Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-08-21
BASE BALL IN THIS CITY.
What the Wagner Brothers Say About
Transferring Games
they Were Opposed to ExperimentinR
With Untried or CASTOR Players
Negotiating for Good Material.

W. Wagner. the president Of the local base
oaI club, to Star reporter on Saturday.
On the contrary. we are determined to
strengthen 1t and give as good base ball to
the city Of Washington we can. These
rumors about our trying to make as much
money out Of Washington as we can and
then getting out of the business are ali
nonsense"
The Messrs. Wagner have been yer.- un-
Justly criticised in their MANAGEMENT of
the team, and especially in regard to the
transferring of games" said Vice Presi-
dent Frank 8. Elliott, "and IL is time that
some things were explained, that they
may be set right before the Washington
public These facts which we will pll. be-
fore you can be verified by going to Mr.
Young. You needn't take our unsupported
only two games i've been asa 1s y9d e oa,
side the schedule. In arranging the sched-
uie the Idea was to help every club as
much as possible, financially. The idea was
not to deprive Washington Of base ball, but
20 20 oensn1 the clubs. all the clubs In the
case OF Washington. Mr.. Young saw that
saturday games here were not profitable
as In other eastern cities. and games for
nour saturdays were scheduled elsewhere.
This was done at Mr.. Young's suggestion
ne certainly Is as much interested III the
welfare Of base ball here any one. La
Dor DAY games are much more profitable
IN f1ttsburg than here, and the Labor Day
games on september 2. as well as that on
sSptenoer s. were accordingly scheduled
Ior Pittsburg- This was done last year. TOO.
Remember. this was to benefit Pittsburg as
Ios as the Washington club: The Bsati-
more games were played in Pittsburg
decoration Day for a similar reason.
AT the league meeting last November
Chlcaso asked permission to arrange it's
games at home or away according to cir
cumstances- This permission was granted.
Ihis was done in view OF the experience Of
me Philadelphia club in the centennial year.
contrary to expectation, base ball WIS
played at a loss in Philadelphia that year.
IL was decided that Chicago should nave the
right to transfer its games away IL It's
patronage did not prove profitable. The
Chicago club had spent $4,000 on new
grounds and grand stand. and naturally
,Se Tho 10 make css as much on, Of i as pos
Sunday games. and they thought. with the
exposition closed that day, they would
make good deal Of money Well. the re-
suit Nas that on March 10 Mr. Hart wrote
TO US requesting US TO play the games of
August IL. IS and ls-those now being played
league agreement OF last November we ac-
quiesced- The games were not transferred
on account Of poor attendance here. Re
member. this was over a month before the
season opened. As n matter OF fact when
the hue and cry was raised about transfer
ring Washington games. Mr. Wagner re-
Quested Mr.. Hart to have the games played
here. but he would not consent We could
do nothing else than play them at Chicago.
ranged to be played there. before the season
opened. This was done to avoid n long
jump back here only to go west again the
next day. They were not transferred on
account Of poor patronage for before the
season opened We could not. OF course. tell
what the patronage would be in September
played away. They were all scheduled
away. The same thing was done with other
clubs. Baltimore was scheduled to play
more games away from home, than at Bal
timore. It's the same with Cleveland End
Boston
Now. coming down to the two games
q rod to he c1tI
left on its western trip we had been having
an average attendance of over 1000 But
i must admit was rather disastrous. the at
tendance fell TO about 900. We were play
phias. e and YET on I've drew about s.1oo for
three games. Mr.. Wright suggested that IL
would be good business policy to transfer
Thursday and Fridays games to Philadei-
phia- The three games we had PLAYED
there We had drawn 31OOo persons. The
ways drew FL there We agreed That it
would be good business policy to do as he
suggested. Now. ! ask you what business
man would not shut I'D his place for two
days IL. by doing so ne could make several
thousand dollars: We played to 24.Ooo per-
sons In those three games. Those are the
only transferred games and We think We
were justified in view of the low standing
in trying to recoup ourselves for our losses.
Those who criticise US so severely should
that the .t g m club In 1 los, lost
up g. 900 in notes Of the old Washington
club. II things keep on as they have we
will make some money this year. but not
enough to make up for last years losses.
In view OF these things We felt jutified in
MAKING s,Hh1g what we eouid d,n out or the Phia.
more that is made out of the club the more
can be paid to strengthen it, The more
patronage there is the higher priced play
I'VE are business men enough to know
s ass 'eer w saG NH Earle
Wagner. the larger the crowds will be.
and for that reason. IL for no other. We are
anxious to have as good base ball here as
1T has been asserted" continued Mr.
eardiy in their MANAGEMENT. Do you know
that the salary list OF the champion BoS-
tons is only SOD more T,t than that of the
spent money freely in the past for ball
PLAYERS. as you must know. They signed
team at a salary of $500 apiece and at a
time when prospects were none the bright.
the new league they got out better than
they might have done"
Yet we lost $1,000 on that" said George
Wagner We were paid $4,000 for the
franchise: but We had paid out $4,000
The wagners." continued Mr.. Elliott.
any men in the base bali business and "a
great deal more than many who are
heralded about for their spending money.
O'Rourke has had full control. No move
has been made to interfere with him. We
best. In discussing the team early in the
season he said that he could see no place
where II could be strengthened Doubtless
he has made mistakes We all have. but
ne has worked earnestly and has had our
hearty support Last year 40 different
PLAYERS were engaged IL was decided this
year to pursue a different policy We
deemed the team strong ard they did play
brilliant ball in the spring. We decided
not to experiment Other clubs have ex-
perimented. but what have they gained by
IL? In fact it is charged that the Philadei-
phia club has lost the pennant by expert
menting with young players instead of
sticking to their old team. What new play
ers have strengthened any team German
q the only one / can think of. And there
Save been hordes OF them tried by the
various teams
How about Baldwin -
Baldwin had lost thirteen games for
Pittsburg," replied Earl Wagner. "and
there was no Indication that he would do
any better here AS IL is he has been only
fairly successful in New York. Why II
was only yesterday that he was knocked
out OF the box
How about Joyce?"
Joyce was offered as much as any r1an
on the Washington team but Charley Far
rell He was offered more than o. Rourke.
even. In fact. / think highly of Joyce and
would have liked to get him. but his finan-
cial views were too broad" replied Earle
Wagner. We wouldn't have traded a
player like Richardson for him IL we hadn' I
wanted him. But II wouldn't do to pay one