Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-23
BASE BALL GOSSIP.
Talk That Will Interest the
Worcester Fans.
Movements for Temperance League
Among the County Societies. General
Items About the Big Leagues.

Little local base ball talk has been in
| dulged in during the past week. The
few enthusiasts who believe that Wor-
cester should be represented in the New
England League and We're working
| working with that end in view, have
wisely concluded to give up their task.
In the first place, they did not meet with
so enthusiastic a reception as they had
anticipated among those to whom they
place before they had got around to do
anything definite, the New England
League had already held its annual
meeting and had voted not to enlarge
the circuit for 1898. Undoubtedly If
| Worcester had started earlier in a New
| England movement and had been able
to show sufficient backing, it would have
| been an easy matter to gain admission
| to the New England organization. But
it is just as well for the future of the
game here that Worcester is out of the
minor organization, for it would prove a
losing venture and would give Eastern
League baseball a local set back, for en-
| thusiasts have not yet given up all
hope that in course Of time, but not this
! year, Worcester will be numbered
among the Eastern League cities, where
she rightfully belongs.
Manager Spaulding of the Fairmounts,
| who was the leading spirit in the New
England League move, but who has
since admitted that the outlook was not
promising, is now endeavoring to ad-
vance a Central Massachusetts League.
He has had encouraging promises from
| two or three of the minor teams in this
| vicinity. 1t would certainly afford a
permanent schedule for the Worcester
| county teams, whereas in past seasons
there has always been hustling abour
Friday night of each week among these
managers to get Saturday afternoon
| games Whether sufficient interest
could be aroused to make two games a
week profitable around the county is a
question upon which opinions differ.
While Manager. O'Reilly, the newly
| elected mead Of the Lyceum nine, has
stated in the Spy that he wants Cent
raj League, and is willing to put the Ly-
| ceu1ns in that company, it still remains
| true that local sentiment is rather
against the scheme. The old project of
a Catholic Total Abstinence League in
| this city has been revived, and among
the members of the various local socie-
| it is meeting with favor. AS a rule it
is the members of these socie-
ties who support the kind Of ball Wor-
cester has had in the past two or three
years, and if their own teams got into
| the fight, they would be all the more
| Interested The Lyceums, the Guilds,
! and the ST. Stephens are all sure to
| have teams the coming season. Up at
the st. Paul's Byceum rooms, the men,
bers are talking base ball and believe
cl1o
same thing holds good at the st. Anne's.
If a temperance league is organized,
it might be deemed advisable to go out
| Of Worcester for members and includc
two or three towns in the county having
strong societies that could place fairly
good teams in the field. North Brook
field, Fftchburg and Webster and a few
/ other places might be included in such
a league. The boys in st. Johns Guild
are the revivers Of the idea this year.
/ Although most of the big college
teams have begun practice for next sea-
sons games, none of the local college or
school teams have taken any steps in
that direction. Holy Cross will be the
first to move and there the students
have an excellent indoor base ball cage
which assists greatly in the early sea-
son work In the course of two or
three weeks candidates for positions ON
| the Holy Cross team win settle down to
work. The Tech boys will be hardly able
to do anything until out-of-door work is
possible. Tom Saunders, the captain,
says that there is more material in the
freshman class than has come to the
| stitution in any one year during his
connection with the team.
Reports from all of the big colleges
=
presented themselves for the various
! teams. AT Harvard, the men, to the
number of about 200, including the hun
dred who want to make the freshmen
nine have been at work for nearly two
weeks under the supervision of Lewis,
the Boston pitcher. Another Boston
player, Fred Tenney, is looking after
the material at Brown University, and
he says they are promising lot. Capt.
Lauder is assisting Tenney, and the
men have been divided into two squads,
practicing upon alternate afternoons.
/ Base ball practice at the University Of
| Pennsylvania started last week, the new
base ball cage being used for the first
time. Tot" Murphy, who used to cap
tain Yale, is coaching the men, and be-
lieves Pennsylvania is better off this
year than at any time during the last
three seasons. At Cornell, last Mon
day, the largest number Of candidates
turned out in the history of the college,
and at Yale and Princeton, base ball
affairs are coIrespondingly bright
AS usual, the big games of the college
season will be between Harvard, Yale
and Princeton Yale will play Harvard
at Cambridge on Thursday, June oath,
and the return game takes place in New
Haven on the following Tuesday. No
arrangements for game in case OF
! tie have been made, but following the
usual custom, 1t will probably be con-
tested in New York on Saturday, July
9 Princeton will play at the City Of
Elms. June 4th, and on the following
Saturday, Yale goes to Princeton. In
the event of a third game being neces-
sary, New York viii again be the scene
of the contest, and June 18th win be
the date. If the Harvard-Princeton
series, the dates for which have already
been published, results in a tie, the
Yale management will invite the two
universities to play the decisive match
on the Yale field.
Yaw. the clever catcher of the Wes-
leyan team, will be seen in a SPRING
field uniform the coming season. He
was graduated last June, and decided to
play ball professionally for few sea-
sons. AS soon as Tom Burns heard of
it, he at once opened negotiations with
the young man and the result was that
last week he affixed his signature, not
TO a Burns, but to Springfield contract
so he is sure of playing in the Massachu-
setts city this year. Springfield Will
undoubtedly use him in the infield, al
though, personally, Yaw would prefer to
play behind the bat. The ex-Wesleyan
has several times played at the college
grounds in this city against Holy Cross,
AZ