Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-23
VIRGINIA. LEAGUERS
Open Season to Good Crowds,
PLAYERS in Poor Condition.
BAD WEATHER THE CAUSE
Clever Manager at Head of Each
Team-To Stand by Salary Limit.
Bussey Signs With Charleston.

LYNCHBURG. Va. April 22.-The sixth
| on. the first games being scheduled for last
Thursday at Lynchburg with Roanoke.
Petersburg at Norfolk and Danville at
Richmond, the three teams being sched-
uled that way for the remainder Of the
week. though the game here Friday with
Roanoke was transferred to Roanoke in
order to give the early opening In the
Magic city. In return for this the Tigers
will transfer the game for May 81 in that
city to Lynchburg, The teams appeared
to be better off for managers this year
| than before. for only one old man re-
| mains in the league, this being Frank
Shaughnessy of the Roanoke Tigers.
Heine Busch. Cincinnati lad. VINO
played for two years with Norfolk. Is In
| charge of the Portsmouth Coolers; James
Sullivan. formerly of Lincoln of the
Western League. is heading the Rich
mond Colts: Joe Laughlin will pilot the
Danville Red Sox. and Charley NJ Babb.
formerly of Memphis, in the Southern
Association, is skipper for the Norfolk
Tars.
The teams went into the season in
poorer condition than they have started
off for several years. this condition being
due to the very bad weather which pre-
vailed on thirteen of the first fifteen days
of the month of April Some OF the teams
did not get the chance to properly try
out their players before the season
opened. and this may result In new men
being brought along to take the places
of men who develop weaknesses under
fire.
There is no doubt but the Virginia
League is one of the niftiest & class
organizations in the business despite the
twelve hundred-dolla salary limit. which
the magnates came to after having two
losing seasons at 81, 900. The league has
learned the lesson learned by all minor
leagues, but 1t looks as though it was
learned before disruption came from the
useless expenditure OF money for play
ers' salaries. President Williams is going
to run the circuit with firm yet falr
and impartial hand. He is going to be
president of the Virginia League just
like Ban B. johnson heads the American
League. and If the new season does not
pan out well. then early spring prOgnos-
/ tications will not work out. Last year
all OF the teams excepting Richmond lost
money. Had the limit been what it is
| today and the limit had been enforced
all Of them would have had slight sum
to the good rather than deficit. The
tLynchburg team lost about $500. but at
the present salary limit and exactly the
nearly $1,JO0. The team owners saw
their mistake before the season was half
| over last year. and at the first oppor-
tunity took steps to get the circuit on a
sound and businesslike basis. That's
where the circuit is now, and if the COM
ing season is not a successful one it will
have to be put on the weather.
| Frank MOrrissey, Liter known around
the minor leagues as Deacon" has
signed with the Greensboro Carolina AS
sociation team, and Manager Doyle eX-
poets him to join him in Greensboro in
q few days. Morrissey had a good rec
ord in this league and should pitch well
in the Carolinas this year.
One of the most noticeable conditions
brought out in the training of Manager