Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-07-21

ers' Fraternity, has passed along tn
word that If the National Commits
sion does not aecede to its demands
in the case of Clarence Kraft tn,
players will go on a strike-go or
strike Wednesday That. in a word
is the ultimatum of the Players Fra
ternity. The men have taken bold
stand and they may be in for LONG
battle. It looks that way.
@
The National Commission is evil
IDENTIFY more conservative and it is
playing a waiting gamer The COM
mission hasn't gone on record as
to what it will do, but Ban Johnson
president. of the American League
and also a member of the National
Commission, declares that If the play
ers want to go on strike let them
President Johnson also says that if
the players do go on strike that every
park in the American League will
close its gates. That is strong state
ment, but it comes from a strong
man. Johnson has never been found
bluffing yet, and President Fultz, of
the fraternity, is said to be stickler
and a gamester, SO we may expect a
war-a good old baseball war.
@
Baseball is a business and it must
be conducted by business men. The
National Commission is the highest
court in baseball and its decisions
must be obeyed. In the Kraft case
the commission has decided that the
player must go to Nashville. The fra
ternity has stepped in and interfered
with the decision and declares that
the player will not go to Nashville.
This is only one case in point. Others
will follow. To maintain it's power in
baseball, the National Commission
cannot well afford to lose. In fact,
victory for the players would be about
the worst thing that could happen to
them. 1t would then be a case IL the
players are to run the game they viii
have to pay the "fiddler." Just at
present the Fiddler" is a very expen-
sive gentleman.
G
A strike on the part of the players
will mean their defeat and their ruin.
1t will mean that the big leagues will
declare all contracts null and void,
and it will also mean that the salaries
of ball players will take a big tumble.
This year the losses are tremendous,
and there is small hope for next year.
The Feds have hurt lot, but the tre-
mendous salaries of the ball players
have a lot to do with 1t. A strike, as
the players propose, will ruin them
The magnates, from all
accounts, would like nothing better.
1t would allow the big moguls to get
away with a lot of high-priced men.
Later on, they may do business with
the Feds, and then the players would
be in the hole entirely. 1t takes
money to run baseball, but by their
strike action the players are only
the money men out of it.
@
The Grand Criterion has the cyclists
guessing and the fans guessing, and
everybody seems to be talking about
the big race. The semi-finals tomor-
row night are sure to be interesting,
and there will be a mad scramble to
get in the final. The heats have been
so arranged that it looks as if Kra-
mer, Rutt and Goullet would reach
the final. On strict form that is the
way the semi-final heats should turn
out. However, there is many a slip,
and, until the semi-fnals are over
there no good reason to be cocksure
about any of the results.
o
The evolution of the Grand Cri-
terion is shown in the accompanying
diagram at the head Of this column.
In it Kramer, Rutt and Goullet are
shown as likely winners of the semi
finals, and Kramer is the selection
for the final. By this evolution Clark,
Cavanagh, Lawson, Grenda, Moretti
and Fogler get into the Omnium, and
Clark, Cavanagh and Grenda work
their way into the final, with Clark
the winner, on paper Then comes
the struggle between the Grand Cri-
terion winner and the Omnium win
ner, which, from this distance, looks
like Kramer and Clark. 1t is some
race to talk about, and while it looks
not so difficult on paper, upsets may
be plentiful, as was the case in that
other big race, when Rutt and Clark
were shut out of the final
G
Providing Goullet beats Clark in the
semi final of the Grand Criterion,
Clark will hare a chance to show
himself in the Omnium Stakes, which
is a consolation race for those who
failed in the big event. This race
will have qualifying heats, a repe-
chage heat and final heat. and the
winner will come right back into the
limelight by meeting the winner OF
the Criterion in an individual mattel
race next Sunday. The big money
however, will go to the winner of the
Grand Criterion. but the winner Of
the omnium will get $50, and if h,
should beat the Criterion winner h,
would get 800 more. Thus there is &
great incentive to keep on trying
for there is money in it at the end
Goullets chances of winning tbs
American championship are very ros,
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