San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-04-29
MAGNATES HOPE
CROWDS NEVER
REACH 100000
Strange, But It's a Fact,
Third Big League Would
Loom Then.
RECORDS MADE EARLY
Attendance Only One of
Features of Early
League Games.
RECORDS MADE EARLY
BY GEORGE CHADWICK.


New York, April 2s.-History was
turned out in the first ten days of
the baseball season like sawdust in a
cypress lumber camp.
The largest crowd that ever attend
ed a ball game fattened the purses OF
The owners Of the Yankees. The num-
Der present was nnounced as 14,217.
A few more could have been put in the
park, fact which seems TO have been
overlooked. The bleachers were not
filled to capacity and the big stand
was overfilled. Too many stood up in
the main tent instead of sitting down
in the bleachers and, as the angle of
vision was cut off in the lower stand
by the oyerflowing balcony, these went
away with bad impression. That
does not matter in the long run. for
the massive steel and concrete struc-
ture is built for a century and fans
come and 60.
The first man TO predict a crowd OF
10000 il the regular progress of a
championship ball season was A. G..
Spalding. He made this prediction
in an interview in 1908, declaring he
would not live 10 see such a crowd.
but that one would gather within 80
years. Baseball men called that a wild
dream. Now they wonder why he did
not say 100000.
Will there be crowds of 100000?
Baseball men hope not. That sounds
strange, but it is true. They are fear
full of the size of the throngs they have
seen at the Yank stadium. When the
af
visions Of third league begin to
worry them. And third league is by
no means impossible.
Center on One Man.
Baseball critics say there are not
enough players for two leagues. Then
they center all their attention on some
one player until the rising generation
has almost forgotten that 1t takes nine
Players TO form team. A game lin.
gers in silence and gloom until he
does something. If he" does nothing
the crowd takes it as much to heart
as the breaking of the bottle of bootleg
at picnic.
The American idea of teamwork
the root of the game and one thin:
that made it great, is now discounted
The old story of baseball was TO eradi
cate the star. The new story is tC
maintain eight of nine players will
tolerance. The players VINO contribute
eight-ninths of the game resent it
at least among themselves.
The second largest crowd and the
largest that ever saw Sunday game
almost filled the same Yankee stand
1t was more wonderful than the first
gathering because il showed the Sun.
day holiday tendency Of the city. The
idea of the European Sunday seems to
have completely revolutionized the SEN
timent of quarter century ago when
even board Of aldermen would have
been careful how they advocated pro-
fessional Sunday sport.
All that is baseball history. and now
for more. The Chicago Cubs made
nearly one-third as many bome-runs in
eight games as they made all last sea-
son. Hartnett. catcher who made no
homers in 1922. made four in eight
games. The ball, lively or dead. could
not do that. There must be oatmeal
and sirloin behind the ball to give it
bome-run flight. Home-runs don
come from taps.
WIN uUl dCEtDL fltNPI
chances in game in 1922 have no diff
ficulty doing this this year. That
can't be due to the ball either.
Detroit's heavy batsmen are run.
ming true to form. Detroit's pitchers
are leaving something to be desired
They may come along later. A month
at home should do them good.
Jones Breaks 1922 Jinx.
Sam Jones of the Yanks pitched
against Washington as if he never hat
lost game against them. In 1922 hi
couldn't pitch battercakes agsinS
them. Prior TO 1922 he was almost al
ways successful against them. Nor,
history.
Conroy of Washington seems to b,
kteadying an infield which has beer
running on flat tire. IL he con
tinues to play 90 per cent as well, TIL
Washingtons will be advanced as on,
of the fighting factors of the mid-ril
section of the American League. Tha
will make it harder for the New
Yorks to repeat as champions and vir
tually will leave Boston as con
firmed rear guard.
Young pitchers to bear watching ar
Mc->dfndrd, DOSlOn NdtloHdlS, DoeH
Ter. Pittsburg; Head, Philadelphia Ma
tionals; Genewicb. Boston Nationals
Blume. Giants: Holloway. Detroi
ESPECIALLY Holloway; Dickermar
Brooklyn; Yarmouth. Washington
and Kunz, Pittsburg. All of them ma,
make history before the season is fin
ished.
Ruth to date is batting at rate o
81 home-runs for the season. Tha
,pav he a limo IN futura history