The Washington herald., 1914-03-31
FEDERALS CAUSE
ENORMOUS LOSS
Season Not Yet Under Way
Has Cost Magnates
Fortune.
KNABE VALUED HIGHLY
Invasion by Feds Has Already Taxed
Organized Baseball for
$I.0O0.000.
KNABE VALUED HIGHLY

New York March 3O-The raiding Fed
eral LeaGuers already have cost organ
lied baseball more than 81. .ooO 600. accord
ing to the best estimates at hand. And
the playing season still is six weeks
away.
This loss has been OCCasioned to or
ganized baseball through being forced to
pay increased salaries. under long con-
tracts. TO all players who remained loyal
and through the fact that every major
or minor leaguer who jumped to the
Feds meant a monetary loss.
II Otto Knabe. the second sacker, had
remained with the Phillies they could
have sold him at any time for something
like $1,000 Brennan. the PhiIlies pitcher.
would haye brought at least 1900. Rus
sell Ford. the Yankee twirler, could have
been sold by Frank Farrell to the Cleve-
land Maps or to any one OF several other
clubs for about $.O00. Cy FalkenbeTg, the
elongated Nap twirler. would have
brought around S7.O00. perhaps more. had
he been placed on sale. BlandinS and
KOhIer. the other Nap twirlers who
jumped to the Feds. would have brought
at least 81. 900 each.
Tinker.s value was fixed at $4,000:
George StovaTl. Mordecai Brown. Pitcher
Hendrix. Catcher Simon. and the others
who jumped from, the major league
ranks were valued at amounts ranging
from 5000 to 5000 or 5000 More than
forty players from the Glass AA or
have jumped to the Feds, and
each Of these. at conservative estimate.
has a cash value around SO0a.
Have Many Valuable Players.
Included in the ranks OF the Feds are
some players from the Glass A and Glass
B teams many of them diamonds in the
rough. that some day may have had a
value of $3.50 OF more.
President Gilmore. Of the Feds. states
that his organization already has cor
raled l42 players and that before the sea-
son opens he will have at least zoo play
ers lined up. OF this number. $50 will be
players that have been taken away from
orga anized baseball. Placing the average
value of each of these players at s2.Ooo-a
low estimate-it will be seen that organ
lied baseball has lost something like
$4,000 worth of players during the two
months Of Federal activity.
The other great loss suffered by the
organized baseball magnates is in the
high salaries they have had to pay their
men. not only for the coming season,
but for the next two and three seasons.
The Brooklyn club furnishes an excellent
example Of this.
Ebbcts Large Loser.
Charles T. Ebbets, the Dodgers owner,
was in Porto Rico when the news OF
Tinker's desert'on and the raids of the
Federals came to him. He jumped the
first boat for the United States and i'm
me !iately upon landing set out to lasso !
his players and tie them so that they
couldn't get loose.
Ebbets found many of his players very
roy about signing. Ebbets knew it was
4 case of paying the men the saIaries |
they demanded or leaving them open to |
Jump to the Feds. Ebbets didn't parley |
much. lie paid the men what they wanted |
and that m ans that he paid many of |
lem from 1900 to 5000 more than they |
got last year and just that much more |
han he would have paid them this year
Z II hadn't been for the activity OF the |
Feds
Not only did Ebbets sign up his men
'or one year, but he got their signatures /
or two and three years. He wanted Ed |
the big pitcher. to sign up for
i've years, but ID turned him down. It
s said that Ebbets even went so far as
o go to players who were under contract
or 1914, and thus immune from the Fed
.ral attacks for the present. and offered
hem contracts for 1915 and 1916 at in
reased salaries.
Ebbets admits that the signing up of |
lis players this year cost him between
50, 600 and $4,000 more than he expected
t would cost. Ebbets perhaps lost more
money this way than did the other six
cen magnates in the big leagues. be-
ause he had more players on the re-
erve list than did the others
These figures totaled together will show
hat the Joke Federal League has cost
he organized baseball people just about
Ialf of the combined Irofits they look
d for in 1914 And from all that can be
oticed just now. 1t looks as if the Feds
re going to cut into the attendance of
rganized baseball in 1914 in such a way
hat organized basebalrs vast profits of
he years gone by will be a thing of the
asst.