The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-12-23
TRADING MAY SOON
BECOME OBSOLETE
Magnates Have Been Hold.
ing Fast to Their Property
Catch Young Players.

Trading big league ball players soon
Will be ranked with the obsolete cus-
toms judging by the in which
tho magnatcs have been holding fast
to their property lately.
There used t" be a time when it
WAS almost as easy for tho owners to
swap players as it is for certain men,
hers of the four hundred to exchange
wives, Almost every league meeting
resulted in a change Of scene for some
we'll known athlete. Nowadays things
are different and if there is one trade
In twelve months the market is con-
sidered brisk.
The reason for this now state of af-
fairs Is not hard to ind. The employ
m"nt of Il large corps of scouts by
ing percentage of magnatcs who reall;'
know the good n bad points Of a
PLAYER when they see them has re-
suited in the spread of SO much knowi-
edge concerning the performers that
there is little chance Of quitting somc-
thing over" on q rival club.
Magnatc Brown. for instance, coyets
Player Smith. who is owned by Mag
nate Jones. Tie offers PLAYER Robinson
il submits a list of that PERSONS
virtues to Magnate Jones. Naturally
he neglects to mention that Robinson
is a chronic Crouch" and that he
sometimes looks on the becr when it
is amber.
Magnatc Jones listens nttentivcly to
the enumeration Of 1%iohinson's good
points and then refers tn his mental
II" so anxious to- dispose of his para
gon. He finds tina Mr.. Robinson has
such interesting marks az 'hooz hoist
er." crab" couldn't hit a southpaw
with a shovel after his name and
politely declines to do business.
Perhaps Robinson is Il new player
who hasn't done enough work in the
majors to enable everybody to get a
line OH him. In this case Jones calls
in one of his scouts and asks wig
Robinson should he put on the mar.
kct.
II looked over tina, fellow in Hanni-
bal last season" replies the scout.
and passed him up after seeing him
bat against two lcft.handers without
getting a. foul. In addition to this, l
saw him drink enough b"cr to supply
a German metropolis tor a month";"
There you have it. The value Of al
most every man in playing baseball in
= circuits today is fixed. He has Ger.
tain known good points and certain
bad ones. and there is little use tryins
TO palm him off OH a wise" magnatc
or manager.
Select n player o are to name
VIZ tSh ANdSII dOOul lIUI IL
YOU want to test this theory. It's IA
90 TO | shot that the Detroit magnatc
can tell you things about this pas
inner which the man himself doesn't
oven know. Try to tout a player to
Frank who has some conspicuous
people Know. Probably tho Tigers
boss not only will tell you about the
flaw YOU had in mind. but about some
others that you hadn't even suspected.
Of course: tho magnates and scouts
make mistakes. Some Of the greatest
turned down as w%orthless. Tyrus
south was released outright as in
competent. and another time n club
refused to pay $50 for his release.
Tvs first experience as a holdout was
the result OF a clubs refusing to re-
ward him with the munif1cent sum of
800 a month.
Clyde Milan. by many critics con-
sidcred the best defensiv" outfielder in
baseball. came within an ace Of being
shnntcd out OF the American league.
Washington was all ready to pass him
UP and secured waivers from six clubs.
Then Cleveland put in a claim and the
Nationals decided to take another
look.
However. the serious mista kes in
Judgment usually arise in the obscure
minor leagues. by the time q mar
has risen to the proud estate Of call
ina himself a member OF the big cir
cults. there usually is little left un-
learned about his faults.
Trading In future is likely to be
more the result of a player's OUTLYING
his usefulness in one town and need
inG 81 change Of scene than Of any
thing else. There arc many cases
wherein a tosscr stays In n place so
long that the fans are tired of him
and lie loses interest in his work. 1t
is a good idea to dispose of this sort
Of a fellow. and because he plays
good ball In the new surroundings the
club which let him go is not ncces-
slrily "shown up"
meeting in Chicago. some Of the trad
ing talk was ridiculous. One man.
ger Informed his owner that such
aud such n player was needed AMI
asked that an effort be made to Sc
cure him. There was about as much
chance to get the man in question rs
there Is OF clecting Jack Johnson
president. To part with tho star would
bring down upon the heads OF his
present owners n storm Of criticism
thai would mean the loss OF thousands |
of dollars In patronage next year.
The acquisition of proved ball play
"rs by purchase is about as hard AZ
~" trahi"" method. Nobody who has
rood athletes now Is willing I" soil at
"uv price. if II man with half Il mil. |
lion 4" spend should try to buy
"r"vri, STARE I" p-v,,re ''n-nlf ~ I'll
nrSt division berth ncM Year, he prob. |