Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-08-07
COTTON STATES DOPE.

W ON > > DOPE.
The Cotton States league season OF
final weeks of play find Vicksburg
Pine Bluff aud Monroe fighting every
inch of the way for the lead in the
! pennan1 race with only a few points
difference between the three clubs.
| Gradually but surely, the three lead
| ers are pulling away from the tail
enders." and the finish is clearly mark
| ed Greenville is the last club to drop
! back, and while that club has not
: dropped very far it is not counted i'll
the pennant race above fourth place.
| For the most part of the season this
, club has played good ball and has
| been considered in the running. but
the loss of five ont of six games to
Pine Bluff this week decided matters
to large extent and anchored that
club at the head of the second divis
ion with weight of games lost that
will be hard to throw Off at this stage
Of the race. Baton Rouge is now
calling on the Cotton Pickers for the
lead in the first division. When the
Natchez club fell to the bottom they
almost knocked the bottom out, and
even Manager Breitenstein has no
hopes of pulling his team out of the
mire. From the conditions that now
confront the clubs the finish looks
about like this:
Pine Bluff
Monroe.
Vicksburg
Baton Rouge.
Greenylle
Natchez. sAa
Outside the players, who have
drawn their salaries regularly through
out the season, there has been but
little money made in the league this
season. From a financial standpoint
the season has been disastrous fail
ure in every city in the league. E"ery
club has gone through it's fina'cial re-
verses but the Pine Bluff club, and
this club has used up every dollar OF
the reserve fund subscribed by the
directors at the beginning of the 1904
eason. In some of the cities an Ell
trc change OF management has been
made necessary for the continuance
of the games through the season and
in each case the directors have taken
hold of the affairs of the club with
or even getting back what they put
in, purely love Of sport on the part
of those men who have money TO sink
into it has kept the baseball going
in at least three of the cities which
comprise the Cotton States league this
season. The matter of dividends on
stock is out of the qquestion.
There are several reasons for this
state OF affairs, principal among which
is the fact that the salaries Of the
players are too high for the patronage
received at the parks. Not that the
players have not delivered the very
best article of ball, for it is gener
ally conceded thar the league is three
or four times faster than it was last
season, but the people do not at, and.
A Sl,S0O per month club playing to
$50 and 200 people per game with a
road guaranty that will barely cover
expenses, cannot put money into the
treasury of any club in the circuit.
The players deserve all they get in
do not deserve the article of ball that
is now being played on the circuit,
and do not fully appreciate what they
are getting for the ADMISSION fee at
the parks.
The street car facilities for getting
to and from the parks have been an
other handicap on the man who pays
off the players In many, if not all.
Of the cities. the ball parks are some
thing like a mile Or a mile and a half
from the business centers of the cities
and the business men waste too much
time in seeing game. The street
cars are nearly always crowded even
to the hanging on place and there are
not like to take the risk of changing
on" for twenty or thirty minutes in
order to see a ball game.
A third reason has been the poor
management in the handling of play
L.