Evening journal., 1910-09-26
BILLIES YET
HOLD FRANCHISE
Club Owners Deny That Club
Has Been Sold to Whining
ton Parties
TEAM MAY PLAY
In OLD TOWN AGAIN

Nearly every town on the Tri-State
circuit has sold the Williamsport base
/ ball franchise three times since Au-
( gust 1, says the Williamsport Sun.
/ The last sale was made in Scranton,
according to the reports, and Manager
Couglin is the grantor and Whining
ton the grantee. Manager Coughlin,
the alleged grantor, was not in Scran+
ton at the time of the sale, so he
knows nothing about it. Here in Will
Transport he stands by the members
of the board of directors in the state
ment that no sale has been made. He
further states that Williamsport fans
will have another chance to root in the
Tri-State league in 1911.
But the other Tri-State towns keep
on selling The rumor affords an ex-
cellent opportunity for moral lessons
and economic arguments such as these
gathered from the opinions of edi-
tors, sporting and otherwise, around
the circuit:
Harrisburg Star-Independent
If IL is true, as reported, that Will
Transport has sold her Tri-State fran
chise we are very sorry for Williams
port. We say If Williamsport' with
premeditation and intention; for the
baseball club was a town institution.
We are sorry for the lumber city on
that account. A few years ago its club
was treated as an asset. This year
it appears to have been regarded as a
liability.
"Williamsport was somewhat differ
ent from the other towns i'm the Tri-
State circuit in that its moneyed citi-
zens contributed literally to the sup
port of the club. They used to say
that a good baseball club was a stand
ing and we'll displayed next-to-read-
ing matter advertisement for the city
which It represented. When Will
Transport won the pennant that town
was so uppish that the whole state
wasn't big enough for IL to walk about
in Nobody blamed the town for that,
, for couple years ago the winning Of
} a Tri-State pennant was a thing to
! be proud of.
There were real players I'm the
league then. especially in the Will
Transport club, and some of them
we're paid real money unbeknownst
TO the management, OF course, for
there was a salary limit then, and f.
was never exceeded officially. That
is why so many big leaguers played
In the Tri-State-they didn't want to
to accept more than the bush league
salary. But when the league man
ayers threatened with fire and brim-
stone any club that paid more than a
certain salary, and the corner lot
players broke into the league and
gave weird exhibitions of what every
body knew was ball playing because
It was so labeled, and when Lancaster
took the pennant-then Williamsport
weakened. Williamsport seees moth
ing good in loser. II is a bad loser
itself. It is not like HarrisbufE at
all And so it has sold its Tri-State
B franchise to Wilmington, which form
1 erly was not so good a baseball town
D as Williamsport.
Z Does the selling of the franchise
D at Williamsport carry a lesson for
} any other city? Is a poor club an
) asset or a liability"
Harrisburg Patriot.
There is some talk of change in
the circuit by the dropping or trans
fer Of the Williamsport franchise to
b Wilmington but this will hardly be
made as the baseball public of Will
Transport is expected to be game
enough to respond strong enough
financially to keep baseball alive in
J that city. The meeting is going to
be an interesting one and promises to
be most important one for the
league"
York Dispatch
, "The question of fixing the circuit
; is another matter that greatly inter
ests fans and club owners alike. Will
H. L.
Manager bill" COughlin has announc-
ed, that the "Billport" franchise will
be transferred to Wilmington. This
is likely to be the only change
Johnstown, at one time rather un-
0 steady, has about decided to make an
other try and as the Delaware city is
anxious to break into the league
again there is little doubt now that
f they viii be accepted. This will re-
store the original Tri-State idea with
clubs in New Jersey Pennsylvania
and Delaware The proposition to
admit Scranton and Wilkesbarre has
fallen through because of the con-
! tinuance of the New York State
league. Had that organization dis
4 banded, as was intimated, tho Tri-
State would doubtless have gee made
: 10-elub circuit"
The first meeting of the Tri-State
league, at which plans for the 1911
season will be made, will be held at
the Hotel Columbus, Harrisburg, next
Thursday evening, according to an an
nouncement sent out 10 the various
directors by President Charles F.
Carpenter. Important business will
come before this session and il is
probable that a president will be cleo
, ted the 1911 circuit decided upon the
rules regarding the players and sal
aries definitely fixed.