Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-07-10

t1oHent OIL Lne QF1IC PTOOleIQ whereby
players of ability might be sure OF ad-
vancing in their profession AS far as
their ability would carry them>
Loyalty to the~home FANS was the
keynote of. most Of the oratory in
dulged in by the larger minors as a
reason for theft %objecting to the draft.
They preferred Independence to SORT
dom and asserted their inalienable
right to keep the good players they
develop and SO build up teams that
would class with the big leagues in
calber.
"a. Talk Pleases the Fans.
It listened >grandnoquently to the
patrons of the minor cities who did
not know that it was nothing but dried
peas rafting in al empty cocoanut
shell. It's a wonder the peas haven't
all turned to dust, the ruse has been
employed SO long to ballyhoo the home
folks in the smaller circuits.
The hackers and officials Of the
minor leagues do not object to having
their players dfafted into the major
ranks because they want to keep their
stars, but because they want to sell
them at their own. price. The lesser
leaguers repudiated the thought of
permitting a fair figure. to be fixed by
agreement for the drafting of a player.
if he could not be sold at a higher
pricei because they knew by expert
ence that if they tried to hold up the
majors too strongly. the big Gibbs
would abalk at being ,gouged and re-
sort to the chances of the draft to- OBJ
tain a desirable player whose club
owner would not listen to reason.
Major Teams Become Wary.
The result, of course, is that some
good players who might otherwise
| achieve renown on the big time CTR
, cult next season will be compelled to
stay under cover while longer, be-
cause major club owners will not risk
of trying out ' promising prospect
only to find out he won't do. In
which case the minors insist on re-
purchasing their gold bricks with
German marks. Such Experiences in
previous years have made the majors
wary of spending real coin on any ex-
cept prospects that are almost certain
to make. good.
Carried to the, limit, this policy of
the minors. WOULD make it difficult for
them to sign young players OF ability
land ambition. 1t Is tho desire OF every
youngster to play in the highest class
and If they find themselves liable to
be anchored in class AA, with no
chance to rise to the majors, they will
r 3 ol1y puI ~ Lie
leagues which permit their players ia
be drafted.
Cites Case Of BoIey.
A concrete case is that Of Shortstop
Boley Of the Baltimore club. The In
ternational league scorns the draft
and, knowing that, Boley refused ia
sign a Baltimore contract, LAST spring
unless he was given the assurance hh
would be sold to a big league club al
the end of the season. Now the ex-
changes indicatelthere is some Dues
ton whether or not the Baltimore clut
will keep it's promise to place Boley
on the market and sell his services to
the highest bidder unless the Orioles
win the pennant this year.
In explanation, it is said the Balti.
more owner. aspires to win four
straight pennants. 4 setting a new re
cord for the International league.
But how about Boley, who appar-
emily has the ability to shine in faster
company and get the highest reward
for his services? II Baltimore refus-
es to sell him he cannot enforce an
agreement which is not4recognized- by
baseball law. His alternative will be
to quit the game, causing baseball I'd
lose one Of the lpminariev which are
becoming scarcer every y4ar.S .
AT present, however, it lockA as II
Baltimore would, win its fourth pen
nant easily. and as II Boley would get
his opportunity II anybody needs a
shortstop badly enough to pay Jack
i punn,s figure. 80