The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-08-30
~ HARRY NELLY.

\ On Sept. 1 begins the hveiy scraiu
4 Bile for ball players In minor league
/, clubs not deemed worthy OF PURCHASE
Z but worth investing few nunureu
dollars In with the hope that they
might be of some use In the majors
In other words, on Sept j the uralt
ing season begins.
TO the man unacQuainted with the
lns and outs OF professional basebaii
/. and whose insight is confined TO
watching the teams play upon me
neld and words purchase" DRAFT
PRESERVE lists" etc. probably SOUND
little short OF slavery and the thought
OF selling an athlete Ike parrei %
Fat pork may be repulsive. A little
study OF the regulations governing tue
national pastime and what LOOKS IKE
semi-slavery turns out to be best LOT
al concerned.
Baseball Is founded on the principle
OF "the man who has tn emoney gets
the best-and pays the freight. be
fore the American league was formed
the National had everything It's own
way and the minor league magnate
rot a ry poor run for his money.
Today he is protected by the rules OF.
= well-organized association. Inc
man who owns a minor league CLUB
GETS every cent his young players are
worth and often more, while the ma
dor league magnate. In his anxiety 10
maintain pennant-winning cluD'
spends big percentage OF each sea
son's profits experimenting with young
players whom he purchases or drafts.
Purchasing a player consists In
entering upon an agreement with the
magnate for whom the desired one
works prior to Aug. 20. Purchased
players usually are secured to report
the next spring, although one OF the
most promising sometimes come
around when the leagues In which
they work are over. Lists OF pur-
chased players. together with agree
ments of sale. must be fled with the
national baseball commission on or
before Aug. 20.
The drafting system Is little more
complicated. 1t involves several con-
ditions and Ifs" not included In the
more simple forms of sale.
To begin with. leagues are divided
into i've classes, as follows: Majors.
consisting of American and National;
Glass A; Glass b, GLASS; c., and Class
ID. One often hears the statement:
such Uand Such league Is going to
be faster because its class has been
raised" All OF which Is pure bunk
and simple because the class or
league only shows how many people
live I'm the cities which compose the
circuit.
The theory OF classification is the
larger the cities the better baseball
they can afford because OF increased
attendance. Generally 1t works out,
although there are a few class B
leagues faster than some of the class
A organizations. Class A leagues con-
tain over 100000 population; Class B
from 400. 900 to 100000; Glass c, 200.-
90 to 100000; Glass ID. up to 100000
For the purpose OF recruiting, the
major leagues can draft from Sept. l
to Sept Is: Glass A, from Sept 10 to
Oct. L: Class B, from Oct. / to Oct.
is, Class @. from Oct 10 to Nov. j.
Each league going down the scale OF
importance. OF course, has to take
what the bigger ones have left. Draft
ing practically Is confined to major
and Class A leagues. Few Of the Class
b are sufhciently wealthy to build up
In this manner. preferrin gto take
chances with recruits OF their own.
There are two scales of prices. one
Tor the major league club and one
Tor the minor. The same old principle
OF the club with the money contribut-
ing more heavily than the poor brother
holds good In this instance. Major
league clubs pay per player as fol-
lows: Glass A, $1,000; Class b, $3.50;
Class G. $500: Glass ID. $3.50. Minor
league clubs for the same men pay:
Class b, $500: Class c. $500: Glass ID,
es0Uo.
The Class A leagues have become SO
strong In late years the major leagues
have been willing to make special con-
cessions Ia their facor. Only one
player can be taken from each Class A
league by draft. although any number
can be sold II the owner elects. The
one-man rule prevents few good ball
players from advancing in their pro-
fession but at the same time protects
the man who has his money invested
In . Glass A establishment and saves
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