The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-12-31


Interest in out-of-door sports ha
never been so general in Salt Lake no
so diversified as in the past year. Dur
ing the summer and fall nearly ever,
branch of athletics has had its vogu
and each was more than usually popu
lar. There was an excellent season o
baseball, rowing and tennis were re
vived, cricket was introduced, hors,
racing received considerable attention
and cycle racing, after three years o.
popular neglect. came into favor again
and fairly took the local public by
storm. Football, also. seems TO have
taken its rightful place with Other
games in popular estimation, all the
teams reporting successful seasons.
BASEBALL.
The baseball season may be best de-
scribed as ''streaky." There was a not
able advance in the quality of ball
played by the local and visiting teams
and at periods during the season there
was much interest. shown in the game
by the public. While in previous years
the local teams have been largely made
up of home talent, this year there was
a decided tendency toward importing
players from out of town, and the game
began to verge much more on profess
/
able that this tendency towards pro-
fessionalism will increase and that
another year or two will see a regularly
organized professional league of base
ball clubs from the larger cities of the
intemountain country.
At the beginning of the year most of
the games were played on the Fort
Douglas field. but early in the summer
Manager Bamberger constructed a fine
. al - l-%0 e. =. i
diamond at Walkers field was opened.
The majority of games after the LIST
j of August were played at the latter
grounds, which, on account of their
proximity to the business center of the
city, will probably be used almost ex-
clusively during the coming season.
Four teams were in the field at the
opening CT the season-the Oregon
Short Line, Y. NJ. c. A. and Salt Lakes
in this city and the Ogdens. The Salt
Lakes began their existence under IA
vorable circumstances, being made up
largely of imported players, but broke
up after playing a number of good
games early in the season. The La
goons succeeded them, and during the
month of June this team was prac-
tically invincible. 1t too, succumbed
however, leaving the Ogdens. the Short
Lines and the Rio Grandes to fight it
cut. The Y. NJ. C. A. lasted but few
weeks, for the team would not play
Sunday ball and went quietly out of
existence.
The record of the Ogden team, with
the exception of a few weeks early in
the year and a week or so just at the
close, was consistently good and it de-
serves the title of state champion, if
any team may claim such an honor.
The Short Lines played good ball early
in the year and then went to pieces in
the middle of the season, owing to in
ternal dissensions. The Rio Grande
Westerns were never in the class with
the other teams and not until the
middle of August did the management
get together a nine that stood any kind
of show with the Others.
In one game the Westerns defeated
the Short Lines, but the team shortly
afterward broke up and the best of it's
players combining with the best of the
Short Lines the name Salt Lakes was
adopted by the hybrid aggregation
This proved to be the best team that
the city boosted during the year. 1t
swept all before it, winning every game
it played save one at Pocatello and the
final one at Ogden. ~
The season was marked by visits
from several teams from out of the
state. The Pocatello team, which has
always been one of the factors in the
Utah games, came down for several
visits and mines from both Butte and
Billings also played here and in Ogden.
Save for frequent visits to Pocatello,
Ogden and Park City. the local mines
stayed strictly at home. The Ogden
nine, on the other hand. made a trip to
Helena. Montana, which resulted rather
every game played in the
north being lost. The team solaced
itself by administering a sound beating
to the Cache Valley mines and by TAX
ing one of its series of three games
with Pocatello. t-
Park City put out team which
proved to be a failure. 1t was recruited
with several players from local mines
The club made a trip into Idaho and
played a few games with the Salt Lake
teams, but it met with little success.
Provo also had a nine which played
with the Sanpete teams and also the
High school nine, winning one of the
two games played.
Down in Sanpete county they started
the year very vigorously by organizing
a league and arranging a long schedule
of games, but the Ephraim and Mt
Pleasant teams soon proved so far SUI
perior to the others that they were left
alone to fight out the battle for SUI
premacy. The Ephraim nine won out
without difficulty.
Records of the Clubs.
The standing of the leading clubs of
the state and their records are ap-
pended. The standing of the Salt
Lakes is not included in the list. owing
to the spasmodic manner in which the
team mane ged to live through the sea-
son. 1t was really two entirely diff
ferent teams and to include it in the
table with the others. would be mani
testify unfair. The records follow:
Per
Played. Won. Lost Cent
Lagoon ...... 9 s 1888
o. S. L....... 81 Is u $50
r. G. W...... Is . II 154
Y. NJ c. A.. l 143
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