The sun., 1919-08-18
BASEBALL ENJOYS
A'GREAT REVIVAL
Attendance Records Are Being
Smashed All Over Circuit
Giant-Cub Game Postponed.
by FREDERICK g. LIEB.

Last winter some optimistic persons
predicted great return OF sport after
the war. A few looked forward to
bright baseball season, but usually with
the reservation that at might take the
game q year or SO to get back to nor
nal" With many persons who talked
alphabetically about baseball. the wish
was father to the thought.
While here and there club owner or
manager would predict q great revival
IN the sport, in legislative action the
magnates acted as though they feared
the worse. The major league club own
ers had no little faith in the 1919 season
that they adopted the 14o game sched-
ule, the shortest season played in the
majors In fifteen years. Only a few
clubs, the Giants, White sox and Cubs
put up a fight for the old six months
season of 1874 games t..I
There were conferences looking to
sreater economy, smaller rosters, shorter
training trips and all that. The Ma
tional League did adopt q salary limit
or such humble Dimensions that the
popular outory forced tho league to re-
peal It two days later. As to the twenty
one player limits, they were swept aside
early in the season when the magnates
observed how the fans were pouring
tnrougn their gates.
Best Season Ever.
Without exaggcration. this season is
by far the best that professional base
ball ever has known. There are few
weak spots, the two Philadelphia clubs.
the Cardinals, Braves and Washington,
but even these clubs will be able to
show profits by reason of big crowds
they have played to in other towns. The
lone club that Is liable to lose money
10 the st. Louis National. The Cardinals
have drawn little at home and only fig
ured In a few big pots on the road.
The Giants always have been a good
drawing card. but they never drew as
well as this year. either at homo or
abroad. The Yankees have drawn far
better than at any time in past seasons.
The club already has been able to pay
off all this seasons expenses and all
the rest will be profit, unique expert
ence for the Yanks.
Sunday ball OF course helped bring up
the attendance figures. Sunday ball
has had no apprecisble effect on week
day or Saturday attendance. Where
the New York clubs formerly had one
big day at the end OF the week, now
they have two. But the weekday at
tendance also has been far above what
II was In past years.
Those two double headers with the
Reds last week. when the gates were
locked each day. set a new record Tor
weekday attendance. The Yankees also
set a new weekly attendance record
for their club few weeks ago. when
$4,000 saw a double header with the
White Sox.
Profitable in Brooklyn.
Sunday ball also IL giving Charley
Ebbets his first profitable year since
1916, the year of the Dodger champion
ship. Brooklyn attendance fell as the
team slipped in the race, but the
Dodgers picked up lot of pennies for
a rainy day in the spring when the
club was in the race.
Cincinnati. q loser for years. 10 COIN
ing money. and all attendance records
in Redland have been smashed. II is
the same in Detroit, where the squirt of
the Tigers has the whole town aroused.
Eighteen thousand were out to see the
Yanks play the Tigers last Thursday.
and yesterday the Detroit attendance
record was broken when more than
$1,000 saw the team lose to Washing
ton.
When the Yanks played a Sunday
game in Chicago on their second West
ern trip the crowd was said to be the
greatest that ever packed in Comiskey's
park. A week ago last Sunday the
Giants played to the biggest crowd that
ever damned into the North Side Park
in Chicago. Even the sixth place Red
Sox played to nearly $4,000 on a satur-
day several weeks ago. the White Sox
being the attraction in q double header.
Even the Browns are drawing as never
before. During the clubs squirt last
month about $4,000 saw a double header
with the lowly Athletics, the best st.
Louis crowd in four years.
Baseball never got such a play before.
II looks as though the public has money
for baseball despite the high cost OF
living.