Evening star., 1934-01-16
|b|G LEAGUE CAMPS
| IN CALIFORNIA HIT
Pacific Coast Loop Ban on
Training Games Apt to
Turn Away Majors. p
BY FRANCIS J. POWERS.
OS ANGELES, January 16.-
The Pacific Coast League
. has slammed the door on

The Pacific Coast League
IL has slammed the door on
California as training
place for major league teams.
The Coasters accomplished that
action by refusing to book exhi-
bition games with major league
clubs training in this sector and
by scheduling their own season
to start on March 26.
The Chicago Cubs and White Sox and
Pittsburgh Pirates will do their Spring
| chores in California this Spring be-
cause it is too late to make any change
in location, but 1885 will find them
training elsewhere unless the Pacific
| Coast League changes it's attitude.
A few years ago California was a
| lucrative spot in which to train major
league team. Exhibition games drew
| fine crowds, particularly in the San
Francisco region. The Detroit Tigers
drew more people in one Spring stand
| around San Francisco and Oakland
than they did in seasons play in ST.
Louis. However, attendance has fallen
| on so much in the bay sector that the
| big leagues wanted to concentrate their
| Spring games in Los Angeles, which
aroused the Coast League owners ire.
The major league ban on California
| as a training spot likely will include
the Chicago Cubs, who for many years
have worked on the Wrigleys' luxurious
Santa Catalina Islands. Pittsburgh has
drilled at Paso Robles several Springs
but the White Sox only came West in
1888. The New York Giants and De-
trolt Tigers were other Clubs to train
on the coast recently but both Of those
teams have removed to Florida.
Coast League owners believe Spring
exhibition games are detrimental to
their own season. The fans turn out
to see the big leaguers in action and
by the time the coast season opens they
have lost much interest in the game
50 the minor magnates cannot be
blamed too severely
TINE Pacific Coast League is on any,
| thing but solid foundation.
| Considerable trouble has been
had with the Seattle club, which has
been consistent loser. 1t is a tre-
mendously long haul from the northern
to the southern end of the league and
unless the Portland and Seattle teams
draw we'll California clubs are losers
when they visit those cities. It is
hoped new ownership will save Seat
tie, otherwise a reconstruction of the
league will be necessary in the near
future With no other city on the Pa
ciflc Coast having sufficient population
to support class AA ball. the league
would be in serious difficulties should
Seattle be obliged to drop out at any
time.
| California is fine base ball territory,
as is shown by the fact that both Los
Angeles and San Francisco support two
teams and continuous base ball. Oak
| land, across the bay from San Fran
cisco. also is very fine base ball town.
], Portland supports winner rather well,
but Sacramento is too small to turn out
consistently paying crowds. So the
burden is on San Francisco and Los
| Angeles.
| The Pacific Coast League is the first
minor to adopt the standard ball re-
Gently decided upon by the two majors
For several seasons very lively ball has
been used in the Pacific Coast League
| and major scouts have been hesitant to
| purchase players from that circuit be-
cause of the heavy batting averages
made possible by the jack rabbit ball.
| Coast owners are dependent upon the
sale Of young players for much of their
revenue and believe the adoption of the
big leagues standard ball will increase
the desirability of youngsters developed
out here. When all of the minors come
to using the same type ball it will make
scouting much easier and save the
majors from many expensive CANDLES on
young players