The Saint Paul globe., 1905-01-22
SLIGHT WAS COSTLY
Clark Griffith Tells How Amer.
lean Started

According to Clark Griffith, the manager
of the New York Americans, the failure
Of A. H. Soden OF the Boston National
League club, to remember certain letter
was the direct cause for the expansion OF
the American league to its present pros
porous circuit.
1T was when the Bali Players Protec-
tive association had been partly organ
ized," said Griff the other day, "that a
committee consisting of Charley Zfmmer,
Hugh Jennings and myself was appointed
to wdieTupon the National league at a
meeting Ia this city. The American
league was only a minor affair out West
In those days and nobody ever believed
that 1t would amount to anything. For
that reason the National league was the
real baseball autocrat, and the players
association knew that its COMMITTEES had
a hard task. After much dickering and
wire pulling the National league mag
mates finally consented to hear what our
committee had to say. Harry Taylor went
torney for the Players Protective associa-
tion. Taylor was a good tall1er and for
several hours he pointed out to the Ma
the Players. Protective association were.
Then John 7. Brush got up, and with his
characteristic deliberation, said:
While ! have heard that there is an
organization of the players, / am not
wholly cognizant Of the fact and beg to be
enlightened
81 knew then that we were up against
It and that we would be turned down cold
It did not take the nnagnates long to de-
eide that they wanted nothing to do With
US and that the best thing to do was to
defy the protective association to do its
worst. This information was carried to
our committee, for we had withdrawn
from the star chamber in the meantime
and were waiting for news down in the
hotel corridor. Naturally we were very
much disappointed and wanted just one
more hearing before the magnateS left for
their homes. So thinner, who was chair
man of our committee, wrote a note to
meeting upstairs, and asked him # the
league would grant us another audience,
as we wished to make few additional
through @ the the door @ Of the e'e star s Chamber to
Uncle Nick Young, who promptly passed
it up to Soden. The latter glanced at the
envelope, read its contents and quickly
thrust it into his coat pocket. In an hour
the league adjourned and the smooth
magnates came down into the corridors.
DID the players get another turn
would not talk. thinner and Jennings
wanted to know what we were going to
do about it. So | Just took the bull by
the horns and hunted up Soden.
:" Did you get letter from u.s. asking
for another hearing?' I asked.
No. I did not, was Soden's reply.
Then, after a moments hesitation, Soden
began slapping his pockets in turn. Why,
come to think of it, did get letter, said
he, with apparent confusion. Here 1t is.
How stupid of me. Why, forgot all about
1t. Too bad it's too late, but the league
has adjourned
1t was a cold -blooded snub, and when
thinner and Jennings asked me what
course to pursue, I said:
war on the National league
So, in less than two hours we had teie-
graphed all oyer the country to the play
ers of the National league not to sign a
contract until they had heard from US.
1.-The American league men. including
Ban Johnson, had been watching things
very closely, ard when they found that
we had declared war on the National
league, they got busy. ] arrived in Chi
cago several days afterward and was
asked to attend an impromptu meeting OF
the American league at one of the lead
Ing hotels. went out of curiosity and
was warmly welcomed johnson e. Co.
soon convinced me that they had the
money to expand their circuit and that
they. intended to fight the National league
to finish. Then they jumped out and
signed the cream of the National league
payers who had been ordered not to do
business with their old clubs because of
the slight offered to the protective asso-
cations committee. The war begun IN
that manner was disastrous for some peo-
Pile. among them Soden who with his
partners in the Hub, have lost 500, ,006-
figure therefore that Sotien could probably
have saved this amount had he remember
ed the note IN his inside pocket.