New-York tribune., 1896-09-27
THE BOYS WHO PLAY BALL
HOW AMATEUR CLUES ARE MADE AND
MANAGED.

s,,pprMAcy OF THE cAPTArN-AN INEXPENSIVE
FORM OF YOUTHFUL croRY-LEssER
GAMES FOR THE OUTSIDERS.
There is no need OF n clubhouse Tor sn'"' ooSS
baseball club central and convenient street V'
nor ,s enough It does not need much equipment
II can get along with bat and pan, ''i' So'''
o,hor club gets the ball away from It, Neither are
its running EXPENSES great Carfares, which eacn
how can pay for himself the largest item' ana
the second one IS the occasional cost OF Il new
ball when an old one is best so poyS p"Se'''
club is an Independent sort OF anair' ana can Wv
carried on with a small amount OF money fVen
the item of dead loss balls just mentioned II
partly compensated by the occhsIoh"i "'""''e "
n ball from another club
The institution may easily be carried on III
moro luxurious manner, It is scarcely necessary
TO say II the boys have more money 10 spehu
they may uniform caps they may nave
superabundante of bats and they may nave
enough money to buy balls so that they can use
new ones on all important and on some uninpor-
tant occasions A degree higher than that Is the
ability to put advertisements In the papers. setting
forth that the club will be glad to meet any other
club made up Of boys Of It's own age. and when
the club gets TO that the members OF 1t begin to
feel their importance.
Some OF the clubs OF younger baseball players
represent the schools which their members attend
and these are. naturally. carried on In about the
same manner the college teams only on
smaller scale They play mostly with the teams
OF other schools. though they may upon occasion
unbend the dignity OF the gown to the extent OF
humbling the pride OF some neghboring organiza-
tion of the town Such n team this has a bond
of union in the school itself. which the body out
side the scholastic walls has not or the latter
club the captain is usually the source. tho centre
and the being There Is no election Tor captain
as n general thing. and no choice or MIN IN any
way Boys always find natural leaders. and when
there is any attempt at democracy among them
II amounts commonly to no than the legal
establishment Of the natural leader. As long as
his rule Is just and firm he is not easily displaced
SO the boy who starts n baseball club Is the cap
tain of it, II he not to be the captain why
should he start IT? The other boys join 1t on the
distinct understanding that he is the captain ana
Is going to stay
THE AITOCRATIC CAPTAIN.
The captain thereupon undertakes to run the
club with such aid and counsel AZ he may choose
TO employ or admit He issues challenges and ac-
cents them: he makes all the arrangements for
games with other clubs: he chooses his mem
hers and assigns them to their positions. and he
commands his forces I'm the field. Most of the
other boys probably glad to be allowed to Join
a real baseball club at ALL and they are not likely
IN complain or at any rate to rebel long as
they are not actually oppressed Tf they find that
they do not like the captain after they have joined
his club OF course they can resign.
II does not take many members for one OF
these Young amateur clubs II does for pro-
fessonal team. Nine boys are all that are re-
ouiro6 to play actual game. of course. and
there are not likely to be more than three or four
extra ones to provide against accidents. Boys join
a club TO play ball to sit around and wait for
of providing numerous substitute players for diff
fercnt positions, especially those Of pitcher and
catcher that Is n concession to the spirit of ef-
feminacy not to he thought OF I'm a boys club.
A boy who can pitch or catch well enough TO do
II regularly in club can do II every day, if
called upon and he would scorn to pretend or to
admit that he could not. As a matter Of fact. he
does not have to do IT often as that. as rule.
once a week for real match game against n
rival team would probably be nearer the mark.
The ages Of the boys I'm a team will probably
cover n range OF about four years. Twelve for
instance. Is about the least age at which players
could be expected to be effective for club pur-
poses II an organization had players OF the age
OF twelve It would probably not have any over
sixteen. Another club might from sixteen
TO twenty. or from fourteen 10 eighteen. There
would be tendency for the sake Of strengthens
ing the club TO get some boys into II who were
older than the natural limit Of the team. con
sdcrably older than the average of the other play
crs but this Is held i'm check by the difficulty
which II would create I'm making matches with
other clubs If club the most Of the members
Of which ranged in age from twelve to sixteen.
should take i'm one two boys of eighteen. for
instance 1t would thereupon have to play with
other organizations having eighteen limit OF
age and Il would he barred from playing with
clubs OF sixteen and under Thus 1t would be
practically barred from all contact with its equals
and compelled to play only with its supcriors
VICTORIES AND THEIR REWARDS
These clubs have OF course no established
grounds. They play for tho most part in vacant
lots on the outskirts of the city; that is. far as
/ tho New-York clubs are concerned. II may be
remarked in passing that NcwYork city is III
supplied with grounds for this purpose. In Brook
Ign good deal Of playing is done in Prospect
Park. The stakes of the game arc little more than
glory There may be "A notion Of championship