Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-10-04

team seems to be that they should have hao
Rusie and Ewing pitching at Boston. Oh
yes. this is a charge, whether we laugh Al
it or not. The charge simply means this
that Manager Mutrie should have neglected
the interests of his own team and worked
for those oS the Chicago team. He didn't
! prefer to do that, as it was from the New
York club that he was getting his salary.
The facts of the case are very simple. The
New York team were hopelessly out of the
race, and they only had two pitchers OF any
account at all The team had to wind up
the season on its own grounds and against
its home rival, the Brooklvns. Then came the
! question to those interested in the New Y ork
| club: (Which is better for the interests Of
our club-to make q good and strong wind
up or take our best men to Boston and use
them up there when We cannot possibly i'm.
prove our position in any wav? Common
/ sense told them to look to home, which
they did, and every club in the League OF
any other organization does the same.
Neither the Chicago club or any club would
make good the losses sustained by the New
Eorks in lessening their attracting power at
the wind up. The public inclination to see
Rusie pitch at home would certainly be much
greater than that to see Coughlin, Taylor OF
Sullivan, and nobody can deny the right OF
the New York club to look after its own In
terests in an honest and fair way. Before
any OF US can consistently make charge OF
unfairness we must point out where a rule
has been violated. The rules are supposed
to be fair, and as long as they are lived up
to there is not much reason to grumble.
General Features of the Season.
The baseball season Just ended has been a
very interesting one, taking everything
/ 4
it has not been as successful as was antici-
pated, but altogether it has been very satis-
factory. There have been many disap-
pointments in the pennant race, and to me
there have been two Particularly. The
New York and the Pittsburg teams have
been great disappointments. OF course, the
former made q complete breakdown of it,
and as long as they held together in their
ordinary form they were winners and would
have won the pennant had they continued
all right. But the Pittsburg team have
steadily been disappointment, with few,
if any, redeeming features Il may be that
several changes have interfered with the
teams success, but on the whole there
seems little excuse for their very inferior
work. There must be vast amount of i'm
provement among them for next year if
thev expect to be at all worthy of notice.
Probably one of the mos3 interesting feat
ures Of the season has been the work of the
Chicago team. When the season opened,
and even until it had progressed consider
ably, the general opinion was that
Anson's team was too light and that
they would land about fourth or fifth.
Anson was also sadly handicapped by lack
of pitchers, but he used the material at his
disposal In such an expert way that he man.
aged to win game after game in manner
that few people seemed to notice. Bus
his management, while it has been great,
has not been the only element of success.
His team have looked after themselves ex-
tremely we'll; they have played and worked
like horses They do, indeed, deserve
credit. And there is another team which is
a credit to its owners and its city. 1 refer
to the Clcvelands. What ups and downs
they have had and how they have set their
teeth and faced the cold east winds of diff
culticS that have faced them so often! From
end to end of the season there has been
something to admire in connection with the
Cleveland team, and it seems to me that
they have generally been rated at lower
estimate than they ought to be. The
Brooklyns have been as much of disap-
pointment rs the Pittsburgs and the Gin
cinnati team will need an entire remodel
ing before next season starts. The Phillies
have just gone along as usual.
Local Club Affairs.
There has not been much of Importance
going on in the local ball club this week.
Reilly has been released of course, and
Kings time expired yesterday. Already
the widest kind of talk is going on about
the salaries for next year, and if we are to
believe all the rumors we hear and state.
ments we read, agents are running up and
down the country laden with thousands of
dollars to corral the Pittsburg players for
next year. The agents, we are told, are
from the Association, but who they are and
what they are seems to be as much of
mystery as were the antecedents of Mr..
Harris. really had no idea that our play
ers were rated so high among the Associ-
alton people. Just think of it. One of our
men has been offered, at least we are told
so, S11 800 for three years to desert poor
Pittsburg. But the player refused, and his
name is withheld for fear that the public
spirit OF hero worship would be too great
for his safety. He refused it. Oh! let us
have these words inscribed on the most
lasting monument in our city, and just
above the words the figures S17, 800. He
refused il. Let us have his image put into
every wax work show in the land.
His name must be known,
SO that at least Pittsburgers can
honor the remarkable citizen. But some
people will think he was fool for refusing
the 81, 500. These people are very unkind.
But just you, dear reader, stick pin here.
There is an object in all this talk about
agents, etc. Whether the agent be real or
imaginary, there is an object, and that OBJ
ject is to make matters as difficult as possi-
bic for the local club in particular and for
the League generally. It may be that play
crs are purposely circulating these stories
of agents being after them as means of
getting higher salaries for next year, but
Pittsburg PLAYERS, beyond all others, should
be very guarded in talking about their
salaries for next year. They have been
paid more than almost anv other team, and
have performed worst This is a fact that
cannot be lost sight of. But if agents are
after them with such an extraordinary
amount of money why don't they go? Good
gracious, Pittsburg will not collapse by
their leaving the city, nor will the heavens
fall. But let me state. and emphaticallv
state, that every good player who leaves the
League for the Association will do an un-
wise thing for himself He will make a
foolish step just as sure as we live, and
intelligent ball players know it.
But I'm sure that all of us
who have the interest of baseball and the
local club at heart, will regret that any
difficulties regarding the signing of players
for next year should appear. No body of
men laborS harder and no directors are more
liberal in trying to secure players than
those of the local club, but it is fact that
in their own city they have enemies who are
daily trying to foil every effort and make
their difficulties greater every day. The
public little knows of the various kinds of
trouble that the local club has to encounter,
and the public and also the players should
take a considerate view of the matter at all
times. Those of us who want winning
team in Pittsburg should certainly do our