The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-30
'CH|NA'S FIRST BALL SEASON IS CLOSED
  National Game Success in
 Orient WAS EXCITING RACE
  Shanghai at Fever Heat as Last Battles Were Fought in Close Race for Pennant-Re5
 Sox Victorious
By CARL CROW

Shanghai, october 29.-(SpeciaD. The first baseball league ever organized in China has just concluded it's first pen nant race Excitement in this city has been at fever heat for month over the battle. Even the British, Germans, French, Japanese Portuguese and Chinese were displaying keen interest in the race be- fore it ended and. of course, the Ameli- can colony, of about 200o, talked and thought nothing else
 Baseball had been rather sporadic in these parts until the league was. organ ized. 1t was only a four club aifair, but people in the United States, and es- pee cially in the big league cities, can have no idea of the wild excitement a bunch Of rabid American baseball fans, stuck off le,Q0o miles away from a big league, can get up over a little league of their own.
 This league was organized in the middle of the summer by William L. Merriman, manager of the American Trading com pany; Thomas F. Willard, editor of the China Press, the new Americana Chinese daily newspaper, which is being published here, and C. w. Wolsiffer, of the British American Tobacco company M
 Of four teams entered two were chosen from among residents of Shanghai, most by Standard oil and British American To- bacco company men, and two from the American navy, chosen from the crew CT the gunboat Helena, which. was stationed here all summer.
 The beautiful grounds of the Shanghai Recreation club formed the scene of com bat. This recreation ground is one or the most remarkable in the world. To the tourists il offers succession of surprises. In the first place it contains one of the most beautiful race courses in the world, a turf track of one and one-quarter miles, with training track inside of 1t, ana beautiful and costly grandstands and club buildings. In the center field of the race track are three cricket grounds with grandstands, polo field, where exciting games are played every Saturday during the season, baseball field and score of tennis courts. g
 On Saturdays all business stops at 1 o'clock and the whole foreign community repairs to the recreation. field to enjoy the various sports. Chinese coolies keep the grounds in perfect shape. -r
 These cooliess by the way, are very good athletes and are specially proficient at tennis.
 But to get back to the baseball league. The Shanghai and navy baseball teams have been rivals for several years, but only occasionally got together for games. When 1t was proposed that a league be formed there was doubt of its being pos sible, but the whole community seized upon the idea with the result that a meet ing was called, and inside of week tho whole matter had been arranged, teams selected and schedule announced. It was decided that the best of Shanghais ball f,ta ,rpr Sh ha 1i1-id doJ Int of about equal strength and that the players of the Helena should be appor- toned in a similar way.
 On the Helena the teams were divided on the basis of above and below decks, enc team being called the Engineers and the other the Swans. The rivalry between these two teams even before the first game was so intense that by the time the schedule brought them against each other over 5000 had been bet on the one game. The Engineers won it.
 One of the Shanghai teams, called the Red Sox, and the two navy teams, al- ternated in the lead, all three being close together all the time. Finally the Red Sox pulled ahead, but next day the En- gineers won both of a double header and tied them.
 The play-off was the most exciting game of the whole league race. The Engineers scored four runs in the second inning and the score remained to until the seventh when Shanghai got busy The Red SoX in that inning piled up five runs Neither side scored after that and the game and pennant went to the Red Sox to 4. To appreciate the excitement, it should be remembered that about 400 sailors from various American men of war in harbor, were present at the game and about 1500 Americans, to which may be added good sprinltling of other na- tionalties. The sailors have a grand stand all to themselves, while Shanghai residents and officers of the navy occupy another stand with their ladies The ri- valry between the two grandstands to see which can make the most noise at a crisis in the play occasionally stops every other sport on the grounds.
 Next year there will be an eight club league in Shanghai. In the season just closed there were four games a week. The games started on Tuesday and Thurs days at 5:20 D. m, and on Saturdays there was double header, the first game starr ing at 3 o'clock
 So far as playing ability Is concerned the teams could about hold their own in any of the smaller minor leagues
 The fans at home may think they have seen some teams with the true fight to the end spirit, but until they have seen one of the American navy teams in ac- tion they will not have seen the real thing It is easy to understand the spirit of the American navy once you have seen one of the Helena teams fight out a 'oase- ball game. They are the fightingest losers that ever lost. The Shanghai bunch gave them three cheers and tiger when it was all over.
 SPECIAL ELECTION