The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-04-09
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BASEBALL

Each year baseball men in Montana
look with antcipations of pleasure to-
ward the coming of spring Each year
they hope that this season Montana
will surely have a baseball league. But
March comes and goes and April comes
and goes, but Montana is no nearer a
state league than she has been for the
last seven years. The reasons why
this is so have often been explained.
1t REQUIRES money and enterprise to
start league in Montana. and the in
vestment is decidedly a risky one 1t
is doubtful, very much so, indeed,
whether a league could be made self
sustaining, even under the most favor
able circumstances. The first obstacle
league promoters meet is the long
jumps" between cities, and the conse-
quent enormous cost of railroad trans
portation. The next stumbling block
is the salary limit No matter at
what figure salaries are fixed to be paid
by the clubs, the amount is always en-
ceeded, at first cOvertly and then open
ly. The result is that the clubs which
find their homes in the larger cities are
invariably the winners. and the smaller
clubs are frozen out. Then again there
is the question of players. Coed play
ers must be paid. 1t is all right, in
theory. to say that the battery and
one or two others shall be on salary
and that the remainder of the team
shall be made up of local players. But
in practice it is different Local play
ers must live as well as imported ones.
They cannot afford to leave profitable
employment and-nlay ball three or four
times week on wind. Neither do they
find any great amount of satisfaction
in playing second fiddle to a quartette
or seXtette of imported players who
receive all the glory, and incidentally
all the money.
There is talk over the state about a
league to include Butte Anaconda,
Great Falls, Missoula, Helena, posi-
bly, Bozeman. and Pocatello, Ogden and
Salt Lake. What will be the result of
this talk is beyond conjecture, but it
does not seem probable that anything
can come of it.
So, with the league proposition out of
consideration, the cran1s of Montana
will content themselves with Witness
ing such games as may take place be-
tween amateur clubs They have done
this for seven years, and during that
time there have been some most inter-
esting baseball games. Anaconda and
Butte have taken part in many nOta-
BILE contests, as have also the other
cities of the state This wear will
dcuh+1ose ,t;,,ase ha++n,, a,,o+o,, iii
nlaved nv hatter n1ayers +ban bas a n,r''
before been the case. So far little def
mite action has been taken by any of
the cities looking toward recognizing
their clubs, although in some of them
doubtless the foundations have been
laid Anaconda has the matherial to
form a stronger club than ever before
The only weak point in the roster of
men seems to be in the catching de-
partment. Butte is said to have tim
Der for remark bly, strong club hut
lacks strength in the box Helena has
good men. and Great Falls. Belt and
Missoula may be depended upon to nut
forward creditable ORGANIZATIONS. TIE
Eastern Montana cities-Billinps Rnzo-
man. Livingston and Miles City-ara
to the front each wear with clubs and
this wear they will doubtless he on dprl,