The Washington herald., 1911-02-22
ACTION BY LEAGUE
Capital City Will Try to
Rent Open Dates.
ARRANGEMENT MAY BE MADE
Gonzaga College Authorities Willing
to Show League Every Considera-
Present PIans-New President for
Independence League This Year.
BY N, II. wORLEY.

By n. Il. "OhLE1.
Announcement in these columns yester-
day that Gonzaga College had obtained
Capital City League Park for an ath-
letic field was received with surprise in
amateur athletic circles, as the step on
the part of the college authorities was
| unexpected, and has jeopardized the vel
fare of the Capital City League.
At a meeting last night at the resi-
dence of Ross J. Blosser, vice president
the Capital City organization decided to
| appoint a committee to wait upon Father
Mcdonald, president of Gonzaga College
and attempt to obtain the use of the
park during the period when it will not
be used by the college teams. 1t is hoped
| that some arrangement can be made
whereby the league will still be able to
use the field, but the interests of Con-
zaga College will be given first consid-
Grafton.
While were are not in this to make
money" said Father Duarte last night
the Capital City League will have to
pay for the use Of the park if any ar
rangement is made whereby they can use
the dates on which the college does not
/ pay dllu W llGLl lllt pdl "Oulu OlIlGl " lSS
lay idle. We rented the ground from the
league last year. and see no reason why
the same conditions should not apply now
| that We have the lease to the park.
The Aloysius Club and GOpzaga Col
lege," continued Father Duarte, stand
, for clean sport and for sportmanship, and
| if We can arrange matters so that the
| league can have the use of the field we
will do So
| Gonzaga College should be very much
benefited by the acquisition of Capita
City park, as it will be easier to induce
crack teams to play in an incloseC
grounds and on such good field. Be
sides, the location is not the least i'm
portant feature of the arrangement, and
the games at First and NJ should draw a
large following from the school and from
the church.
= meeting of the Independence League
will be held tonight at the residence
of H +. Worley, A L street northwest,
at o'clock. Persistent rumors that the
present president would refuse a re-
election led the writer to interview him
on that subject Mr.. Worley said: In
creaSing business affairs that will take
Up practically all of my time will pre-
vent me from accepting another term
as president, no matter how much
should like to take the position l think
lot of the Independence League and
intend to still lend a hand occasionally
but active participation in the affairs of
the organization is impossible as things
stand"
After a successful year as president
of one of the leading leagues of the
city, Harry F. Worley declines re-elec-
ton. Here is a man who has proved his
worth, and il would be wise for the
amateur baseball commission to consider
him as a candidate for election to one
OF the three important places on the
board of arbitration A more competent
man could not be picked from the many
candidates in the field, as his knowledge
of the real and existing conditions among
the amateur leagues at present is very
great
Should a change in playing grounds be
made by the Independence League. it is
almost certain to injure them. Large
crowds are drawn to McDevitt's Field
because interest in most OF the teams
centers in that locality. Owing to the
fact that a road has been cut through
part of the diamond. there has been talk
of seeking a new field, but it is under
stood that several of the managers are
opposed to a change, and an effort will
be made to shift the diamond about and
still use McDevitt's.
Thursdays meeting of the Olympia
League should be very interesting one.
inasmuch as that organization will either
vote to come in under the rule of the
amateur commission or stay out, and the
decision reached may make or break the
league. At present the Georgetown cir
cult is none too strong, and a careful
review of last season will show that
many changes must be made to place it
on an equal footing with other leagues
in Washington.
AS far as can be ascertained, the pro-
gressive element has been doing fine
work for the past two weeks in the in
terest OF the league, and fight will be
engineered on Thursday for cleaner base
ball, better rules, and a six-club league.
Then. too, the progressives stand for
aftiliation with the amateur commission,
and the writer believes a victory on their
part will mean the making of the Olym-
ria circuit
In the first place, officials should be
chosen wba are in no way connected with
applies to the Olympia League, but is
true of any league which expects to be
run smoothly. Last season the secre-
tary and treasurer were both players.
and consequently were accused by some
of unintentionally using their influence
for the good of their clubs and to the
harm of the league.
Another change advocated is that the
power to appoint and discharge umpires
be vested solely in the president, thus
taking this important duty out of the
hands of the board of managers In past
years Olympia League umpires who hap
pened TO make close decisions were in
formed by the managers that their Off
cial heads would fall in the basket at
the next meeting, and you can imagine
what a state of affairs existed with this
very busy official trying to please six
managers who were all fighting for the
pennant
Past experiences Of eight-club league
promoters have proved that an eight
club amateur league, where only one
diamond is used, is a failure, and even
when two or more grounds can be OBJ
tanned, the result has not been encour-
aging. as the crowd .goes to the best
game, and when the league draws at
one diamond the other lot is deserted.
In this day of many teams and many
leagues II Is hard to hold ball player
who only plays one day one week and
two or three days the next When the
baseball fever gets hold of youngster
he always wants TO get into the game
and twice a week is about the minimum
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