Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1914-1916, 1914-10-14
BASEBALL A CLEAN GAME.

sAffsepaseball series for 1914 is over. Bos-
Pf vouon won the series in four straight
eimegam BY collision among the
= = us players the series could have been
[hird dcontinued for the full seven games,
he enAnd the gate receipts would thereby
ne mohave been increased by many thou
= ~ sasdifands of dollars. This could have
made foeen done in a manner that would
hxhaushave defed detection while the games
EascnenWere in progress. and managers and
pesred players would have been many dol
rot wears to the good. Why was 1t not
pisd tnone? Because baseball. in spite Of
sornu,ril that is occasionally said to the
m. 81 contrary. is a clean sport.
he viii In the very nature of things, it is
httack. impossible to bring absolute proof
THAT there has not been fraud in any
.,S contest Of skill In which men engage.
khe init is always diflcult to prove a mega.
ridge tive. and in this case 1t is impossi-
io Moole. A ielder may miss by a hairs
snsmvsoreadth q difficult catch which, II he
hre ortvere putting forth his very best effort,
order ihe could have made. A batter may
!. ~ 80 miss by a fraction a ball which he
could have hit, and no one can tell
..w hat be did 1t purposely. A ball may
septennoe thrown at a critical moment Just
our wal trihe too high to be caught. letting
we n . winning run. A thousand things
M be done by men accustomed to
deld. the game. which will decide the issue
In silepf the game. and there is no proof
nundrehat they were not done innocently,
i n With every player doing his best.
seems Players have their off days and their
y slacbn moments. and bad plays are made
mere Gy good players at times when there
instanfs not the slightest reason to believe
,harge-hat the bad plays were intended. and
Fhey dwhen there is no chance for any gain
~ te11sSrom making them. Hence. occasion
nc al plays are to be expected even In
.ry lasreat championship games. They
.IhGould be made purposely without i'm
sut dasas.nediate detection.
spits a While there is no way Of obtaining
play. positive proof that there has not been
rom e,ollusion in some Of the big league
:+.s ~ James, Manager Mack presented last
Wire. ~sYinter, in a magazine article, an ar
f watsument that Is practically proof. His
noues conclusive argument is this: The
q 3NsSsefulness of a man on the diamond
:hrouae OF brief duration. For only a few
o0y0n0easons Is he at his best. He Is US
~. t4Islally the last to realize that it Is
aamd sin3e For him to retire. Usually the
selves lnwelcome news comes to him in the
rom torn of a notice from his manager
aMpsy he does not like it. There
LOT there In the country thousands Of for
$3.50. ner big ball players who have been
-.- tropped from the game in this man
- ser, and these men would certainly
fave no object now in hiding from
he public any discredi1able facts re.
Eating to the history Of the game with
H. which they are now no longer con-
tected. And yet. from among all his
-
me has come forward with an ex.
=5osure OF frauds. which. If commit
ed, could not have been m
Without the knowledge and participa.
ion of many men. The maintenance
II silence under these conditions, OF
my scandal actually existed. is un.
hinkable
Mack does not maintain that there
AVE been no cases of fraud among
Paseball men. On the contrary, he
ayB that there have been such cases
Put they have been Isolated and in.
ltvtdual, and when discovered the
utility persons have been banished
orever from the diamond. Baseball
. clean sport. That Is one of the
easons why 1t retains it's hold on the
people. And, while men of many
ktnda and engaged on the manage
nent Of the game, those who shape
ts destinies have wisely chosen to do
Shetr utmost to keep it clean. They
IRE wise, because they realize that
% keep the gam clean is the only
kay to keep 1t popular. Let it once
become smudged with fraud and it is
~ E1~~A