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Show CARDS SUFFER 1ST FROM FEDERAL RAIDS Fact That Owner Is Woman Does Not Temper Their Attacks. ; ST. LOUJS. Dee. 12. Tbc Sporting Kewa, the organ of organized baseball, ears that there is a decided disposition on the part of the federals to make Jiobiiihon field the Yprea of its attack on the organization, and that it is a good deal of a ehanie that "war should be waged upon a woman Mrs. Schuy- ler Brit ton who owns the Cardinal club. Xt is rather a. aha .me that Trar should be waged ou women, but, in the end, ail war is waged on women and children. ' Warriors win or lose, die or survive, but 1 women acid children all live to Buffi.r. There can bo "o doubt that the Federal? Fed-eral? arc attacking the Cardinals in force. The tact that three of the best 1 men on the team -Wingo, Magee and Perritt have openly deserted to the 1 ?reiny is proof of that. There can also be no doubt that it lias been the ; 'play,' ' strategy. of the Federal eague to weaken the Cardinals. The ' bitterest battle was from the first to be j n St. Louis. Three teams may live in I Nrew York and Chicago. Three teams :an not live in St. Louis. One must go. That is what makes the battle so bitter lere. I , Clearly, in the end. the I'ederal league -earn must disappear in St. Louis. The i National or American leagues can not ibandon the fourth city and live. France might as well abandon Paris ind claim existence as a nation. To ! jive way to the Federals in St. Louie pould mean minor league for the league hat retired. i Fed Attack Dangerous. i The Federal league team will make a titter tight, and while it is making it he other local teams must suffer. i Helder Jones is entirelv another person rom the simple miner, Vordecai Brown, ones is .a man of brains, tenacity, trategy and knows baseball. Brown ' ras just a decent fellow. i Thft cardinal mistnkn ihe TW?pruT: lade was in not wrecking the Cardinals arly in last year. Of course, Sirs. Brit- Dn a team (lid not seem dangerous ; aen. It was a wonderful stroke of ; srtune, assisted by bad management : y Minor Brown, that taved the Cardi- als last season. Had the Cardinals layed poor basebai, as everyone ex-! ex-! ected they would, and had the Fcd- -als played good baseball Paris would j ave been in the hands of the enemy. It is quite idle to say that the f'ed- al league is unpopular.- It was much 1 ia more popular of the leagues when I ie season opened in St. Louis and for ! iree weeks thereafter. It got the j "eatest crowds in direct opposition to te Browns and Cardinals. The eenti-i eenti-i ent of the city was with it. j Then came the collapse. The crowds : .shed to where the good ball was being ayed. It may be remarked that the rowns played "out of their heads" in i e crucial days of Mav and .Tune and i ;ter July collapsed. Then the Oardi-I Oardi-I lis took up the running and played , Lonomeual baseball until the season 3.s practically over. Meanwhile the iderals were hopeless. j freaks of Luck. ' It must bo remembered that though ' ganized baeeball in St. Louis was as- . 1 3ted by all possible chance in 1914 : I e luck could not have "broken'' j tter for it had it been "framed up.'' 1 deed, you could not "frame" such' rtune as befell the Browns and Cardi-ls Cardi-ls hibt season, and that while all the , Iui-.k fell to the- Federals, these Fed-ils Fed-ils are still very much alive. Tliey q start on a shoestring next season d make a lot of trouble. Will next i ar be worse for the Federal league 1 ib of St. Louis than 1914? Hardly. I As far as making war upon Mrs. Brit-i, Brit-i, no doubt the Federal leaguers, who 3 probably jnst as good men as any ler leaguers, regret that a woman ns the Cardinals. It would scarce bo j, however, for organized baseball to janize its defense behind the skirts a woman. i Tithin tho past month Mrs. Britton's ots have been depreciated bv the i 3 of three players, worth, probably 5.000. No woman can afford to own prop-! prop-! y which fluctuates in value that y. Any good counselor at law, bank-1 bank-1 "or busiuess man will substantiate 3. United States bonds or guaran- d first mortgages on real estate are 1 : standard investments for womon. L lady is indeed ill-advised when she ' ;s a baseball club. Ask any man of nvlcdge, probate judge, counselor at , banker, trust officer, if he would est 'ho fuads of his women in a cball club. t would be a rather poor thing for anized baseball to cry out that in at-siDg at-siDg it the Federals are making war 1 upon women. The Federals can't help tuat. Then, it must be remembered that Mr. Britton is head of tho Cardinal club, and that he has such strong men as Messrs. Huggins, Herr and Counery to assist him in .this battle. Just now it is pertinent to ask how comes it that Mr. Hugijins has let three of his best players get away from him. It may be remarked that Mr. Kiekey has not lost one player to the Federals, though Austin and Baumgarduer are not content. Baumgardner, . a natural Federal leaguer, will probably wind up in the new organization. Switched to Huggins. Two years ago Mrs. Britton remdred, at very great loss to herself, Mr. Bres-nahan Bres-nahan from the leadership of the 1st. Louis Cardinals to make room for Mr. Huggins. It was understood that the players liied Mr. Iluggins much better than they liked Mr. Oresnahau; that many of thera who could not plav ball under Bresnahau's enactions could and would play ball with kinder, creutler Mr. Huggins. Yet, alter being courteously and liberally lib-erally treated by Mr. Britton, Wingo, Perritt and Magee desert Mr. Huggins, and other members of the team are openly soliciting offers from the Federals. Fed-erals. So much for tho loyalty, gratitude, love and affection of baseball' players. Tet wo rather fancy that if "Eough-rider" "Eough-rider" Bresnahan were in command now Wingo, Mageo and Perritt would bo with the Cardinals. Not that they liked Bresnahan any bettor than thev liked Huggins, or that Bresnahau liked them, but it would bo good policy to keep them at any price, and wo think that Koger would have paid the price It was good policy for Mr. Hedges l.o get Hamilton back at anv price from Stovail and Kansas City, though Hamilton Ham-ilton did not do so much good last vcar and may never pitch again. And it"was good, sound policy for Mr. Britton to have held Wingo, Magee and Perritt at any price. Jm; rates" they may have been, foolishj all that, but they are good ball players, and for that reason alone they should have been retained. Browns Hold Men. Every desirable player on the Browns has bean signed for 1015. Why not every desirable player on tho Cardinals Cardi-nals ) The gist of it all is that, it being, apparently, rather risky for a woman to own a baseball club, one of the three clubs must go in St. Louis; that t bo National and American league clubs can not go, (he estston way nut would be for the Federals to buy the Cardinals, Cardi-nals, remove them from the valuable residence property of Kobison Field and let Mrs. Britton retire with her fortune intact. This would bo tiie ideal consummation. con-summation. Io owe warns to see Mrs. Britton hurt, but it she will got in tiie line or" lire, what can bo done If Mrs. Britton Brit-ton decides to fitfht, abo will receive every courtesy duo a lady. But it will probably be admitted that ladies should Lot be interested in properties whinh may puffer uninsurable losses of $30,000 ovor night. Wo hope that Mr. Brit.tou, Mr. Hu2-giuH. Hu2-giuH. Mr. Connery and Mr. Herr will eon duct Mrs. Britton's brittle valiantly and well. Let them go out an Mr. Hedges did and briuff tho lost sheep back into the fold. No one gives a hang about Wingo, Mageo and Perritt, outside ut their ydayiug ability. Gratitude, Grati-tude, good aense, honor everything else must be put aside in a tight like this. Get and keep the bail plaveia, is tho only ihiw; that can be done. |