The Washington times., 1930-05-27

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the local games to start at 3
o'clock or earlier, and I believe
the powers who be within the
ball club who fix these matters
would be making very wide
appeal indeed, were they to
listen to this vast majority Of
their clientele.
Twenty-three per cent CT
fans are satisfied with the pres
ent starting hours Of $3.50
o'clock.
Most organizations dealing so
directly with the public as does
a ball player would do come
serious thinking about those
statistics which have been de
termined by this newspaner
over the course of the last
eight or ten weeks.
The figures are accurate ana
meaningful, representing the
voices of the real fans, not just
any persons who are willing 10
express a sentiment or a choice
on something in which they
have no real or vital interest.
Long before the ball clubs
were yet up from the Solth-
land the local American League
ball team supplied The Tu1es
with many gross of official
baseball schedules for the 1880
season which we were happy to
pass on to those who would
enclose a Self-addressed stamped
envelope for the same.
The demand for these con-
venient schedules was so great
that after the season was we'll
under way. a second allotment
was requested of the ball club,
and these too were readily
asked for by the genuine tans
who were interested enough in
baseball to write for the scaed-
ules and enclose return postage
and directions.
Upwards of two thousand
schedules were mailed out, and,
while 1000 nothing like covers
the fan field here, it does
touch a cross-section of fan
thought which, tor purposes of
forming a policy, ought to be
valuable to any ball club, or,
for that matter, to any news
paper.
Along with each schedule
which went forth to a fan
who made written request for
it was enclosed ballot in
which the fan was asked TO
indicate his choice of starting
hour. and the result was that
II per cent want the starting
time of the game moved up at
least a half hour. and few
would even like to see the con
tests locally start as early as
2:3O, particularly on Saturdays
and Sundays.
A ball club, like a newspaper
or a department store or a
street car company, must and
should regulate it's affairs so
as to appeal to the majority of
the many types of humans it
is trying to serve. If every
newspaper and every depart
ment store or other institution
of commerce catering to the
public knew conclusively what
the public wanted, its main
problem of operation would be
solved.
Few industries are fortunate
enough to know with any great
degree of accuracy what II per
cent of their customers want
because getting that informa-
ton is seldom an easy task.
Certainly that is a large
enough percentage to curry to.
and the other % per cent
wouldn't be lost altogether.
We believe the figures pre-
sented above mean a great deal
in the discussion of this game
starting time, because we be-
lieve the people didn't write in
for schedules who are not very
much interested in baseball and
we believe the voice of the
people who are very much in
tereSted in baseball is the voice
of baseball fandom generally.
Fans of Washington, Mary
land and Virginia requested
schedules and subsequently
voted about in proportion to
population. Soldiers at the
various barracks around Wash
ington, from Quantico and from
Hoyle and from Eustice, were
very strong in their hope for
an earlier starting time so
they could get early trains back.
Wives asked for earlier starting
time in numbers and Amos
u Andy fans said they could
seldom go to the ball park and
get back home in time for their
favorite broadcast, now that it
is coming over on daylight saw
ing time.
Any number of arguments
were written. despite the fact
that only an expression of
choice for a starting hour was
requested, but the outstanding
fact of the whole ballot is that
more than three times as many