The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-04-28
NEW HAVEN VS. BRIDGEPORT
BASEBALL SEASON OPENS IN
 PARK CITY TO-DAY.

| The frODabie battery TOT BrloSeport-
 Manager O'Rourke Signs Pitcher
 OdeII-Brief Review of State League
 -Meriden Talk About It's Team.
 The Connecticut Baseball leagues eighth championship season will open this afternoon, when the New Haven team will play Bridgeport in the latter city It promises to be a memorable occasion. The Bridgeport Elks will at tend the game in body and will have the City band to furnish music for a parade to the grounds and during the game.
 The battery for Bridgeport will prob ably be Mccullough and Beaumont and the manner in which these two per | formed against Paterson on Saturday makes it a foregone conclusion that the New Haven team will have to hustle to win.
 Manager O'Rourke announced yester- day that he has signed Pitcher O'Dell, of the Paterson team of the Hudson l IliNCI lcdS uCs V DCll 10 lIC Ilc1il Ml4O l twirled against Bridgeport last Friday and defeated them by the score of to g. He is crack pitcher and will add strength to the Bridgeport team in the 1 box
 Third Baseman Reyes, of the Pater son team, who accepted O'Rourke's terms Monday night. afterward wired to O'Rourke that he had signed with Meriden. According to the rules of the national association, Reyes will have to play in Bridgeport or nowhere, as he accepted Bridgeport's terms before he signed with Meriden. Secretary Far rell, of the national association has been notified of Reyes action and 1t is l probable that the player will be ordered to report to MT. O'Rourke.
 Of the clubs that originally belonged to the Connecticut league in 1897 Mer- iden and Bridgepore are the only two left.
 Since that time the towns that have been in and dropped out are Derby, Bristol, Danbury, New Britain and Norwich.
 The league now has three Massachu- setts and five Connecticut cities, and is InuTe pT6I6ntlOuS tndn ever.
 It starts off with bright prospects this I year. though expenses are more than double what they were in 1897. The only club which is yet an un- known quantity to some extent is New Haven, though that team may have some surprises up it's sleeve. Worces- ter, Springfield and Hartford are un- questionably stronger than last year, when Norwich, whose place Worcester takes, was in.
 Holyoke does not look quite as ] strong, nor does New London nor Mer- iden.
 New Haven may be put for the pres ent in the same class. while Bridgeport is about the same, being strengthened l by Beaumont and weakened by the loss \ of Phil Corcoran. A glance at the teams on the verge of the season may. be of interest.
 Yesterdays Meriden Journal says of the Meriden team:
 Though admitting that in the loss of I Third Baseman Hoffman, Pitchers Walsh and Treat and Outflelder Flana- gan his team is weakened somewhat, Manager Kennedy feels that he has winner. He banks good deal on his I pitching staff--two tried and good ones. Hodges and Rogers, and three new ones, Parkinson, McCrane and Koehler I McCrane and Koehler have shown the best work so far Behind the bat are Joe Theisen, Manning and Bunyan. It looks as if Manning would have to go. Burke sal right at first, and Quigley looks well at second. At short Meriden has them all beaten a mile in Larlxin. At third Altizer is not satisfactory to the fans after seeing Larry Hoffman. though he plays it better than he is given credit for doing. The new man Reyes, will be tried there, and he ought to do. Kennedy and Weisbecker are experienced fielders, and in Pollard, signed to-day, Meriden gets one of their class. Meriden will make a lot of them jump high to get over.
 The Bridgeport Standard says of the opening game to-day: Tt will be q gala day for the fans, both young and old. The office boy will discover that his grandmother has just died, al- though the good lady expired at least fifteen times during the last baseball season. The tired business man will betake> himself to the park to forget his troubles in the joys of the national game, and all the others who enjoy the great sport will be on hand to abuse the umpire and make facetious remarks to the opposing players.
 "Of course everybody will be roofing for a Bridgeport victory and it is hoped that Manager Danaher's cohorts from the Elm City will depart for home crestfallen."