Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-09-06
A REVIEW OF SPORTS.
Leading Features Of the Contest for
the League Pennant
THE SUCCESS OF THE CHICAGOS
Fighting Talk of Mitchell and Corbett and
Sullivan and Slavin.
P00LSELIING AT THE COUNTY FAIRS

| the week as far as baseball has been con
oerned. The interest that had been cen
tered in and the curiosity that had beer
aroused by the wonderful peace conference
has all died away, and there has been moth
ing for us to notice but the race for the Ma
tionnl League pennant. And even the pen
nant race is becoming less interesting; in.
deed, 1t is much less interesting now thah II
has been for q verylong time. 1t is, there
fore, safe to say then that baseball during
the week just ended has not been fraught
with interesting features at all. The end of
| the League struggle for 1891 is almost within
| sight; one can now get glimPses of It, and
| truly these glimpses show US many sur
| prises. Every day is strengthening the con-
| v1ction that the Chicago team are going to
capture the coveted pennant, and know no
| more deserving people, except 1t be our club
| In Pittsburs. When the season started few
people indeed thought that the Chicago team
would finish in first place; few thought that
| the New York team would be below first
| place, and scarcely anybody thought that the
| P1ttSburg team would not be in the first three
| But there have been two leading elements
| that have contributed to the success of the
| Chicago team, viz: Its good management
| and the misfortunes of other teams. In TAX
| ing retrospect of the season as far as it has
gone we can easily see how game after game
| Ucou won Dy AnSOn D SOOu
| that is by his excellent judgment of using
the right men at his disposal just at the
| right time. There have been times when
| Anson's team have been considerably handi-
| capped because of disabled men, particu-
| larly pitchers But he manipulated the
| good ones he had in a way that won many a
| victory when ordinary people would have
suffered defeat. I heartily acknowledge the
| very good qualities of Anson as a manager,
and believe that those abilities have to a
| very great extent assisted in placing his
| team where it is. But, as have remarked,
| the misfcrtunes Of other teams have helped
| him and his team. For instance. l cannot
| for one moment believe that the Chi
| cago team would have been where 1t
is had the New York team remained all
| right. think there will be few tfany patrons
| OF the game who will question this asser-
tion. And besides, the New Yorks and An
| sons team have on several occasions met
| plelely demoralized. 1 point this out to
| show that the success of the Chicago team
has not entirely depended on their own
merits: but while I do this, 1 certainly do
| not wish to detract in any way from the
good work of Anson and his team.
Something About the Giants.
The collapse of the Giants has been one Of
the surprises of the season ! say collapse,
because the recent work Of that team has
been so miserable when compared with their
work of an earlier period Of the
season that they have made o COM
plete downfall; indeed, do not now expect
them to land higher than fourth. There has
been much written regarding the downfall
of the Giants and almost all kinds of causes
have been pointed out On this matter I.
prefer to speak very plainly, and make the
statenentthat, just as good management
and the mismanagement of other teams
have helped the Chicago team, faulty man.
agement and their own misfortune have
contributed to the downfall of the Giants
There was time this season when
the Giants were barely superior to
any other team in the country, but
almost in day their pitching force was
depleted and they began the troubles that
have almost swanped them. Their fielders
began to get inj ured or were overtaken by
sickness, and those who were not thus
knocked out lost their playing form. Well
now when these troubles came it seems to
me that there was little faulty manage
ment There was always fair supply of
good playing material at command in the
New York team and it appears to me that If
this supply, limited as 1t might have been,
had been properly used the Giants would
have been little more successful am not
one who finds fault with the release Of
Keefe. 1t may have been a mistake to re-
lease him, but his work had been SO bad for
such long time that it was reasonable for
the management of the club to think his
fairly well, but it is by no means an estab
llshed fact that he is oil right. But
it is somewhat of costly experiment.
if player has to be retained at
good stiff salary until September, before 1
he is ready for use. Buck Ewing is another
unfortunate feature in the New York team,
club kept him doing nothing and released
Keefe because the latter was "off" But
altogether the fortunes or misfortunes of
the New York team remind US strongly that d
their day and cease to be-"
An Important Feature.
While 1 am talking of these stars, these
bedimmed stars, 1 am reminded of a very
important feature Of the baseball business
Its significance concerns everybody inter-
ested in the game. refer to the great
financial risk that club stockholders run
every year in getting together, or trying to
get together team of frst-class players.
These risks of late have become SO common
and even have became so requisite and SO
costly that 1 predict a halt will be called.
Nov do not for moment think that ! am
going to hold club stockholders up as
martyrs. 1 am not going to do that They
are not absolutely forced to act as they do
but 1 am going to point out that on |
almost all occasions the stock
holders of clubs are the victims
If there are any victims at all. They run
all the financial risks and indeed 1t has
almost become proverbial that the paying
of extraordinary salaries is risk that is
not at all profitable. 1t has not been |
fact and when that is the case we ought to |
be frank enough to acknowledge it. If my |
readers will justrun over the list of players |
who have this year been receiving the |
fancy salaries they will soon discover who |
the victims have been. What I contend |
then is this: That risks OF these kind are |
costly. The stockholders pay out their /
money and get no return. The public sees |
nothing extra, in fact sees nothing up to the |
common standard. The enormous cost |
weartes the stockholder and his interest in
the business dies. 1t a fact that high priced |
ball players are no guarantee of success; /
if it were otherwise Anson's team would |
not be Sin it, and indeed am beginning to
think that those extraordinary high salaries
are more certain Of producing bad results
than good. True, there is certain amount
of heroisn about club that puts mp an
sum, but as rule there is little
good business Judgment. We never see An
son buying costly players or paying fancy
salaries. Firmly believe that if these fancy
for the players generally, and certainly
better for the stockholders of club. am
aware that some high salaries are being paid
In our local club, but our club was an excep-
ton last winter and spring. Its ranks were
almost depleted of first-class men, and Pitts
burg had so little charms for good players
that financial inducements of an extraordi-
nary kind had to be made. Besides there
we're many other clubs wanting the players
that P1ttsburg was wanting. Pittsburg got
them, and that fact at least shows that the
enough to produce the money to any amount.
The cry was, Put up the cash and you'll get
yood men," Well, the Climb did put up the
cash, and if the men have been disappoint-
not let us say the directors would not, or
will not, fork out the money. AS far as put
ing up the cash is CONCERNED .lvs local club
deserves success if ever a club in Christen-
|