The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-18
BASEBALL SEASON
 WILL SOON OPEN
Announcement of Schedules
 Sign of the Times
JUDGE KAVANAUGH TALKS
Tim Murnane Calls "Buck" Ewing the Best Catcher That Ever Lived. Gossip of the Game
 the Fans.

the Fans.
 The season of the baseball schdule ls ss hand. Already three leagues have given oHt their playing dates, the American league. the South Atlantic league and the Three I" aggregation. The National league dates are expected to be an- nounced this morning. By the end of the present week the Southern league dates will have been made public, and several other organizations will take action along the same lines within the next fortnight
 Somehow the fervid fans feel that once the schedules are announced officially the season has started. so that 1t is but the question of few days before the fans in the Southern league territory will be ar ranging for their periods of mental aber- ration when the cheer of the rooter will reverberate on the summer breezes and the newsboy will cheerfully ask the passersby to be taken into the park. The aforesaid newsboy has been keeping in practice all winter by making the same sort of request upon the lone and lone- 
 need any of the tonic qualities of spring practice to be ready for his share of the summers sport and frolic.
 The really big baseball bosses have met, conferred, fixed up a few things, set a bear trap for the unwary umpire by amending one or two rules, and have departed to their several homes. The Southern league moguls are to gather Fri day at New Orleans, to remain there busily engaged at the organizations busi- ness for two days, for not more than two hours each day. The rest of the time will be spent in viewing the strange and pleasing sights of New Orleans at Mardi Gras time. and in being entertained by that jolly good crowd of baseball stock holders and critics in the Crescent City.
 President kavanaugh Talks.
 President Kavanaugh has always been optimistic. but this spring he appears to be more so than Is usual even for him. He wrote the following statement for the Sporting News some days ago, telling of conditions in the 2outh:
 q have called a meeting of the South ern league to be held in the city of New Orleans on February 2S and "A. The exact place of the meeting l have left to Man ager Frank of the New Orleans club. It Is our plan to have the meeting begin at 9 o'clock on Friday afternoon. In arranging the programme it is my desire to have the question of the official ball and the tickets discussed on the first day. The matter of the schedule will be the order of business before the meeting, be- ginning Saturday at Il o'clock. Miseella- neous business may be transacted at either meeting after the other matters have been disposed of. To date, l have selected three umpires-Pfenninger Rud- derham and Buckley .I have applications from a number of other good men and am Investigating them to find out which man I want
 q have not been able yet to evolve a system for the appointment of auditors and we may have to abandon that cher ished plan. However, l do not state this as a fact, but simply say l have not yet worked out what I consider feasible plan All the clubs show a desire to want to comply with the salary limit and the contracts which are being received at this office indicate that there will be a compliance with that rule. As to the prospects for next season, it is my opin- ion that this should be the best season that the Southern association has ever had Each club has an experienced man ager and on account of the salary limit 1t seems to me that the clubs should be more evenly balanced than ever before and the contest should be close and ex- citing Unless we should have another epidemic in the south I look for the best season that the Southern league has ever had"
 Finn Is Dragging.
 Mike Finn is beginning to talk freely about his Nashville bunch, although little additional news is being given out about the men he has signed. His latest pro- nunciamento is as follows:
 Nashville will not be a wealSling in the 1906 Southern league race. have several deals on which do not care to discuss. My pitching department could hardly be improved upon. l have six or seven pitchers that will make good in Southern league company. We will not retain all of them but will make the best selections and farm the others out or sell them. Duggan, who was one of the stars in the Kitty league last season, is among the list, and 1t Is believed that he will hold his own here. Of the other depart ments we have three positions yet to fill. The first baseman has not yet been fully decided upon, while in the outfield we lack one man. I will fill the vacancies shortly. One or two of the men that I have in view, and whom I will certainly secure, will not join the club until about April 1, as they will be engaged until that time"
 Ewing Still Dangerously III.
 The condition of John Buck" Ewing. who is i'll at his home in Cincinnati, is still critical, and 1t Is anticipated with feelings of sorrow by his hundreds of friends that he will not live much longer. The leaders In the baseball world are taking advantage of every opportunity to call upon him and cheer him up by telling tales of the games played long ago.
 Tim Murname of the Boston Globe, who is one of the worlds best critics of the game and the players, speaks from first-hand Knowledge when he says:
 No well-posted baseball man could pick have any but William Ewing as the catcher Ewing was a remarkable base runner, a great batsman grand throw CT, a graceful backstop, and as cunning as a fox when working the batsman. He was perfect athlete, and was always in the pink of condition.
 He had a graceful style at the plate. and could bunt and place the ball He could play a remarkable in or out field position, and had the nerve to face the toughest propositions with a smile. Yes. that was Buck" sure enough. He rounded out sixteen years as a profession- al player in the major leagues with a general batting average of .3O2, and aver aged about eighty games each season behind the bat. Ten times he hit better than 300 for the season, and was among fha first half dozan hafS,,ax, s