Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-09-18
THE LAW AND BASEBALL
Gumbert's Suit Will Test the
 Reserve Rules Legality.
BREITENsTEIN Is THE KING NOW.

! How the Star Twirlers of s92 Have Fallen Before the New Pitching Rule of 1883. Many Faces ofveterans Win Re Missing | Next Season.
 AdisOn C. Gumbert, the baseball pitcher, I now of the Pittsburg team, has brought s suit against the Chicago club to recover g. 25O. This suit at law is of vastly more i'm portance to the profession at large than the sum represented by the controversy. When
 the case is adjudicated it will settle one very important point of law that is inter- l esting to every baseball player and club f within the reach of the National league ! Gumbert's complaint against the Chicago | club will test one provision of the reserve rule. Gumbert was for time last year a player under contract with the Chicago | club. In midseason the club repudiated | their contract with him or told him he would be released unless be accepted a re duction in salary. He preferred bis release and II was granted, but not till he tried to \ negotiate with other League clubs which needed the services of good pitchers did he realize that his release had been only a blind, or one by agreement with all the | other clubs that none of them would accept his services. The intent of it all was to force Gumbert to return 10 the Chicago ! club at the latters own figures
 But Gumbert would not return He rc- mained idle for the rest of the seaSon-Sas forced odo so, as he alleges in his petition and he now sues to recover as much sal
 ary as this negotiable act of the Chicagos deprived him Of If he wins the case, be will give the noted reserve rule quite a I shock. Good lawyers have always held that this rule would never stand a test at | law. During the fight between the National ! league clubs and the Brotherhood players | Tn lssO the reserve rule came up in the va rious legal squahbles a number of times, and in not one instance did the presiding | judge look upon it with favor. Its legality was never directly brought to test however | in those eases, but especially in the njunc- tion proceedings of the New York club against John NJ. WaUl it was decided that the rule could not affect a player tu the cN- tent of enjoinIng him from contracting to | play elsewhere than with the club which re-
 served him, inasmuch there WAS a lack of equity in its provisions between tine club and the player reserved
 | The Gumbert case will decide whrt her a club, either by agreement with aS~ociated clubs or by this reserve rule, can compel a man to play with them at their own price ! or lie idle without n chance tO earn his liv- ing at his profession elsewhere. 1T Gum
 bert should win. the efficacy of the rrServe
 rule would be almost destroyed The cff, q of such a result would be very cmharrass-
 ing to the National league. for time and costly experience have demonSt rated the fact that the reserve rule or some provision Of that kind Is absolutely necessary to keep professional baseball on business basis Baseball k getting into the courts of late with a regularity that surprises the learned judges. IL has only beeu nine yrars since Justice Baxter of the federal circuit court. sitting in Cincinnati, threw out the ptti- tion of the St Louis Union Baseball club against Tony Mullaue as he would have brushed a cigar stump from his desk What is this baseball business any how he inquired. The lawyer for the St. Louis club started in to cnlighten his honor. "Ba>eball.' said he. is a game l a sport played by nine men om each side stop" thunderrd his honor How dare you take up the time of this court with
 matters of such trivial nature' MT. Clerk. l strike this case from the calendar What
 is the next in order
 Six years later the courts gave respectful consideration to questions iu dispute be tween clubs and players. In New York city such eminent firms Evart~. Chuate X Beeman and Howland X Bacon appeart1I l before the courts and argued baseball suits
 at great length. Even the federal justices in that city bent their judicial minds tu the perpleNinE questions which were arising in | the business. By that time several millions
 
 courts could no longe- ignore the business Nothing succeeds like success. The news of baseball prosperity in the east has reached the farthest corners of the west and south. and steps are already being tak- on to build up professional circuits. The latest announcement is that the south western league will be in the field for lSgI with Fort Smith. Little Rock, Hot Springs Mo. Joplin, Fort Scott and probably Wichita and Topeka aS members
 An unofficial table Of pitchers averages has been made out covering all the Nation
 al league games up tO about the 9th of | September. These records are very interest
 ing and prove all that l said recently about
 the damaging effect which the new pitching rule had on the older stars among he pitch
 CTS. Brcitrnstein of St. Louis k. in the
 lead and Rusic of New York seCund Then comes MCGill. Mauck. McMahuu. HilIen.
 Stein. Ehret, Young. Meekin. Mullanc and
 Nichols There are 3o more who rate from
 indifferent to very bad, and among the 9l are Stivctts, keefe. Chamberlain. Gleason, King. HutchiSon, Baldwin. HaddoCk Clark son, Cuppy and Stalcy- How the mighty
 have fallen Just think of Kccf-. King. Clarkson. Haddock. IIutChi>on and Bald win a year or two ago, Then l"nk at them
 now beneath the feet of men "f the klIIen.
 Stein. Breitenstein and Ehrct -trlpe
 Put there stands Rusie near the top c' 9 more Ana vet ne ElN s.N lfleTlCr or I#FL
 iug a veteran. Only few years lgO the
 New York manager had trouble to Leep
 him out of the game Accs pleaded 10
 hitch every day Now RuSie grcwlz is asked
 10 go in every other day The team has four
 available pit hers and he doesn't want 70
 pitch --OGe .512 1ls sLa-e- Le bCEi-- ~ complain - cGGEll.C.I Dl--s .- - -.s-- shoulder and seems to fear for the endur- ance of the arm which such a little time
 ago never knew pain An ache. l. IIuSie
 getting ready to join the PruCr>~iun that
 has passed,
 Next season will see the plac,-> "t uauy
 of the old stars of lS.ei filled with younger men. SuCCrs~ful has bern the Boston
 team it will not be kept intact. Thryt- of
 the present playrr> will isrt their Couge at the end of the seasnn-ViZ. Carroll. Ben
 nett and Staley. New York l. prrpartVI Ia
 unload Kelly. Brooklyn may dr'p BrUuth-
 CTS. Washington on has alrrady kis>e,l Teddy
 I.arkin goodby, and Baltimore has made a
 clean sweep of the veterans and luaded up
 with young blood. Comiskey has laid him
 self of, and John Clarksou will soun be
 looking for work outside the baseball field An era of new blood has struck the National
 league, and the aspiring youngsters of the
 diamond have a grand chance tO come to
 the front in 1894. a. P CANLuGi
 NsthInE New.
 A famous after dinner speaker had
 curious experience one evening last
 spring. He had been invited to make
 one of half dozen speeches upon < cer-