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Baseball: The 1908 Season’s Prospects

Active preparations are being made for the coming baseball season—preparations which lend us the promise of extending days and the sure passing of winter, with its football and ice-skating and hurling, and the approach of the season which is enlivened in the world of sport by the vigorous summer game of baseball.

The class of the League look to be the Liverpool club. After years of struggle in the Second Division they finally broke free after the 1901 programme to place themselves among the clubs of the Football Championship ever since, and now have risen to challenge the firm hold on the top of the table held variously by the Newcastle and Sunderland clubs of late. Although the passing of Alistair Bolton into retirement may serve as a slight impediment, Reds are squad rich with short stop Beveridge and left fielder Smith leading the attack, and pitchers Reid, Connolly and Finn captaining the defence from the mound. Sunderland and Blackburn, as well as “dark horse” clubs Manchester United and Walsall, look to sneak into the Cup tie in September with the Championship winner.

In the lower tier, Might this be the year Chelsea finally make their move towards the top? That would greatly delight League officials in their quest to extend the league throughout the Kingdom and break the dominance of clubs and supporters from Lancashire and the Midlands in general. Birmingham and Notts County will try to have their say about that, and do not count out Chesterfield Town, Manchester City, Bolton or West Brom, either.

The balance shift wrought by the change in baseball construction expects to be in constant discussion throughout the year as spring practice matches displayed a distinct advantage tilted towards the pitchers. We should expect run scoring to decrease and probably by a lot, and although by how much is not quite clear it is doubtful any teams will bat a collective .300 throughout the season, as has been common in the past. How the gate will be affected by this circumstance is of some concern to the clubs—it is thought that supporters enjoy sustained energetic attack, and lack of such might serve to keep supporters at home and satisfied to read the results in the evening papers instead, rather than suffer through a steady and boring parade of out after out being made.