Spalding's Official Baseball Guide - 1913. Various
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a prior organization of ball players was formed.
In the present instance those foremost in perfecting the organization have also been foremost in asserting that the players' organization's principal aim is to co-operate with the club owners.
If this object is followed with fidelity and to its ultimate conclusion there is no necessity to fear any grave disturbances, but there is a dread—that dread which is the fear of the child that has had its hands burned by the flame, that a selfish coterie of players might obtain control of the organization, set up a policy of unscrupulous defiance and destructive opposition and retard for a moment the higher development of the game.
There is no organization, either of unscrupulous Base Ball players or unscrupulous club owners, which will ever find it possible to destroy organized Base Ball. The results that organized Base Ball have brought about will never be annihilated although grave injury could be temporarily wrought by a force defiant to tie unusual demands made by the sport to perpetuate itself successfully.
It is simply out of the question to control Base Ball as one would control the affairs of a department store. Base Ball has its commercial side, but its commercial side cannot maintain it with success. There must be a predominant factor based upon the encouragement that brings forth admiration for a high class sport. This factor can only be fostered by the ability to maintain not one, but a group of high class teams.
Any ball player imbued with the idea that the "stars" should be grouped together in the city best able to pay the highest salaries simply is an enemy to his career and to those of his fellow players.
Without some handicap to assist in the equalizing of the strength of Base Ball nines of the professional leagues there will be no prosperity for the leagues or the clubs individually. No better evidence may be cited to prove this than the fact, repeatedly demonstrated that in the smaller leagues Base Ball enthusiasts in the city best able to pay the largest salaries frequently withdraw their support of the team because "it wins all the time."
To-day Base Ball, in its professional atmosphere, is nearer an ideal sport, a better managed sport, and a more fairly and equitably adjusted sport, than it ever has been, which is manifest proof of its superior evolution. Had results been otherwise it would have retrograded and possibly passed out of existence. Carefully comparing its management with that of all other sports in history the Editor of the GUIDE believes that it is the best managed sport in the world.
It is true that improvements can be made. It is evident that there are still commercialized owners not over capitalized with a spirit of sport. It is undeniable that there are ball players not imbued with a high tone of the obligations, which they owe to their employers and to the public, but it is as certain as the existence of the game that progress has been made, and that it has not ceased to move forward.
For that reason players and owners must be guided by a sense of lofty ideals and not be led astray by foolish outbursts over trivial differences of opinion, easily to be adjusted by the exercise of a little common sense.
BASE BALL PLAYED IN SWEDEN
In connection with the subject of "Base Ball For All the World," for which the GUIDE expounds and spreads the gospel, the Editor would submit a very interesting letter received by him from Sweden. it reads as follows:
Westeras, Sweden, Sept. 14, 1912.
To the Editor of the GUIDE:
We hereby have the pleasure of sending you two copies of the rules, translated and issued by the Westeras Base Ball Club, into Swedish from the Spalding Base Ball Guide.
The work of getting the book out has been somewhat slow on account of that the work of translating, proofreading, etc., all had to be done on our spare time, but it is done now, and I think we have succeeded pretty well, everything considered. The books will be distributed by a well-known book firm, Bjork & Boyeson, Stockholm, and will soon be available in all the bookstores in Sweden.
We got some advance copies out just in time for the Olympic Games, and I had the pleasure of presenting some copies to Commissioner Col. Thompson, Manager Halpin and others of the American Olympic Committee.
As you know, so did we have a game of Base Ball at Stockholm with one of the Finland teams, and as it may be of some interest to you to know the preliminaries to the game, I am writing to relate how it happened.
In trying to arrange for some amusements in the evenings at the Stadium, the Olympic Committee wrote us if we would be willing to take part in a game of Base Ball at Stadium some evening during the Stadium week. As our club this year was in poor condition, on account of some of our best players being out on military duties, we hesitated at first, but then decided to risk it, knowing very well that whoever we would play against, they would not rub in to us too hard. We pointed out to the Olympic Committee that it would not be very hard to get a team of Base Ball players picked out from the American athletes taking part in the contests, but as they would not be prepared for Base Ball, suits and other needed articles had to be provided for. We were then told to get necessary things ordered, and so we did. We ordered suits from a tailor in this town, after a pattern that I got from Spalding's this spring. The suits were of gray flannel, with blue trimmings for our team and red trimmings for the American. I also ordered bats and gloves, and with the things our club already had, we were very well equipped.
The Olympic Committee, Stockholm, then received a letter from the Olympic Committee, New York, saying that if a game of Base Ball could be arranged for during the Olympian Games, they would bring two teams along on the Finland. The Olympic Committee cabled to come along, and sent us a copy of Mr. Sullivan's letter. I knew, of course, that if the game could be played by two American teams, it would be a much better game than if our team took part, and told the Olympic Committee, and wanted to withdraw, but as they did not know for sure how it would be, told us to go ahead with the arrangements just the same, and so we did, and by the time the Finland arrived, everything had been arranged for.
The Olympic Committee has selected the evening, 7 P.m., of the 10th of July, for the game, and thought that this would be suitable to the Americans, but as some of the players had to take part in the contests, Mr. Halpin would not risk them then, so it was finally decided that a game should be played the 15th, the Americans to play six innings between themselves and then six innings against us.
Well, we had a game at the training grounds. We played six innings, and Mr. Halpin was kind enough to let us have a pitcher and catcher from his men. The score was 9 to 3, and it could just as well been 9 to 0, perhaps. Well, at any rate, it was the first Base Ball game, as far as I know, that ever took place in Europe between an American team and a European team, with England possibly excepted.
Mr. Halpin said that the Americans were going to play a game the next morning between themselves, but that game did not come off. There was probably no time for it, as the Finland left Stockholm the same day. Very likely the American boys were somewhat disappointed in not being able to play between themselves, as anticipated, and perhaps I should not have pushed our game ahead, but as long as there was a Base Ball team in Sweden, it would have been strange if it had not played, and it gave our boys a chance to see how the game should be played, and they certainly did take it in. Had the game been played as it was intended and advertised, on the 10th in the Stadium, there would very likely have been a bigger crowd present, and the game would also have been more talked about in the papers, but then we will have to be satisfied as it is.
Our club has been practicing all summer, twice a week, and on the 24th of August we gave an exhibition game here at Westeras, between two teams from our club, the suits made for the Olympic Games coming in very handy. I send you herewith a clipping from a local paper describing the game, and also a picture of the two teams with myself and the umpire included.
At our game here we distributed the "Description of Base Ball," written by you and translated into Swedish, and it came of good use. Next year we intend to have our teams appear in the nearby cities around here, so as to give people a chance to see the game, and it will not be long before they will start it in Stockholm, so I think the game is bound to be popular here also,
Mr. George Wright, of Boston, was the