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As 1893 Season Is In The Offing, Changes Are Afoot

Pitching Mound Moved, Longer Second Division Season,
Foreign Players, London Team All New This Year

With a successful two-division campaign behind the League and a bright future ahead of it, the Kingdom’s base ball fans will continue to see big changes to the game they have come to know and love, the biggest of which is the move of the pitching mound from 50 feet away from the plate back to 60 feet 6 inches, in line with the change also being made in America in order to provide batsmen a better chance against pitchers, and increase the scoring of runs.

Whereas last year’s efforts by second level clubs were witnessed only at the weekends, as players had other jobs to attend to during the week, now only the players who consider themselves fully professional will be taking to the pitch for their respective clubs. Offhand, that appears to be nearly all of them, as the status of having a professional base ball player in their midst is enough for their regular employers to allow them to exercise a fifteen-week furlough from gainful employment to pursue their other, sun-drenched, avocation.

As the Second Division matures, what the astute fan will see is play that, in the opinion of this writer, is very much equal to that of the first level. Or, to be more precise, since in retrospect that reads as a rather absurd statement, the best players at the second level could be considered among the equals of the better players at the top level. The difference between the First and the Second lies mainly in the middle and bottom of club squads.

For example, consider Alfred Shaw, the 20-year old local boy on the receiving end of the battery for Burslem Port Vale. He is as solid a batsman as any backstop in either division, with a powerful batting stroke rarely seen in any league on any level thus far. His future is very bright indeed. He is one to watch. Observers are also keen on the skills of Ernest Sheehan, the speed merchant from Newcastle aged 19, as well as pitchers Matthew Magill, Sheehan’s 18-year old mate in for the Magpies, and Frederick Lord, a Walsall Town starter at the rather advanced beginner's age of 24. These are the players who should be plying their trade in the top flight, and with any luck, their clubs will perform such that this vision will come to pass.

In the First Division, the usual crew of clubs find themselves in the position of being classed as favourites for the title. The Villans of Aston Villa and Clarets of Burnley, winner of all five titles of the League so far, will be fighting for primacy, whilst the upstarts of Black Cats of Sunderland, Owls of The Wednesday from Sheffield, and Red Devils of Newton Heath will all have had their say by the time the proceedings have wrapped up.

Two interesting side notes should be mentioned here, both with strong implications for the future. The first is the presence of the first London team, the Gunners of Woolwich Arsenal. Despite that they will be travelling hither and yon all summer for the pleasure of engaging in top flight competition, that will be its own reward at least for a year, at the end of which time their supporters will be demanding high level performance with eventual advancement to the top of the table in the First Division. The aversion to professional base ball may be waning in the south of our land, which should augur well for the advancement of play of the game to an ever higher level, which will certainly accrue to the delight of fans throughout the Kingdom.

The other notable note is that 1893 will see the first foreign players to play on the base ball pitches of England. Edward Gates is a 28-year old short stop from Dublin, currently on the reserve squad of the Everton Blues, so he may see some action for the glory of Erin sometime this year. Across the way in Wolverhampton, 21-year old Welshman Jim Seares of Cardiff will pitch in relief of spent starters on the active squad of the Wolves. With base ball growing in these countries, and indeed especially in Scotland, this writer believes it won’t be long before we see several more foreign batsmen and pitchers playing, and starring, for the best clubs of England.