SPORT

Night Baseball

In Indianapolis one night last week, big floodlights poured metallic glare over a baseball field under a pitchblack sky and the Cincinnati "Reds" played an exhibition game with the Indianapolis "Indians." It was the first night game ever played by a major league team. The lights turned the field to a vividly unreal color, like grass in a postcard, against which the figures of the players stood out sharply three-dimensional. Both teams were hitting well but the red-legged fielders were uncertain judging distances and fumbled. Final score: Indianapolis 17, Cincinnati 5.

Objections to night games: 1) In the eastern daylight-saving cities it is not pitch dark until after 9 p. m. most of the summer. Because teams must warm up before starting and because lights are useless except in pitch dark, games will not start till 9:30, finishing near midnight--too late for most fans. 2) Every team would have to spend some of the increased revenue from night games in buying new players enough to have two teams--one for days, one for nights. 3) All old-time managers, opposed to change, dislike the experiment, say it "sounds the knell of baseball." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.