The Washington times., 1935-05-08

OF the baseball tootllghtS Wnen
Babe Ruth Sky-rocketed from
the Yankees to the Boston
Braves.
It was Frick who spread so
much good will through baseball
when he sent season passes to
every retired National Lacquer
who had played 10 years in that
loop.
A Worker for Boys
It was F'rick who promised to
work hand in hand with PreSi-
dent Clark Griffith to get the
two major leagues to adopt a
25-cent admission to the parks
for boys of II and under. This
effort is not yet over, and you
will hear more of it later this
summer.
It was Frick who muScled in
On the annual presentation OF
season passes to President and
Mrs. Roosevelt a month ago,
when for the first time in the
history of baseball the National
League joined with the Amer
can League in leaving gold an
nual passes for the Chief Execu-
tive and First Lady of the land.
Ford Christopher Frick left a
good impression at the Execu-
tive Mansion by that gesture,
50 much so that Mr.. Roosevelt
has promised to lend his official
office to the Inauguration Of
night baseball in the majors,
which will occur in Cincinnati
on the twenty-third of this
month, with the Phillies oppos-
ing the Reds.
Will Turn on Lights
Sitting at his desk at the
White House that evening, Mr..
Roosevelt will press the button
which will set the floodliglts
aglow at Redland Field, Gin
cinnati, turning that park into
q sea of daylight TO- the first
big league game played at
night.
Not that there S anything
particularly miraculous about
this piece of remote control in
which a President of the United
States takes part. It has been
done often to open world fairs,
conventions. rallies, ETC., but
it has never been applied to
baseball before and / think it
is a splendid piece of enter
prise, particularly N a sport
wherein there is all too little
shoWmanship at best.
Indeed the entire innovation
of night baseball for the ma
jors can be credited to the
younger heads which are con.
stantly creeping into executive
posts within the game-the
Fricks and the Powell CroSleyS,
etc, whose vision in business
affairs tells them anything is
worth trying in order to keep
people coming to the parks.
Crosley, you know. is the Gin
cinnati radio manufacturer and
broadcasting station owner who
is the angel who came to the
rescue of the financially har-
assed Reds a couple of years
ago, and who is the owner of
record thereof.
Lights Cost $4,000
Understanding the magic Of
radio, Crosley. first major league
preSent to install floodlights.
believes the marvel of electricity
may be the answer to the poor
attendances at Redland Field.
He has expended upward Of
$4,000 to convert the Cincin-
natl park into a night baseball
setting, wherein you could find
q pin in the grass or a needle
in the haystack.
Eight towers have been
erected which will carry a total
of 362 powerful arclights. In
the outfield the lowest tier of
lights are 100 feet above the
ground, while in the infield
they rise lis feet.
Playing under arclights may
be new to most major league
fans, but not to major league
players. Practically all the
Reds and some of the Phillies
have had experience under
arcs in the minor leagues.
OF the Reds, Goodman, Myers,
Riggs. HollingSworth, Kan
pouriS and Campbell all played
under candlepower in either
the Coast League or American
Association last year.
Some other young Phillies.
Bivin and Jorgens, for example,
twirled under the arcs at Gal
weston last year and Dolph
Camilli had night baseball ex.
perience on the Coast.