The Saint Paul globe., 1899-04-02

Cost Thousands of Dollars Seems
Inevitable Combination to
Freeze Out the Weaker Clubs.
War has been declared in the National
league and American Association of
;ase Ball Clubs. The effort is to freeze
at the weaker clubs and make an eight
hub circuit. In order to do this legally.
&ad according 10 the agreement that
svas entered into by the big league mag
hates. the stronger clubs would be COM
-,elled 10 go into their pockets for a neat
sum of money with which to purchase
he franchises of the organizations that
IRE regarded impediments to the
.nancial success of the national game
n The major league cities. 1t is cheap
5sr to get rid of them by making their
stay in the league Improbable, and the
louisville club seems to have been the
f,rst victim selected for the shambles.
The Kentucky lamb does not seem dis
-posed to die without a struggle. Presi-
.sflent Dreyfus has announced that there
SaHin be a battle in which thirteen-inch
1suns of the Zach Phelps make will be
abrought into play, and the merry war
as evidently in earnest.
y WESTERN LEAGUE NEUTRAL
The magnates of the Western league
will keep aloof from the actual fighting,
but Will be in at the finish, and will de-
fmand d share of the territory that will
be cut up should the strong clubs tri-
iumph over the weaker aggregations.
is big league is in much the same shape
Jas is China. 1t matters little which side
Twins in the main struggle, the outsiders
Twill reap the harvest. st. Paul will de-
mand and receive its sphere of infiu-
fence" Detroit and Milwaukee and Kan
sas City and Buffalo, and all the Western
league clubs, will want at the least a few
"coaltng stations. and when the war
clouds clear away the big league may
be the little league, and the little league
the big one. Let the merry war proceed.
1t can do no harm TO base ball in the
circuit in which St. Paul is most inter-
ested,
For The Western league there seems to
4 be in store one of the most prosperous
\ i{seasons in its history. ST Paul will be
limuch stronger in many ways, and will
make a bid for the pennant. With the
Z addition of Fisher to the pitching de-
1 partment, and with Isbell at first, the
team ought to play better ball, and like
[ ly will. Kansas City is in the hunt
l again, and Manager Manning has
/ strengthened his pitching department,
despite the fact that his last season s
aggregation carried off first-place hon
4 ors. Milwaukee is always in the race,
and indianapolis will be as strong as
I last season, which means that that club
s will also bear watching Lotus will see
to it that Columbus Is strengthened
Z wherever there is a weak spot, and Min
I neapoiS and Buffalo and Detroit are not
( sleeping at any stage of the game.
1 close struggle is what the patrons Of
( the game ask. and may the best club be
! first at the close of the season.
CLEVELAND STILL OPEN
I Edward C. Becker the new owner of
/ the st. Louis aggregation, let a little
thing drop the other day that would indi-
/ cate the Cleveland territory will be left
/ open for invasion by the Western league,
/ Notwithstanding the bluff of the Brush
7 ties He is quoted as saying that he un-
+ derstood that the old players of the ST.
Louis club were instructed to report to
/ Stanley Robson in Cleveland. In all
/ likelihood Lave Cross would be manager
captain of the Cleveland club For the
/ present none of the old Browns will play
/ in ST. Louis. but few of the better men
viii be held under the St. Louis reserve
rights, and may be called on in case
their presence would strengthen the St.
Louis club.
CCMISKEY AND LOTUS
Al the recent Western league meeting,
talk naturally drifted to the St Louis
ciub on account of the efforts of LOTUS
ard Comiskey to land that property
i hey were earnest in their efforts to Sc
cure the Browns, and the thought of
forcing Robson to leave CleYeland-as
so many writer's averred was :he motive
that prompted them TO figure as bidders
never entered their heads. They are
practical base ball men and realized that
1t was the opportunity of a lifetime to
break into the major league. st. Louis
Is city that will always be represented
by a club in the best league in existence
and under proper management a club
lrcannot do otherwise than make money
there. Before the sale commenced, the
Western league pair held a conference
with the creditors and the latter offered
to bid the club in and turn it over to
Lotus and Comiskey. For that reason
they did not bid, knowing that It would
only Increase the price, but when their
attorney made careful investigation of
the affairs of the club, he found them in
such complicated state that it was upon
his advice that they refused to take the
property off the hands of the creditors
Since the deal has been closed up. both
men regret that they did not take {,
chance on Strengthening the legal COM
plications out, as they were members of
a syndicate that had $780, 900 over the pur-
ciiSse price with which to secure play
eIS Giiu HgnI the case II 1t was necessary
TO go into court to protect their rights
1t is too late now, and the other West
ern league magnates, who tried to dis
courage the DEAL are happy, as they re-
aize that two of the best men in the
Western league would have been lost and
their places could not be filled easily
WARNING TO MANAGERS.
The Springfield Union sounds a warming
which not only the National league mag
mates. but some in the minor leagues
might well do to reed and digest. The
Union says:
The object of the magnates In chang
Ing the schedule so as to handicap Louis
;ille financially is clearly a game of
freezeout, and in direct line with the ef-
forts to reduce the National league to
eight clubs, and that without expense to
the magnates This reduction would be
great boom to the sport, but the means
the publicity that is being given the quar-
rels of the magnates will do the game ir-
Ieparable injury When the public learns
of the cut-throat, unsportsma tao
ties employed by the club owners to gain
their ends, they cannot help losing faith
I'm the honesty of the game itself when
conducted by men confessedy dishonest
connection has been dawning In the pub
lies mind for some seasons, and it was
this feature quite as much as war or
weat her, that made last season so gener-
ally disastrous. When the tricky mag
nate begins to pose in the limelight Of
publicity he casts a shadow over the dia-
mond itself, and the sooner he gets back
into obscurity the better for all con-
cerned. And yet the press OF the country
do f-o1 i1anc fir,,., ],