The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-05-05
ALKING
IT OVER
BY JOE WILLIAMS

NEW YORK, May 5.-Whetner
~ baseball after dark can be
made any more appealing to the
customers than the present form OF
presentation is an experiment winch
is Icing worked out by the Des
Moines club in the Western League,
and I am told that the big league
club owners are more than passive
lv interested in the adventure
r
TIE idea seems sound enough proFioe'
IN. lighting effects are adequate Oniy
ronparativeIy small percentage OF people
6nd II consistently convenient to iea''
tb.ir business in the afternoon. The pros.
n.,t NJ rolling over 10 the ball PARK anu
absorbinr a nine-inning game AFTER 'he
.r.,i,v victuaIs is something that might
,oneeivabIy lure a great number OF peopis
ubo otherwise would be content to ger
their baseball out of the box score
CERTAINTY if John Gilbert in Hearts
Aeame" or some such cinema epic can
ent,ce the old man out OF the house after
q long day at the office it is reasonaole
"a s,inpose that the manly charms OF bsoe
puth would not leave him utterly cold ana
unmoyed. particularly when the moon
hangs high. the winds are low and the
azure dome is star dappled.
n
To the business men who operate 'he
clubs. the economies Of the innoVauOn
carry a definite attraction. Not many o.
the clubs do a brisk business during the
w..k and few Of them would be able to
survive without the big gates that come on
SATURDAYS, Sundays and holidays
II owl baseball served to stimulate the
veek-night trade without impairing the
mechanics Of the play it would seem
v,racttcal Arrangement and there could be
no reason for not adopting it generally
T RECALL that a game Of moon
i light baseball was played IN tne
old Federal League in Brooklyn
about fifteen years ago and that tne
results were quite hilarious que 10
inferiority of the lighting system
II
IL used TO be the custom TO hold out
door fights in the afternoon. but IN recent
wears this has been changed ana al "l
them are held at night 1 can't say thA'
,hi. has added ANYTHING TO the improve
ment or refinement of the sport out the
existing deficiencies can not be charged
10 the engineers. Indeed, many OF tne
61,ts that are held at night would De
much more acceptable from critical
viswpoInt If they were presented to the
customers in stygian darkness.
n
note that Ed Barrow Of the Yam
KEGS is not disposed to look upon
the night game with any violent en-
thusiasm. Possibly there are pc
culiarities about the metropolitan
trade which are not to be found
elsewhere. 1 can see that the prob
lem of getting the boys out OF the
speakeasies and into the bleachers at
night is one that requires profound
speculation.
Barrow probably has fears that TO
considerable number Of his patrons high
hall at night fall is something that has
nothing whatever to do with putouts or
base hits. have not heard what the UNI
hires think Of the scheme. but l have
notion they would Just soon have the
hours stand as they are.
=
Some of these gentlemen seem to
have trouble enough seeing the
PLAYS clearly in broad daylight and
there is no assurance that they
would see them any better under
the flood lights, though it might
be possible to equip the sphere with
red and green flash lights which
would automatically distinguish be-
tween balls and strikes and safe
plays and outs.
still I doubt that even this would give
complete satisfaction because there are
hail pIavers who never admit they out
or that a strike has been thrown past
them.
In at least one respect, however,
the night game ought to appeal to
the umpires-they would never face
the problem of deciding when
game should be called on account Of
darkness.
OF course. there would always be the
possibility that the umpires would have to
decide when a game should be stopped on
account of dawn. 1t took the Giants and
the Dodgers something like two hours to
play three innings the other day and even
with a night game starting at $3.50 o'clock
there could be no definite guarantee that