Clipping:Reduced attendance from the old days

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Date Sunday, August 14, 1870
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[Mutual vs. Atlantic 8/9/1870] The attendance showed a large falling off from the numbers who used to be attracted to these contests, not quite four thousand people paying the entrance fee on this occasion while on the occasion of the return match between these clubs on the Capitoline grounds three years ago fully 12,000 people were present. Of course this is the penalty all professional clubs will have to pay who sacrifice their prestige of invariable success and of always going into win, to the poor policy of playing solely for gate money receipts. By “practice matches” and “social” games, together with allowing first or second games to go by default in order to have third games, the Atlantic club have so lowered their playing status as to have ceased to be attractive to hundreds of people who used to consider their contests the only matches worth seeing. For every dollar they have made by the policy they have adopted the past three years they have lost ten by means of their lost prestige of invariable success, and an earnest effort to win every game they played. The Cincinnati club have showed that fair and square dealing with the public is the only style of professional playing which really results in pecuniary profit, while of course it is the only honorable method of transacting base ball business. Let us hope that the lessons taught them this season have induced them to change their policy to that adopted by the Red Stocking managers. If so, they will soon realize the benefit from it in a restored reputation and largely increased pecuniary profits.

Source New York Sunday Mercury
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Submitted by Richard Hershberger
Origin Initial Hershberger Clippings

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