Evening star., 1955-07-28
WIN, LOSE OR
DRAW .y FRANCIS s1Ana
As Iona as There's 1900

"A MAGAZINE CALLED Sport seems to be posing lot
of questions and taking number of controversial stands
these days It is familiar practice, aimed at boosting
circulation, and ordinarily would take little notice.
For instance: There is room in this country for a
oycaed sports event that lasts only few hours day
year yet produced As dead in its 46year history
That the Indianapolis which Sport wants abolished
The Chicago Bears will be the Bears OF old and Will
detrone the Detroit Lions in the Western Division of the
it will be the Cleveland Browns again, with or without
peerless Otto Graham That's what Sport and
body is entitled to his opinion.
where line is drawn here is when Sport predicts
that the Washington Senators will become the Dallas Sen
ators or the Houston Senators
SENTIMENT HARDLY ENTERS into this rebuttal. 1t is
true Washington Baseball Club is being by old
standards and practices point in spading up
the nowfamiar complaints in connection with lack OF
farm system scouts etc Nor that Griffith Stadium is
relatively ancient neglected where people must park
their blocks away and pay protection" money
If is to think practically, baseball itself hardly will
divorce Washington. So the attendance small and the
takehome of the visiting clubs is negligible So this
that including the fact that the Senators
likely to finish in the second division for the 18th time in
10 years.
The name of Sports pundit on this matter may be
worthy of attention He Arthur Mann, who perhaps is
best known for previous aflation with Hickey
during the period that the Mahama operated the Brooklyn
Dodgers Before and SINCE Mann has been known to
his feed by writing stories most not so ancfu as his latest
NOT ONLY ARE THE Senators to be moved according
to Sport but sin the very future there will be the
Twin City Dodgers Los Angeles Pirates and San Francisco
White Sox In short Washington Brooklyn and Pittsburgh
will be beret of major league baseball Chicago will be
reduced to team-the Cubs.
In the publicity matter Sport proclams "the oneteam
city New York excepted) is the key to maximum
the of radio rights that this
income has finally grown vital to baseball survival
than paid admissions" Well how does moving the
Senators to Dallas Houston the Pirates to Los Angeles
solve that probem Exactly what does that Mann mean?
Clark Griffith went record just few days ago
when the Senator's were at real low ebbas saying the
club would leave Washington during his lifetime
Calvin Griffith, the heir apparent echoed this But if
Calvin should sell out at future time it is highly unlikely
that baseball itself would condone elsewhere The
roots are too deep in the Nations Capital
AS LONG AS THE Big Guy lives at 1900 Pennsylvania
there's almost got to be big league franchise in
Washington because in baseball has been feeding
off the White House for about As The sport gets
President to throw out the first ball. which in itself may
to be little but which really is Of deep significance
The Senators not be much ball club, true, but the
franchise amounts to lobby. When during World War l.
there sentiment for calling off baseball it Grifh
who persuaded the White House let the game go
curailed basis 1t gagged up pretty good now
that looks back on it, what with ball players supposedly
drilling with bats intsead of rifles, but it worked
This back in 1918, when Secretary of War Newton
Baker issued his order designated
baseball non-essenal industry. In the process of
placang the War Department Grth pledged that base
ball would consign shipments of equipment to troops in
France Unfortunately, the first load q ship that
was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic.
BUT 1T WAS FOOT in the door, a pattern. When
World War II busted out all over baseball called Gr's
signal again and the old gent get the famer "green light
from President Roosevelt The pastme, Grth pleaded
behalf of the sport brought relaxation to the great number
of workers The President, possibly with tongue
cheek, bought the package
Sports prophesy, it says here, is wild True, the
Browns Boston Philadelphia Athletics
elsewhere, but in each 1t an instance Of
weaker club leaving city that fancied another team
Theyu unfrock washington.