Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-10

Tor general admission. even TO the bleaching
boards, the crowd inside the gates was 50
enormous that in order to find room 80
stand 1t had to spread itself over the field
to such an extent that it was Impossible for
the players To move about and the game
had to be postponed after the first inning.
Amateur games-the only kind then
known-suCh as thirty years ago drew I'M
mense crowds Of the friends and ncighhors
OF the participants, are played now by col
lege and athletic club teams. Thirty years
ago a base ball club was an organization
OF gentlemen for recreation in exercise sim
ply. Now it is a corporation-with no oh
lect save TO make as much money as posi-
bic out of the hired players.
Beginning of Professional.
The encroachment OF the professional
player was gradual The rivalry between
clubs became so great that in order TO
strengthen itself and win victory over some
rival each would leave nothing undone TO
obtain the best players. Thus Inducements
were held out to men who had shown an
unusual aptitude for the game TO influence
them to play only with particular club
A wealthy gentleman. for instance, desiring
10 See his club in the front rank would Of
Ter some young man OF rare base bali PLAY
ing ability a position in his business house
with private understanding that his com
mercial duties were purely nominal while
his real ones We're to play base ball Thus
there were numerous clubs in the country
before professional PLAYING was oppulv per-
United and while the stringent law against
II was sim in force In the code of the
american Association Of Base Bail Players
This was notably the case with those
famous old-time opponents. the Atlantic
Club Of Brooklyn aud the Athletics of
Philadelphia. BY 1871 the number and in
fluence of professional clubs was such that
their representatives met in New York
March II Of that year avowed themselves
such and cut loose from the National Assoc
citation of Base Ball Players and adopted
rules Tor championship contests, the most
important being that the club wiAring the
largest number Of games in series Of five
with every one OF the other professional
clubs should be declared champion cham
pionship games having been previously I'M
regulated.
Base Ball Championship.
The base ball championship originated
about 1858. At the Elysian Fields in IBo-
boken, n. J., the Atlantics Of Brooklyn had
beaten the crack New York clubs. the EN-
pires, Knickerbockers. Gotham and Eagle,
and We're generally regarded champions
From that time until the establishment of
the championship rules by the profession
ais whichever club won two games out Of
three from the champion club became
champion in its turn. From the organiza-
ton of the professional clubs in 1871 anna
teur playing steadily declined. Many no
longer cared to engage personally in a sport
which had been made a business The
game came to be looked upon as a money
making scheme instead Of recreation.
Then, too, the steady increase of popula-
ton and consequent demand for new build
ing sites and ornamental parks did away
largely with the vacant lots and commons
upon which the amateur games had been
played.
Injurious Changes.
The recognition of professional players is
not solely responsible for base balls deca-
dence. The changes in the game are also
to blame. Take pitching. for example. The
old rule required the pitcher to actually
pitch the ball, and at the moment OF deliv-
cry his hand had to be below his waist
The word pitcher is now wholly a mis-
nomer, for the ball is no longer pitched
but thrown to the bat. In the old DAYS
the pitcher was required TO pitch the ball
just where The batsman wanted il The
latter could call for a ball shoulder high"
hip high" knee high" or low ball"
the last named being a ball between the
knee and the ankle Now he must strike
at any ball that goes over the plate. Cur
failing the rights of the batsman and Civ
with the intention Of reducing the scores
This has tended TO greatly diminish the
popularity of base ball. Good batting and
base running are the most attractive fea-
lures of The sport, and games where man
after man retires at the home plate on
tips to the infelders. resulting in scores OF
l TO o, Or to 1, are simply tiresome TO
many.
To have the bases kept filled with run
ners, and to see run after run scOred-not
by fielding errors. but by good batting ana
twenty persons to every one now attending
base ball games