Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1921-08-31
Hiring Baseball Players.
Rutland HeraId)

Newspapers are criticising quite
freely the course pursued by the man.
agements Of the Newport and ST.
Johnsbury baseball teams in hiring at
supposedly high rates of compensa-
ton outside players, including some
professionals of considerable reputa-
ton, to represent these towns-rivals
for the championship of Vermont on
the diamond. Excitement has been
at white heat in northeastern YER
mont all summer over baseball and a
fine article of the sport realized, not
only from these highly paid stars, but
from the home talent teams represent
ing Barton, Orleans, Island Pond and
Lyndonville. The critics of st. Johns
bury and 2 Newport predict that the
policy of putting so much money into
players will kill the game and bring
heavy loss to somebody.
This question of hiring outside
players is not new one, nor does it
apply exclusively to these particular
baseball team of any pretentions is
organized. Baseball exists on town
pride and town rivalry-good things
in their way if not carried too far. 1t
caters to home support for the fnan-
cial backing the game requires to car
ry it on, which is considerable, ordin-
arily, whatever the policy in respect
to hiring players. The home element
always demands. either a winning
team or one that makes a creditable
showing. And it wants to see good
ball played, too.
Few Vermont towns have enough
proficient players of their own to
make out a well-balanced team, with
a change of pitchers and substitutes
enough to take care of emergencies.
1t seldom happens that an exclusively
home team can be organized that will
satisfy the home demand in the two
respects mentioned. There is but one
thing to do in such cases-go outside
and hire-and it is done generally
so generally that town which set
its face against the practice and de-
pended solely on it's home players
would be unable to compete with rival
team that would produce a satisfying
game, and interest and attendance
would fade away.
On the other hand there is much to
be said against the practice of hiring
players. It leads to unlimited ex-
travagance and wrecks the financial
standing of any team that goes into
it with the sole idea of securing
enough stars at whatever price to de-
feat some other team or win a cham
pionship. It forms no measure of the
real baseball proficiency of a town,
but a test rather of the depth of some
body's pocketbook and shrewdness It
does not develop to any great extent
the baseball talent of a town. 1t
sours some fairly good home players
who see their places taken by outsid-
ers when they feel they should be re-
tanned. And in spite of the home feel
ing for winning team it offends the
sensibilities of many patrons who
would like to see local lads in the
home uniform instead Of strangers,
even if their playing were somewhat
Inferior
There are two views, and between
them the managers and men who put
in their time and usually some of
their money to promote the game, toss
abort intentionally. The American
instfnct-to win at almost any price
very often proves the stronger, and
the PLAYERS of reputation gather in
the shekels while the home lads
warm the bench.
The only remedy is to .1imit the