Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-11-27
THE DIAMOND.
THE WHALERS ALL AT SEA
New London Has Started Base Ball Talk at This Early
 Date.

The base ball situation in New London continues to interest some of the warm blooded fans of the city even though it has been announced that the knell has forever been sounded on the professional game here. There are many among the | fans who expect that this talk of a transfer of the team will simmer ,, down in the spring and the cound of the opening gong will find Char, ley Humphrey and his pennant chasers still kicking up the dust al Cannonball park.
 There are a good many reasons for putting little stock in all this transfer talk. There is no doubt but Manager Humphrey now intends to make a shift oc some sort, but the chances are he'll change his mind when the birds begin to twitter and the grass gets green.
 In the first place Norwich doesn't want New London to go out of the league. If the Whalers are moved to some other town there'll be big jump for the teams to come to east ern part of the state just to play one game while now they play two on the trip. The chances are that with New London playing in New Britain and Norwich left to it's isola- tion the league teams would find they were sinking enough more money into thelr Norwich trips than to make up for what is lost under present and past conditions.
 That's one phase of the subject. There are others. One is that if New London is transferred there'll probably be some sort of shifs with the Norwich sluggers which will wipe eastern Connecticut out of the Connecticut league altogether. The rest of the teams in the league aren't going to come here for just one game and Norwich isn't gold mine either.
 However, if the Norwich manage ment wants to stick there isn't a power in the league could make them quit any more than Charley Humphrey could be legislated out.
 This talk of transfer has more to it than the casual obersver thinks, It's easy enough to talk about New London going to New Britain or Danbury, or Waterford or Lyme, but there's more involved than appears on the surface. The thing has got to be viewed from all sides and per haps the directors will conclude they don't really want the transfer made Perhaps, too, when MT Humphrey sees the situation through his read ing glasses he will conclude that jumping to the Hat town or the Hardware city is simply forsaking the skillet for the flames. There are perhapses and perhapses and they'll all have to be taken into considera- tion before any shift is really made.
 Just supposing the shift is made and New London is relegated to the cold world as far as base ball is con- cerned, what a chance there would be then for a fast little trolley league, one that would furnish bet ter ball than New London has had for year or two and one in which the New London team would not have to be continually fighting against towns whose financial re- scources are beyond comparison. Take New London, Willimantic. Stonington, South Manchester, Rock vile, possibly Westerly, and one or two other towns If they want to join. That would make quite a league
 No one needs 'o think for q min- ute that New London is going with out base ball. There are too many lovers of the game here. The city may lose its Connecticut league franchise and even then might be a gaincr in the end.
 Now. there aren't many people who believe New London is in any great danger of losing her ball team, and even if she should they have no fear of stagnation in the summer. There always has been base ball here and there probal ly will be for many years to come, whether Charley Humphrey stays here or whether he elects to move his club to some town that's only a speck on the map.
 Humphrey hasn't any kind of sup port here, but he hasn't deserved the best of support. He has never sue ceeded in convincing the fans that he wanted a rennant winner. al- though his close friends knew that he was doing even more than he could afford and that he would like nothing better than to have the best. It was too big q proposition for him to swing and get out of the rut so he had to stay along and do the best he could. Now, however, he's got some little material on hand and wherever he goes it ought not to be hard for him to build up a first class team New London Telegraph.