The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-12
Mayor Wilson and Other Off, cials Will Help Opening Here-Manager Grimes Con- fident.

After weeks of watchful waiting the baseball curtain of the 1919 sea- son in BridgepOAt will rise Wednesday afternoon at NewfieId Park where the Ray Grimes managed Americans from this city will combat Chief Meyers New Haven contingent With prospects for one of the most sue cessfuI seasons in the history Of base ball in these parts facing them, the Bridgeporters will enter the compe- tition with what on paper looks like a strong and formidable aggregation of promising and for the most part veteran players.
 The Eastern League, as a whole will get underway this coming Wed nesday. It will be an entirely diff ferent organization, with new clubs new club owners and new managers. In one instance-Providen new ball park will figure. All over the circuit there is the awakened interest in the doings of the merger leaguers. Springfield, New Haven and Hart ford will be represented by clubs owned by real sports-men who will not permit money to stand in the way of organizing fast cOntingents.
 New grounds have been obtained by Providence men and so rosy docs the prospect look to outsiders tha- nothing except a hurricane and forty days and forty nights of rain can prevent the Rhode Island men from making a big success of their venture. President Dan O'NeH be- Ifeves Providence today is the best minor league proposition in the country.
 If the Eastern League does not make good this season, it never will, is a saying frequently heard these days Well. the clubs pry off the lid this week and unless signs fail l they start off on campaign that means success from start to finish So far as Bridgeport is concerned 1 an inauguration such as has never ! been seen in this city before Is plan ] ned. Mayor Wilson, members of the City government and Legislature will be present at the opening Wednesday. i A parade will precede the opening i game with a. concert given at the | park between innings. Several sing CTS will entertain with popular se- l Iections.
 But it will be In the doings of the team that the fans will be most con l cerned. What Manager Grimes can accomplish with the material he has
 on hand remains to be seen, but the | fact remains that he has been fur I nished with what seems like splendid | talent. Grimes himself will work at first base. The infeld seems well | protected and the same can be said,
 in a measure, of the outfelders.
 The pitching depar tment, however, l will present a most perplexing prob | lem for Manager Grimes. The trans
 fer of Alex Ferguson from the Yan- l kees to Toledo was a hard blow to | Manager Grimes and even President
 Lane, who had been made to under
 stand that the hur1er would be sent 1 back here if he failed to make the major league club. His place will be hard one to fill.
 Worcester, May 12. - The speed
 with which soldier-balIplayers on the
 reserved list and a number of likely looking recruits as well as eased out
 of the service of Uncle Sam will have
 much to do with the strength of the
 Worcester club at the start of the
 coming Eastern League campaign
 Just now Manager McMahon is more
 worried about how soon these play
 CTS will be available than most every
 thing else and he'll tell the world he spent considerable valuable time, in
 cluding the perfectly good sleeping nights in chairmaning the Eastern League schedule committee to a list of playing dates for the season. Working out at the Boosters park
 are quite a numbc- of promlsing youngsters, but it is the veteran ma
 terial, which no club can well dc
 without, that is missing and is needed badly. There is perfectly goo6 , pitching prospect named Colley who can't get away from Camp Meade ; There's Pat Ma1oney, the outfeldel now somewhere in France and sup | DoeAd to be ready to sail. and so i