Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-02-01

concocted by which other people would be
fooled and Ward would come here. Manager
to me regarding Wards desire to come
to Pittsburg. But it turns out that
John NJ. never intended to come here
not look as If the late leader had been using
Pittsburg as a sort of lever to squeeze more
money out of Brooklynf Baseball is very
strange to be sure; at best there is not that
desire to 'lie for principle" within its circles
that We are often told there is. Certainly bust.
ness is business in baseball. as in anything else,
but let player or a magnate who is acting on
purely business principles say So ana do not
let them pose in a false light; that is, DO not
allow them to persuade us that they are in
dividuals of any amount Of sacrifices when
they are Iot any such thing. but merely out for
what is sometimes called the stuff"
Our Amateur Teams.
Those of us who have been keeping an eve
on the amateur ball players of this vicinity will
have observed that so far the prospects are not
of the brightest. OF course include all the
teams not in some every day league when say
amateurs. The term is wrong, no doubt but
it has to go because / lind the people inter-
ested will not accept any other. have argued
the matter before. and only make this little
statement in a way of explanation. Well, the
prospects are not bright for these clubs.
1t may be too soon to come to any
conclusion, but / cannot. help think
ing that II there was much enthusiasm
concerning the matter, we would have noticed
it before now. 1 am afraid that the effects of
the blow dealt to baseball last year are still
being felt. Time will wear these effects away,
but until that is done amateur baseball will not
be as popular as it was. During the week
have been in conversation with two or three
gentlemen who for some seasons past have
been managers OF amateur teams. They told
me that they are interested In trying to organ
lie q local or county league. According to pres
ent plans it cannot be county league,
because clubs are mentioned in connec.
ton with it that are not located
in Allegheny county. But this is not very
material The question is to have a league
formed and trust that this part will be accom-
national game should be prepared to support
the amateurs because it is only from their
ranks that recruits can be obtained to carry
on the games in its most developed form. And
there is another important feature in cOnnec-
tion with these amateur" clubs. l
refer to their playing for money
that is. stake money. There could be no worse
this, and not a club should be patronzed that
INDUCES in the system. 1t is easy to understand
why these clubs have it announced that their
contests are for q stake of $50 or 500 side. 1t
is thought that an announcement of this kind
will be an attraction and will make the atten-
dance to the gamesl larger. Thus whether clubs
are playing for money or not the announcement
folly and not only fails to accom-
plish the object directly in view, bat
works considerable injury in other WAYS.
Amateurs should therefore carefully consider
this matter, and before the season opens it
might be well il they were to come to some
common understanding about it. One thing
should be borne In mind Viz, that the public is
not likely to support the playing-tor-mo
plan. We will have at least one bona fide anna
teur club here. refer TO that team in connec-
tion with the Allegheny Athletic Association.
1 trust that this aggregation will be good ex-
ample in all respects.
The Proposed Running Circuit
There is much to say in favor of the proposed
new running circuit, as advocated BY our late
townsman, H. o. Price, He is extremely en-
thusiastic about the matter and thinks it will
be go. As has been stated in this paper. the
plan is TO have q series of running meetings at
Pittsburg, Cleveland. Buffalo and Detroit. The
meeting at each place is to continue for two
weeks which would make q total of eight
weeks racing straight away. This would, in.
deed, be very nice plan. and would, ]
am persuaded, popularize running races, to a
very great extent A good class of horses
could be secured, and Mr. Price is certain that
The bookmakers' fees would pay expenses. II
this could be done the project would certainly
be a success But here comes in the difficulty
There is desire here on the part of some to
enforce the old blue laws, ana they, fear,
would more or less interfere with the book
makers. This again suggests the great pecess-
ity for the passing of law that will hit all this
rot and cant on the head. If the law was suit
ably amended we would soon have some good
running meetings and the benefits would be
great all round
Quiet Among Pugilists.
The pugilists and boxers have been remark
ably quiet during the week, one of the most
notable features being an attempt to arrange a
match between Corbett and Joe McAuliffe.
The efforts failed because Corbett declined to
60 on with the match. This may have been a
surprise to many people, but presume that
business reasons prevented the consummatIon |
of the match. One thing mean to say is that |
I don't think that anything like cowardice |
caused Corbett to decline. He is engaged to |
fight a better man than McAuliffe, and the |
truth is it would be difficult to find a worse |
pugiist than McAuliffe among the heavy. |
weights who have figured prominently in the |
newspapers. II may be that McAuliffe and Cor |
bett would make good fight am not in a |
position to give an opinion just now. but do |
believe that the styles of both McAuliffe and |
Corbett are not as good as the styles of the |
Australians. I mean for fighting. not boxing |
Well, then, what prospects has Corbett of de- |
feating Jacksonf l don't hesitate to say very |
poor prospects if Jackson is all right. am in |
clined to think that both jackson and Corbett |
are boxers. Mark have never said, and do |
not say now, that Corbett is not a good fighter |
90 say that he has that to prove yet. If he |
out-fg hts Jackson will be surprised, because |
some of our other fighters up.
Kilrain and Godfrey.
Last week had not much to say about the
approaching battle of Kilrain and Godfrey. I
do not mean to allow it to pass without pro.
nouncing upon it. although it would seem diff.
cult to predict the result of it Ny readers will
know that my estimation of either Godfrey or
Kilrain is not a very high one, but it seems 20
me that Kilrain has Deen fighting q little out
of his class; I don't mean in weight, but in
quality of men. Asa second class man. am
willing to say that Kilrain is good man, and
don't feel inclined to say that of God
frey. fail to say where Godfrey has
proven himself to be as good boxer
as Kirain, and I'm sure he is not as good
hitter. These opinions, then, leave me no other
conclusion to come to than saying that in nv
opinion Kilrain should defeat Godfrey. The
contest will, in all probability, be a good one
for a while at least. Kilrain is no coward and
don't let any of US forget that point. On one
or two occasions Godfrey has not displayed the
best of courage but he always starts in well.
and it is therefore safe to say that the pair will
fight hard for while.
$50
Dixon and Mccarthy.
There certainly are plenty of colored pugilists
before the country at this stage Besides
Jackson and Godfrey we have Dixon to the
front again, and before many days are over he
will face Cal Mccarthy another time. This is
an exceedingly interesting contest, and i ex-
pect that there will be some heavy betting on
the result. The men have fought before and
the result was a draw. In the early part of the
battle Mccarthy broke his hand and fought fully
pugllisrs are very good men; in fact they will
rank among the best of feather weights that