Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-26

visions of pennant floating
before 1t. and Is now laying
foundations upon which 1t
hopes to rear championship super
structure. The major leagues, with
fortunes behind them, are training in
the south. The minor leagues are not
so well provided with money, so they
train at home. The college fellows do
likewise. But it all takes money, and
1t is hard to tell just how much 1t does
take. There are over fifty baseball
leagues in the United States. There
are 300 clubs in these leagues, and they
employ 5000 professional players.
The expenses of baseball clubs take
as wide range as they do with indi-
viduals. The major league clubs reach
the top notch in the matter of expense
account. 1t cost the Chicago Cubs
some $260,000 to win the pennant and
the championship last year. To keep
an effective nine on the field whenever
the ball was in play cost over $4,000.
Railroad fares, hotel bills and other
items too numerous to mention, added
the round sum of 100000 to the ac-
count. 1t is estimated that the salaries
of the professional players of the
NUnited States amount to about $4,000
600. If the ratio between salaries and
expenses I'm the case of the Cubs fol-
lows on down through the minor
leagues the total outlay OF the clubs
for professional baseball in the United
States would aggregate some slb,oOo,O0O
Amateur baseball probably adds as
much more.
Baseball probably represents the most
completely united form of amusement
in the United States. Much is heard In
this country about the theatrical trust,
but professional baseball has outdis-
20 Hn in this RI ipIIlor
The few professionals that are outside
are known as outlaws" and their
future has little of promise in 1t. The
man who is not an outlaw stands
chance to get to the top If he has the
merit to take him there, but the out.
law is communicated, bell, book ana
candles, and thrown into outer dark
ness, where the dogs may bark at him.
Tie National Association of Profess
sional Baseball Clubs might be called
the United States of Baseball, so thor
oughly does 1t follow out the idea OF
the federal government. August Herr
man, the president of the national COM
mission, may be. likened to the chiei
Justice of the supreme court and the
commission which he heads, to the court
itself Mr.. Herman is also the presi-
dent of the American Bowling congress
and is about the only man who has
been the top notch man of two classes
of sport at the same time.
Training for a seasons work is not
the life OF idleness and ease one might
think. Neither is it so attractive or
spectacular as making an unassisted
triple play before applauding thousands,
or playing the role they hoped Casey
would play when he went to bat. 1t
is rather the day of doleful detail. The
rough places in each player are to be
n,1f must he ChtScled
down and polished up physically. and
mentally until he is general In
thought and action on the basepall
battlefield. 1t is the day OF grinding
routine. But the work or making
foundation can never be as attractive
as the putting of the finishing toucnes
on the skyscraper. Tt was this train
ing-uu work that made Wagner decline
two $4,000 offers to get into the game
this wear Wagner and LaJoie are the
only two players who have scored
above 300 for ten successive years VINO
were in the game last season. But
still 1t is not all drudgery. Wneh
Comiskey took his White Sox outfit to
Los Angeles to train them he chartered
a special all-Pullman train and issued
souvenirs of the trip. There were
thirty-five players and some nIteeh
others who went to Los Angeles.
Comiskey plans to go to Honolulu next
years to prepare for the pennant'
The baseball fever is spreading farther
every year. In England cricket has
had to bow it's head to baseball on
more than one occasion In far OH
Panama there is an eight-club league
in the canal zone, and but for the lack
of good umpires like O'Day ana Sherl-
dan everything would run perfectly.
Last year the Culebra team was the
| che Tho IAN
anese in the west are taking lively
interest in the game, and Spokane.
Wash, boasts of an all-Japanese' team.
1t is said that the little brown men
make good stick artists and that the
American team which meets them has
to look to it's honors.
But for baseball fans the Filipinos
have the rest of the world backed clear
off the boards. The American teachers
have introduced the game into the
schools and ii is taking like wildfire.
The young F'ilipinos have become SO
enthusiastic over the game that they
have forgotten their favorite sport of
cock fighting, and Secretary Taft has
expressed his satisfaction at seeing this
new evidence of growing civilization
among his friends of the orient. In
game played not long ago in the Philip
pines a native player made a rather
sensational catch. 1t pleased the spec
tators so that 5000 of them overran the
grounds to congratulate the player.
1t was an hour before the game could
be resumed. 1t is said that the Filipinos
abide the umpire's decision better than
the people of any other nationality who
play the game.
Not all ball. players remain ball play
ers. Johnny Ward and Dave Fultz,
both stars in the baseball world in their
day, are now lawyers, and 1t Is said
they were never more successful in
chasing hot grounders than they are
now in chasing good sized fees in to
their pockets. Amos Rusie, coming
from the backwoods, flashed across the
baseball armament as a meteor athwart
the sky, and is now a successful lum-
herman. Mike Sullivan, another great
player of his day. graduated from base
ball into politics, and when he played
his final inning of life 1t was as mem
Der of the staff of the governor OF
Massachusetts. The duke of yelling
ton summed up the beneficial results of
such sports as baseball when he lacon-
ically remarked that the battle of Wa
terloo had been won on the cricket
fields of England. Not only do good
ball players make successful soldiers,
but they are successful In whatever
career they may afterwards elect.
A baseball season is q pretty profit