The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-01-05
IF / T. S II E. r E
IT'S RIGHT
MAJORS PLAN TO
FIGHT MINORS
Should Chicago Be Invaded
War Will Be Carried TO
Other Cities.

Chicago, Jan. National league
magnates have outlined a war of re-
prisal against the American association
If the minor leaguers make good their
threat Of invading Chicago. The lead
ers of the big league have been plan
mng methods of combating the associa-
ton for some time and have decided. it
is SAID, to put teams in the cities of the
american association ard fight the as
plrlng minors to d standstiH.
catcher Johnny Killing of the Cubs
made the scheme public. telling friends
IN Kansas City that the association will
nave battle royal OF its hands if il
undertakes to go through with its
scheme to put team in Chicago with
out the unanimous consent Of the Ma
tional and American league magnates.
Inc plan as outlined by King is the
forming of another minor league. Teams
will be capitalized with the powers OF
The National league and placed I'm the
best towns of the association. Column
bus, Toledo, Kansas City and Mime
apolis have been mentioned as slated for
teams in the counter invasion plan.
Boon to Players.
The invasion of Chicago by the Amer
lean association and the big baseball
war which is bound to result will be a
great boon 70 the players. It will mean
big increases i'm salaries, as the two
factions will make desperate efforts To-
outbid each other for the big stars of
the diamond. With practically all Of
the National association clubs banded
together with the American association
in gigantic fight to gain equal rights
with the major leagues, the thirty or
more clubs on the association side will
be able to command enough capital TO
give the big leaguers the hardest kind
of an argument i'm the bidding for play
erS. 1t will mean excessive salaries.
contract jumping and all the money
extracting situations which graced the
war between the National and American
leagues.
War Time Salaries.
OF course, the players are viewing
the prospect of a war with relish. Since
the last war times most Of the players
have sustained big salary cuts and they
are pleasantly anticipating the in
creases which are sure to come in an
other war. Some of the players have
long contracts, dating from the first
year of the recent war, but practically
all of these contracts have expired. La
joie is about the only big league star
left who is drawing a wartime salary.
Bobby Wallace's $4,000 contract eX-
pired last fall and the coming war may
give the Brown shortstOp an opportu-
nifty to hold his club up for another
such agreement.
That the American association viii
make a determined effort to get some
of the major league cracks into its or
ganization may be assumed as certain.
and there are any number of men in
the big leagues, who, dissatisfied and
disgruntled with their salaries and 9TH
er conditions, will jump at the chance
TO bolt for more money.
Longer the Struggle the Better.
With 'the war once under full head
way, the players will be able to COM
mand not only a high salary contract
for one year. but will be able TO hold
up the magnates for long contracts
such as the American league clubs gave
the men it enticed from the National
league few years ago.
The longer the war lasts the better it
will be for the players. Years of war
will bring years of big salaries. There
will be no kick from the players. In
fact. if any of the men who are the real
attractions of the great game are given
an opportunity to boost the war along
they are sure to do 1t. They know full
well that they are the men whose do
ings enrich the magnates from year to
year. and will not be one bit aVerse to
a move which will cut down the clubs
dividends to their own profit