Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-07
BY J. ED GRILLO.

II it be true that Walter Johnson al
lowed himself to be Influenced in his
demand for an exorbitant salary by a
member Of some other team. as is re-
ported, that individual will probably be
laughing up his sleeve il Johnson de-
sides to return to his farm at Coffey-
Vile.
To make Johnson dissatisfied and
have him hold out would mean great
deal to some teams who fear to see
him on the slab against them, and it
would not be at all surprising II 1t
was a scheme to deprive the Nationals
of johnson that he was given such
exalted ideas Of the amount Of money
he ought to receive.
Report has 1t that Ty Cobb was the
fellow to tell Johnson what salary he
should draw from the local club. john
son has for several years been a
stumbling block for the Tigers. They
have beat him but seldom, and to have
him out Of the way would make things
easier for the Detroit team Methods
of this kind have been employed be-
fore.
There are several instances on record
where q rival club has made a player dis
satisfied SO that 1t could secure him in a
trade or have him out of the game for
while II Cobb is guilty Of instructing
Johnson as to the demands he should
make ne may have acted sincerely. but
incidentally he may have figured for the
benefit Of the Tigers and not Johnson.
When the effort to sign Johnson at At
lanta failed Clyde Milan was asked il
there was any chance Of Johnson leav-
ing the club and going home If he did
not get what he wanted Milan is john
sons best friend and room mate among
the players, and his reply was to the ef-
feet that he did not think there was a
chance for Johnson to leave the team.
though he thought he would hold out to
the very last minute in the hope of get
for johnson can hardly afford to throw
away $500 just to display the fact that
he can be stubborn. Some years ago a
pitcher of Johnson's ability could have
that time is past. for under organized
base ball clubs claim to a player is
absolute. There is no alternative for the
player. He must accept what the club is
willing to pay, and there are only rare
instances where a player is mistreated.
The fact Of the matter is that ball play
ers are the best paid men in the athletic
world. There has been constant in
crease Of the players salaries every year
for the past decade and they are still
going up.
Condition is going to cut a wide swath
during the first few weeks of the season.
for it is the teams which are in the best
fettle that will beat their stronger rivals
who lack condition. There are good rea-
sons for believing that McAleer will have
his team on edge FOR the opening. He
has been fortunate in being able to put
in many ticks while other teams were
idle. and this should tell in the early
games. For a team like the Nationals,
which has usually gotten of badly in
the spring. a winning streak at the start
would create a wonderful change in the
spirit OF the players and there is no
telling how great a difference it would
make in their showing on the whole.
The destruction of the local plant was
a fortunate accident in more ways than
take care Of more people on opening day
than ever before, but the team was
forced to remain at its training camp ten
days longer. and thus avoided lot Of
bad weather here, which would have kept