Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-18
WHAT BASE BALL COSTS

I s65 900 receipts for each club In season.
The Southern League teams average $780,
900 year each.
seven leagues in fifty-four cities like New
Haven. Albany. Utica, Scranton and
Springfield, Ill. From these fifiy-four
cities come 100000 as a tribute Tor
base ball. This total is based on q con-
servative estimate of $4,000 as the sea-
sons receipts of each club.
The same figures apply to the forty
eight clubs In seven leagues belonging 10
class In the associations list. The
games of these teams draw 81 16D. 900 from
cities like Galveston. Savannah. Pough-
keepsie and Richmond, Va
One hundred and fourteen clubs in as
many smaller cities from Maine to the
Pacific coast form seventeen leagues.
which complete the minor associations
list. Each Of these clubs has receipts
averaging $4,000 a year.
The balls and bats used by all the leagues
mere matters Of detail as they seem to
be-mean an outlay of more than S30.oD
In a season. The American and Ma
tional leagues use from 500 TO 1000 bats
in year and the best sell at 81 apiece.
These sixteen clubs also use from $40
to ZOO dozen balls. at $l2 a dozen. The
clubs in the minor leagues require from
. 500 to 5000 dozen balls. They use an
average OF sixty bats each I'm a season.
More than $1.00O.000 season Is spent
by the managers of the big league clubs
for running expenses. Crack clubs. like
the Pittsburg. the Chicago and New York
teams in the National League, cost SECOND
year. The item of expense runs up I'd
$50, 600 for a season or Sl2S oo0 a month.
A big professional base ball club costs
about 5000 a day. This is spent for rail-
road fares, hotel bills. buses salaries and
ground expenses. At this rate the SIX
teen clubs In the two big leagues cost
close to $4,000 a day. In season or
twenty-five weeks the daily expense &C
count footS up to 81. 10000.
The contract lists in the minor leagues
foot up to nearly $2W.G9a To the salaries
is added an allowance of $50 apiece for
each player on the league teams FOR uni
forms. For the I'D players in the sixteen
clubs in the big leagues this item would
come to $4,000 for the season. 4 similar
allowance for the 1900 players in the
minor leagues would swell the tailors'
bill of the professional players to S13S.6o
When the fans yell at the umpire and
agree that he's a ''piker' and no good"
less luxuries at the big city games ara
costing them anywhere from s-ivo 10
81. 600 a season
1t would take all the silver mined in
Nevada in year. or upward OF &'6o~1
10 pay for the sixteen ball parks needed
for the National and American League
games The sums tied up In grounds.
grardstands and bleachers. of course vary
considerably. so the total amount of cap
ital tied up in the grounds also becomes a
matter of general estimates. One OF the
men best qualified to speak fixed the av-
erage value Of the National League
grounds at $4,000 each. or s2Wn.o"o for
the eight The American League clubs.
he said belonging as they did to
younger organization. had not had
chance to spend so much money; so tae
average cost of each Of their fields would
be more like s20o.OOo apiece. or a total OK
81 5000
Despite the hard times that have been
the rule this year. # is believed that the
mast wears record will he eXcelled
throughout the country. The figures given
here however, will not be changed ma
terially.