, 1890-12-28
STRTCKABIGSNAG
Baseball Differences Not Yet
Wholly Settled.
PLENTY OF DISSATISFACTION.

Discomfort with spaIdIng's Plan in Bos-
ton and Chicago About Deals
with PIayers-rhurman the BraIniest
Head the League Ever Had.
There is bitter opposition in several quar-
tiers to the adoption OF A. G. Spalding's
plan of recognizing baseball. at least TO
that part of II which covers the formation
of the American Association circuit, and
the opposition may, from all appearances,
prevent the plan being carried out
Perhaps 1t is hardly fair to call it Mr.
~Spalding's plan, The proper thing, per
haps, would be to say the plan made by
Mr.. Spslding and Mr.. Thurman. These
gentlemen outlined Baltimore. Washing
ton, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Column
bus, Louisville and st. Louis Ms the best
and most desirable circuit for the Ameri-
can association, and they have got things
into such a shape that there Is no doubt
about any of the cities except Boston and
Chicago.
The only hitch that is likely to stop the
deal as to Chicago is the conditions which
the national agreement club there will
Insist upon, which are tat the association
shall not play Sunday games and shall
charge a fifty cent admission fee. These
same conditions will be exacted in Boston,
but they are entirely agreeable to the
IAd9tT5 Itdkut tlub NHtIts WnlCh VIII
have the Association franchise il one is
granted.
The trouble in Boston is on the other
foot. The Boston club Is governed by
Messrs. Soden, Billings and Conant, as is
well known, and what any two of the three
agree upon is the action of the club. In
this case Mr.. Soden is not averse to having
an Association club, but his two partners
are decidedly opposed to it, and il the
question is left to the club to decide there
will be but one club in Boston next year.
The decision does not wholly rest with
them. The League has appointed a con
ference committee, and, while it has not
given that committee absolute powers, it
is not probable that it will overturn any
plan of settlement which the committee
may report. But will the committee disre-
gard the wishes OF the triumvirs?
There does not seem to be any reason
why the Boston club should not make
some concessions, the same as other clubs.
All of them have been obliged to concede
money or other consideration quite rs
valuable. The Boston club, If it agrees to
the establishment of an Association club
in Boston, will not have to put up a dollar,
and will merely run the chance hat the
Association may indirectly hurt the at
tendance at the League games. OF course
the Association team might hurt the
League, but the chances are that with a
fifty cent tariff and no conflict the damage
would not be very great.
There are a great many well posted peo-
pie who think that two clubs can never be
run successfully in Boston, and that it
would not take more than two seasons to
make this apparent andsettle the question
for good. The Boston men, who are now
on top, and who lost a good deal of money
last season, naturally object to taking the
chances and to indirectly assisting to pay
for the experiments contemplated. They
would much prefer to buy out the Players
League club altogether. The Players
listen 60 any propositions to tha end.
President Charles Albert Prince tells me
that when parties, whom he understood
represented the triumvirs, came to him
he informed them that the Players league
men would not even consider the matter
Of selling out. Mr.. Prince also told me
that his club would rSs-zsrae = tkSd..
mantling of the champion Players league
team, and that as to joining the Association
they didn't care anything about it,. They
had not asked for a franchise. II the As
ISOLATION wanted to join in with the Play
ers' league and form n new organization
the Boston people might consider it. They
would ~reorganize the Players league be
fore they would give up any OF their play
ers. Now, most Of this is a bluff pure and
simple.
Mr.. Prince is a clever lawyer and a pleas
ant gentleman, and withal "A man of sound
common sense, but be realizes thai he must
keep up appearances, and is making tire
best front he can to help his club make the
best possible trade 1t can. No man knows
better than he that there must be a trade,
and no one knows better than he that he is
at the present time trying to make one
that will result to the advantage of him
self and his partners. and that his talk
about resurrecting the Players league Is
ridiculous.
That the league will treat its Boston
partners with consideration Is certain, and
that it will try to satisfy them that the
exigencies of the case require an Associa-
tion club in Boston is equally certain, but
that they will force such a thing upon
them in defiance of their constitutional
rights is not likely. 1t will be seen, there
fore, that the Boston League men are in a
position to dictate terms, and that IL Bos-
ton is to have an Association team, to be
run by the men who have been behind the
Players league team, those men will have
TO give up Il great many things which they
say almost daily that they will never yield.
The final settlement now hinges upon the
settlement in Boston.
Rochester, Syracuse and Toledo will re-
tire from the American Association with
more or less grace, but there is no question
that they will get out. Gen. Brinker seems
60 hold a little better hand than any of his
associates, and is giving the Association
people a good deal of trouble. He has a
paper signed by Messrs. Lazarus, Whit
taker and Won der Abe, the finance com
mittee of the Association, guaranteeing
that the Association would munerat him
from all losses IL he would put a team into
Rochester. He claims that he lost $4,000,
and he probably did, and now sets that
price upon his retirement, and f~ortiies his
demand with the guarantee given him.
The Association people say that the finance
committee had no right to give such a
guarantee, and that legally it isn't worth
anything. Gen. Brinker says he proposes
to find out just what it is worth.
There is a good deal of talk about deals
for players, but none has really been
made, yet in a few instances some thinga
may have been agreed upon. John Ward
IL very anxious to go to Philadelphia, and
would like to play with and manage the
Athletics. This would be a good thing for
the Wagners, and they would no doubt be
willing to pay a good sum to bring it
about, but it can only be considered among
the possibilities at present. Charley Byrne
is dead set to have Bierbauer, Van Haltren
and weighing. and will probably gain his
-ognt NJ Cn,llfnv xranta NTFlra Lrally