Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-17
RETURNING YOUTH
TO NATIONAL GAME
Campaign of Maj. Griffith Is
Far More Productive
Than Expected.

- o. K. on the plan of Maj. John
l.. Griffith, its executive vice
president, to revive base ball
among the boys of the Nation.
This year only a few colleges remain
ed out of base ball. Nearly every high
school In the country has team.
Three thousand new town" teams are
in the field. And the American Legion
hopes to reach as many as 100000 boys
in its big national tournament this
Last year $4,000 boys competed in
the American Legions junior base ball
tournament. But the surface was only
scratched, in the opinion of Dan Sewers,
national director of the Legion's pro-
gram. The tournament was so success
full that this year teams are clamorng
to get In, where year ago they mad
to be coaxed a little.
But getting back to the start five
years ago: Maj. Griffith started his
Campaign by promoting base ball In
the small towns, in the high schools
and colleges.
The colleges were asked to help and
they did. In the smaller institutions
many teams had been abandoned. NOW
most of them are back. But that Is
not the extent Of the gain. In making
base ball popular again as college
sport it also has become very popular
in the over-growing intramural pro-
grams of the colleges. One big COL
lepe NAV have a base ball team, play
ing its old rivals, numbering Is or 80
men. But that same college also may
have 100 teams In the intramural sports
program. The return OF the college
team was an encouragement for more
intramural base ball.
It Is estimated that. counting intra-
mural there are 1000 more college
teams than there were five years ago.
There are perhaps 1000 high schools
PLAYING base ball today that did not
have teams five years ago. ms gam
Is mostly in the West
Last year the American Legion had
S,764 teams playing In the junior tour
Three hundred new leagues have
snr1lnp I'D in the town" class. Which
means about 2,40o teams.
Which Is a total Of 13,164 teams &C.
counted for in these classes. NO doupt
there was enough encouragement 70
bring In enough new teams in n1scel-
laneous classes to bring the total to
$4,000 new teams.
THAT would make q total Of nearly
100000 new ball players.
The real big growth is in the Amer.
lean Legion program. Maj. Griffith sold
this idea to the Legion i've years ago.
But It took some time to get good
start. The Legion had q tournament
in 1926, but couldn't give 1T much time
in 1927 because Of the convention IN
Paris. Last year 1t went over with a
bang, however, and this year, according
to Dan Sewers, there viii be at least
three times as many teams competing,
maybe four times as many.
Mai. Griffith broke the ground and
did the planting. He had Dan Sewers
and Jay Butler to help him cultivate
the crop Now the major can sit back
and watch it grow. But he isn't doing
that He is keeping up his efforts to
encourage more teams in the small
towns and in the country sections.
Jay Butler is q field worker for both
the Federation and the Legion. He
supervised many of the sectional tourna-
ments last year and was constantly on.
the go most Of the Summer.
Sewers and Butler already are IN
gram. In fact Sewers had but brief
vacation from base ball following the
championship last Fall. He was worked
most Of the Winter and has covered
the country in organizing the sport.
There are 1000 American Legion
posts. OF that number there were
S,764 supporting base ball last year.
Sewers hopes to have all Of them lined
UP soon. There was Legion base ball
in A States and the District Of Co
1umbia last year.
Local play and state tournaments are
financed by the posts. After that the
$4,000 fund donated by organized base
ball is used. .
The big leagues pay 100000 Q year
toward this program, which IS q bar
gain. The advertising to base ball Is
to say nothing of the bringing up Of
new armies Of players and fans. In
later years these Legion boys will be
the men starring In the majors.