The Washington herald., 1908-01-05
JOHN McGRAW'S RISE
Leader of the Giants Started
at S15 a Week.
PIPE DREAMS OF YOUNGSTERS
Minor Leaguer's Demand of $4,000
Salary for IA starter Makes Scrap
by Manager miniscent, and lie
Tells of How He Got Only $1,000
When He Was with baltimore.

| New York. Jan At don't know what
has come over some Of these minor league
bail players" ohirped Johnny McGraw
yesterday after reading a letter from one
Of the Giants latest recruits. Here !
have word from a kid ball player, pitch
er from a remote league. and he demands
| salary of 3.Gl0 a season, or there will
De nothing doing ! mailed this chap a
contract calling for 81 200 and a promise
of raise II he comes up 20 expectations,
but he wants more than some of the
Old-timers are getting And. mind you,
this fellow didn't play in eleven games
last season.
1T is amusing how big these fellows
get when a New York club offers them
a job. 1t didn't use to be that way
When 1 first broke into the game / was
a kid. just as this fellow who demands
a big salary is now. l jumped out and
played with an all-American team down
around Florida. and was getting about
SIS week. We located in Gainesville,
and Cleveland came down there for prae-
tice. There was Pat Tebeau. Ralph John
son. Big Ed McKeOn. Chip McGarr, and
the other big men of the Cleveland team
They We're a bit raw then, having had
only a few days practice, while l was
as clipper as a kid could be at my age
We played EN- one afternoon, with Viau
in the box. and 1 tell you this Viau was
pitcher in those days But, of course,
he didn't have a seasoned arm, so he just
lobbed 'em up TO the plate. And maybe
didn't soak the horsehide. l got three
doubles and a single that day, and it
proved the start Of my career
Bidding for Services,
The papers were full Of the great
things / did, but no one was wise to the
fact that the pitcher was only Iobbing
EN- up. After a few days I was receiv-
ing kilograms from all over the country.
Some offered me SEQ a month. and that
looked Ike big money to me IN those
days. But I kept putting them of NTH
the Cedar Rapids club wired me an offer
Of Si25 I didn't even stop to take of
my uniform, but ran all the way to the
telegraph office to accept the offer. That
F'eN1 St-1L AAAi4SAttfi years ago
When I drifted TO Baltimore / re-
ceived only S1,9O0. and was only getting
$500 when We won the first remnant
Then they boosted me to S21O0 and
finally TO $500. And. mind you we
were winning pennants IN those DAYS
Why Keller never drew more than
$3.50 a year in Baltimore and al that
time he WAS the greatest ball player in
the businessman 10 think Of that kid
writing me 10 send him a contract for
5000
The year I managed the Baltimore
club my stipend was $500. and. let me
tell you. Johnny McGraw wouldn't step
out of the way for the President in those
days.
My first big pay was when I went to
St. Louis. / had a contract calling for
$3.50 when / took Robinson to the
Mound City. and it looked like a million
dollars TO me.
These young fellows make a great
mistake. They simply have exalted ideas
when they get an offer from a big league
club. We all had TO start at the bottom
or the ladder. And as soon as a young
bail player makes good he gets what is
coming 10 him Take Matthewson, for
Instance. When he came to New York
his contract called for only 81 200, but he
didn' t have to play for this small amount
long. Now he is the highest priced pitch
er IN the country, and he earns every
dollar that he gets. Yes. l played ball
for nearly eight years, that Is, In the
big leagues, before I passed the 5000
mark"