Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-03
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DrsPArcH.,

ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO TIE DIsPNrcH.i
CLEVELAND, December 2.-Albert L.
johnson, the young President Of the Ball
Players League, came back to-day from ten
davs of hard work in the East. Mr.. john
son returned to face a pile of kilograms u
inches high and letters innumerable. He
was in the best of spirits when THE DIS
PATCH correspondent saw him at supper to-
night.
$50 some people consider the Brother
hood a simple game of bluff, do they?" said
Mr.. johnson, laughing. 1--WE will show
them whether we mean business or not.
have put a stack of money in this move
ment, and you can depend upon it that
am not signing fve-year leases without
knowing what am about. The Brotherhood
has come to stay. De Wolf Hopper said to me
IN New York yesterday: The moment your
first game is played you are at the top Of the
heap"
ready signed with other organizations" was
asked.
NOT SIGNING SIGNED MEN.
rNone whatever" said Mr. johnson. Let
me tell you something. We have had number
less applications from men who have signed
other contracts and are now anxious to come
to us If they have been paid advance money
and have signed absolute contracts we have re-
fused in every instance to take them"
"But you expect suits against you for signing
League men?n
i'Oh. certainly" said Mr.. johnson. But we
have every advantage. We have every good
lawyer in the country, almost, on our side. We
are able to 90 into the courts and prove that
section 20 of the League constitution, under
which they assent to the holding-over obllga-
tion, has been grievOusly violated. That sec
tion fixes the classification limit at 1900 and
provides for the expulsion of a club paying
man more money than that Every member Of
the New York Club is ready and willing TO
swear that he received larger sum. Some OF
them. indeed, we're paid as much as AOOl
How is the League to get around this?"
What was the object OF your ripf
WHY HE WENT EAST.
ITO strengthen up the clubs in the weaker
cities" answered Mr.. johnson. Yesterday we
signed Foreman, the great Baltimore pitcher,
for Philadelphia and otherwise strengthened
that club. Tucker, the hard-hitting American
Association man. is going to play first for
Johnny Wards Brooklyn club; Larkin will
surely play first for Cleveland"
"Teli me sometht 1g OF the makeup Of the
s1WelI' there is Shindle at short, Hallman
catcher, Mulvey at third, Farrar at first, with
Thompson, Wood and Fogarty in the field and
How about ChicagO?'
There is a great club. sure enough" )" said
Mr.. johnson, opening telegram from Johnny
Ward. "Bv the way" said he, "here is tele-
gram asking me to have the Brotherhood meet
ing put over from the 10th to the 18th. / shall
do so, and wish you would say so. As for our
Chicago club, said Albert. moment later, 1T
can't be beat There is Comlskey at first,
Pfeffer at second, Williamson at short, and
Latham at third. with Bastian as substitute,
and Ryan, Duffy and Van Haltren in the
field"
ALL BROTHERHOOD MEN.
They are all Brotherhood menT"
"Withozt aquestiOn."
ANY pitchers7"
"Only Baldwin, Tener, Gumbert, King and
Dwyer." answered Mr.. johnson.
"How about New York;"
"Wen sir" said Mr.. johnson, firmly, I'VE
will have the New York club of last year. with
the exception of Johnny Ward. In his place
have signed a man. first class in every way"
'sHow about Cleveland?"
Here" said Mr.. johnson, I'VE have Larkin
at first Stricken at second, Tebeau at third,
and Robinson at short. In the outfeld we
have Radford and Twitchell sure, and possibly
McAleer. Anyway. we will have good man"
well there is Ward at short, Bastian at
second, Tucker at first Blerbauer at third
with Andrews, McGeachy and Seery in the
field Con Murphy, of last years Syracuse
a good many more"
'HoW about BostonT'
well" said Albert 81 bought round-trip
tickets for Kelly and his wife to the Pacific
coast The last words Kelly said to me were:
If don't bring back the signatures of the other
eight players will jump in the Atlantic Ocean
the moment reach Boston
''Tell me about your Buffalo clubr'
'sThere we will have Rowe and White at
short and third, Sam Wise at second, and John
Irwin Hoy and Beecher scattered about, with
TTll lIrr.l al Tg1H.--
CHANGES IN THE PTTTsBURGs.
"What changes will be made in the Pitts
burg elubT
ssYou can say authoritatively" replied Mr.
johnson, ''that only two new men have been
employed. and these in place of Rowe and
White, at short and third"
When asked about McKean's alleged double
dealing Mr. johnson said: Mexican was one
of the first Is men to come to my room and ask
me to 60 into the enterprise, assuring me that
he was with me, heart and soul. l asked him
how much he received during the past year
and he replied, 81 600. said to him that in the
Brotherhood he was worth 81 5OO Mexican as
sented to our proposition, and took an oath to
stand by our agreement He came to my room
six times, each time asserting his loyalty to the
Brotherhood. We shall make no fight against
him"
Mr. johnson was asked about the alleged
combination between the Brotherhood and the
answer he said: THE talk is not without
OfOundation. It will be one of the principal
themes for discussion at our Brotherhood meet
inc on the 10th. I would not like to saw that
the proposition is not under consideration, but
can not anticipate the outcome"
GUARANTEE FOR THE PLAYERS.
"What guarantee will you give the players
against being cast adrift at any time during the
championship season ~
s1t is exactly mere" he answered, where the
Brotherhood exhibits its fairness. The men
cannot under the terms Of our contracts, be
cast adrift at any time but are signed for the
season. This is a happy contradistinction to
the League, whose players may be cast adrift
after serving ten days, under the reserve con-
tract"
what assurance have the players in the
weaker clubs of receiving their salaries regu-
larly7"
'At our meeting of the 18th each club will be
compelled 70 put up a guarantee fund of either
S5 OO0 or $4,000 making in the aggregate of
course $4,000 or $4,000. When any club for
any reason, falls behind, this guarantee fund
is at its disposal"
"How. many players have you, already
STo be exact, lis, and this number is made
up of the flower and sinew of the baseball pro-
fessiOn."
Mr.. johnson left tonight on a search for
interstate players, and will, on his return, re-
main in this city until the meeting of the
Brotherhood in New York.
ANOTHER TRAITOR.