The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-07-13
BasebalI's Downs and Jrns
yin A. Goewey, in LesIie's.

Edwin A. Goewey, in Leslie's
 hasepali, like every other business. pro-
 iession or industry, throughout the lepptb ana breadth of the land, suffered ha ships, setDackS and financial losses ha l ea"se or the war which called the H,,na'
 piuii and beat them in the showdown. l lniS season the work of retrenchnent ana reconstruction has begun. Most plav-
 CTS nave been compelled to submit to sal
 aiy eu.s wn'ch reduced their stipends to
 pasis falr alike to men and clubs. the ! numper or players allowed to each team mas been reduced. and other reforms are l m process of being carried out The re- | iSrihs are not in the line of penurious- | ness, but conform to a scheme to make pay or the men on the field reasonable and al the same time yield a profit to the
 team owners, something which many of
 them have not enjoyed in years
 Among other things which today make the burdens of the club ''magnates" gen. uinely heavy are the high cost of food
 and lodging for the players, the tremen l ucus tax which the late Congress placed | OH all sporting goods, down to the 5-cent | pail or the small boy, the ever-increasina
 railroad rates, and the ruling of the rail-
 road administration that bats, balls and uniforms cannot be carried as part of the players baggage, but must be transported at baggage rates plus a war tax About the only things on which the team owners have not shaved costs to date are the prices paid for star players and for club franchises. But no matter what retrenchments are made let the players and fans remember that the former are a
 thousand times better off than were those
 Who made the present existence of the
 sport possible
 Let us pause and study the difference
 between the modern worlds championship figures of ha fisSf oria In 1884 The banner year of recent times was 1912, when the Giants and Red Sox staged series of eight games, one of which was an 11-inning tie; five of the contests being played in Boston and three in New York The total attendance at those games was 51 SOL the total receipts Sf90, ,449; the players share $147,572. B: the clubs rakeoff $293,S .s2, and that of the national commission. $49, ,044. 90 The next best year was 1917. when the attendance was 186 ,654 and the receipts $425, ,S7S. and the contesting teams were the Cubs and Giants in six-game series. The players receive their share from the first four games of each series, and as the paid admissions to the first four games of the series of 1916 and 1917 were higher than at the first four games of 1912, their ''divvy" 1 vas correspondingly better. In 1916 the l players received $162. .927. .45 and $152>SsS .5s |
 in 1917
 The HTst Woriu s chdmplOnSnip series, played in 1SS4 was between the Providence 1 team and the Metropolitans of New York 1 There were three games. all played on the | grounds of the latter, but Providence won 1 all three clashes and the championship by | scores of so, 3-1 and 11-2. The champs the National league and the defeated team the. American association. Int records do not give the attendance figures of that series, ,b1t the players of the two clubs. on share-and-share- alike basis, received exactly $7S each Sc me difference.
 The question of salaries also offers some | startling comparisons. In the early days | the club which had salary roll of $2S,- II DO was the exception, rather than the | rule, and the stipends of some of the old | stars wouldn't pay for the clothing of he diamond hero of today, when teams with 900 pay rolls are not so unusual IS to cause comment