the supporters of their foolish league
amid wild excitement, shouting, Let the
wine 60 round!" The year has gone round,
not the wine, and the close of the year gives
US a picture of bali players mourniully
sighing over the most miserable failure they
have ever participated in. The year with
which We are now parting held out most
alluring hopes, and those who were in
fuenced by them in baseball were made the
veriest fools. II has been great year in
baseball.