PROFILE AMERICA

June 16, 2008

A Baseball Tradition Begins

Major League Baseball has a long record of promotional gimmicks to draw fans to games. One of these occurred on this date in 1883 in New York City, where the New York Gothams — later known as the Giants — staged the first Ladies’ Day. The idea caught on and for decades women were admitted to ballparks on special days either free or at reduced prices. Their popularity even sparked a 1943 movie comedy called “Ladies’ Day.” Now, Ladies’ Day is largely a thing of the past, partially because clubs need to make money on every seat in their stadium to pay players’ salaries. The average major league player makes just shy of $2.7 million a year. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.