Arizona republican., 1910-08-31
Local Fans Anxious to AC.
 cept A|voPd's Challenge FINANCIAL SUPPORT ASKED
Proposition Submitted For the Placing of Baseball
 Upon a Business Basis By the Building of a Fence. Material For Team Here.

| applied to the aggregation or PhOe- | nix ballplayers. have commenced their | preliminary workout there has sud- | denly appeared q tendency on the 1 part of the said Alyord to hurl chal- lenges in practically every direction 1 from the capital city to all corners. regardless of politics. religion or pre- viOus condition of servitude. 1 Mesa for the past several years has enjoyed the distinction of being made up of ballplayers. It is, indeed, dull day when enough business men along Main street can not be found who are able to cope on the diamond with the ordinary high school team of the 1 valley and To go into the game with out moments notice. When Alvord's challenge was issued 1t apparently in cluded every precinct in the territory and Mesa City besides. Mesa, at any rate, has read the challenge and al ready there is a concentrated move ment to line up team which will | give the Phoenix fans a run for their money.
 l w. N. Stevenson, who is at the head of the baseball interests in the town, has already begun the formu- lation of plans looking toward the organization of a team. He is con- fident that he is in direct touch with q dozen men, all seasoned ballplayeTs, who can be marshalled within d weeks notice and put in training with the ultimate result that they will make the score board one of the most interesting and entertaining | pieces of literature to be presented to the reading public the coming sea | son.
 However while Mesa has the ball players, there will of necessity have to be cooperation among the mer- chants and business men and all those who are interested in seeing the town advertised and in seeing | Mesa capture a few trophies By cO-operation in this instance is meant moral support and something else. | Another kind of support is needed, | the kind of assistance that will allow | the players to purchase the needed paraphernalia and which will per init them of having something 10 meet their current expenses. Finan- | cial support is the exact condition that must come about in order for Mesa to have a good bali team. Financial support means the liberal contribution of money for the national sport to be applied to the needs of the Mesa team.
 There is but one matter that stands between the Mesa team and success, and that is support. In order to get at the matter squarely, il might be lwell to explain that while Mesa has always harbored the baseball spirit and there have been numerous play
 CTS who have grown up here and had their day on the diamond, and then gradually faded away into the busi- ness house or onto the ranch, until their flesh became flabby or the mus
 ces stiffened. It has only been with in the last few years that the idea of
 putting a winning team in the field in competition with teams from over
 the territory has been recognized. AS
 long as there were no expenses to
 be met. of course there was no need
 for charges,l and as long as there
 were no charges there was little need
 for a baseball fence or any other
 means of charging a stipulated sum
 for witnessing the games. Baseball
 in Mesa, in order to be put on a
 substantial basis, will have to be
 conducted along business lines, or It
 can never be made a success flnan-
 cially. No better example can be
 furnished than that of last season
 in the high school games, when the 1 several teams of the valley were contending for The Republican cup.
 Large crowds witnessed the games at
 this place. and it is safe to say that
 the proceeds from each and every
 game would have been increased by
 probably one third had there been a
 fence around the grounds.
 | It has been suggested at this place,
 and it has been proven success ar fother places. that fence be erected on grounds to be selected and an ex- tensive canvass made for advertising space on the fence. The outside would be equally as good position
 as the inside. and it is believed that the merchants would respond the
 more liberally to the proposition, since
 it would mean the advertising of their business with even more telling ef- feet than the opera house. curtain
 It is believed that not only the Mesa
 business men. but also Phoenix firms
 could be induced to purchase space
 for advertising purposes. With the
 erection of a fence baseball in this
 town would be on paying Dasls'
 .L solicitation of funds