Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-17
. A REVIEW OFSPORTS,
Some Reasons Why Baseball Patrons
Should Be Patient With Their
Fayorite Teams.
HOW BAD JUDGMENT is FORMED.
The Local Clubs Chances in the Race
Compared With the Chances of the
Other Prominent Mines.
HOW BAD JUDGMENT Is FORMED.
TEEMER's CHALLENGE 70 aAUDAUR.
oorbetts Confidence Of Defeating Jackxn-Fev
Words About Ned 0BaldWin.


paper, generally, to urge that the, patrons
of the local club give the team an honest
trial before abusing it. Even when defeat:
have been coming stronger than they ought
TO have come have urged this point, and al
present 1 am inclined to think that those
who have had patience will be quite salts
fed of their own wisdom in being patient.
Nobody can well grumble at the work OF
the local team, and they promise to fulfil
the expectations of all of us. have often
noticed that while there may be many
changes in the utterances and even policy
of the baseball magnates and also
those who have baseball teams in
charge, there are, indeed, far more changes
of feeling and advocacy among the baseball
patrons. Now am not going to make any
comparisons that will hold the dear public
up 10 scorn, but L am going to point out
what curious sort of ''Gregory's mixture
the public is, particularly where baseball is
concerned. There has been sufficient proof
of this during the week, because have met
scores of people who only few days ago
were condemning the team to the remotest
part of certain very remote regions, and
who are now lauding that same team to the
seventh heaven of excellence The ordinary
state of affairs is something like
this: A ball team which is expected to
90 great things in long race make very
bad start, or at least they do not do great
things" and as q result thousands of its
patrons declare their disgust in very loud
tones. Then this ever-changing public de-
mands that this man and that man be re-
leased; that this position be filled by Jones;
that the other be filled by Smith, and so on.
Well, Just as all this noise and condemna-
ton is at its height the team begins to per-
form in something like their best form, and
as in the New York series, win few games
straightaway against the very best of play
ers, and then that impatient portion
Of the baseball public becomes quite
another party altogether. They transcend
from disgust to admiration in day; and the
very players and people they have been
consigning to perdition are now their idols
This is no fancy picture of imagination, but
q real everyday fact. 1t is only the other
day that scores were condemning Miller as
strongly as words would permit, and in two
or three games Of the New York series the
same people couldn't find language strong
enough to praise him.
As a rule the opinions of those very hasty
and impatient people are worthless; certain
ly very unsafe, because they will not take
time to weigh and examine closely and i'm
partially all the circumstances connected
with the results that may come contrary to
their desires or expectations In short, the
opinions of the people in question are the
outcome of impulse rather than reason, and
we all know that opinions based on any such
judgment are bad. They are particularly
unfair to those who are being pronounced
upon. Well, then, it is certainly the better
wav in baseball affairs to be careful and i'm
partial and even slow in coming to an opin-
ion regarding the true worth, or what we
may deem the true worth of a team. If
those very impulsive patrons of the game
would Just consider for one moment how
often in a season they change their opinions
regarding teams and players I'm
sure they would not be so
ready to condemn this man or that
man who happens to have an F'offs' day or
two: or condemn this team or that team be-
cause of losing a few games straightawav.
I feel constrained TO make these few re-
marks because so many very hard things
have been said about the local team lately
Everybody connected with it has been con-
demned since the season opened, and had
the management been disposed to lend an
attentive ear to the bowling admonitions of
the grumblers almost every man in the
team who have been in turn in almost every
position on the team. This is injurious to
everybody and everything concerned.
What is required is to have patience in
defeat; of course, not too much of it, but
reasonable amount. We should give eyery-
body a fair chance at all times to prove
what can be done. Local patrons should
take into consideration the very important
fact that the local team started out under
very great difficulties. They were almost
all new to each other, and that is
very great handicap. As they get more ac-
customed to each others methods they will
certainly do better. There is nothing like
good team work, but we cannot expect first
class team work from nine who are
strangers to each other. Practice alone
will bring that, and it is quite apparent that
practice is making the local team much bet
ter But even though the team would reach
its best stage of merit, it is cutie likely that
q run of defeats may be their lot, and it is
Just at times of that kind that we should
exercise a calm and patient judgment if we
don't want to make matters worse. These |
words are not at all said in the way of !
homily to readers OF this review, but solely |
are said in the hope that our players will |
not be condemned before it has been fully |
demonstrated that they are incapable of !
filling the bill Of course, am aware that |
it is only the intense interest taken by the I
public in the team, and the intense desire !
TO see 1t at all times victorious that prompts |
dissatisfaction when defeat comes; but we |
should never allow our impulse to dethrone |
our reason on matters of Judgment.
Few Words About Our Team.
The week has been very good one for the
local team in many respects They have
particularly brought themselves into prom
inence by defeating the New York PLAYERS
three games out of four. Few people ex-
pected a result of this kind, because the
New Workers are very strong lot of people
on the ball field. During the series 1 was
convinced that, taking every
thing into consideration, the Pittsburgers
are Just as good as the New Workers. Dur
ing the series, when it came to question of
merit, the local team were victorious, and
this leads me to believe that if all goes well
we Will have a team taking just as promi-
nent part in the League race as anybody
else. Certainly there arc always lots of ifs
In baseball, but if the team keeps all right
they will take their own part at any stage.
The week has also been successful fnan-
cially, and this is the great and vital point
for the club. 1t is long since there was such
a good attendance for four games in this
city as there was in the New York series,
and am glad of it, for the plucky efforts of
the club directors deserve to be rewarded
and rewarded we'll Of course
there have been the usual stories
and rumors about releases. Since the season
commenced almost every player on the
team has, by rumor, been released. But 1
don't think that any changes in the nine
viii be made at present, and 1
hope there will not, no matter what the