The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-04-30
Eastern Heads Decide
 To Open Season May22
O'Neil Fails to Secure Class A Rating - Schedule heightened From 91 to 112 Games by Application of Double Headers-Ad- mission to Parks Will Be Thirty Gents.

Thirty Gents.
 Springfield, April 3o-If there was any wrangling over the adoption of the schedule as drawn up by the soshedule committee of the Eastern League at yesterdays executive ses- sion in the Cooley Hotel, no mention was made of it by the powers that be. A few changes there arc such as the Increase in the number of games to be played from 9S to 112. But this change was submitted for approval of the league heads by the committee itself.
 Springfield is one of the four cities to draw down opening dates, it being the plan to send the Ponies into ac- ton against Waterbury at League Park on May 22. At the same time, New London, Worcester and New Ha- ven open at home; New London with Hartford, Worcester with Providence, and Bridgeport with the championship New Haven club. The same order holds good on the following day, but the day after they switch to the op- posite places.
 F It was without an old, familiar face at the round table when the league moguls went into executive session. Mike Garrity of the transferred Port land franchise, was among the miss ing, and in his place was Benjamin P. Moulton, representing the Provi- dence Grays. Manager Eddie Sayrs was not present, practice spasms with his rapidly forming team hold ing him in Providence. Ed ward Dugan soon took James T. Collins place as the repre- sentative of the New Haven. club, once the franchise had been voted to his tender keeping. Then, out went MT. Collins. The other representatives present were Clarke P. Lane, Jr., of | Bridgeport, George B. Press of New | London, J. H. Clarkin of Hartford, William E. Carey of Springfield, Ed ward F. Smith and M. J. McMahon of | Worcester, and John A. Flynn, the Waterbury manager. Dan O'Neil was back on the job in the presidents chair.
 To Aid War Funds. | Under the plan of charging 30 cents for general admissions, this to include the war tax, the patrons would ac- tualy be paying two cents extra, the admission and war tax coming to only 28 cents. MT. Moulton of the Provi- dence Grays, as the first business to be attended to, advised that the extra two cents be given to some war fund to be selected by each individual club | n fou h1 ton on the part of the other members of the league.
 As straight 55 cents is to be charged for admission to the grand stand no provision for such admission is necessary.
 | The lengthening of the schedule from 98 to 112 games was made on the advice of the schedule committee and will be accomplished by playing IA scheduled double-headers, seven at home and seven away, by each club.
 Notwithstanding reports to the ef- feet that MT. Lane of, the Bridgeport Americans would demand a revision of the Saturday allotments, the five Saturday dates planned for his club were allowed to stand. The Bridge port team is one of the four able to play on Sundays, and each one of the four will play every Sunday. To bal ance this the Sunday clubs received only five Saturdays each, while the other clubs in the circuit will play 16.
 President Dan OtNeil reported that he had made application for a class A rating to Secretary J. H. Farrell | of the National Association, but had been told that no changes of classi- fication can be made except on United States census, which will not be compiled until 1920. To be rated class IA a baseball league must have a combined population of it's cities of 1 ,00O, 900 or more. The last United States census give the combined pop ulation of the Eastern League cities as 8S6,612, this including Waterbury. Now, however, the population is known to be well over the required mark However, the big leagues are mot overly anxious to raise ratings, as lit means higher draft prices, and the ruling that all classification changes must be made on United States census enables the majors to hold on to soft snap a while longer. Neverthe- Hess, President O'Neil expects to take the matter up before the National As sociation once more when that body meets on Saturday.
 The business was practically cleaned up when the league once more adopt ed the Spalding & Bros baseball, fol- lowing a proposition made by a Spa1d- ing representative.