The Washington herald., 1915-12-28
SALARIES CAUSE
failure Of FEDS
Estimated $245,0OO Was
Spent Annually IN Inflated
Payrolls by Independents

New York. Dec. N.-There II an axiom
that in effect cautions Never butt into
another mans game" It carries q punch.
There Is another. There are tricks In
all trades" Collectively, they tell the
story Of the defeat Of the Federal League
and In telling the story of its downfall
they also foretell Of just how baseball
in the near future will be placed upon
more substantial financial basis than
ever, Of how period Of retrenchment
will make q recurrence Of the devasting
war just ended almost impossible-im-
possible for years to como at any rate.
In an accompanying box Ii shown how
the Federal League was compelled to
raise salaries to entice players of some
prominence to jump from organized base
balls ranks. 1t shows that In the case
Of seven players contracts were increased
by $4,000 The men behind the Federal
League were business men. but they
were not baseball men. Had they been
baseball men they would have realized
that paying such salaries sealed their
doom from the outset. unless II were
possible to batter down the ramparts of
organized baseball In a fight Of COM
paratively short duration.
Failing to accomplish this. there was
but one avenue Of escape left. and 1t was
wide enough to afford room for but a
few OF those interested to pass through.
In suing for peace 1t was apparent from
the outset that all Of those interested
in the Federal League could not be taken
care Of by organized baseball Some
would have to be sacrificed. Those who
held the sceptre Of power were In a posi-
tion to dictate. They were In a position
to retrieve to an extent what they had
sunk in the venture.
II they could not buy their way into or
ganized baseball they intended to with
draw from baseball. Either meant the
collapse Of the Federal League.
Salaries Helped.
Inflated salaries helped more than any
thing else to send the Federal League
skidding down the rails to defeat, and
in spite Of liberal sprinkling Of the
tracks with money the downward glide
could not be stopped.
In the respect OF salaries. the Federal
League entered the field at an inoppor-
tune time. When II was launched club
owners were paying well for the serv-
ices Of star players. They were paying
just about as much as their business
judgment would permit. To get players
of standing the Feds had to shower
money on them.
They persuaded something like seventy
five or eighty players to exercise ten
day clauses and jump reserve clauses
and contracts. To accomplish this II has
been figured that in the majority Of cases
salaries were doubled. Allowing that the
average salary Of these players in Or
ganized baseball was $500 this meant
that the average was raised to 5000 and
figuring on seventy-five players this
meant an outlay of 81. .000 a year.
Baseball men would have appreciated |
that II was impossible to pay any such
and EXPECT to earn even a nifty
fifty split on expenses. but not so with
the Feds. They saw only the big money ]
taken in at the world series games. They |
did not appreciate that all clubs cannot |
be winners and that the losers face many
lean days from the middle to the end Of
each season. but that whether lean or
bountiful days are the order salaries |
must be paid Just the same.
And II Is on the salaries that the club |
owners will begin. work with the expira- /
tion of each of the high-salaried agree
ments now outstanding. Just as soon as
the last OF these has been paid the aver
age wage of the player will be cut ma
The stars. Of course, will con-
tinue to be paid well. This Is bound to f,
be true as long as there is competition |
among the major league clubs for the
services of star players. But they won't |
be paid as they have been for the last |
two years. |