Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-12-22

The Dubuque Telecra0h Herald
prints the following comment upon
'Murphyism" in baseball:
Horse racing and prize fighting lost
their popularity in this country be-
cause the men who had most 70 GO in
from each branch of sport pcrmlt;cG
their greed for money to over-reach
reason. They killed the geese that
laid the golden eggs. Not content to
back their Informed judS1htn- against
the generally less accurate judgme:lt
of their patrons, and not satisfied vitE
the odds they invariably marked Up
in their own favor. book makers or
men who offer wagers on the result OF
races, bribed the drivers, or riders.
with the result that the heaviest back
ed horses, and the best horses, failed
TO finish among the winners. IEi5 Gis-
honest practice. continued through a
number of years on nearly every prom
inent race track in the countrv. soon
Slapped public faith Ii he integrity of
racing sponsors and interel- il rd"lng
died out. So with prize lighting. Ien
were willing to permit thei~ opponents
to win for a consideration, and the
evil of throwing fights was so wide
spread as to create doubt Of the fair
conduct of every match. That doubt
destroyed the popularity of prIza fight
ing and branded it so deeply with the
mark of dishonesty that manly--snd
moral-men who enjoy the sport. re-
fused to go to the defense of It, The
consequence is that true sportsmen
have no interest in the fate of prize
fighting and racing bills in the legi7'a.
lures of the several states because
they recognize that the most undesir-
able elements in every community ale
back of both sports Exception to his
statement is admitted in the case Of
harness horse racing.
Baseball is the most popular of
American sports principally because
the public has confidence that every
game is honestly played and decided
on the merits of the opposing -eams
Its popularity has made it a great rev.
enue producer, the profit on a National
or American league team for a season
ranging from $4,000 to $780, 900. The
opportunities for money-making have
attracted capital that is chiefly con-
cerned about dividends and but slight
" interested in the reputation Of the
sport. The game has been so capah!Y
and honestly managed that there have
been few scandals--only one of note.
and that many years ago. Boston and
Louisville were scheduled to play a
pennant deciding series in the former
city and betting men ambitious for
Boston's success. bribed Louisville's
players to let the Boston team win. !
After the series and the award of the
pennant to Boston, the president of Tie |
Louisville club, who was also the pub |
Usher of the Courier-Journal discover |
ed the deal and exposed it in his I
newspaper. The four players W ere /
expelled from baseball
situation recently arose which |
similarly threatened the integrity OF
baseball and its continued popularity. |
The Philadelphia National league fran.
chise was sold to syndicate of which
Charles F. Murphy. manager of the
Chicago club of the same league, was
said to be a member. Murphy repro
sents the interests of Charles P. Taft.
half brother of President Taft, and
Taft's interest is in>the money returns
and no more. President Johnson of the