The Washington herald., 1914-03-22
FEDS To HURT
GATE RECEIPTS
Box Offices Of Organized
Baseball VIII Feel Effects
Of Third League.
OUTLAWS ARE NO JOKE
Two Twelve-club Circuits Would Be
More Profitable to ALI
Concerned.
sprei.i to Ths w..hington Herald.

sprci.i to Ths wa<hington Herald
New York. March Ain the not too
dim and distant future-unless the pres
ent dope Is wrong-organized baseball
will clutch the heckiing Federal League
to Its bosom and peace will reign again
in the land And. unless the signs point
wrongly. the consolidation will result in
the formation Of two twelve club leagues,
the American League absorbing four Of the
Federal League clubs. and the National
League tacking on to its circuit the other
four.
Looking at It from any angle YOU wish.
II seems that the ending OF war. no mat
ter what the compromise will cost every
one involved. viii be for the best inter-
ests Of the magnates And because the
Federal League will insist that its clubs
retain major league status and because
the organized baseball persons now main
tain there IL not room for three major
league organizations, the difficulty win be
overcome by forming two twelve club
leagues
disastrous financial season faces
most OF the organized major league clubs
this season. and IL Is possible that the
dry spell. as far as income is concerned,
viii continue for two or three seasons.
All this Is the result of the activity Of
the Federals. The Eeds. in their fight
for players. forced the organized clubs
to boost salaries to the highest notch in
history-to point where II seemed al
most ruinous. But the organized people,
facing the alternative Of having their
clubs wrecked by the invading Feds. or
Of making their pay rolls top-heavy in
the extreme, chose the latter and wisest
course.
VIII Split Patronage.
The existence of the Feds this vear In
some Of the cities that had to go the
limit to hold their players viii cause a
splitting OF patronage. and. of course.
viii reduce the income OF the organized
clubs affected. Other organized clubs
whose cities were not invaded by the
outlaws with a franchise will feel the
effect. through the fact that the Feds
grabbed on some of theiI stars. The
Philadelphia Nationals Is a sample. The
Feds shared Knabe, Doolan. Seaton.
Brennan. and also lay claim to KilIifer.
No club can lose five of its best play
ers and not feel the effect
The Feds also raided the Class "A
teams of organized baseball and did 1t 50
effectually that they almost have
wrecked some of the clubs. This has
caused the Class "A clubs to shrek for
help from the organized majors, and the
organized majors are bound. under the
ruling of the national agreement, to do
something to protect the minors.
It's almost time for the organized mo-
guls to cease their foolish shouts that
the Federals are a joke" They aren't
and no one knows 1t better than do the
organized people When any new base
ball organization can rise up and in three
months time wheedle away from organ
lied baseball sixty players of major
league caliber-one-sixth of the strength
Of the organized majors-it's no laughing
matter.
Strong in 1915.
The Feds will open the season and
they will finish the season and be pre-
Jared to reopen in Island with a
stronger lineup than they have at pres
ent. That's just about as safe a bet as
any one can make The Federal mag
0el.0oo in players. stands grounds and
equipment and it's a cinch when any
one is so deeply involved In a venture
that there will be no backing out
The Feds refused to sign up any play
ers who were under contract this spring,
although many of the contracted organ
lied players. dissatisfied. begged for a
job in the Federal ranks Many other
organized players held only by the re-
serve clause. decided to stick to their
old clubs, because they were a bit skep-
teal about the Feds and their bank rolls.
But at the end of the 1914 season, when
they have discovered that the Feds
weathered the storm. those players will
be falling over themselves in their efforts
to sign up with the Feds, provided. of
course, that the Feds continue their
policy of outbidding the organized base
ball people.
The Federals have the power to prac-
tically wreck the minor leagues at the
close Of the 1914 season, and it's a Ger
tainty that IL organized baseball doesn't
make peace overtures they will proceed
to do 80. The minor leaguers make their
profits not through gate receipts, but
through selling their stars to the major
leaguers. In this way some Of the Class
AA teams have cleaned up from s25.eoo
to 10000 a year.
Minors VIII Pront.
But at the end Of the 1914 season, IT'S
a certainty that the Feds will offer the
star minor leaguers a mighty husky look
ing salary. The Feds don't have to pay
for a player that they get from thu
minors The organized majors do. No
CONTINUED on PAGE TWO.
BALTIMORE QUNT