The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-04-13
To-day's Sport
 Parade
By HENRY McLEMORE United Press Stan Correspondent

United Press Stan Correspondent)
 New York, April IS. (UP)-| What this country needs in addi- ton to 8 stiff jail sentence for the persons, or persons, starting a paragraph with the first four words used at the beginning of this one, Is a baseball manager or own CT with little showmanship.
 The men who operate the New York Giants proved yesterday that they wouldn't get to first base in a contest for showmanship and salesmanship when they allowed the opening game of the season to be played before 17,000 fans and approximately 33,000 nice, freshly painted green seats.
 Up until this year the Giants had made it a rule to give off thousands of passes to the first game of the season. The result of this gen. erosity was a jammed stadium, bowling, stamping, whistling pack of fans, and a send-off that put enough baseball thrill in thousands oL guys to HlahC tHClh Pay tACAA way in for the rest of the season. This year the passes were pass ed up, so to speak, in honor of the depression. And you should have | been there to get 8 load of that opening day game between the Giants and the Phillies. Surround ed on all sides by large empty spaces the 17,000 of the faithful who had gathered sat there like so many over-coated totem poles with hats on. The whole thing was about as festive as funeral chapel on a Monday morning.
 And baseball, given such @ dreary setting, isn't worth a dol lar of any mans money. Baseball, like fighting and any other sport you can name, depends, to a large extent, anyway, on the roar of the crowd for it's appeal. Any organ ization with a grain of snowman ship would have covered the stadi- um with paper and given the first game fitting send-off.--a send-off calculated to make man want to come back for moreover If he had to pay the freight.
 Another thing-Why in the name of all that's sweet and lovely do the major leagues open their sea- sons as early asN April IF when football weather prevails? It wasn't chilly at the Polo Grounds what with not enough sun to freckle an albino and cold winds whipping off the placid Harlem. If the owners insist on starting so early 1t is only proper that they do away with the rain check and substitute hot water bottles, cleo trio pads, fur coats, ear muffs, cold remedies and the name of a re- liable ear, nose and throat phy- sician.
 It's awfully difficult to fully ap- preciate a triple, a nice running catch or a seventh inning rally when you feel pneumonia or death by freezing slipping down your coat collar.
 Clinical notes on the game: Chuck Klein was on base so much 1t was difficult at times to tell who was playing third base for the Giants, Klein or Vergez. The Giants played as though they had been reading the papers too much and believed all they had to do to whip the Phillies was to wave few clippings in their face. Clip pings telling of what a mighty machine McGraw had assembled and how it was lead pipe cinch to kick the Cardinals. Fidgety Phil Collins surprised everybody includ- ing. himself by getting four hits, exactly one-fourth the number he got all last year.
 The football weather must have confused the Giants. They spent all afternoon kicking the ball around.