The Washington times., 1934-12-13

the Brooklyn ~
Dodgers and s "
the Pittsburgh
Pirates alon e Frank Buck" O'Neil
preserved their standing as major
league ball clubs by declining to
accept the option and opportunity
of playing calcium light baseball.
The Cincinnati Reds whose
greatest achievement since the
World War was winning" a sell
out world series; the st. Louis
Cardinals creators of the syn
thetic doubleheader and the BoS'
ton Braves who sought to mix dog
racing with baseball, led the move
ment that placed the parent
major league body on a plane
with the Three Eye League, and
other bush outfits which have
sacrificed baseball at the door
step of the mint.
Gas a member of the old
guard of baseball, and 1 think
can term myself a Staunch
defender of the game, I de-
nOunce the stand of the Ma
tiOnal League in adopting night
baseball" said Griffith.
CONFESSION OF WEAKNESS
"ThiS is an out and out ad-
mission of weakness; a cOnfcS-
sion that the National League
cannot retain the confidence
and patronage of the American
public. Under strong leader
ship this sacrifice of baseball
never could have been made.
"Can you imagine Ban John
son or any other major league
president in whom true author
ity was vested permitting base.
ball to be deSecrated in this
ruthless fashion. The game
that the old guard developed
with such jealous care has been
handed over to shOpkeepers,
and yes men in executive posi-
ton have played the parts of
autOmatOnS, and nodded a
Supine affirmative.
"It may be that the leaders
of this movement will profit to
a degree where they can write
out an attractive financial re-
port and retire from baseball.
And 1 hope that they do, for
the baseball / knew as a young
player and a manager has no
place for them.
National League baseball evi-
IDENTIFY is in sorry condition
when club that won the cham
pi0nship of the world has to
publicly confess its inability to
compete with rival OrganiZa-
tiOnS for public patronage and
to transplant a game from the
environment it has known since
1889 into the synthetic glare Of
calcium lights.
A SUNLIGHT GAME
81 feel certain that the Ameri.
can League, which has been
the major league since its in
ceptiOn, never would permit it.
self to adopt any such policy
so detrimental to the funda.
mental principles of the game.
General Abner Doubleday,
who invented baseball, intended
it to be played in the sunlight.
The American League, certainly
the Washington club of the cir
cult, will keep it in the sun
light"
The pending deal between the
st. Louis Browns and the Wash
ington club by which washington
would have acquired Irving Had
ley, right-handed pitcher of the
st. Louis Browns who put in five
years as a regular in Washington,
in exchange for Luke Sewell, a
player whom Griffith refused to
identify, and cash, did not de-
velop.
Hornsby was ready to make
the trade and would have passed
Sewell on to the Chicago White
Sox but President Won Weise, of
the Browns, refused to sanction
the trade. Griffith late last night
was in a huddle with Walter
Johnson and is making every
effort to buy Oral Hildebrandt,
of the Indians.
Whether this trade can be
made or not is extremely doubt
full, as every effort made by the
leader of the washington club
has failed to bear fruit. Two or
three deals that we're in the
making yesterday were all contin-
gent upon other deals being made
and with the boys all fighting
shy of each other nobody was
able to make headWay.