The Savannah morning news., 1904-07-30
SOUTHERN LEAGUE
IN MUCH TROUBLE
THE TRANSFER OF GAMES
GIVES NEW ORLEANS 4 CINCH ON
THE PENNANT THIS YEAR.

Now n Certainty That Shreveport
and Montgomery viii Be Dropped
Out-LittIe Chance for savannah
and Charleston to Be Drafted Into
the Southern as the Better .Jud.-
ment Would Be for Atlanta ana
Birmingham to Come Into the
south Atlantic.
Troubles in the Southern League an
pear to be coming rapidly to a head.
Newt Fisher is dissatisfied. Capt De-
montreville of Atlanta has declared
himself as ready to bolt, and this seems
to be an opportune time for the South
Atlantic f1edgeling to make overtures
to Atlanta and Birmingham for men,
bership in this league, which, after all.
is destined to be the real center Of
baseball in the South.
Manager Fisher has the following to
say of the condition of affairs:
1T is a dead moral certainty that
New Orleans will win the pennant.
and also that Shreveport and Mont
gomery will be replaced in the South
ern League next year by some other
teams - probably Savannah and
Charleston, now of the South Atlantic
League.
This business of letting all the weak
clubs transfer their games to New
Orleans can have but one result" con-
tinued Manager Fisher, "ard that re-
suit is that the Pelicans will win the
pennant in romp, 1t is a cinch for
n vii
diamond. What takes hard work is
to win on the other mans diamond.
AS New Orleans has so many games
transferred to their own diamond they
are absolutely sure winners, and no
team on earth can head them
Il see by the Atlanta papers that
Demont has made the following state
ment:
Unless Montgomery and Shreve-
port agree to transfer their home
games to Atlanta just as they have
done to New Orleans and Birmingham,
then the pennant race this season will
be farce, and I for one, am ready to
quit, for the race will not be decided
on its merits.
There is no fairness in a race Of
this kind said he. If these two teams
play their home games in certain cit
les and refuse to play in others, the
race Will be a farce straight through.
The arrangement has already been
made with New Orleans and Birming-
ham, and 1, for one. am going to make
the best fight I know how to bring
them here for our series there
What he says continued Manager
Fisher, lis just about right. Atlanta
has just as much right to games at
home as New Orleans has, and so, for
that matter, have we.
Shreveport is in bad hole. and so
is Montgomery. Baseball pays in
neither of these towns. and the sooner
we get rid of them the better. What
we want is a couple of hustling towns
to take their places. And 1 believe that
the Southern League will give the nee
essary three fourths vote to the expell-
ing of Shreveport and Montgomery, and
will then draft Savannah and Charles
ton. Both of these towns have been
thought of before, but there has never
been more than one place vacant at
time. and it would have been impossi-
BILE to take one of those cities without
the other. Now we can get them both,
and thus strengthen the league great
ly."
Under these conditions. and a pros
pective dissolution of the present cir
cult called the Southern League, a
business proposition will confront the
managers in Atlanta and Birmingham,
i. e., whether il is better to take Sa-
vannah and Charleston into the South
ern League and drop out Shreveport
and Montgomery, facing increased
mileage and heavier expenses, or to
leave the Southern League entirely and
enter a league which gives promise
of as great success, in a closer circle,
where interest will naturally be
greater and rivalry more keen, and
with travelling expenses greatly re-
duced
Manager Powell has already Travelled
over the South Atlantic circuit and ex-
pressed himself as believing that it
has the best prospects for a good pay
ing league anywhere in the country.