Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-07

MT EXT Saturday and the fun will
start. On this day the Los An
~ geles county high school base
ball league games will have full
swayain high school athletics.
Once more the student sits on the
hard bleachers the redhot sun beat
ing on his head, but the happy fan
knows this not; he is at ball game,
and what need he care? Once more he
hears the umpire shout: PLAY ball!''
and sees his idol, the great tWirler, step
on the mound and mystify the trem-
bling batsman. The thud of the ball in
the glove, the crowds, even the rau-
cous voice of the tonic purveyor, are in
his ears. The championship league
games have started.
'"Who will win the pennant?" is be-
ing asked by many of the high school
players, and the amateur dopesters
must confess it looks very much as
though a suburban team will wrest
the honors from the Los Angeles high
schools this year.
With Sam Lafferty out of the game,
Polytechnic has a difficult road to
travel for the championship. Brooks
Tompkins is a good mound artist but
is in a class by himself, and although
he did win from the Santa Ana high
| school, when he goes up against some
Of the out-of-toWn teams he will find
that the farmers will show ''em
city folks" point or two in the ma
tional game.
Likewise with the Los Angeles high
school, the hilltop boys are weak in
their pitching deparement, and will
have to go some to keep up the pace
! they will have to go with out of town
| institutions. During the past few days
I have been rambling" around to these
inner towns and have been "clocking"
their workouts. and find them diff
cult bunch to defeat.
HOLLYWOOD high school has one of
the greatest teams in the league this
year, and surely will give a good ac-
count of itself when the season opens
next Saturday.
Santa Monica high school will be an
other strong contender for champion
ship honors, and if high schools fail to
| develop pitchers within the next few
| days it will be difficult for the man
ayers of the two Los Angeles clubs to
keep UP the pace that is before them.
It requires only a trip to st. Vincent's
] college to learn you are in land where
one plays baseball, both winter and
summer. The other day 1 went out to
have chat with my friend. Bernie Nc
| Kay of the Pacific Coast league, and,
| oh my, what sights I witnessed while
| was on the field. Only four baseball
games at one time. Now, say fellows,
! you may think l am trying to kid my
! self, but, honest, this is the truth. In
| the big yard the first team was play
! ing a scrub nine, while in the little
yard it seems to me that there were
more than three games in session at
| one time. And not only that, there
were priests participating in the game
with the little fellows, and my, what
! fun those kids did have with regula-
| ton ball. One little black-eyed son
of Italy piped out: "Say, fellow, give
dad. who likes baseball" That is the
right spirit, and by practicing every af-
ternOon for couple of hours will de-
velop you into fast players so you can
take care of yourself when you grow
older.
Harvard Military school will have a
good team in the County High School
| league this season, and expects to make
| a good showing for the pennant this
year.
| The telephone rang the other night
and the sporting editor being busy, l
answered the ring. and a voice came
over the wire saying: Say, will you
| please put this in your paper? The
| Boyle Heights Merchants want a game
for next Sunday. Send the bill to No.
- street"
The Herald wants it understood there
| is no charge for baseball challenges and
| other items pertaining to any kind of
| amateur sports, no matter how small
| the item. If you cannot phone, write
on one side of the paper and just as
much attention, will be paid to it as
though you sent it by special delivery.
At the meeting of the managers of
| the Sunday School league a motion was
made and carried that any player
caught using or smoking tobacco will
be expelled from the league. This plan
has been in operation at Pasadena,
and the players who are caught using
| the weed are suspended for the first
offense, and expelled for the second
time.
There is in our city a dozen games
almost every Sunday the entire year.
These games are we'll patronized, and
it seems as if public opinion was in
favor of Sunday BASEBALL as the game
! takes place after church-going hours.
People must have recreation, but the
ordinary citizen, engaged in mercantile
pursuits. has hardly any other time to
see a game, as he is occupied the en-
tire week with business affairs, and
he becomes a baseball enthusiast
through reading the daily papers and