game, although still be far from anything like actual possession of the facts. There are 10,000 games played every day of which the public hears nothing; perhaps double that number.
So much for the activity of players on the diamond.
Principal causes for the growth in interest of the pastime have previously been stated. There is a great contributory cause which must not be neglected when undertaking to make a review of the progressive strides of the sport.
I refer to the erection in the larger major and minor league cities of permanent and substantial structures to house our national pastime.
When Base Ball first became established as a public sport, which requested public attention for its share, the conditions were so precarious that most of the Base Ball promoters felt that wooden stands, arranged with tiers of seats for the accommodation of patrons, were all that they could afford.
The earliest stands were small affairs compared with those which were erected along in the nineties. At various times the structures that were in use at Base Ball parks burned to the ground by reason of fires which started through accident.
As the stability of Base Ball became more assured, owners decided to branch out and erect fireproof buildings on their grounds. First of these stands was the concrete and steel affair which was built at Cincinnati by John T. Brush. In the course of time Mr. Brush became owner of the New York Base Ball Club.
