The Washington herald., 1914-01-11
FEDERALS ATTACK
WEAKEST POINTS
President Gilmore Aims to
Recruit Players from
Tail-end Clubs.
RARE JUDGMENT SHOWN
New League Is Causing No End Of
Speculation Among Organized
Baseball Fraternities.
RARE JUDGMENT SHOWN

New York. Jan. 1o-James A Gilmore.
who jumped from the coal business in
Chicago to the presidency of the Federal
League. looms up today as one OF the
shrewdest persons that ever edged his
way into the baseball spotlight. and also
as one of the best little publicity getters
since Cleopatras press agent died.
Gilmore, although a novice In the base
ball world, has played rings around the
organized baseball crowd I'm the last few
weeks. He has outwitted. outguessed
them. He has forced the crowd TO recog-
nize the Federals as a real contender for
the baseball public's favor. and he has
gotten more publicity for his organiza-
tion in six weeks than a dozen ordinary
men could have created in six months.
And Gilmore isn't through. The organ
lied crowd Just now feel that he Is, but
We have a well-defned hunch that he has
a few more surprises up his sleeve and
when the proper time comes he'll extract
them from the region of his elbow, and
put them on public display.
After Big Stars.
Gilmore realizes that the success of the
Federsls depends very largely upon the
acquisition OF number OF major leaguers
Also he realizes that there is little chance
of coaxing players on teams that pay
high salaries and whose playing condi-
tons are satisfactory. He is not wasting
time sending out his missionaries to con-
vert players on the big major league
teams.
Gilmore is aiming his attack on the
weakest poihts-on Brooklyn. Cincinnati,
pay notoriously poor salaries, and work
ing conditions he e placed the players
in a mood to jump at the first attractive
offer. -.
For more than a week Gilmore's COM
missaries have been trying to lure away
players from the three teams mentioned
What success they have had so far is a
but Gilmore has promised that
in a week or ten days he will have IAN
Important announcement" to make. 1t is
quite likely that the announcement will
name a number of organized players who
have signed Federal contracts.
Gilmore realized when he took charge
Of the Federal League that one of the
biggest things needed was publicity for
the organization-publicity OF the kind
that would reach everybody in the coun-
try. He studied the situation, found the
newspaper scribblers generally skeptical
mapped out his plan Of campaign. GH-
more slipped out little tip that Tinker
was negotiating with the Federals.
Plenty of Advertising.
Just before the furor over the report
that Tinker would go over to the Federals
had ceased, Gilmore trotted out his little
that Tinker and Brown
bad signed TO manage Federal teams. In
three days the Federals got about $780,
700 worth of free advertising and every |
body in the country was on to the fact
hat there was going to be real opposition |
10 the organized crowd. |
Soon after IL was announced that Gil I
more had come to New York. This was |
by statements that he was |
N Chicago. Reports came from Balti- |
more that he WIS there. He also was re-
ported to be In Philadelphia In five |
lays Glmore's mysteriously disappear |
ance became as big a sensation as the |
Of Charlie Ross, a genera |
tion ago. r.s.s e.. 1
Finally he turned up in Chicago. He |
announced the make of the 1914 Federal |
League. nonchalantly said he would have !
AN important announcement" to make |
n a week or SO and then went into tenn
oorary seclusion. 4
There is much speculation over the im- 1
port of that announcement