Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-21
A Good Reserve Rule Necessary.

President Byrne's opinion or statements are
of such general nature that nobody can well
oppose them, and suppose that every magnate
will talk similarly until something is definitely
formulated. In speaking of a reserve rule we
can all say that it should be equitable and that
no player should be forced to sign against his
will. If there Is any fault TO find with such
talk. it is that it tends make reser We rule
farce. No matter what we say or what we do a
reserve rule must reserve, and to do that it
must be restrictive, and therefore probably
curb somebody's desires The reserve rule is
not sentim en- tai; it is business from top to bot
tor. and business discipline is very often dis
tasteful to employees whose only anxiety is about
their wages or salaries. Ii ball player were
allowed to play where be liked and at any time
he liked. baseball people might as well shut up
shop The business would soon be in state of
chaos, and this is SO true that none of us, 1
think. will deny 1t. Well, then. We must all
come to the conclusion that restrictive law
IS necessary to keep players from playing where
they like and at any time they like. / am one
who clings to the belief that the "tyrannical
sales' system was. generally speaking, a great
blessing to the nlayers; but it is possible to
have a reserve rule without condition of i'm
aginary tyranny. But what now contend is
that we must have reserve rule that will re-
serve; that Will aid clubs in keeping their good
players from being caugh. by the inducements
OF wealthler clubs. for reasonable time at
least Any reserve rule that will not accom-
plish this will be failure and any rule that will
prevent two clubs from making an exchange of
players services ana money consideration
Will be very foolish rule and will deprive the
player of more or less money. Altogether it is
absolutely necessary that National agreement
to be lasting and effective must not be built OH
mere sentiment, but must contain sound busi-
ness principles from end to end
A Few Words About Sprinting.
Last week 1 had few words to say about
sprnteis and sprintng.. and it seems that what
1 said has been extensively read and read with
letters on the subject, and as usual. some of
them give me some very pointed, and no
doubt, well intended advice. One correspond
ent takes me to task for saying too much, and
another complains because 1 said too little.
The first complainant is indignant, mad"
wild" hot" etc., because l spoke so fatter-
ingly of Smorhers, the Brownsville sprnter. l
am reminded that by writing and calling atten-
ton to his fast time he will be deprived of get
ting good matches" If 1 were to in any way
spoil the chances of Mr. SmOtEers or his back
ers, would. indeed, be extremely sorry, but if
they don't:waut the public TO know that he is a
very speedy runner they should not run him in
public at all. on see that II we notice bal
loon gong upward we are convinced that it is
not coming uown. If Smothers runs in pub
lie race and defeats his opponent in very fast
time. most assuredly the public will think he is
not a slow runner, and certainly the public has
a right to say that he is a fast one. All that l |
said about MIS-. was based on public and pri- |
vate statements regarding his public races. L |
didn't even express my own opinion regarding |
his speed because If did, 1 might have him |
considerably slower than many people think he I
is. Well. another of MY Correspondents tells 7
me that 1 entirely neglected to point out |
that honest sprinting would be a |
tremendous success in Pittsburg, and also |
that did not say anything In defense |
of honest sprnting. Now, i really deemed this |
verv unkind cut, and thought that my CORE |
spondent must have either been out of the |
country for long time or that ho has very |
bad memory. Why. time ana time again have |
devoted considerable space toward showing |
that the very best thing possible for profess |
sional sprinters and sprinting would be to ele- |
vate the sport into an absolutely honest one,
During the last month or ! have given in |
stances of how an honest foot race of reason |
PittsDurg. Take the Priddy- NJ cGlelland race, |
for instance. Well, now will repeat that, as a |
matter of self-interesI, professional sprinters |
should keep their own business pure. have |
taken very warm interest in foot racing for |
20 years, and l have always found that the |
financial results in the long run were much bet |
ter when everything was on the square, than |
when matters were fixed" well-known |
sporting man said 10 ne the other day: Il find |
there is nothing in those Jobs, and I've pitched |
them up" There is, indeed. very promising |
and good array of sprinters and distance run !
ners in and aboui Pittsburg at present, and |
their only hope to realize good returns in this |
the public. Professional sprintIng or foot rae |
ing in Pittsblrg is just emerging from period |
of diSrepute. Crookedness turned the public |
mind entirely against ityears ago, and as soon |
as one or two honest races have taken place the |
public admiration for the sport has reappeared. |
race; indeed, nowadays when gate receipts are |
so good the very best races We can see may take |
place for no stake at all. -.------