The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-11-06
WHY BIG LEAGUES SHOULD
 CONTINUE LONG SCHEDULE
154 More Economical Experienced Baseball
 Man = Shows Most Postponed Games Come After May.

Here is an argument in behalf of 154 game schedule for the major base l ball leagues as opposed to the pro- posed 140 game arrangement. It is the views of baseball man of long 1 experience, one still actively connect ed with major league baseball and a long time student of the playing and business end. It contains some perti- nent points and is worth the serious attention of the big league powers that be:
 About 175 days are necessary to play a 154 game schedule. This is necessitated by reason of the jumps between St. Louis and Boston and including aN ether cities and the right of the West to play Sunday baseball, while the Hast cannot, and the dou- ble incentive on the part of both leagues to avoid conflicting dates. This latter feature has been entirely !, elimdnated in the last three years. About 1e5 days are necessary to play g. 140 game schedule. Dates must be extended over, at least as much of that period as possible to provide for Sundays and holidays.
 "The actual saving in duration Of a season for the 140 game schedule as against the 154 gameA schedule Is about ten days, while the 164 game schedule gives it more opportunities | to make both ends meet If the club is reasonabfy successful.
 l "In 1915, 24 days were lost by one | National League club on account Of rain, therefore the team played on I 130 days instead of 154. It is a mat | ter of record that almost all of these days were lost after May l. In 1915 and In 1917 much the same conditions I were in existence. In 1916 the month 1 of June was very trying on account llof bad weather, and in 1917 the
 month of May was especially trying. I This disprovas the statemefit that all 1 the bad weather cofnes in April. As a | matter of fact, New York has had better weather in April. prior to the 1 opening of the baseball season. than I after it opened.
 1 s-The 154 game schedule generally speaking adds anothert week to the home season and another week to the
 abroad season. If it be home in the West 1t means another Saturday and Sunday for that section, and if home | in the East another Saturday, for that section. Of course this applies ex- l actly the same on the abroad week except that the positions of the clubs I may be reversed. Saturdays and Sun days are the presumable backbone of c league schedule, and to eliminate 1 these from both leagues would mean 1.-the loss of at least eight Saturdays and at least four Sundays. This loss might not be felt by some, yet fdo 1 much financial mischief to the 50 per cent of clubs not in the second di- vision
 "As the extra fourteen days in g 154 game schedule are presumed u be mutually divided between at home l and abroad, it is evident that the ac- | tuaI expense, so far as ground hire
 Is concerned, would be the small de ] tail of one week for ticket sellers l ticket takers, etc, to each club 1 Diminished expense in players con.
 tracts by an attempted shortened sea.
 son seems out of the question in view of the fact that the form of contrac I to which ball players agreed in 1S1s
 contained this clause:
 The playing season for each veal
 covered by this contract and all re
 newals hereof shall be, as fixed fol
 the (Nationa1 or American) League
 of Professional Baseball Clubs ant ' consist of approximately six months.
 "All baseball clubs having pur
 chased options on nearly all baseball
 players with this agreement posftivel. stipulated in contracts cannot yer.
 well break 1t without losing their op
 ton on the players. I may be fwronl
 on this point, but that is the way 1
 occurs to me-
 (It would seem that q good dea
 would depend on the approximate ly' in the clause.)
 There is no possible decrease il expense for transportation. Eacl eastern club must make it's three trip :. to the cities of its own section and t the west and each western club mus
 make the same journeys to its owl
 section and to the east whether tn
 schedule is for 40 or 154 games A
 the maximum there could not be add cd hotel expense for more than on ] 1 week, and the maximum cost for thi should not be more than $700. There fore, the greatest expense to be ex ! pected in a 154 game schedule a compared with a 40 game schedul
 would be for hotel, s700; groun
 help. not large and dependent. so1el . on attendance: the incidental of tick , cts and advertising, the incidental c
 policing. if such is paid for, and tn incidental of an extra two weeks he tel expenses for umpires.
 "In other words. if the schedu1 , should he shortened each club woul voluntarily throw away IA chances t 7 make both ends meet to insure only
 saving as small as that itemize above Or, to put it differently. tn . | <1F eo1o 1 1 ule is so small as compared to tn possibility of Il 5A games that shorten
 The sixteenth also went to the Ita1