Evening journal., 1915-08-25
WAR NOW QUESTION
Of arithmetic
Ward Says Dime Bleacher
Solves Question With
Organized Ball
CHEAP BALL
BUILT UP GAME


NEW YORK. Aug. %. Insisting
that Organized Ball as a whole Is
losing and the Federal League gam
ing supporters under dime hleachers
and other cut prices. Robert 3. Ward,
vice-president of rhe Federal League
and owner Of the Tiptops, declares
that the baseball work has worked
itself from q complex problem into
one of simple arithmetic. From
three to four times as many fans
have patronized Federal League
games under the new scale Of prices
than formerly" explained Ward, "and
besides failing to attract any new
supporters. Organized Ball has been
forced to see its old clientele gradu-
ally drifting away"
Because of the dissolution of the
Marsans injunction and the Federal
League victory permitting that player
10 resume an active career with the
St. Louis team, Ward was hopeful re-
gardirg the other court cases pend
ing. Better than any other indica-
ton as the outcome of this war is
the widespread interest in popular
priced baseball" said Ward.
When his attention was called to
some record crowds gathering under
the 75-cent grandstands and the old
scale of prices, Ward brought out the
point that advocates of the dime
bleachers had never contended that
big crowds in some certain points
could not be attracted under the old
tariff. "In Kansas City. where
winning team and local business
conditions have brought unusual
prosperity, the Federal League park
was filled to capacity on at least two
DAYS of the week, with big crowds
present at all other times this season.
It was for the good of baseball and
the Federal League as a whole that
dime bleachers were introduced" he
said.
When There Was No Opposition.
"The only agitation against dime
bleachers has been by those who
raise the false cry Of cheapening the
game and have tried, by linking
vague hints of reduced salaries for
players, to work up sentimental op-
position to the project The wide.
spread interest in major league base
ball was not built up on 75-cen'
grandstand seats. Having once goi
deeply interested in the game under
rs and 50-cent grandstands, II wa'
comparatively easy to hold the tru,
fan with increased prices because
there was no major league opposi
ton A canvass of spectators at an,
of the ball parks would reveal a sur
prisingly low number of persons wit
Messing a game for the first time
This held true until dime bleachers
quarter seats in covered stands ant
the half-dollar grandstand were in
troduced in the Federal League.
For years the leaders in Organ
ized Ball player on the same instru
ment to make music in the box Office
Some of the fans wore out, other
were prevented from maintainin
their warmth in support OF baseball
by business conditions and at leas
30 per cent. simply walked out Alb
solutely nothing was done to build VI
new clientele for baseball or re
gain the patronage of the fans VIII
had been driven away by high prices
o. B. May Point TO Stands.
"In refutation Of the above Or
ganized Ball may point TO fine grand
stands and stadiums. These aids I
the comfort Of the fans were bull
without much Of the sentiment inspiI
ing them that has been credited
the builders. Cold, practical bus
ness and the building laws we're bt
hind these great structures. It wa
necessary to have larger stands bs
cause of the hoped-for continuatio
of increasing business and munic
pal regulations Influenced the dec
sion as to whether the promote
would construct his monument to III
fans out Of wood or steel and col
9 crete.
"The quality Of the game was r
Improved nor was any means ever d.
vised whereby the popularization
baseball was seriously attempte
Without opposition it seemed a pos
tive certainty that enough supportel
could be held and old ones arouse
on special occasions to keep Il
game on profitable basis Thi
theory worked out we'll, until the Fe
eral League came into existence. OF
ed forms of recreation, chiefly
reason of the moderate cash expend
lures involved, gained a grip on Il
fans and finally general econom
conditions made It apparent In
something should be done to make
possible for the fans to get the
baseball at the parks instead
through the newspapers and fannil
bees concluded Ward.