Los Angeles herald., 1893-01-02
BASEBALL IN Los ANGELES,
The First League Season of the
National Game.
A Brief Resume of the Past Year on
the Diamond.
A Few Observations on the Game Itself
and Some Personal Mention OF
Those Who Represented
This City.

The year 1892 marked new era for
Los Angeles in the field of outdoor
sports by it's entry into the California
baseball league. While league baseball,
strictly speaking, is nothing more nor
less than professional amusement, still
there are elements in its makeup which
give it an attractiveness that is not
shared by anything else in the world OF
either pastime or purchasable entertain
ment. 1t is the national game OF
America, and as such is patronized by
all classes and conditions OF American
humanity, from the street Arabs who
fight over theiI turn at the knot hole in
the fence to the digni6ed statesman
who sits behind the grand-stand screen.
There is hardly man OF 40
years in the United States who has
not, with greater or less brilliancy,
participated in amateur games, either
in his college or local athletic team; and
a vacant lot with dozen boys practlciDg
the game ia lure to attract more than Its
share of attention from passers by.
There seeme to be something about the
game itself that has an almost irresist-
ible fascination, and once it has taken
good hold it's rule is autocratlc. Whether
it is from one cause or another, the pro-
fessional representatives OF city in
league circuit are not looked upon as
mere mercenaries and their career is
watched with quite the same solicitude
as if they were simply animated by es-
prit de corps.
On March 26, 1892. the first game of
league baseball was PLAYED in Los An
gelee. 1t was between the San Francis
CO team, the league Daddies, and the
local aggregation, the Babies. The US
ual buffoonery was induleged in about
the Daddies' spanking the Babies, but
the conditions were reversed. The Ba-
bies won the game and demonstrated
the fact that they had attained their
majority.
On the 10th OF December the last game
of the past season was played in Los An
geles, with the thrice-champion San
Jose team as opponents. Again the
local team won the victory.
Between these two dates there were
many aud various incidents and by
plays, soma Of which were kept in the
background, but all OF which were part
OF the grand struggle for the seasons
championship. The season had not
covered that the contest lay between
two clubs-Los Angeles and San Jose
and the only interest taken in the sue
cess OF the other teams was to see how
far down the ladder Colonel Robinson's
tail-enders would bs found at the close.
To wipe out this inequality, and with
the conditions that made Huch pro-
gramrne- e-seena -adrisab in 8 12-club
league, the local magnates decided to
adopt the National league plan of cut
ting the Season in half. making virtually
two seasons in one year. Thus on
the 9th Of July the four clubs started
again on an equal footing; and at the
close OF that first days play the irony of
fate gave the hopeless tail enders of the
day before a standing of 1000 in the per-
centage column of the summary.
With the result OF these two sessons'
play the readers of the HERALD are al
ready familiar. The Los Angeles team
won the fret half on the diamond but
were cheated out Of their reward in the
sanhedrim The second half they Won
also, even in spite of the combination OF
three managers, whose motto seemed to
be Anything to beat Los Angeles, but
beat Los Angeles by all means" But
even against the odds thus marshaled
sgainet them the Angels won the race.
Then came the play,off, and the COM
plete victory for the local team, which
is of too recent occurrence to need re-
capitulation.
During the two seasons the Los
Angeles club played It's games of base
ball, all but two OF which were cham
pionship games. Of this number they
won 10l games and lost H. This gives
the local team long lead over its COM
petitora in the whole year, as will be
seen by the following summary: