Imperial Valley press., 1937-02-14
Bench
WARMING
By BURDETTE KINNE
Post-Press Sports Editor

PrOmOtlOn OF the united states
national sport, baseball, a sport
which should need no promotion
has begun in Imperial Valley.
Work has been started on the
Ell Centre baseball park on south
Fourth street and in a few weeks
this city will boast the finest ball
park in the valley.
Jack Stark, manager of the Coca
Cola baseball team, the strongest
winter ball nine ever groomed in
the valley, has lined up games
with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Los
Angeles Nippons and the San
Diego Padres.
Fans will be treated to the fin
est exhibitions baseball can pro-
duce when the Pittsburgh Pirates
play in Ell Centro on April 3 and
in Brawley April 4.
The Pittsburgh game will Off
cially dedicate the Ell Centre park
and Stark is already making plans
TO handle the largest baseball
crowd in valley history.
But while Stark, George Cut
shaw and others are doing their
utmost to promote baseball in the
valley, high schools are trying to
discourage the sport.
Valley high school coaches and
principals, gathered together at
a meeting early in the year and
voted to play one round of base
ball and one round of indoor this
season instead of two rounds of
baseball as they have in the past.
They say baseball won't draw,
won't pay for itself. And no cf-
fort is made to trace the reason
why high school baseball won't
draw.
The reason Is simple enough,
Poor diamonds and equally poor
teams.
Fans will not trek to high school
games when the diamonds repre-
sent we'll ploughed field and the
teams go through motions which
would have discouraged gram
mar school team few years ago.
1t stands to reason that valley
coaches cannot groom good ball
club if they haven't a good park
on which to play but to date no
effort has been made to secure
first class ball parks in valley
cities.
Calexico is the only school which
has turned out first class base
ball teams in the past few years
and as result the Border City
school is the only organization
which has made go Of the sport
financially.
Their attendance has fallen off
in the past two years because OPP
position was so poor.
Coach Covington, whose teams
have dominated the valley base
ball league since 1882, announced
recently he would not form an In
door team and that he would keep
his baseball team going through
out the season. Clark in Brawley
has also announced his intention
to keep his baseball team going.
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been proposed Holtville ad Callpa-
tria have announced they will not
organize baseball teams at all.
AS result the valley hlgh
schools will have two unsuccess-
full leagues during baseball sea-
son, neither of which will draw APP
preciable crowds.
With good parks in El Centre,
Brawley and CalexicO, baseball
Is bound to click in the vallCg.
Calexico can be counted on TO
put out a good team and Braw-
ley and Ell Centre have the
material. The other valley
schools could make arrange
ments 10 play their games on
one of the three diamonds in
the valley and as a result the
valley would boast a good high
school league and at the same
time aid in the promotion OF
the nations greatest sport.
Probably, however, they will go
through with their mixed up pro-
gram this year, find that it Will
not work and wait until next year
to revert to the old system.
Then with good baseball parks
and stronger high school baseball
teams, fans will again support prep
school baseball teams.
In the meantime Stark and Cut
shaw and company, will have to
carry the burden of the promo
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