New Britain herald., 1917-12-06
MAGNATES WARMING
 UP FOR MEETING
Plenty of Excitement Is the Fore
 cast of Coming Session

tional League meeting next week will be an old fashioned ripsnorter is be- coming obvious from the prelim- inaries. There is likely to be quite a little heated discussion over the pro- | posed eighteen player limit Hermann | may get into a jam with Tener for ' calling a joint meeting of the twa and Hickey of St. Louis and Weegh- man of the Cubs are sure to engage in a heated debate over the sensa- tional deal with which "Weeghy" in- tends to knock the boys out of their seats at next weeks battle royal.
 Hickey found occasion to bawl out Weeghman, in some pithy remarks. made in St. Louis yesterday. Hickey says Weeghman talks through his hat if he said that he, Hickey, offered to sell Rogers Hornsby internationally for $50,000. II never made Weegh- man any such proposition" said Hickey, land he has no business say ing I did. I am afraid he likes to talk for advertising. Perhaps it helps his business. If Weeghman wants 70
 
 Snyder or Gonzales, but I want both players and cash for either catcher's release"
 A storms>also is brewing over Garry Herrmann's plan to reduce to a war strength of eighteen players. De- spite the fact that President Tener of the National League has announced his opposition to the Hermann amendment and believes it to be for the best interests of his league to re- tain the twenty two player limit, both Hickey of St. Louis and Weeghman of Chicago announced yesterday that they were strongly in favor of the eighteen player reduction.
 Weeghman Backs Hermann. T am heartily in favor of Herr l mann's plan to cut the National League player limit to eighteen men 1 for next season." said Weeghman in heen won in the past with only | eighteen men, and it can be done , again That roster would give us six pitchers, three catchers, five in- felders and four outfielders. We got better work out of six pitchers last season than we did when we carried eight.''
 With three of the western members | Hermann, Weeghman and Rickev. 1 pledged for the eighteen player re- 1 duction, it looks as though Tener may have a hard task to impress his own views on his club owners. It is the l first time in which any serious dn- l agreement has arisen between 'Tener and his club owners. So far Tener and President Hempstead of he | Giants are the only National Leaguers who have taken strong stand for the retention of the present twenty-two player limit.
 1 As to that Chicago joint meeting of the two leagues on December 13 which again is mentioned in yester- days Chicago despatches as au as- 1 sured fact, Hermann has used poor l teamwork with Tener. The Governor 1 yesterday reiterated his remarks Of last Tuesday night that he knew noth- ing of such a meeting, adding that ] If the two leagues do hold a joint con- ference during the winter it will be nothing more than an informal dis cussion of baseball affairs.
 Hermann Opposes Tener. In many things Hermann is run-, ming in opposite directions from Tener. Tener is trying to see the bright side of next season; Hermann has been a ring-leader among the Calamity James. Hermann declared Johnson's suggestion on the excmp- don of eighteen players on each team "a good idea" which might prove a solution to the present baseball situ- ation. Tcner termed the suggestion as "abhorrent" and "the most unpa- triotic thing he ever heard of" Hermann is the originator of the eighteen player idea. Tener the strongest defender of the present limit Now Hermann announces a joint meeting of the two leagues, of which Tener has no knowledge. In passing it might be added that the present relations between the two leagues are rather strained, the strained relations anteceding the fric- ton engendered between the two league executives over Johnson's sug- gestion on exemptions. The leagues are far from being in accord over several questions which developed since the two leagues thought the suit of the Baltimore Feds directors had been squashed.