Evening star., 1909-05-09
No Temporary Squirt.

attendance that took place last year. in
the two big leagues-7.O .O69, 122, as against
| 6, 1865 in 1907? /
No Temporary Squirt.
Almost every other industry except that
of base ball was slo wing down, bread lines
| were forming In the cities and the work
houses were overrun with hoboes, but not
a blade of grass appeared in the roads
| to the ball grounds. And to show that the
| great growth Of last year was no tenn
| porary squirt, the 1909 season started in
Philadelphia with 3O,162 men. women and
children at Shibe Park. while the opening
day attendance in the other cities of the
| two big leagues was as follows: National
New York, 10000: Brooklyn. %. .OOO Chi
cago. 10000: Cincinnati, $4,000; st. Louis.
1900; Philadelphia. e.745: Pittsburg.
9O24; Boston, 800 (raining). American
st. Louis. 1900: Chicago. 1900: Wash
ington. $4,000: Boston. 12,343; New York.
u 600. Detroit. 11.514; Cleveland. 7.739. A
total of 254,527.
Are not these figures truly wonderful? ?
A great statesman who can draw 10000
/ persons to Madison Square Garden goes
back to the privacy of his room at a
hotel and swells out his chest until his
shirt studs fly out. Yet eighteen base
ball human beings and an umpire can
draw three times the crowd make each
one pay an admission fee. which the great
1 statesman does not and send them away
happy. The American people surely do
know where they are likely to get what
they are after-also where they are not
likely to get 1t.
But the attendance story of the big
leagues is only a fraction Of the attend
ance story itself. In this country are fifty
minor leagues. scattered all the way
from Portland. Ore, to the Florida ever
glades. Each of these leagues is com
posed Of eight clubs. Each club plays
during a season $50 games If each club
could play by itself there would be played
in the minor leagues during season
10000 games, but as two clubs are requir-
ed to make a game there are only D,OOO
contests An attendance of 800 is said to
be a fair average at minor league games.
If 1t is 24,OO0,OOO persons saw base ball
played last year at Kalamazoo, Oshkosh,
Angels Camp and other similar places,
which brings the total base ball attend
ance of the country up to 31,OOOOOO.
High Prices in Gotham.
Now. let us see what these figures mem
in money. In New York one cannot roost
on the bleachers for less than 90 cents.
and II he would get under the roof of the
grandstand, where fouls and flies are not
so likely to put his eye out. he must pay
$1.5O. In some of the smaller cities the
tariff Is not 80 high: SO let us call 5O
cents the average price OF seat at big
league game. Based on this figure. the
| income of the two big leagues last year
was more than 100000 And If the ~
OO0,OOO customers of the minor leagues
paid an average Of % cents each, the in
comes of these smaller associations ag-
| gregated S6,OO0,OOO. A game must be
pretty good that can pull almost $4,000
600 from the pockets of the American
people during panic year.
| But. unfortunately for the owners of
| base ball stock, this sum Is not all profit
| There are heavy expenses to pay The
labor cost is big, the largest single item
! in the list. Not every man draws Hans
Wagner salary; but there are SO many
ball players in the country that in the
| aggregate they call for large sum.
The teams in the two big leagues are
composed of approximately $50 players.
| That Is figuring on basis of thirty-tive
men to a team. At the present moment
| there are forty men with the New York
| Americans. including fifteen pitchers,
though about the first of July the number
will probably be reduced to thirty, the
| others returning to the smaller leagues.
| Some of these fellows receive fancy sal
aries, anything from $4,000 up to Hans
Wagner's $4,000. But $1,000 a season is
said to be a fair average for big league
| players. If so. the large associations an
nually pay $1SO.OOO for players The
| umpires get something, too. as do the
managers of the clubs and the ground
employees. Probably 1t would he safe to
say that the big leagues pay out $1,000,
600 a year for labor of one kind and an
other.
Now come the teams of the minor
i leagues. OF these there are approx
mately 400. If we figure fifteen men TO
each of the smaller association teams
| there are 5000 such players.
| minor league players salary ranges
| from coffee and doughnuts up to 81, 800
year. Probably $50 would be a safe
| figure to take as the average annual sal
ary. II so, the teams of the small leagues
pay their players each season S4,aJO.oO9.
| Allow 100000 for wages of all other
kinds and the total labor charge for all
of the base ball leagues. big and little,
comes up to $6,o0O,OOO
Quite an Institution.
Any other concern that pays out Sc, 500,-
600 year regards itself. and quite prop
erly So as quite an institution. 1t wants
something to say about the tariff and
will If pressed help select the next candi-
date for Congress. Yet the base ball in
dustry pays out the sum for six-month
season and gets the money without the
aid Of tariff or other concealed weapons.
Then, there is the base ball crop-.t
costs something TO raise that. Any big
league team will bat to pieces or lose
each sea son forty dozen balls. Base balls
cost SIS dozen. Six hundred dollars a
year is what 1t costs each team to keep
the pitcher supplied with ammunition,
and, as there are sixteen teams in the
two big leagues, the annual charge for
1850 base balls is $1,000. Ii the 400 teams
in the smaller leagues use ten dozens
each-a quarter of the number used by
the big teams-they pay $4,000 year for
4.SO0 balls. Thus we see that il costs
approximately $4,000 year for the $3.50
base pals that are necessary to provide
the American people with their favorite
sport.
Bats also come high. The standard bat
is made of white ash, of which the great
est supply comes from Michigan. But an
ash tree cannot be waving in the woods
one day and in base ball field the next
An interval of at least four years must
elapse. Nor can the timber be kiln-dried
A kiln-dried bat would not he given hon
orable mention BY the poorest swatter on
the kokomo team. The timber that is to