The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-09
BASEBALL MEN WEALTHY.
Numbers of Players Hav Saved Large
 Sums of Money.

From the Nashville Daily News.
 Twenty years ago baseball players were all logical candidates for the poor house and they generally got there. There was not enough money in the game then to keep the players in chewing tobacco. and those who played 1t were seldom of the saving variety To hold down their jobs to the satisfaction of the baseball pub lie of that day the men had to be booze fighters and were generally gamblers. If they were not they would not have stood a '1-2-4 chance in popularity contest"
 Today things are different. Unless player is sober and saving he cannot get even a trial on a decent team, and in- stead of being on the road to the Potter's field, many ball players are rich. Proba- bly the richest ball players are a couple of famous old second basemen, Al Reach and A. G. Spaulding who are rated today at couple of million. Powell is worth certainly $10O0O0. and a hundred others are worth anywhere from $25000 to $500,- O00
 Of course all of these good sinners were not piled up by baseball salaries alone, but the foundation of most of the for tunes owned by ball players and ex-ball players was laid on money which was earned at the national game These men saved a lot of their cash. This they in- vested, and it has grown until they have all they can spend and a whole lot more than they need.
 Right here in the Southern league there are a bunch of embryo J. Pierpont Nor gans. Of course in the minor leagues the salaries paid are not so enormous that any of the players or managers are likely to put by over a couple of million a year. but some of them are doing very nicely"
 As has been said, Ab Powell is worth somewhat over $100000. For the last twenty years he has been mixed up with minor league baseball all over the coun- try,and by saving and making good in- vestments he is now way ahead of the game and is getting further on velvet every minute. Mike Finn, who manages Little Rock, has been at the game proba- bly, about eight years, and is independ- ently rich. Lew Whistler of Montgomery 1 is on easy street, and Is likely to reside | there for some little while. O'Brien, too 1 has made comfortable little pile, and as l for Count Campau, he alone knows how l much ahead of the game he is. Many of the league players who were I in the Southern league last year are as rich as the managers named. Bob Stat | ford, first baseman on the New Orleans | team, is worth in the region of $25,O0J and 'Our Abby is perhaps $500O0 to the | good. Kennedy, who was with Nashville | last year, Is not so far ahead of the game as some of the others, but it is not bit necessary in his case for his father is a | millionaire, and Kennedy Is his only son. | Wiseman is also a candidate for a soft I job, as he Is due to inherit fully $1OO, 900 in the course of time.
 | Two of the greatest players who ever 1 came out of the south-Lefty Davis and l Noodles" Hahn, both of them Nashville | boys-are on the lists of savers and are doing well. Both of them have salted
 away about $100O0, and will be giving away libraries and founding colleges be- 1 fore their finish if they do not watch out. Many of the big league stars have made
 bales of bills at the game and are piling l up their assets every day. The following
 men are said to have saved from $25, OOD | to $10000O or possibly more: Clark Crit ] filth, manager of the New York team;
 Lajoie of Cleveland, Collins of Boston, 1 Tenny of Boston, Delehanty of Washing
 ton, Donovan of St. Louis, Steinfelt of l Cincinnati. George Tebeau, owner of the
 St Louis team; Fred Clark, manager Of
 Pittsburg, and a bunch of others too l numerous to daily with.
 l Everyone of these men founded his for l tune on baseball.
 Some of the big leaguers are getting to be bloated plutocrats at even a faster
 rate than this. Billy Hamilton and Dan
 Brouthers are both listed by the financial
 agencies at a figure away above $10O, 00t
 and Orator" ORourke Charley Bennett.
 "Bid' McPhee, Buck Ewing and Pat
 Tebeau are probably as we'll off-if nor
 even better.
 Of course all of these men might have
 become rich at some other business, but
 there is no certainty of it. Baseball tenn perate habits and a saving disposition
 have put them on the best side of Easy
 street. and when they die there is no
 chance on earth that the town will have
 to pay for their funerals Most baseball
 players are doing we'll today and all
 who are playing the game for reasona-
 ble salary stand a chance to finish their
 careers with a cool million or two to their | credit.