Evening star., 1908-01-28
Will Probably Be Backed Up
by National League.
BAN JOHNSON WITH HIM
Minors Place National Commission
in Bad Light.
HERMANN MAY BE OUSTED
Lightweights Battle Tonight-Races
at New Orleans-Big Bowling
Tourny Started.

The controversy between President Pui-
Lam Of the National League and Pr"si-
dent Powers of the National Association
OF Minor Leagues is a very important al
fair although several writers have been
trying to make light of II. The contro-
veTSy IN nutshell IS that the major ana
minor leagues nave appointed the natohat
commission as their supreme court ana
the players also look To this body lor
their rights When the Tr-State League
was taken into the fold the national com
mission placed about twenty-thrte CON
tract jumpers under the ban ana sen
fenced them to stay in the Pennsylvania
organization forever. Since theh seNeia 81
of the players have presented good cases
10 the commission and have been reinstat-
cd
After one Of the recent reinstatemehts
President PuIliam ran against Manager
Eurb.n, Of th,. Newark team and the lat
Ter practically made fun of the commls,
sion!s ruling nasmuch as the minors had
:; blacklist which kept this payer from
signing a contract.
I,rcsEdor1 Pllliam is right when he says
~ what use is the commission u the
minor leagues Will not abide py our de-
cisions 1t Is all right for President 70"
,srS and Secretary Farrell 10 say 'hat
,here is no blacklist but every one AT all
.,ruua;nted with the base ball business
knows that ii is run unlike any other
business under the sun and that faprlcd-
ton is the long suit of many maSha.es.
IL may he that Mr. Puliam will get
satisfaction before the. spring meeting.
If not ne will attempt TO get an lnuoIss-
raent from the National League faiihs
in that he will resign. lie does not iiedse
thfs prosoect with any ifs. "ands or
butts IF everybody Is blind to TINS
wrong" saws the Kentucky coionei. i Is Is
time for me to get into something eise.
t,rNiam can count on the support of Bar
L. Drevfuss. his former employer, in any
reasonable protest and George DoveE OF
the Boston club probably Will slahd Win
Drcyfuss. Charley Ehbets OF the Brooh-
Ivu club thinks Puliam is right. ana IL Is
certain that Murphy Of Chicago VIII stich
!, tuIIiam Billy Shettslne of Philadet-
phia is friend of Pullam. and even Jotlh
e Brush will likely vote To make ful-
ans protest official. II looks as II Pul-
liam can easily get enough votes to sup
port him if personalities are obliterated
from the controversy
President Johnson is straddlinS the issue
lust at present. Johnson says he doesn |
care to interfere in what looks TO be a
personal matter. But it is believed. never
tneless. that Johnson will, as a MEMBER
of the national MISSION. ask Tor an eN-
PLANTATION or help Pulliam to do SO. Garry
Hermann chairman of the commission
IS on the other side of the fence, OF course
1tmay not generally be known that Herr
mann is not popular as ne once was
In fact il is said that Johnson had
planned to put the skids to Garry and to
ul!st him from the national commission
last month. but lacked tine heart 10 do II
after Hermann had banqueted him IN
Cincinnati on his last birthday. There
a riece Of news for the Cincinnati scrlbes-
The young bal player just breaking into
the league settled into his position In the
outfeld Ii was all strange and new 10
Iim-the big stands. the great CROWDS.
the famous players He felt nervous as
the heavy hitter Of the visiting teall
came 10 bat He saw the pitcher w'nd
+. up twist his legs together as though ne
were about TO fall then unite himself and
cut loose The youth noticed all this, Dut
even as ne wondered he heard the crack
OF the bat. And then he started 10 run.
The ground seemed to burn under him as
he sped along. Flying like some wee
speck was the ball. way above him He
had it Judged: he knew he had. He could
feel il with every breath as he ran. HOW
far he went he never really knew. lie
had started from the center of the right
field With one supreme effort he lurched
forward.
Smfut, The ball shot into his mitt
When lie turned he became half fright
ened \ wild roar filled his ears The
stands seemed to sway as the thousands
OF spectators shreked. danced and threw
their hats into the air. Slowly IL daWned
on him. and all this for him. lie
al J
manager say so as he came TO the bench.
''-raem kind count me boy; them KIND
count There were two on and two out
when he made that catch, and II would
have meant home run. 1uh saved IN
game. them kind count.
lie sat on the bench with his head in
vLirI The crowds were still shre5ing.
ard above the roar he could hear his own
Hame shouted Batter up, Snared the
umpire and tie realized it was his time
- hat lie didn't want To leave the
bench because the people in the stands
would Yell and Inc knew hat if he tried
10 act ratural they'd think him swelled.
tut lie pulled down his cap and started
VI tried TO pay no heed TO the shouting
"rd centered his gaze on the pitcher. He
could see every line the boxmans
face He noticed even little pirnpie at
The left Of his nose. He was nervous
fof there a man on third and he
had 70 bring him ir. And the pitcher
Kept saying things TO him. He had lis
tened Ia what this was saying and
result there were two strikes on
him lie was desperate. He snapped
ITS teeth and swoTe.
Yer fine hliukety- blink blank trying
70 hit me; yuh big. lemon said the
twirlcr. here. nit this 'un The youth
took a step forward. felt the steady swing
Of his perfect stick. and-tang. There
was a iHll and then another roar louder
far louder. than ever. lie was sprinting
mady to first. His head was clear now
and his whole body tineicd with Joy He
knew lie had caught one .'nn the nose :
AS nc turned second nc realized they
We're still chasing II. With a perfect
stride i" made second. and turned for
third The shortStop. ugly little
brute. tried 10 block him. lie gave him
the shoulder and sent him spinning In
tnittrcly he knew that ball was tielded
hut he kept OF toward third. He made
one mighty dash. dved-then stood up
and brushed the dirt from his shirt and
shook lis belt. Tie coacher spoke 10
him. but the roar Of the crowds made
u lmp"sslbi" for him 10 hear Yes he
was safe or third and the team was
ahead
And then. oh. then something iii him
on the head. Come ~ ya, m he
heard some one say. -, .o ,uuIr father
split some wood Since them there base
bah people wrote yeu that letter you.ya
been doing nothing but dream Idea =,
sleeping at : O'Clock IA tn morning.
u was his mother lie climbed YEARLY
out o. bed shve.ed q. lA.. snow-coy-
cred ground and poured some water from
cracked pitcher