Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1910-08-10
THE WORLD OF SPORTS
CLASSY Ball Play
ers in Demand

Probably few seasons have been as
unproductive of good young players as
the one through which we are now
passing Scouts have been using fine
combs and microscopes on all the high
grass leagues and in the semiprofes-
sional ranks. but their discoveries of
men appraised as good enough for the
majors have been at a minimum.
Scouts are not paying much atten-
ton 10 the class A leagues, because
many of the players in these organi-
cations are has beens," who could not
again caper up to the big league pace
And so they are devoting most of
their attention to leagues of lower rank
though with little success.
There is more OF a chance of OBJ
tanning valuable material in towns
where the only calcium light of fame
or note is the blazing sun, the ad-
vance men figure. They realize that
in the American association and East
ern league are to be found baseballers
capable of holding up their end in the
majors. but one big problem prevents
their migration to the ranks of good
salaries and good baseball. That prob
lem is the fans" The class A leagues
as becomes organizations of smaller
invested capital, have to cater to the
box office more than do the majors
They have to keep more in touch with
the whims and caprices of the follow
ers of their ball clubs.
What would ST Paul fans" say to
the sale of Murray. the clubs leading
sticker and all around valuable man.
now that st. Paul has a chance for
the pennant? They would say plente-
Gus things about mismanagement and
greed of gold. and would end up by
staying away from the ball park. Let
a thousand of them do this and the
club treasury would contain a me-
dunn sized dent. OF course st. Paul
or any other of the four American as
ISOLATION clubs possessing players of
caliber wouldn't have to worry about
the action of these fans" did they re-
ceive enough money for their salable
material. But therein lies the hitch.
Big league magnates will not say
the enormous prices which would be
surely set on likely men at this time
of the year. They will gladly stand
for a slight imitation OF values, but
there's a limit to everything More
over, there's too much of a chance
connected with the payment of big
sums.
"Rube" Marquard cost the Giant
club somewhere about $1,000. The
Cleveland boy has been with McGraw
two full seasons now, and has not yet
shown that the risking OF such a big
amount on him has been justified. CO.
miskey paid well up in the thousands
for Russell Blackburne, but the won
der Of Providence has proved a very
mediocre performer at Chicago.
Cleveland or any other American
league club would not overlook a
chance to get Josh Clarke, Tom Raj
terry or Davy Altizer, but how's the
thing going to be accomplished except
at the risk of entirely too much money?
The above is evidence that the fam
plays a very big part in this game of
baseball Rightly greedy, he consid-
ers the good players his property in a
way and will not remove himself from
the latter's path of advancement until
what he believes the proper time comes.
Consequently the big league scouts
have to HE themselves to unknown re-
gions. where the followers of base
ball deem it an honor to have their
players signed up by the majors. And
in these spots of the country the scouts
are net doing very we'll