The Washington herald., 1908-01-26
IY COBB HAS NERVE
Demand on Detroit Club
Looks Unreasonable.
IS SERVING APPRENTICESHIP
Although speedy Right Fielder Did
Remarkably Well with Bat Last
Season in Fast Company, and He
should Await Later Developments,

/ Detroit, Jan. 25.-The season Of jumps
trades aud reluctance is now on the
time when the ungTateful ban player
hikes 10 the anxious magnate and tells
+ how he has decided to retire and not
pursue the nimble baseball any more.
the season when the pronered contract Is
returned unsigned with a request for many
more sbekeis. and the season when the
player puhs up with more higuess than
when ha won a game last year by knock
/ iug the ball forty feet over the fence with
tae bases fun
Tyrus Cobb, of Dte-uoit, is the latest
one To announce that he viii retire
in the cold. cold north il is not known
/ if Tyrus drives a grocery wagon or con
ducts" a cigar stand during the winter
months. II be makes as much as the
average ball player who has retired" IL
is likely that lis income Is somewhere
! between Sl5 and so per week
/ The way of the bali player is devious
and often beyond comprehension. Some
+ yomg5ter "a few months OUT of mis- teens
f
/ base-ruuuiug can hit some. and fields
acceptably. The magnate gets him for
! reasonable salary the first season. and
after that il is like pulling teeth 20 get
the yOungsjeT to make the necessary ink
marks on a piece OF contract paper short
of $500 per season.
Fancy a lawyer or doctor or a dentist.
/ his second year out of college, working
his six short months. resting throughout
winter. enjoying a free six weeks trip
10 q cougsHiaI climate in the spring.
and coming back the next year and de-
maud.ng $500 for six months more of
his service. RE would get it-Hot, and
several times not
Cobb'S Action a sample.
The instance of Ty Cobb is quite a fair
sample Of what the aspiring young athlete
expects. Tyrgs having led the league in
batting having been d star athlete and
having passed one season Of apprentice
ship iu the major league under a man
ager who had a peculiar faculty of bring
ing OUT C0hbs peculiar abilities. wants
all the money that a seasoned athlete
years Furthermore. he demands 5000
per year for three years, even though he
may be injured or sick and unable % de-
liver penuys worth u service 20 his
employers.
And all this because young Mr.. Cobb
made good the first year and led the
league ia batting
i 10 -.e
baseball and a member OF the executive
committee of tie National Association.
said few welI-direeted words az a re-
cent minor league meeting here. "The
young players down our way are in
structed % believe that their first few
years iH baseball serve as years Of ap-
premiership and give them a chance to
advance in their profession
The venerable Tim was about right.
But many OF the rising young PLAYERS
fan % accept this as good advice They
want the salary accorded a veteran about
the first season they manage % make
good In uo other profession can a young
man advance so rapidly as I'm baseball.
No other line of endeavCr gives one q
chance 10 make $500 OF 5000 the first
year after ne graduates. Any Of the pro-
fessions require a high school educa-
ti0n ana four years I'm college, while q
man learning To play baseball, IL he has
the major league stuff In him. can climb
to the big leagues I'm much less than
seven years spent with the minors,
May DO a. stone Did.
George Stone, of the st. Louis Ameri-
cans was one of the overambitious gen
tlemen i'm the money line, and last spring
announced with due ceremony that he
wasn't going TO sign because he was too
good for the sum Of money offered By
McAl-er and Hedges.
He held out until after the training
"trip and Joined the team without the GUS
t0mary workout Ia the South. He failed
to hit until the latter part Of the playing
season, when by a run Of batting he man
aged TO shove his average up TO the 800
mark. That same thing is liable to hap
pen with any youngster who goes like a
phenom the first year ont. Maybe he viii
not have the necessary ability 10 come
back the same way every season, and the
magnate who gets lis name to a three
year contract at a fat salary is taking a
long chance.
The annual crop of retiring tales is due
Dozens of ball players vtH hold out as
long as possible. then will hurry to sign
.at the last moment. Some Of them do it
for the purpose of getting more dollars.
some through pure "cussedness." and
some because they have a grievance
against their employers; while there Is q
faint suspicion that some do IL 20 see
their names in the sporting pages and TO
be cOaxed.
Nobody can blame the players for get
ting all the salary they can, but as a
general rule the magnates are as liberal
as conditions warrant. The remuneration
is almost always equal TO the service /
rendered. and is usually about twenty
times more than the same man could
earn in any other line Of endeavoT. Sell /
ing dry goods or cigars or even owning
a cigar stand isn't half so profitable as
picking off a few thousand IN the sum-
mer, enjoying a six weeks Southern
iaunt in the spring, and doing nothing
but fan" in the winter.
There's a lot Of these players who are
going to retire" who will be on the Job
when the bell rings, despite the fact that
they are sending back contracts and ask |
ing for a few more thousands as though /
it was a two-bit piece.
Crimson Dartmouth Track Meet.
Boston. Mass, Jan. 25-The Harvard /
Dartmouth track meet this year will /
come later in the season than usual. The /
date set is May 9, one week before the
Yale dual meet IT is expected that with !