The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-09-12
Biggest Year for Baseball.

Cincinnati, O., Sept. u.-Baseball
magnates as they finger the pages of the
| schedules and figure out that three
weeks more of playing will finish the
season, give signs of regret because the
end Is so soon. The season Of 1895 has
been unusually prosperous-in fact, one
can say without fear of contradiction
that 1t is the most prosperous season
that the great national game has ever
enjoyed. Not only has every club in the
National League and Association of
Baseball Clubs made money, but most
of the minor leagues will quit the sea-
son with good sized balance on the
right side of the ledger. The Western
! league, under the able direction of Pres
ident Ban. Johnson of this city. has now
larger amount of money in its sinking
fund than ever before, while the individ
ual clubs, with perhaps one or two ex-
ceptionS, will close the season thou
sands of dollors to the good. The same
can be said Of the Eastern league. OH
er leagues, such as the Southern, the
Western association, the Virginia State,
the New England, and several others,
show healthy increase of patronage
over the season before. This prosperity
is the result of the steady growth of
baseball in all localities. Just such a
year as the present was in sight when
the Brotherhood revolt occurred in 1880.
Baseball was slow in recovering from
that blow, but now that famous fight
is almost forgotten, and its influence on
the game is known only by the reduc-
ton in the salaries of the players since
that time. 1t is given out that Louis
vile, the poorest baseball city in the cir
cult, will close the season $4,000 to the
good. st. Louis will see those figures
and go them $1,000 better. Chicago and
Philadelphia have enjoyed the most
prosperous season they have had since
either city supported professional club
while the other cities will quit winners
all the way from $4,000 to $4,000.
There is one city in the circuit that
has not made as much money as last
season, and that is New York. From
being one of the best cities in the coun- |
try, New York, considering its size, has
become one of the worst. The Freed |
man reform" is what did the trick. So |
much has been said about the mSma1- |
agement and ignorance on the subject |
of baseball Of this fresh magnate that |
a repetition of the many set-backS he |
has given the game would be like recit- |
ing all the verses of MARY Had a Lit |
tie Lamb" It is sufficient to say that |
he has taken a hard fall out of baseball |
in New York from which the game will |
not recover for several years except, per |
haps under extraordinary circum-
stances. In other cities the magnates
have done their level best to give their
patrons the best they could secure in
the way OF baseball talent. This. cou-
pied with the closeness of the league
race. has caused a decided boom in the
of the game. There is an old
gag" that ''once a crank. always a
crank" and this is specially applicable
TO baseball. With teams doing not
much worse than they have done the
present season, every city in the league
:ircuit-in fact, every city that sup
ports baseball club-should add new
next season, making the year
wen more prosperous than the present
me- The return of So-calied good
ines will also stimulate the game and,
lnless all signs fail, the season of 1895
will be more successful from the mag
lates' point of view than was the season
# 1895.