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Show GLIMPSE OF BASEBALL AS PLAYED li 1875 NEW YORK, Jan. 19. A glimpse of the baseball of the early seventies is given In a pamphlet on the game published pub-lished 'in 1875 which was recently unearthed by a modern devotee of the sport. The booklet, which is equivalent equiva-lent to the present day baseball guide, consists of about thirty pages instead of the several hundred now necessary to chronicle the records of the many major and minor league teams. Much of the space is devoted to the doings of the Boston National Association Asso-ciation club, winner of tho championship champion-ship of the previous year. The combination combi-nation included several players the names of whom are still familiar to the fans of this day. That they were high class players, according 4to the standards stan-dards of those times, goes' without saying say-ing yet there is nothing to indicate that they were supermen either on the diamond or off the field of play. The personnel of the Boston club of that year shows that of the twelve players whose physical (dimensions are givon, A. G-. Spalding, pitcher and cen-terfielder, cen-terfielder, was tho only one who exceeded ex-ceeded the 6-foot mark. The majority of the players ranged from 5 foot 6 inches, to 5 foot, 9 inches and the average weight was not more than 160 pounds. The heaviest man on the tenm was McVey, who tipped thej scales at 190 pounds. Batting Averages. The batting averages of those days were computed to show the number of base hits per game and McMullen, of the Athletics, led the league with 1.90. "Pop"' Anson, was eighth with 1.78 and Spalding eleventh with 1.70-In 1.70-In club batting the Boston team led with an average of 17.11 hits per game and the Athletics were second with 15.06. The total receipts of the Boston club for the season of 1874 amounted to $30,931.17 and the expenses 330,865,97. A portion of these expenses, which were exceptionally largo for that period per-iod of baseball development, included the trip to Europe, the first of the several sev-eral invasions of England and the continent con-tinent by American baseball combina-' tions. The salary roll for the entire year then would now barely pay for one star player, as the accounts show that $17,900 covered the entire cost for the season in this direction. Ground rent amounted to ?517.50 and uniforms, bats, balls, etc., cost $387.89. Even in the early days of the game, advertising was not overlooked as the accounts show that S1619.70 was spent for advertising and printing, which, was more than the combined rental of the grounds and the team equipment expenses. |