Las Vegas optic., 1914-04-13
PENNANT RACE TO
BEGIN THIS
WEEK
BIG LEAGUES WILL HARKEN TO
THE uMPlREs' LOUD CALL
OF "PLAY BALL"


New York, April 1S-The umpire's
cry of play ball" will resound
throughout the land this week and the
baseball season of 1914 will be start
ed in earnest. 1t will be the open
ing week in the two major leagues
and the new Federal league. Sew
eral of the leading minor organiza-
tions also will get under way, so that
between now and next Saturday the
hearts of thousands of fans will be
gladdened by the first skirmishes in
the pennant wars. For weeks the
reports from the training camps, the
exhibition games played on the road,
and the recent interleague series
have sharpened the appetite of the
baseball "bug" and he is longing for
the sound of the bell announcing the
first regular game of the season.
Rarely has a season opened in the
big leagues with promise Of SO
much to interest the fans from the
very start. The uncertainty OF what
the season will bring forth in the
way Of sensational developments is
what adds spice to the national game.
Thanks to the organization OF the
Federal league and its grabbing of
many players from the National and
American leagues, it has become i'm
possible to figure out the winners in
the two older organizations with any
thing approaching certainty Here
tofore the big league teams usually |
have been able to retain the most Of
their veteran players and the lounger
idols Of the preceding season. But
this year several Of the clubs have
undergone the greatest shake up of
players within memory. There also
have been several changes in owner
ship and in club management, and on
the whole the changes of various
kinds have been so numerous and of /
such an important character as to
render the form charts" of the last
season practically worthless as an
aid in doping out the championship
races this year
Weather permitting, the season in
the National and American leagues
will be ushered in tomorrow with
eight games in as many cities that
make up the two circuits In the
National league Boston is TO open at
Brooklyn, New York at Philadelphia,
Chicago at Cincinnati and Pittsburgh
at st. Louis The race in the Ameri-
can league viii be started with st.
Louis at Detroit, Cleveland at Chi
cago, Philadelphia at New York and
Washington at Boston.
Two of the most prominent of the
minor organizations, the American
Association and the Southern league,
will open their championship seasons
tomorrow ALSO Opening games in the
American association will be played
as follows: Columbus at Louisville,
at indianapolis, Minneapo-
lis at Kansas City and st. Paul at
In the initial games in the South
ern league Nashville will meet the
champions at Atlanta, Memphis will
play at Chattanooga, Mobile at Bir-
mingham and New Orleans at Mont
Friday will see the beginning Of the
race in the Western
On that day Denver is sched
uled to open at Lincoln, Wichita at
Topeka, Sioux City at CT. Joseph and
Omaha at Des Moines.
The arrangements Of the Federal
league provides for the opening games
to be played this week as follows:
Monday, Buffalo at Baltimore; Tues
day, Brooklyn at Pittsburgh; Thursday
Indianapolis at st. Louis and Chicago
at Kansas City.
Other baseball organizations that
will play the first games of their sea-
sons schedule this week are the Tex
as-Oklahoma league. the Northwestern
league, the Virginia league and the
Georgia state league.
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