Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1897-04-07

lake the beginning of the reason of
1895 for an illustration. In the opening
game l believe five out of six of the
home clubs lost. 1t would have made q
difference of $4,000 to the clubs If the
home teams had wonL Look at WASH
ington. If the home team wins the
opening game with an audience of 5000,
there will surely be 5000 people to see
the second game. If the home team
lcses, there will be probably 1000 to
1900 people ON the grounds the second
day. That is about true of every other
city. 1t is always most fortunate when
the home team can win the opening
game, and as the clubs divide the re-
ceipts without any regard to the result
of the contest it would be profitable for
the managers of the clubs to agree that
the home team should win majority
of games. OF course, the home team
always has little percentage in it's
favor. The players are more interested
if they have an enthusiastic and en-
couraging audience of their friends.
This naturally acts as stimulus to the
greatest possible exertions. But beyond
home team except possibly slight adj
vantage by reason of their greater fa-
miliarity with the grounds.
There is perfect harmony among the
leagues. The National league is sat-
isfied because, as 1 said, the smaller
leagues train players and prove what
is in them, SO that the National league
gets the finished product and not the
raw material. The National league on
its side protects the minor leagues and
pays them well for the players it takes
from them.
The game of baseball would not be
profitable to-day if the old system had
continued. Why? Because the public
to-day is demanding the highest grade
of talent, and only under the strict
rules of the National league and the
training system in the minor leagues
is it possible to get the best players
and to lie sure of getting the best work
out of them. We have a constant sup
ply of tried players to draw from, and
the old player knows that if his playing
is not up to the mark he will be re-
leased to make room for some man who
is Just coming to the front. The clubs
of the National league are constantly
recruiting new players, and as the old
players lose some of their usefulness
they naturally drift back into the
smaller leagues or retire from the field.
II is the doctrine of the survival of the
littest applied to baseball, and the
public is the gamer. The clubs, too,
profit by it: for it is no longer possible
for a prosperous club to buy up all the
best talent in the country Some play
| ers cannot be matched; but good,
strong D1avars are to be found every
year among the new men, and the less
prosperous clubs have the same oppor-
tunitv to reserve them that the pros
porous clubs have. The makeup of the
club, therefore. depends in a large de-
gree on the Judgment Of its manager.
Good umpiring, too, cuts a very i'm
portant figure in nearly every game
played. The umpire comes in as q gen.
eral rule for more unmerited abuse
than any other person connected with
the game, In the major league
have had the appointment and control
of the ump.res for many years. I know
that it is their ambition in every game
not to make Il mistake, but, unfortu-
nately, they are human. In many
games that | have witnessed the players
have made more than one error, avoid
ing any one of which would have saved
the game, but if the umpire made an
error the excited crowd charged him
with having lost the game, while his
error cut little or no figure by compari-
son. If the general public would rcpose
the same confidence in the umpire (and
he is justly entitled to it) that they do
in the players the umpire's task would
be comparatively an easy one. He has
the hardest duty to perform of any per-
son engaged in the game. 1 speak from
many long years of experience both as
a player and umpire.
There has been some talk about the
changes in the rules made recently
The principal change is the one which
allows only one coacher when only one
man is on base. It is good rule,
think, because it will prevent the cross
fire across the diamond, which is con.
fusing, and viii permit the game to be
played more strictly on its merits. The
change in scoring and the minor
changes I am sure the public will ap
prove.
N. E. YOUNG, President.