The Washington herald., 1919-01-12
JOINT Session of Major
Leagues May Result in
Reforms In National
Pastime.

price of a ticket to New York will be b
in that city this week. and he'll prob I
ably get his moneys worth.
The Magnates' Social Club will hold I
the grandest get-together affair, be-
ginning Monday and ending Saturday. D
that has ever taken place in the his l
tory Of baseball. according to plans +
completed this week
The thing will be staged like a box
ing show. the star attraction. the g.
Joint meeting Of the American and .
National leagues. being put on last.
This Is scheduled for Thursday, Fri .
day and Saturday. and the moguIs
will-squabbIe twice daily. F:
Monday will be devoted to an informal
session for the exchange of ideas
Those ma gnates possessing the Ioudest
voice will exchange the most ideas .
On Tuesday the International League
VIII stage its Confab i'm the morning
and the National Association will hold
forth in the afternoon. Wednesday /
the oUt-Of-tCwn maEnates will view
the tall buildings in the morning
nothing being scheduled for that day
until afternoon. when the National
League will meet preliminary to the
JOINT gathering the following day
When the major leagues get togeth- /
asked to air their grievances. Several
Of the requests and demands already
made by these organizations. accord
lnS 10 President Heydlcr of the Ma
lional League. conflict sadly. and the
idea of the major league rnacnates is .
10 have the minors agree at their own
meetings on just what they desire. and
then put their requests before their
Older brothers by means Of an author 4
lzed committee
President HeydIcr believes that
something should be- done to aid the :
minors in their ftGht for existence. ,
hurhe does not believe in acquiescence
10 all their demands He is i'm favor
"i retaining the draft optional agree
ments and the tight Of the major .
league clubs 10 sign any player who
r. a free agent.
II We gave IN To the minor league
on all three points" he said, .where
would IN" big league club procure 3
and develop TALENT"
Ihe conferences which will bc held
''Nt week are expected to briuS about
changes Of radical nature in tho .
conpuct OF the national game. and are .
considered by baseball men through
vut the country to he the most i'm
portant series Of meetings since the
tional agreement was made.
The ruling made by the National
Commission to cover wartime draft Z
ing OF player has been revoked now .
that il appears likely that baseball
VIII he firmly on its feet i'm the COM I
ing season.
When II" retention Of players was !.
an uncertain thing. owing to calls ru )
the army and other wartime condi- !
lions. thu commission ruled that plav- :
tFS drafted need not necessarily bc !
paid for in cash. All that was neres- |
Sary was for the selecting club to I
nle IT'S TromissUry note with the sec
retary Of the commission for collection
IN case the player reported and re- /,
mained with the club for a period of I
twenty days.
This rule no longer applies. ex-f
cePt to players actually stin in the :
service
1t IS no secret that despite, the
high cost of living baseball salaries .
agarn will go down during the com (
ing. season. club owners assert
that salaries must come down to
where they were before the Federal
League started in the winter or
1S13-1914. 1t is their intention to
get as near to the 1912 payrolIs as .
is possible.
Club owners realize that II is the .
high salaries of stars that have so
inflated baseball values. and even
the stipends paid the stars are
bound to come down. Can YOU
imagine a player like Herzog. who
hit around 200 for two seasons,
getting $4,000 a year and bonuses
said club owner recently. why. )
At his best. Mathewson drew $4,000
a year"
In-1912 Russell Ford. Of the Yam
KEGS drew $500 a year and Hal
Chase drew $4,000 as manager and /.
first baseman. Ford then was con-
sideTed one of the highest salariad 4
pitchers in baseball He got much
more than any of the great pitching /
trio of the Athlctics-Bender Plank .
and Cooubs. CoOmbs' salary i'll |
Brooklyn. bt the way, was the same !
when n was winning pennants |.
for Mack. Some five or six years
ago Eddie Plank. of the Athletics, .
was holding out for $1,000 and Mack
was astOunded. He said he never
heard of such a thing. and talked of
the iugratitude Of Plank holding
out for such a figure after all Mack
LID done for him.
Il is significant that ball players [
nave not yet received their 1919 con- !
tracts. Outside of a few free agents !
picked up. the only men to sign new I
contracts this year are Benny Kauff
and Pat Moran, of the Giants. This I.
year the clubs were given until Feb .
ruary 1 to send out contracts. !
month later than the limit in former |
years.
The schedule of happenings for the |
week follows:
Monday, January 13-InfOrmal gath !
erings for exchange Of ideas.
Tuesday. January IA. NJ, meet !
ing of new international League; p. |.
NJ. meeting of National Association !
of Minor Leagues.
"Wednesday, January Injecting OF |
National League
Thursday. January la NJ, meet !
ing of American League; P. NJ, Joint
meeting OF National and American
Leagues.
Friday and Saturday. January Il !
and denomination of joint National /
and American League meeting and
consultations with National Assocfa-
tion.
The schedule of the National
League will be considered at the
Wednesday meeting, President Hev-
sllRr annpuncad