The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-10-09
THE GAME OF BASEBALL
By Frederic T. Haskin,

or in the growt.i of many American cities. Street railway companies have fic to and from baseball grounds, ana are frequently large purchasers of club stock in order to get their enterprise started. It has sometimes happened that the only available site was beyond the terminals already established. but the company has laid new tracks or extended old ones, knowing the base ball crowds would make the invest ment profitable. As a result of in- creased transportation facilities settle ments multiply and land values in- crease.
 Baseball has always been a public institution to the extent that every loyal supporter of the home team takes its affairs as matter of person. al concern and discusses them accord iESly. but the time seems not far dist ant when 1t will actually and legally be considered a quasi-public corpora tion subject to special obligations ana privileges of various kinds. The de- fense of the Detroit ball players ar rested in Detroit on August 30 of this year flor playing Sunday game with the Clevelands. was that they were in the midst of an unusually gruelling race for the American League pennant, that the enforced lay-ofI on Sunday would have been detrimental to their physi- cal condition. and. therefore. since the Detroit public had their success so much at heart, their playing was a matter of public necessity and not breach of the law. The Detroit jury solemnly accepted this view and ac- quilted the prisoners.
 The real value of a winning baseball team is but now beginning to be se- riously studied. It Is a matter of com mon observation that a series of tri- umphs by the home club spreads an air of good nature and lightness far and wide. Those who see the game are pleased with the club and with themselves, while thousands of unfort- unates who had not the money or the time to attend personally are put in < high good humor when they learn the glad tidings. It has always been an axiom with politicians and kocial phil osophers that an amused or delighted crowd Is not likely to get into serious mischief .and there is nothing amuses the American populace so much as victory by the home club.
 Indirectly, baseball contributes very largely to the success of business en- terprises which are not supposed to be dependent upon a sport. The total at- tendance of the two major leagues. the American anl National, in 1907. was estimated at 6,137,557 persons It Is probably a low estimate that eighty per cent of these went to the baseball parks and back on the street cars. At 70 cents per head. 49o.s27.5o was contributed by these to the cost of base ball in addition to the admission fees at the gates. In many cities 1t is nec- essary to employ extra forces of mo- tormen and conductors to handle the rush and to give overtime pay to reg ulars to keep on duty for the same cause. So the fans are giving employ ment to a large number Of persons en- ttrely out of baseball. These figures nre for major leagues alone, but they apply practically to all c.Ies of hundred thousand population or even less.
 The extent to which money Is being invested in baseball Is startling. One Illuminating case Is that of the new American League Park in Philadel- pllia, now in course of completion. It will seat 28.000 persons, and arrange ments have been made to accommodate 12,00o more on big days. It will be built to last a century. The structure will be entirely of concrete and steel, and the main pavilion will be a pre- tentious structure of French Renais- sance architecture. with walls of brick and terra cotta trimmings.
 Major league franchises are seldom for sale, and if they were, they would
 
 $160. 1000 to $1,000.o00.
 In addition to this first cost the buyer would have to have on hand fully s50,000' more to guarantee his running expenses, and that would be low estimate, for the only franchises on the market are those of losing clubs In order to get a winner and big money-maker, the new owner would probably have to spend from $20, 900 to $30.O00 to strengthen his team A major league club costs about $500 per day. on the average for hotel bills, salaries, railroad fares, bus fares and ground-keepers' expenses. For a season lasting from April 14 to October 8, as is the caSe this year, that amounts to an estimated, average out lay of $106.S0O apiece for every ono of the sixteen major league cldbs. In many instances the cost Is much high CT, as major league salary lists for players range from $4o.ooo to $s6,o00 per club.
 One manufacturing company alone makes 1,600 standard baseballs every working day in the year. The two big leagues use From 800 to 1000 cozen balls per year, or 750 balls per club. These balls cost S1 apiece. Every club is also estimated to average about sixty-two bats per year, at a cost of $1 apiece.
 Copyright, 1908. by Frederick ,
 Haskin.)
 Tomorrow ABOUT BASEBALL PLAYERS.