Evening star., 1923-10-28

1t was incredible to him that
players who had won two champion
ships for him, and had been toasted
by New York in foam and bubbles,
should leave him for another owner.
But they did, and they always would.
Not per cent of the players are
imbued in the least with club loyalty.
American League Conservative.
In this parting of the ways that is
now evident. the American League
has outlined a policy of conservatism
and loyalty to the game which it
proposes to enforce against all units
of the circuit on the principle of ma
jority rule. In the National League
the individual clubs are becoming
more assertive OF their rights, insist
upon governing their properties as
they see fit, and shape their course
to the affairs of their organizations
only so far as base ball law cumpels
them.
The first important instance in
point is the' fiat announcement by
President Johnson of the American
League that there is to be no more
cult. No such declaration has been
made by President Heydler of the
National League, and none is ex-
pected. Indeed, one club owner al
ready has asserted that the National
League cannot control the use of his
grounds.
That is something's of a departure
from the old methods of the National
League, when it was customary for
the conservatives to lay down the
law and threaten with loss of mem
bership any individual member who
dissented.
Watching It's Steps.
1t is evident that the American
League has determined to play a
strictly base ball game, eliminating
anything which might be construed
as detriment to the game. The
new policy might be called high
brow" base ball as opposed to the
less toplofty sort.
In the old days the National League
was an open opponent of Sunday base
ball. This attitude gave it a clearly
recognized superiority over its then
rival, the American Association. The
latter was preached against, lectured
aSains5 abs adyantsw and writteR against all to
League. The National League, sup
ported by an element which admired
1t for its conservatism, was so ultra
conservative that the sandlotters
poked fun at it.
When the American League began
to bid for recognition, taking the
place of the moribund American AS
sociation, there were still many base
ball men who compared the leagues
as the american Association and the
Gu.
inauguration of Sunday base ball
in the National League because of al
leged business eXigencies waS the
hrst step down from it's high plane
by the National circuit. This cost the
! league much of it's conserva tive east
ern support, and marked the begin
ming of a letting down of the bars
by western clubs to ball lot uses
which were not always as elevating
as a good bah game.
Puts Ban on Boxing.
When prizefighting began in 1928
on the grounds of the two New York
clubs opposition bubb1ed to the srr-
face in both leagues. AS a matter
of fact, two-thirds Of the owners
think base ball is far above boxing
in ethics.
Realizing this. and figuring that
they have a very good grip at pres
ent on the New York situation, the
American League owners with Pres
ident Johnson, are playing for the
mold on the affections of the New
York public which the National
League once had. And they are
working their cards very shrewd1y.
The world series demonstrated con-
ditions that the American League
folks were not sure existed and
proved to them tendencies Of faith in
their administration which warrant
ed the announcement-as the first
note from the big base ball organ
that American League playing fields
would shelter no more prize fights.
In other words, the American
League has moved up in high brow
row. That is some flop in base ball
history in twenty-three years., but it
is only the beginning. There are
more moves to come.