The Washington times., 1914-03-15

UNIVERSITY. Va. March 15.-Wfile
the ball p aver Of today is a rather
well paid man and receiving a much
larger compensation than his predeces-
sors of a decade ago. the public. as a
rule. has a rather wrong impression
as to the amount Of money gotten by
the men who perform In the major
leagues.
One Of the rather amusing traits in
sincere baseball fanatic Is his de-
termination to discuss salary matters
when, as q matter Of fact, he knows
practically nothing of the subject The
amount OF each man 5 wages Is mat
ter between the club and himself.
Impression, will pad the figures in the
announcement of the signing OF a
player to give the public the impress
sion that the owners are going 10 IIo
INIT in order to give the city the pest
there is in baseball.
leagues were at war this same policy
was followed in regard to the atte!io
ance and the practice OF poostins the
figures of the number OF people WIZ
the newspapers refused to receive the
count" After peace was restored IL
became evident that there was notn-
ing to be gained by these procee1as, =, >
and when they commenced TO ten e the
truth the papers again prlntea tto ne
figures as they were given. trusting 10
the management for accuracy.
The worst blow to attendance-paddln
came through the world s series. Ine
agreement calls for the ron-eno'iis
piayers to receive a certain snare oI
p' the receipts and in order to balance
il was necessary to be truthful IN tns
REPORTS. Up to that tine L was hoI ,
unusual to see reports say the.@ 80,
or more saw certain games. but ~heh
the set for the universal ti.,s W wa oso tSan
~. .OOn. This gave the owners tne Up
that il was ridiculous 20 expect the puD
:ic to swallow the false NUMBERS anu
now when figures are officially promul-
gated they may be accepted as migntJ
And the same policy has been fol
lowed TO q certain extent, in the sal
aries. Players who the PUBIC thliln
are getting enormous incomes from
their activities on the dia.i9nd ION sa,,t,a'Is t
ceiying but a small part OF the hctitious
figures, while many a supposedly cheap
PLAYER has considerably more IN MS
envelope each half month than some
of those who are rated higher In oase-
ball ability. <.-
The ball payer. rhe advent or the
Federal League, as a bidder for the SER
vices Of the brightest stars OF the game;
forced the regular msnagers TO eNteh1
salar es and while you hear much OF
the weakness OF the outlaws. there Is
not n club in either OF the EIajo. leagues
that has not been compelled To deal
more Hberal!y with their salary rolis
as a result Of the Fece-sl movement.
Should the Feds explode. the "eac.
ton will take place and the players
nav will drop back to the normal basis,
while ~ the out avs survive a season
or two the ORGANIZED baseball peop!e
will have to hold 20 the present mark
for self protection. That is why many
rnen in the big leagues are pull 'nS
hard for the success of Gilmore's plans
Fabulous salaries are said to be paid
certain of the managers. but Ban John
son Is our authority for the statement
that the average American League
player last year received about $500.
This. OF course. takes not considera-
tion the highest mark OF the greatest
stars AS well as the low stipend Of those
who arc just breaking into the select