The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-16
hANDBOOKS ON BALL GAMES,
'R1Ee AND WOMEN BET OPENLY
Y OUT IN CLEVELAND.
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Team-COHbinatlOn bets On -Four
American League winners and Even On
mo Eight winners I'm TIVE Leagues.

BRll handbook IL q big part Of the days
bustnoss for virtually all hands In Cleve-
Sumi. More money changes hands here
Rv~ry day on the baseball results than In
Anv othar city In the country. PittsbuTS
unod 10 lead for baseball betting, but
khe~ authorities got after the baseball hand
book game in Pittsburg, forcing the ball
koolmAlkers 70 conduct their operations
under cover, and that cut the betting TO
Less than half.
The folks who like to bet on the games
are not bothered in any way by the ruling
powers here, and the baseball handbook
RAme IL wide open in cigar stores, saloons,
hotel lobbies and right on the main streets
IN front Of the bulletin boards when the re-
ults Of the games are being placarded by
Innings.
They bet chiefly on the games In which
Che homo club is one Of the factors, Larry's
EMrrupers, as the American League outfit
captained by Napoleon Lajoie is called,
being idolized by the Cleveland fans whether
the team Ia winning or losing. But they
include all the games Of both the big leagues
In their betting operations, particularly In
erUnt Of the bulletin boards.
Combination bets on two teams are popu-
Gax. Some Of the punters TAX a da lily
0UA0Co on lduu1uH u Winning OOI1DAldbAOh
on all four teams in the American League,
nnd some OF them even shoot at the moon
by trying to pick the winners OF all the
sight games in the two major leagues, on
which. OF course, the combination price Is
Big. Several OF these eight team oonhbi-
nation bets have been put over this season
ct that, one OF them paying $500 to SO.
80 to 1 being the highest combination figure
an tap.
One big handbook combine makes the
daily prices on all OF the teams chances.
Ind all Of the smaller handbook men follow
Che chalk Of the main outfit. Word Of the
price offered against the Cleveland clubs
chance for the day gets around town about
10 o'clock in the morning, and the prices
against all OF the teams chances are avail
able by noon. The main handbook COM
bfne which makes the prices has a regular
system OF dope, taking into consideration
what pitchers are going TO do the heaving
for the day, the condition OF a team
players, batting slumps, and 40 on.
To match this way Of sizing it up by the
layers the baseball bettors Of his town
have a system Of dope Just as elaborate
o. TIE past performance dope packed
around by the form players in horseracing
towns. The man who bets on the games
EVERY day has his baseball dope book
handy in his pocket, and before he gets
his coin down he runs over the dogeared
pages, from which he can tell at a glance
how many games each pitcher has won
from Individual clubs since the beginning
Of the season, the number Of hits made of
him by such and such a club during the
past few games, and 30 on.
He knows Just how strong the club he
a betting against is on the day Of the game,
how many cripples it is carrying, the names
Of the substitutes for regular players and
their form, everything appertaining to the
game. He even takes into consideration
the state Of the weather in the town where
the game IL to be played, as racetrack
dopesters consider the condition OF the
track. Larry Lajoie, for example, says that
his club can't play decent ball in Wash
Engton during the dog days on account
OF the extreme heat there, and Lajoie's
simple statement to this effect tended to
lengthen the price against the Cleveland
club when it last visited the national
The baseball dopesters are to be seen
fumblinR their dope on their way down
town in the street cars in the morning, and
Il would appear that most Of the young
fellows carry a small pair Of SCISSORS in
their pockets for the purpose OF cutting the
dope out Of the baseball sheet on their way
90 work. Regular baseball dope book
covers Of leather are sold every where for
n dime, and even the women buy them. 1t
ts not to see a motorman thumb
ing his baseball dope book during the fore
noon when he has a long stretch OF straight
away country that doesn't have to be
watched very carefully, and when a Cleve-
land Elevator runner carries you about
three floors past your landing you may
know that he has a baseball dope book
stuck. up somewhere In the elevator.
The cars nave great difficulty in pushing
through the mobs in front OF the new
uaper of1ces when the results OF the games
are coming in. This doesn't worry the
motOTmen or conductors OF the car any, Tor
the longer It takes the mot Jrman to nudge
his car through the crowd the better will
be his chance TO get the result OF another
inning and find out how his bet Is going =,
The handbook men circulate through
these crowds, openly doing business while
the figures by innings are going up, and they
will take bets right down to the finish OF a
game. This practice breaks both ways,
OF course, but a bulletin board bettor with
a stubborn jag on severely jolted one Of
these handbook men on the result OF a
game between the New York Americans
and the Washington club a couple OF weeks
ago. The Washington club had a lead
Of seven runs up TO the eighth inning, AND
the picked bettor thought the chances Of
the Yankees looked pretty good at that
stage Of 10. a.,
He said 80 out loud, and got the laugh
all around. He offered 10 bot on it il some.
body would give him the right odds, and
n handbook man standing near offered hin
30 TO 1 that the Washington team would
win the game. The sOused bettor took 81
worth OF that, and walked away with 500
OF the handbook mans money the New
York club grabbing the game in the ina
inning, 0 TO 3.
When the baseball results are coming in
a visitor here, passing the newspaper bule-
tin boards, might easily imagine that a ma
tional election was on. The crowds stretch
all The way across the wide streets and there
is a big outer fringe Of shopping women
who are financially interested in the out
come of the games. Every time a figure
goes up there il a yell from the bunch.
The bettors who have made a bet against
the chance Of the Cleveland Club don
make any noise, however, when the innings
show the game to be going against the
Larrupers. The main crowds won't stanc
for any roofing against the Larrupers
no matter whose book ia suited, and the
inexperienced ones who begin to cacklC
over the apparent defeat Of the Cleveland
outfit quickly find their hats on the pave
ment or their fresh shoe shine severely
stepped on. This ISN'T saying that the
sharp form players here dOn't bet agains