Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-21
A REVIEW OF SPORTS.
Good Features In the Tranquility of
Baseballdom and Its Prospects.
OF THE LEAGUE TEAMS.

ESTIMATE OF THE LEAGUE TEAMS.
The Gigantic Boxing Fake Promoted by
Corbett and his Colleagues.
MAHER AND FITZSINM0Ns BATTLE
There is now tranquility in baseball
affairs that is very gratifying, indeed. A
peaceful and quiet state of things is not
always desirable, but in this instance it
betokens good because it means that beneath
the surface there is great deal of indi-
vidual activity going on. Each one is
attending to his own fences, or, to use
metaphor, is quietly mending his own nets.
And how pleasant it is for rybody when
everybody is attending to his own business;
then there is no time to fight and quarrel
with or abuse other people, and then comes
that general tranquility to which have just
referred.
Well, We are now having signs that every
club in the League is going into the seasons
battle thoroughly confident. From every
city In the League we have almost daily re-
ports that baseball prospects were never so
bright and that there were never such good
teams gotten together. The capitalists are
doing all they can to make things as PROM
Using as possible, and I am glad to say that
the players have awakened to the fact that
much is expected of them, and that if that
much" is not forthcoming they will suffer.
During the week there has been additional
proof OF the anxiety of players to get into
good condition for the opening of the
season. And here may be allowed to re-
mark that the reasons given in this paper
two weeks ago showing why home is gener-
ally preferable to far-away places for
training purposes have been generally in
dorsed both by local writer's and the writers
of other cities As result we have
number of Pittsburg players training at the
home grounds and venture to say that if
they work faithfully and have good attend
ants they will be in better condition than
they ever were in their lives when April
comes.
Prospects of the Teams
As the opening day gets nearer each team
in the League is becoming perfected, if the
word can be used. So nearly are all the
teams completed that prophets have COM
menced to name their standing at the end
ing of the season. At aW stage this is
very venturesome thing to do but at this
period it is boldness to avery remarkable
extent, indeed. 1 prefer to wait awhile.
But while it would seem waste of time to
stop and make out list prophetic of the
finishing of the teams, it may be worth
while to say few words about the general
prospects of the various teams.
To all appearances the East will not have
SO very much the better of the West. Ac-
cording to some authorities the Westerners
won't be in it, but it is not safe to jump at
any such conclusion. True, the Bos-
ton Club has a powerful team, and expe-
rience would lead to the conclusion that the
Bostons are not likely to be downed.
But every other Eastern team is very prob
lematical, indeed, ,and it will be surprise to
me if one of the Western teams is not
ahead of both New York and Brooklyn in
the first half Of the Sc ason at least. So far
it seems to me that both New York and
the Brooklyn teams have been much over
rated, while the Western teams have been
estimated below their real value. If we
ask why New York or Brooklyn are better
teams than Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburg
or Cleveland each man who answers will
likely give us different kond of answer,
and venture to say that every answer will
be extremely open to criticism. After
looking over the situation am very much
inclined to think that the teams of Cincin-
natl, Cleveland and P1ttsburg will be much
better than many people think. While
there is nothing brilliant about any one of
these teams, they are yet made up of that
very useful and endurable material that
can be relied on every day and that lasts to
the end. AS rule these brilliant features
are very, very ephemeral
Next Weeks Meetings.
Next week will be a very important one
in baseballdom. There will be two meet
incs of very great Importance. One is to
discuss and adopt national agreement
which is extremely essential for the welfare
of the magnates if they desire to MAINTAIN
the close monopoly they have commenced to
build. Already we have discussed the
agreement formulated by Colonel Rogers
and we have seen that the drafting" system
is the 'bogie man" in that proposed agree
ment Judging from what the wiseacres
have had to say on the matter, suppose
the agreement will be modified to suit the
minor leagues and that all will be well
Really as far as known the only objections
to the proposed agreement are those relat-
ing to the minor leagues and that means
they will be smoothed over.
And don't be surprised if Won der Abe
leaves both Baltimore and Washington be-
hind; and taking the Brooklyn pitchers into
consideration, it is not impossible for the
Brooklyn team to get very near to the As
sociation teams, who are generally expected
to be at the bottom. Of course, the Phila-
delphia team will, as usual, keep every
body guessing. But the general prospects
are getting bettey every day, and if three
or four of the teams do not get far behind
in the early part of the race all will make
money. But dropping too far behind is the
great danger, as there are a dozen teams now
in the race instead of eight.
The other meeting is the schedule meet
ing, and really that is of more importance to
patrons of the League than anything per-
tanning to the national agreement. Besides
the schedule there will be other matters of
importance, including the disputed claims
of players. 1t is stated that the New York
club is going to prosecute its claims to
Richardson, but for the life of me I fail to
see wherein there is shadow of reason
for any such claim at all. But it might be
well to have both the New York matter and
the Lyons case discussed. There would be
satisfaction in having tie New York mag
mates soundly lectured for making such an
unreasonable noise as they have done.
And there could be no harm in having the
Lyons case thoroughly discussed and placed
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