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The 1902 Baseball Season At Last!

Another winter —cold, dark, rainy, typically English —is almost behind us, and the first sure sign of spring, the inauguration of the Baseball League season, is upon us once more!

As the game continues to capture the imagination of the British public, the very best players of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland —and one very good player from the Gold Coast of Africa —make their way back to the clubs that have established themselves as the best in all the land, to ply their trade at the highest level possible in this part of the globe. And, with the first club from the capital now playing in the greatest loop in the land, that of the First Division of the League, baseball has truly become the national summer pastime of choice for Britons. One can only conclude that it will not be long before we establish our game as the equal or superior of any other in the baseball world.

We know the stars who will be playing. Hodgson of Burslem Port Vale. Clark of Sunderland. Whittington of Stoke. Morgan of Newcastle United. Fulton of Bolton. And do not forget Bolton of Liverpool in the lower level, he who is the greatest batsman this country has ever produced. Never before has baseball been so replete with the potential for drama and anticipation as it is for this season.

Nineteen hundred and two may come to establish some added stability in the game. No Central League clubs were accepted for admission into the League for this season, maintaining the same thirty six clubs from last year to this, and officials are said to be keen to diminish the perception of chaos attended to League affairs through financial troubles, lawsuits, clubs winding up and the like. The Newton Heath club came close to a terminal fate upon being served a winding up order in January, given their crippling debt of £1,500, but investment in the club by four local businessmen in return for operational control saved the club and maintained their First Division status. Their first order of business was the change the club’s name to Manchester United; whether this augurs well for the club’s future success on the pitch and in the ledgers remains to be seen.

Look for the best team performances in the first level to come out of Newcastle, Stoke, Bolton and Sunderland once again. In the Second Division, the London club Fulham are the odds on favourite among the punters, with Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Liverpool all looking stronger in their bids to return to the top tier. However, unlike football, one can not always foretell the League table before the first pitch ensues. Baseball is a sport in which supposedly mediocre clubs can ride the tide of good fortune and health to go top of the table in any given year. That is the beauty of this summer game. The games must be played

Play ball!