Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1917-12-03
BASEBALL IS WAR
ASSET, IS CLAIM
Chicago Critic Declares Nation Should
Keep Same Alive as Wei as
All Sports.
POINTS OUT MISTAKE OF ALLIES
Declares England Made Error When
IT Discarded National Pastimes
During Conflict


Chicago. ILL.,. Dec. "a Chicago
critic has said that for the good OF the
nation baseball as well as every other
outdoor sport should be kept alive
through the war with or without the
aid Of the government.
The United States has profited great
1y by avoiding the mistakes OF its
allies IN war preparations and In deal
ling with war conditions. One of Eng
/ lands mistakes was in discarding all
sports to a great extent. Before the
| first year of the war was over the
/ English realized their mistake and to-
day baseba1l-hitherto unable TO get
much of a footing in Great Britain-is
being introduced and welcomed, both
as a public diversion and as a recrea-
ton for soldiers.
| Profiting by that experience, the
United States, by collaboration Of mill
tary authorities, club owners, players,
newspapers and fans, can preserve
the nations pastifne in healthy con-
dition so far as can be foreseen now.
It must be remembered that baseball
/
4 during the Civil war, although it was
wholly an amateur enterprise then. II
the Civil war could foster and develop
such lusty infant it is pretty GER
tain the present war can sustain its
life, without the aid of artificial res
= piration.
Commercial Side Hurtful.
! Cgv,r11r o-o-oto 10 ra,,,,7-, +i,o 20 -
eerous dollar sign and restore the
game to sporting level, and the pa
tient will survive.
Just now the worst trouble seems
to be that the doctors interested in
the case can't agree. Some of them
= want TO amputate a lot of legs and
: arms while others favor chloroforming
the patient like a sick cat. Still 9TH
5 ers incline to the belief there is moth
: ing the matter and advocate doing
= nothing at all general consulta-
: ton is 10 be held in the near future
I when the league owners get together
= for their annual meeting and some
= sort of agreement ought TO be reached
g at that time.
g It seems that too much stress is
D laid on keeping up the standard of the
e game on the theory that the public
4 will lose interest in it if it deteriorates
e Practically every experienced man
connected with baseball agrees thal
d the standard of the major leagues ha.
Z been falling off in the last four or fivt
| gyears, but the interest has been JUS
d las great and what diminution in pa
q Itronage has occurred was due to bar
J. weather and war conditions.
:, Fans Won't Know Difference.
: Most of the inside stuff and strateg,
. which differentiates major League
). baseball from the minor league brant
- is over the heads OF 90 per cent o
major league patrons. They eanno
= tell the difference between a team
=, made up OF mechanical performer
: and a team that plays with brains, ex
= cept in the results, and If leagues ar
A evenly balanced, it is only neeessar
i to label them major" and the fan
Twill believe it.
. The Federal league demonstrates
! that fact For two years the promot
= ers and boosters of the outlaw eli
d cult called themselves third majo
i leaguers and made a lot of people be
a lieve ii. Some of them talked abou
/ it so much that they began to believ
ID it themselves. Players who locke
IS like world-beaters in that class wer
X touted as major league stars, and the
m got away with it until the consolids
Il ton took place. Then the public re
Of allied it required more than a sprinl
ell ling of star players to make majC
league
The Federal league fooled the fan
by keeping their fans so well distrii
uted that no one or two teams gu
b classed the rest far enough to sho
mp the average class Of the playin
K talent
le Want Clubs Well Balanced.
u-I That is the chief problem that col
T. fronts the major and minor league
J. today how to equalize the strengt
e, OF their teams so as to offset the il
re CAPABILITIES bound TO be produced /
H. the hazard by the national army draf
ID Reducing the number Of men to |
as carried by each team will help becau:
I'd it viii release a lot of good talent tn;
ne has not been fully employed undt
n present conditions.
n, Practically every major league tea
T. now has under reservation the fu
limit of 35 players. BY reducing to ]
before actual play starts next sprin
II players per team would becon
20, available for strengthening oths
Il teams by filling holes made by II
army draft.
o. The way to bring this about fair
IN and above board is the difficult tas
re 1t is even more difficult than cuttir
Id salaries and expenses, but the clr
e. owners have all winter in which
v find the way To meet conditions ne,
k season, and in every confiden,
"a they will find it If they will get togetI
he Ter and work together for the good
OF the game, instead OF pulling separat
he ly and seiishly in different direction
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