The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-30
Ryan Starts the Season
 With TUo Swih Catchers

If they hold up to past performances Manager Ryan will have in Buck shannon and Tom Messltt two catcheIs next summer that will come pretty Giose csrssn, to makng af the star Sackstop de. hitting .275 with Pueblo in the Western League and Shannon hitting .2S1 for Des Moines in the same League. there Will hardly be any kick about their swatting ability. From a letter re- ceived by The Advertiser from Ryan last night it seems that shannon and summers were sold to the Indianapo- lis club of the American Association in 1906. Cantillion bought shannon and sent him to the Washington American League club. shifting him from there to his Des Moines Club in the Western League and later to his Minneapolis club in the American Association. shannon did not like being made a football of and all last year was at loggerheads with Cantillion. This ex- plains the marvellous discrepancy be- tween his batting and fielding record in the Western League and that in the American Association.
 The chances are that under Ryan and in this warm Southern climate next year he will duplicate his Western League record-and if he does. he win be pretty close to the star catcher of the Southern League. Ryan says he Is big fellow. about six feet tall, and weighs ITO pounds, an unusually good hurler to bases and very fast on the paths. It doesn't look very rosy for Jack Robinson, and its pretty near a cinch that he will never start with the 1908 Montgomery team.
 That Ryan has a whole lot of the baseball politician in his makeup is shown by an incident that happened last Friday in Chicago when he went to President Murphy of the Cubs and got him interested in a scheme that ruil ct fkk, of gnecnIatiY1O in players. MT. Murphy agreed with Ry- an perfectly and immediately drafted resolution that he sent to Chairman Hermann of the National Commission to be introduced at the January meet ing of the Commission. The following from Saturdays Record Herald ex- plains the now rule:
 President Charles w. Murphy of the Chicago National League ball club to- day drafted and forwarded to the Ma tional Commission the text ot a rule which, if approved by the big guns of the game. will greatly soothe the feel ings of the rebellious minors. and will also establish much more equitable re- lations between the major and minor leagues. MT. Murphy's idea lis as fol- lows: '
 NO major league club. which may have drafted any minor league player at a certain price. shall be permitted to seI. such player for a larger sum than that originally paid. This. in short Is to do away with the idea of brokerage in players
 'Of recent years. the minors have made loud complaint because certain magnates have been drafting players for the smallest price allowed. and then selling the men to other minor league teams willing to pay more money. A man might be taken for $500. and the big club, having no use for the man. would simply sell him to some other minor league outfit for anywhere from $500 up.
 carried on to an amazing extent. and was extremely annoying to both the clubs which were thus robbed of their men, and the players who without get ting a chance to shine in fast company,