Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-09-13
The Latest Phases of the Efforts to
Fix Up the Baseball Trouble
of This Year.
THRIFT AMONG BALL PLAYERS.
A Few Words About the Local Team and
the Probable Changes That May
Occur in II.
COMING LOCAL FOOTBALL SEASON.
Leading Features Of the Pugilistic World and Some
Coming Events Discussed


a great extent monotonous. By this mean
that there has not anything out of the COM
mon happened during the week and it may,
with good amount of safety, be said that
nothing of an extraordinary kind will
occur until the season is ended. To be sure
well have all the magrates making the
most strenuous endeavors to have baseball
affairs thoroughly made smooth again just
as sure as the fall and winter come. There
are two things particularly that prompt this
opinion. One ia that the Association mag
mates cannot afford to go on as they are, and
the other is that the Leag'.a magnates are
still inclined to think that l.. salaries, gen.
orally speaking, are too big. How the two
organizations will get matters fixed up
don't know, but if all stories are true
efforts towards fixing up are still going on.
Mr.. Bvrne states that the Association
people are anxious for another conference,
and this is Just where the laugh comes in.
I mean that another conference reminds us
of the last, and of all the fares that havr
ever taken place in baseball the last
conference was whss we may call hum
mer. But while these efforts for settling
q
amusing to find Julian H .rt and Mr.. Billy
Barnie in Chicago with the declared inten-
tion of putting baseball team in that city
next wear, that is, az Association team. The
truth is that every week adds proof to the
fact that these men who ar at til. head of
affairs in the Association are veritable fools.
According to their f1aunted programme We
are to have an association team in Pitts
burg, one in Chicago, one in Cincinnati and
one in some other League city. These
wiseacres are only going to have an eight
club league, because Won der Abe has en-
phatically stated this. Well, then, this be-
ing the case will ANYBODY be fool enough to
contend with me that the associa-
tion worthless are in earnest? Not
at ali Why their bluff and
bluster is stamping them as marks
for ridicule The idea of their going to put a
club in Pittsburg. Why the thing is pre-
posterous. aad the wonder is that Wagner
and his friends fail to see what donkeys
they are making of themselves by trying to
make us believe that they believe what
they say. Mark you, dent for one moment
alton and the League continue ii it can be
bridged honorably. But my sympathles
cannot go with settlement that is made by
the League surrenderlng Its dignity IN any
degree whatever. And if the League con-
cedes auv point at all TO the Association it
will surrender its dignity. But as soon ms
exercise common sense and begin TO act as
sane people there may be some hope Of a
settlement, and not until then.
About the Local Club.
lam very glad to know and to let my read
ers know that the local club will come out
all right financially this season. A day or
two ago Secretary Scandrett inform I'd me
that the club was now ION velvet" that is.
that il could not lose any money. This, I'm
sure. must be pleasing information to all of
us who take an interest in the game, be-
cause if ever clubs hackers deserved to
e-cape financial loss the hackers of the
Pittsburg club are the men. They have
been exceedingly brave and tenacious back
ers and il they come out even this year they
nre sure to be winners next year Of course,
my mention OF next year Will cause laugh,
because the regular time for talking about
next years triumphs is here, or almost here.
But 1 have excellent reasons for anticlpat-
ing next year with very great assurance.
But / am talking about this year, as it is not
over vet. Surely it has been a strange one
for Pittsburg in a baseball sense, and it has
been very disappointing, too. My readers
will remember how high nv estimation of
the Pittsburg team was at the opening of
season, and it is needless to say that the
work of the team has not shown that my
estimate was correct one. But While
results may have been against me, / still
hold the opinion that Pittsburg has one of
the best teams in the National League. The
their form. They have not reached their best
by any means, but depend Upon it they are
about as fine q team of ball players as any
body need see play. Last Monday l
saw them win two games at Philadelphia
by fiTst-class playing. There was no luck
or chance about it. Only solic and brilliant
playing all round won for them, and any
body who saw those two games must admit
the storiing qualities of the team. But as
we all know there have been many causes
which have operated against the success of
the team. These causes have been so often
discussed that it is needless to discuss them
again, and the fact that the team are playing
in brilliant form may cause all of us to for
get the poor success of the past Of course
we may expect changes to be made in the
team before next season arrives, but Man.
Bger McGunnige is not disposed to make
any changes this year. and in this he may be
quite right as nj. the team are doing well at
present, and l particularly expect to see
1ally blossom out to be great fielder. He
appears to me to be a young man
We Very earnest Few, if any men.
IN the country are playing better ball than
HanlOn and this is greatly to his credit.
Manager NcGunnigle has no more earnest
man on his team than Hanlon, and, consid-
ering the recent troubles. this speaks vol
umns for the manhood and the honesty or
HAnlon. He is playing great game and the
directors v i'll not, am sure, forget him Tor
st. But the directors of the club could not
possibly have secured a bettermanager than
MT. McGUnnigle. Inevn: knew a more rest
from his feet to his head, and very pleas
ing thing Il that all the team now respect
him and have entire confidence in him.
This IS indeed, q great element of success,
and whatever may have been our sympa-
thies or antipathies in the past it is only fair
TO give Manager McGunnigle the credit due
him now. Should he remain in Pittsburg he
will have winning team, because he is just
the man who viii not rest content except he
is among the best He has an extensive
knowledge of bail players and he is well re-
spected by them. This will enable him to
secure good men when they are needed
Thrift Among Bail Players.
There has been much said and written
about The large amount of money that base
ball PLAYERS receive, but there has not been
SO much written about what they do with
ali this money. There was time when as a
class baseball players were the most thrift
less lot CT Fellows one could ever meet, but
! am very glad to think that that time has
gone. ] am not going to say that there is a 5
much thrift among professional ball players
as there oGght to be. Oh, no! There is not,
and not by far. and it is because of this fact
that am going to say a few words on the
matter. Those OF US who know anything
about teams of baseball players know well
bow many OF these players who receive
good, stiff salaries make the money fly"
Ebe number OF this class is unfor tunately
TOO great, but it seems to me that the folly
Of such conduct is fast dawning on all these
players. There are players who for three
months in the year receive about s., so, and
yet these men are almost always "on the
beg" This is nothing short OF dis
graceful, and this spendthrift spirit is
fOStered DY two things chiefly. One is that
the PLAYERS of this kind have previously not
been accustomed to handle SO much money
and the change causes them to go to excess,
or, in other words, they illustrate the old
Rdage: Put a beggar on horseback and he'll
ride to she devil" The other cause lie the
over-iadulgence Of the club management.
ina lna.I