Omaha daily bee., 1922-04-30

players INTO the fold before the sea-
son opencd. The boss Of the Indian
tribe. il will be remembered. signed
up all the worlds champions during
the winter of lo20-2l without
holdout. Col. Rupert OF the Yam
KEGS and President Stoneham Of the
Giants had one or two recaieitrants
apiece when the training trips started,
but the prolonged cases OF the hold
ont disease were in second division
teams as rule.
Coast Moguls Have Idea.
Out on the Pacific coast the base
ball promoters have adopted an old
idea in n slightly revised form which
might help reduce the number OF
dissatisfied players il il bcame more
general. That is bonus proposition,
whereby the sum OF $4,000 is TO be
distributed out OF the Pacific Coast
leagues treasury to members Of seven
OF the eight teams, on percentage
system graded according to where
said teams finish. This leaves out
only the tail-cnders.
For several years in the major
leagues the players of the teams fin
ishing first, second and third in each
circuit have been awarded percent.
age of the worlds series receipts, but
there has been no provision for sec
ond division outfits in the big show.
In both these cases. however. the
psychological effect on the players
who receive these cmoluments at the
end of their campaigns has not been
as beneficial as if the dough had come
out of the pockets of the individual
club owners directly. In the end, OF
course, that is where the money does
come from indirectly. The Pacific
coast club owner make up the purse
that is to be distributed next fall, and
in the major leagues the pool for the
players is extracted from the receipts
OF the worlds series before it ever
gets into the bankrolls of the mag
mates. But the athletes don't look at
it that way.
Brittons Had Bonus Plan.
Schuyler Britton, who had brief
career in baseball while pinch-hitting
for Mrs. Britton as boss of the Car
dinals, got good results from the
direct application Of the bonus sys-
tenn one.year. Then the St. Louis
club changed hands, and the bonus
plan was discontinued. 1t was SIM
pie. The Cards were offered con-
tracts with bonus of 10 per cent
for finishing fourth in the race, and
so on up, the additional coin to
come out of the club treasury. That
was before the worlds series money
was distributed to any except the
two competing teams.
Some combination OF that system
and the one adopted by the Coast
league ought to prove effective in
cutting down the roster of holdouts
At present the theory of the player
seems to be to demand a raise as
a reward for past performances. If
a bonus system is applied which will
automatically reward members OF
successful teams, that will help a
little.
New Form of Contract.
Suppose a new form of contract
were adopted. by which the players
signed for certain salary to be paid
them if their team finished eighth,
with a fixed percentage of increase
for each position attained higher
than last place. The men would be
made to feel they had received their
reward Of merit at the end Of. each
season, instead Of trying to get it
by holding out for blue sky salaries
the following year.
That would not help much in ex-
ceptional cases, such as that Of Dick
Kerr Of the White Sox, who held
out for more coin although his team
finished in the ruck last year. But
it would help in the general run OF
cases. In this connection | was
sorry to read that President Comis-
key still claimed to have charge of
White Sox affairs, for | had believed
the failure to meet the terms Of
man who saved the worlds series
of 1919 from total wreckage was the
fault of some one who cared more
for the coin than the sentiment Of
baseball.