Next Week

IT'S A NEW BALL GAME. One hundred years after turning pro, baseball begins the 1969 season with four new teams, two new divisions and, William Leggett reports, new problems. In the annual preview, Harold Peterson turns back to the origins of the American game, which was not invented by Abner Doubleday but by an amiable success named Alexander Cartwright, who carried it west. Peterson follows his route and makes some surprising discoveries about baseball today. Present-day Iron Men are presented in color, scouting reports assay the 24 major teams and, as always, the magazine offers a full complement of news and features.