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Show TOMMY ATKISSS TAKES yp ieii m Baseball !s Proving Extremely Ex-tremely Popular in English Eng-lish Army Camps. They are playing" base ha 11 in Enla n-'l. "What is more, they are phiying it with a zest and enthusiasm suii as the pame lias never known ln:i"nie. W'liat the peo-1 peo-1 pie of A merlca onz I hout; lit ' impose si hie i now an a'N'omplishe-l fa '-t . The Krea t A n t erica n qa-tirt lias spa line "I I ho Ai lun-t lun-t i- and taken firm root in Rritish soil. TLie war imp taught Kii'-'himi. among other tiiinK.-. p. wholesome respect and a prowintf loudness for the sports of other nations. Baseball is a great' game. In The opinion of those who know it, no or her sport on n rival it. But a sport lias lo he understood before it can be a ppre"in t No matter how i;reat it may he people- must know it, have seen it, played it and understood something of its rules, or-fore they can appieriate it. Tbat ! lias heen the great trouble in Kngland. The people did not understand baseball. , They had no opportunii y to u nd erst and 1 it. Spectacular tours like tbat of tne j 'Jianis-White ox a re all very well as hippodrome features, but they are not li -ing more. A lare. good-natured crowd lurm-d out to see the well-advertised event. Most of the crowd didn't know a t wo -bagger from a base on balls. A nd naturally they didn't appreciate the .same. Tbev wanted to see what sort of sports appealed to Americans, just as Americans would turn out to see a Spanish Span-ish bull flight from cuiiosity and little else. Stimulates Interest. The coming: of the war completely upset up-set athletic sports, but the general effect ha s been to stimulate interest in baseball. base-ball. This has been due primarily to the presence of a great number of Canadian p nd American soldiers who were either convalescing from wounds received at the front or were being whipped Into shape at the enormous camps established for that purpose. The leading people In England have been quick to appreciate . ' the need of wholesome entertainment for! t hese men. And as baseball seemed to I be the thing they most craved, why base- ! ball became the order of the day. I It must be understood that SO.nnQ i Americans and several hundred thousand i Canadians have enrolled in English : armies since the beginning- of the war. Practically all these men have been devoted de-voted followers of baseball and many of them amateur players of no small ability. Baseball in America is a growth, people peo-ple have played the game when they were young. They have read about the game i for many years. Thev have absorbed the i game. They feel it, live it. But with- i out that fifty years of preparation base ball even in America would not be J.he game it is. Efforts have been made by the military authorities to Increase the general scope of baseball this summer, and I look for a bigger season than ever before. Baseball Needed. Most people, who are unfamiliar with the situation in England, look upon cricket as the great Knglish sport. But cricket is a game for the lesiure classes. It requires several days to play a cricket match, and while the game is a good one for the participants it is rather tedious from the spectators' standpoint. The great mass of the English people have not the time, even If thev had the inclination, in-clination, to attend a cricket match. Football, which is the popular sport, and which attracts crowds of 150.000'peo-ple 150.000'peo-ple or more, is immenselv popular, but it is played from September to April, during the winter months. The summer, the ideal time, has no really popular snort to occupy the attention of the people. peo-ple. Baseball would till this gap and. in combination with football, would give England a continuous exhibition of pro-lessional pro-lessional sport all the year round. 1 There are now twenty baseball clubs playing around London. There are six at Liverpool. Baseball has caught-on in , other cities. The time is ripe for a grei-it ; ; ! expansion of baseball interest. A cam- i paign is being conducted to provide suit able trophies for a laree number of ' schools, so- as to get the younger gener ation instilled with a knowledge of baseball, base-ball, m this way the game can secure that foundation in the love of the people without which it can never flourish. The future of baseball in England is, of course, problematical. But the game has made a good start. And a good start is half the battle. Baseball Magazine |