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Show THE VARIOUS CONTESTS. 1 Baseball Talk, is Becoming-Exciting. Becoming-Exciting. THE BATTLE FOR THE PENNANT. The Beautiful Contest iu the National League. The la e ball sea-iuu fjoe.s ra 'i'1'ilyon. . The eoul,;-lants lor tirit plaee in t he, various h.-aue are becoming more ! ti.-hlisli. The iuterent LiOeeoiuing in- teufiilied espeeially in the -Na- j tional League. A week's reverses ', could almost redu'.-o Hie po-itiou ! ot the leaders and titilers. ieer ; before has there I ecu more uu- t certainty as to the tinal out- ( eouie, 1 Utnburjf hit btteU shaken up with fpleiidid results. Cleveland Cleve-land has eu ught her gait atfuin. . 'I he magnitieeut work of virtue on I i tir.-t base is a feature of the. club'a I work. 1 have watched thia younjr j i player's work for several seasons now, He is, in my opinion, the king of tirst baseiueu and a wonderful all around player. '1 he Cincinnati are getting a move . on and the present beries in the West I will see miiuy changes in the btanding ! of the club.. '1 he Ghicagos are. aa usual, putting I up a beautiful ame. If they can keep I it up tiie pennant will ily in the erst i while W indy rity world s fair year. ' New Y rk and liostou ate m it to a alight decree though. Though hundi-eaipeil hundi-eaipeil some for weeks b.ick the positions posi-tions ha e been strengthened and closer work is looked for. All in all its a beautiful aHair, this contest for the League championship. Have you notieed tho fact of how many of the clubs are depending on a single battery this year? Look atNew York, with Husie and Hu'kley; t'hica-; t'hica-; go, with H ute li in son and Kittridye; Boston, with Clarkson and lieunett; Hrooklvn, with Lovelt and Tom 1'aly. j What trouble these clubs would be in i if these reliables should fall. Kroolc- i lyn and Xew Vo lt have aheady suffered. suf-fered. It's Chieufro and Boston's turn next. I'hiladelphia. too. What would llan v do if Clements was to be injured.' in-jured.' I It is quite probable that the ItuiTalo j club will play with the Association I next season. Where could you get a I finer lot of players than Field, llorn- ing, Knowlcs, Lyons, tichefUer, Smith, BN vv j , ii ; Mack, Herman and Weckberger? As for Manager Towers there are none better bet-ter in the country. The Boston Association clobhasseen tit to reduce the price of admission to its - limes. Theoretically, it was the most foolish move that Hart and his j associates could have made. Of course, I it is well understood what motives actuate Hart, and the gratification of : j his petty spite will yet pull down about ! his cars the entire structure that he I has erected. 1 It is conceded that no outdoor sport ; otters the attraction to the general 1 masses that a game of base ball does, ! and at an admission fee of fifty cents i it was the cheapest of all outdoor amusements. The entertainment derived de-rived from a good game of ball, or a game in which the spectator, from motives of local pride, is interested, fully equals the entertainment at a first-class theater, where the general admission is just double that charged for a ball game. The moment that baseball is reduced it is ehcitpened in the minds of the better bet-ter class of patrons in a city. When you play games ut -" ceuts you invite nu element that will soon drive nil your fifty-cent patrons away. This was well demonstrated in Cleveland, Cleve-land, and will be equally well demonstrated iu Boston before the management Hears the last of its reduction p dicy. It has been demonstrated demon-strated in other cities than Cleveland. A marked difference was noted in the chai actcristi of the crowds at Cincin- nati when fifty-cent league ball was substituted for the twenty-five-cent association article. The only city in whieh this theory appears not to hold prood is Philadelphia, and it is perhaps due to the fact that Philadelphia is essentially what is known as a "cheap city." clothing and food being much I lower in proportion than in other large cities. I Not onlv will the Roston Association I manatrement soon come to recogni.e that a difference will ensue in the V A) quality of their patrons, but they will tind that ai ertaiu class will refuse ' pat rmtize them altogether, from t h1 mere fact that the reduction of adi!n fiion is an implied confession tlml "'it they lrii' to offer N cheap -r. Of course It i a well-known fact that it is cheaper, cheap-er, but it galls tne ordinary crank u I'onli'.is that he utlcuds the inferior J grille. j I I' i'iii a business standpoint, tho icduo- ! thm was the height of asiuiuily. Once 1 down to a quarter, the price can never . i he re-tred. and as so m as the novelty J of the thing wears oh the gate receipts will 1 cgin to dwindle. It was a grab ! scheme, in ime sense, for Boston e.T j j to cliauye fifty cents for twenty-five I cent hall. Now that it iB down to the lev.-l of other association cities, i I the Host. in management will ! ha e plenty nf time to I have their enthnsia in and ardor I thoroughly chilled The reduction of ; ' the uriee of admission is the advance I ifmird of a tumble in player's salaries, j if the Hoston Association club should le in existence next year with an unsuccessful un-successful team at twenty -live cents admission. the Itoston us oeiation m.inayers would tind that their toy was a very eoatly one. J. 11. 0. |