The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-12-10
THE MONEY IN BASEBALL.
How the Exhibition Business Ii Managed
Nowadays of the Early
Professional Players.

For some years baseball has been
conducted on regular business princi-
Piles, but not until recently have such
high salaries been paid The present
style of pitching is responsible for the
enormous salaries which the "kings of
the profession demand The best
pitchers get as much money for work
ing a few hours each day during seven
months as many college professors re-
cciye for their eNire years service
This has not always been the case. The
first al professional nine was the fam
Gus Cincinnati Rcd-stockings, which
were established in 1869, There had
been many clubs throughout the coun-
try, which, previous to this time, had
paid two or three players for their SER
vices. Just as many of our alleged
"strictly amateur mines do at present.
The Red Stockings were the first club,
however, to take men on contracts and
to pay every one on the team. Harry
and George Wright received the high
est salaries paid in the club, and neither
was the regular pitcher Said George
Wright; "The money paid the entire
team would put poor nine in the field
to-day. My brother Harry was the
most expensive man in the team, and
he got $4,000 for being captain and
playing center-lield. was in my reg
ular position at short, and drew 81 800.
The catcher came next in order, and
the other men ranged from that sum
down. Several came under $1,000.
at would seem that iielders were
considered to be worth as much as
pitchers and catchers in those days.
That's it, exactly. A club without
a strong outlicld was as weak then as
one would be now with poor battery.
Every man had TO be Il player, and the
pitcher was OF no more importance
than any other man in the team. Why,
almost anyone who pretended to be a
good player could 90 into the box with
little practice and do well, And
then, of course the catching was quite
different from what it is now A man
who held a thrown ball would 90 be-
hind the bat in an emergency and ac-
quit himself very creditably, Now, if
your pitcher gives out YOU might as
well stop playing; and it is Just the
same with the catcher. 1t makes no
difference how good your other seven
men are, you are nowhere if the battery
is weak"
"Were the Cincinnati Red Stockings
ever troubled this way?'
Ill IA Cod
season with ten men, and youcan Judge
for yourself how many extra batteries
We could have had The pitcher did
not try to see how many hecould strike
ont, but used his head and showed his
skill by changing his speed so that the
batsman would be deceived and not hit
tie ball hard. Even if he was batted
hard it was nothing against him and no
one said he had lost the game. Why,
| ii one nine made six or seven runs in
an inning the other nine was not by
any means defeated and thought moth
ing of this lead
With the changes in the style OF
pitching have come higher wages for
the players, until now a baseball team
is an expensive institution. New York
has the two men who are paid more for
playing bah than any others in the
world. They are Ward and Ewing,
and each receives a little over $4,000
for the present season, The New Yorks
are called the "high-priccd team but
several # the men are hired at low flo.
uros, which brings down the total Of
the salary list and the Chicagos will
have to be acknowledged the most eX.
pcnsiye club in the league. There i,
not cheap player in the nine, and
while the highest salary j, not over
$4,000, every man is well rcmunerated
for his service, Corcorun is valuable
player He is well aware Of it him
self, and hi, skill in cuyng the bal
brings him in $500 this year. Rad
bourne and Calvin are other gilt
edged players, both IN the work they
do and the reward they receive,
The salary list Of the Boston league
club amounts to S2j, 900 in round num-
bcrs. The most valuable man, and de-
scrvedly the best one, is Capt Morrill,.
lie also holds the position Of manager,
and he has earned every cent of his
$500 Whitney comes next, and Is
certainly royalty paid for the amount
Di work he has done this season, for
which he receives $1,000. Burdock
and llornung just turn $1,000, and all
others come below this figure, The
value Of several is sci at about $500,
but the season has made great changes
IN the playing of some, and the prices
will be different another year.
II is impossible to estimate how much
has been paid in salaries TO ball-play-
2rs throughout the country. The eight
league clubs viii certainly average as
much as Boston's total, rs they have
tried more men if they have not had
quite such expensive players In the
Uuion association are eight more clubs,
ST. Louis and Cincinnati pay more than
The Boston league, and every one of
The other mines has some high-priced
players There IL not much doubt that
the eight clubs pay at least Sl25,OO0 in
salaries, The American Association
has twelve clubs, and must certainly
pay Tor this number rs much rs, If not
a