between the public and its relentless demands for impossibilities. He must provide grounds easily accessible, and fit them up with elaborate grandstand, bleachers, club house and toilets, that shall meet all requirements of comfort, cleanliness and convenience. His grounds must be located as close by many avenues of rapid transit as possible. He must make sacrifice of much money to save time for patrons who want to come late to games in great throngs and depart early in a solid body. If the trolley lines provide inadequate facilities for handling the crowds, the magnate is to blame!
He must stand between the press and the interests of his club in many ways. At least twice a day must he receive representatives of evening and morning papers, and by "soft words" turn away the "wrath" of adverse criticism that is always seeking to discover something with which to find fault. He must be ready to answer diplomatically, satisfactorily and promptly any impudent question that may come from the lips of an irresponsible reporter. "Why don't you release Murphy?" "What do you play O'Brien on second for?" "Why don't you strengthen your pitching staff?" "Say, are you going to sell Corrigan?" These are a few samples of conundrums that come to the club owner, and which he must adroitly answer, skillfully parry, or invoke the ire of the interrogator, with its inevitable results.
He must stand by his team, good, bad or indifferent. He must receive the brunt of hostile comment directed against his players, whether merited or not, from both press and patrons, apologizing for shortcomings where
