The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-02-18
MANY ARE JUMPING
BALL PLAYERS APPEAR TO FEAR
FINISH OF THE Ma
TIONAL
REAL RUBBERLEG EPIDEMIC
All Old League Clubs Have Lost Men
Present TangIe Blamed
for Lack of Con-
fdence,


CHICAGO, Feb. 17.-New dangers and
fresh complications now threaten the
sorely troubled baseball magnates of the
disrupted National league The young
players Of class and quality secured from
the ranks of the minor leagues are Kick
ing over the traces. Some of the most
promising youngsters In the bunch have
ALREADY Jumped their contracts with Ma
tlonal league clubs and returned to their
oId teams in the Southern, Eastern,
Western and California leagues, while
many others are likely to follow suit. The
excuse offered by these contract jumpers
IS tnat the National league is at present
ulsorganized and in no shape to open the
championship season on the basis of an
elght-club circuit. They say that under
the existing conditions they prefer to re-
main In minor company for at least an
other season.
1t is a fact that many Of these minor
league stars are sincere in their rather
pesSimistic view Of the National league
situation. For example, when Outfielder
Davy Jones jumped his contract with the
chicago National League club and sign
ed with the st. Louis American League
club, he openly proclaimed his lack of
confidence in the stability Of the old
league Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati
Brooklyn and st. Louis have also suffer-
ed from this epidemic of desertion and
contract jumping.
Cincinnati, for example has already
lost five men in this way, and the in
dlcationS are that the club will lose at
least two other players between this and
the opening Of the season. The result is
that Bid McPhee finds himself confronted
10y about the stiffest proposition of his
managerial career. Six weeks ago the
signed contracts of Outf1elders Coulter,
Hulsman and Doherty, Catcher Abbott
nd o1,1
: the strong box of the Cincinnati club
and Manager McPhee was congratulating
himself over the fact that he had land
ed all the men he wanted. Today the
contracts still remain in the custody Of
= the club, but the players have deserted
Coulter declares his intention Of re-
naming in the New York State league;
Doherty has signed a new contract with
the Boston American League club, and
says that he intends to keep it; Huls-
man, admittedly the best man turned
out by the Southern league, has return
ed to the Shreveport La, team; Catcher
Abbott is back with the New Orleans
aggregation, and Pitcher Stemmel has
signed with the new Louisville team Of
the American circuit.
Thus it is that McPhee now has only
Crawford, Bey and Dobbs for his out
field, and but two catchers in Peitz and
Bergen. This means that Cincinnati will
be compelled to begin the season with
even weaker team than that of last
year.
Three of the men signed by New York
have already deserted. Second Baseman
Smith returns to the Eastern league,
while Outfelders Jackson and Mcintyre
both declare that they will not report to
Freedman this spring.
Manager Donovan, Of st. Louis,
thought he had a diamond in the rough
in Pitcher Joyce, but Saturday the young
twirler told his friends that he had de-
cided to cut loose from the team.
Back in Boston AL Buczenberger, the
new manager, will be forced to find new
men to replace OUtfielder Carney and
Pitcher Willis, as these young men have
recently given out that they do not in
tend to play in Boston this year.
Brooklyn has lost Third Baseman Krug
and Outfelder Hilderbrand who intend
to stick to the California league in pref
erence to taking chances of making
good on Ed Hanlon's team.
Outfielder Brown and two of the new
recruits to the pitching staff have al
ready deserted the Philadelphia club, and
two other youngsters are reported to be
about ready to jump their contracts.
1t is not difficult to fix the responsible
ity for this latest blow at the dignity and
prestige of the old National league The
club owners, by their constant wrangling
and pickering, have discredited their own
organization not only with the press and
public, but with the players as we'll AS
a natural sequence the magnates in these
dark hours of adversely can blame no one
but themselves for the existing muddle
Word comes from Southern California
that A. G. Spalding expects to start for
Chicago before the end Of the month
When Spalding does come East he will
find the affairs of the National league
more tangled than ever. AS things look
now the problem will be finally solved
by the four clubs in the Spalding faction
herding by themselves and playing out
the season on four-club schedule The
Freedmanites have not as yet declared
themselves, but there is no doubt that
they will take legal measures in an eff
fort to restrain the Brooklyn, Philadel-
phia, Chicago and Pittsburg clubs from
breaking away from the old circuit.