San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-01-21
Desire for Home-runs Con-
tinues 80 Per Cent, In
curry Discloses.
HAS BEARING ON PARKS
Seems Best Not to Try to
Standardize New Base
ball Stadiums.
BY GEORGE CHADWICK.

Copyright, 1925, by The San Antonio Light.
New York, Jan. 2O.-The fans of the
country do not want the game of base
ball changed. A postal card inquiry
sent through several sections of the
country indicated today that 90 out of
ever 100 patrons of the game like home
runs and heavy hitting and only ten in
favor of a change in that respect. That
fact becomes very pertinent in view of
the new grounds to be opened in some
cities and alterations in the playing
fields of others.
If it were possible to play baseball
on fields of exactly the same shape and
dimensions, baseball would be the most
standardized outdoor sport except ten
mis-. Baseball men of vision and ex-
perience question the wisdom of stan
dardizing it to the last degree 1t will
never be possible for the fields TO be
made uniform. Many Of the more pros
porous cities have. fixed locations that
will never be altered and baseball men
consider that the identity and person
atty of each ground should be kept
distinct for the best interests of the
game.
YanlSs' Stadium Greatest.
The greatest baseball structure in
the world is now nearing completion in
this city. The new Yankee stadium is
three tiers high and not unlike the
Coliseum of Rome, as viewed from some
angles. If the concrete amphitheater of
the New York American League Club
had been built centuries ago it would
have been one of the wonders of the
world. As it is, it is the wonder of
baseball. 1t is wholly unlike the Polo
Grounds and cannot be compared with
it because its location and formation
are totally different.
TIL question has arisen whether it Is
not better that it shall have and pre-
serve q distinctive idea rather than an
effort be made TO standardize it with
its less grandiose neighbOr.
The point is brought up because the
Yankees are about to enter on a period
of their eistence on a playground Of
their own.
Should Be No Ground Rules.
Old baseball men say they should
start their new field unrestricted by
ground rules and allow the players 10
perform unhampered by artificial bar
riers such feats as they are capable of
performing. In other words, all rec
Ords beginning April is, should be a
part of the history of the field and its
traditions.
This may seem an unimportant mat
ter. vet such old heads as tOhse of
Charles Comiskey, Bill Gleason, Clark
Griffith. Wilbert Robinson. Jack Doyle,
Joe Kelly and others, united today in
saying that a baseball ground can and
should have a personality. They add
ed that all fans liked a ground without
rules.
tn. shifting Of the diamond at the
Polo Grounds which has followed the
remodeling of the stand, really places
the Polo Grounds in the same class as
the new Yankee stadium so far as pre-
serving its identity is concerned. The
same reasons that suggest that the
Yankee field be unrestricted by ground
rules apply. II both fields start I'M
restricted, such records rs may be es-
tablished will have a sure and certain
value.
Development Of Two Years.
It is only within two years that there
has been talk Of home-runs being too
frequent. Fifteen years ago. under the
same rules. there was talk of their
being too infrequent. How long the bat
ting furry will last depends on the
pitchers
The Standardization of grounds ap-
plies equally to Detroit, st. Louis, Chi
cago or Philadelphia, as well as to
New York. 1t is timely with big stands
coming to have free and open fields
Not only should the batters "hit EN-
where they amt" as Willie Keller used
TO advise. but they should be free TO
hit EN- further than they are"