The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-10-19
PLAYERS TO GET
 BIG SALARY CUTS { BEFORE NEXT YEAR

No one likes to be under fire, but | some of the far-seeing baseball men are frank enough to admit that the criticism of certain features of the
 recent worlds championship games, while rather severe, will help to bring about some much-needed baseball re- forms. ,a-4 ;, ,i....g.. ,-.f A,si. ! For one thing, it is almost certain now that there will be general cut tting down of salaries this. winter. The lmercenary spirit the players showed Fin the worlds series, when they made kthinly yelled charges that the Ma
 tional Commission and the club own
 CTS were not giving them a square Ideal on the ticket sale, served to tcrystalixe sentiment for a reduction
 all along the line. It will be a hard fblow for the athletes, but it was sure tsto come. As one club owner put it yesterday:
 ''The ball players are letting money madness carry them away. Of course, they are in the game for money, but
 there was a time when they appear cd tp make it a secondary considera- ttion and showed some love for the ksport itself.
 "But big purses and big money in every department of the game, have Etended to ruin the spirit of the play CTS, just as 1t has got the best of some of the club owners. It has
 simply got to be stopped"
 1 Every one wants to see the players get their share. The players in the lworld's series probably thought they thad just complaint, but they chose "a bad time to make a complaint on }money matters when every move of ithe series was being closely watched Their charges left a bad odor to the lseries.
 1 But the incident merely served to tcrystalize sentiment. The club own Jers have been set on reducing
 salaries. They merely wanted an ex-
 cuse and the worlds series incident
 suf1ced to put the plan in motion. ! As a matter of fact baseball is in Ia condition that frequently exists in 1.-the stock market, it's values are high
 Fly inflated. Particularly the salary i1ists are too big. for while one or two lclubs In each league can make lmoney, the others must go on losing from. year to year. The magnates
 must squeeze some of the water out iof their stocks, as it were
 1 Baseball forsthe past year has been Etving down the evils created by the Federal league. In the two years tnght against the Feds club owners kwent far out of bounds in money mat 6ers. They were forced to create a
 1alse standard of values. They not boAly paid enormous salaries, but they lpaid too high prices for players, and ffhe whole scheme will have to be ad- k5usted before the game gets back to b normal setting.
 Most of the big contracts which kwere signed in the Federal league bdays expire this year and next Most kof them were for three years. It is |certain they will never be renewed k&or anything hear the present fig lures. One club has already planned Ito make a cut of 30 per cent in war ttime contpacts, while others will
 make similar reductions, no doubt There are a few ball players who kare worth $10,0o0 or $15.000 a year, Fbut you can count them on the Edingers of your two hands. To be Fworth that much player must have . strong enough personality to be a
 drawing card at the gate in addition to being a good player.