The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-08

In an interview with a reporter for The
Times yesterday, an official of the National
Baseball League and known AUTHORITY in
matters pertaining to The sport emphat-
ically expressed himself on the current re-
ports that the League circuit will be re-
duced nezt year TO ten or eight clubs. He
said:
There will be no reduction of the clubs
and they will all appear in regular order
when the time comes for The umpire TO say
play ball. All this talk of reduction is
nonsense, and the twelve clubs that now
constitute the National League will start
and finish next season as usual.
I'm the first place, the reduction would
simply be suicidal for the League. 1t is
the first and only body of the kind in the
country, and the looping off of four clubs
would mean that another organization for
the promotion OF the national game would
start up with at least four cities well
equipped in the matter Of grounds, etc, for
the season. II stands to reason that no
four paying baseball towns will be dropped
any more than the Standard Oil Company
would stop pumping oil in one or two Of its
largest fields and abandon the property TO
fate or 10 any other concern that could
start up in twenty-four hours and place
themselves instantly in position to COM
pete with the old company in its business.
II four cities are dropped from the League
circuit 1t would reduce the receipts of the
League ono-third, and besides the fran
chises of these four cities would be lost
forever to the parent body. That is one
reason.
Now for another. How many men are
there in this country who can afford to
pay out, say 10000, in cold cash, ana get
nothing in return? or course, the club
owners will get somthing in return. they
will get the players from the teams that
are dropped from the League, but what
will they do with them after they have
been secured. and what good are they going
10 do the League? The idea in dropping
the clubs seems to be that the baseball
game should not be played in towns too
close together. That the Brooklyn and
New York clubs cannot be made TO pay,
and therefore the Brooklyn club must go.
That the Cincinnati and Louisville clubs
are iG adjacent cities, and therefore the
Louisville team will have to go. That the
Baltimore and Washington clubs draw
from the same crowd for patronage, which
is not true, and therefore one or both OF
these will have to get out. The whole
proposition is absurd. Every one of the
clubs made money last year. The owners
did not become millionalres, but they made
money enough to keep them comfortably
through the winter and start in the new
season with a dollar or two for postage
stamps. Washington made money last
year. There was not much of 1t, but the
team was paying investment for its
owners. and they are not willing TO re-
linquish 1t.
The local team is going to prove the
downfall of several know-all prophets next
season. too. Last year the club contained
a number OF men who had never played
ball professionally in their lives. At least
it was their first appearance with the big
league, and they were not used to such
fast company. They secured lot of val
liable experience, however and II is going
TO be used with good effect in the COM
ing season. These youngsters demonstrat-
ed that they could handle the ball and get
around the diamond last year by the show
ing they made The Washington club lost
twenty-nine games by one run. That is
a large number when the percentage II !
would have given the team had the two
necessary runs in each game placed them
in the lead. Washington would have fin
lshed somewhere near the top Of the first
division anyhow. and then there would
nave been no talk about a sale Of the club !
The club is not going to be sold. and Wash
ingtonians will have just as good an cppor-
tuniiy to witness close contests this year
as ever before, If not better"