Evening star., 1922-12-10

'lcStllS.
The ma jor leagues may have some
''ernal affairs OF grave, Importance
adjust. jS:'ally thy have to run
YER the minutes of the previous
.eeting. match each other for dinner
luncheon and figure how they can
me out better than even at the end
'f September. 1t is quite true that to
~pme of them the task of thus tigur-
!Gs is severe tax on their brains.
i'-cause some OF them will have q
long way To go before they are within
ailing distance of striking a balance
" it'll anything on the credit side of
the ledger.
Many Parties in Base Ball.
Ease ball is developing almost as
!.iany parties as E.nglisn polit.cs. The
minor lea~'es hav" become aggreS-
i've infla tionistS The major leagues
are mostly deiia tioniSts. Then there
are the oppcrtunists. there also are
and the liberals. loud enough in
speech. but not SO vigorous in action.
They come together in the big melt
'nS pot. which is the minor league
meeting, and try to reconcile conflict
;ug interests. all of which. however.
Gave common purpoSe-the acqui-
Sition of dollars through the obtain
ing of presumably perfected physical
skill.
The minor leagues are infiationists
10 their present altitude. Practically
S'5.000 have been paid recently for
each of three ball players and $780,
"n0 for each of two ball players. and
other sums between $4,000 and S4o,-
QUO on several occasions within four
Iears. The minor leagues have not
obtained all Of this amount. but they
have gotten the most of 1t. They also
have a great d a: more that they have
received for ball players in smaller
sums.
Majors Have knOtty Problem.
The major leagues are the defiation-
lists, because they would like to see
these prices drop. but they don't ex-
:.ctly know how to get at ii. They
ant make any kind of combination
by which they can keep from out
bidding each Other. They are will
they transfer ball players back to the
minors. but point ruefully to the fact
hat while they can purchase promis-
'as youngsters for $4,000 from the
minors they can't release worn-out
id boys to the minors for much bet
ter than car fare.
The opportunists are those club
owners who are ready with just a
little more coin il it is necessary to
<" a little farther. They won't take
tir: opinion of the other fellow. The
liberals are the fellows who are ready
f"r anything. if they can get the
ether fellow to pay for it.
The less affluent clubs are limiting
nat it is tim TO put on brakes. and
rhe clubs with plenty insist that it
.s-ver is time to pu, - b "a rs u. n -
.lear track ahead. The big leagues
Will talk about some of these mat
:-rS.
Minors Getting All They Can.
\ condition OF anxiety. almost of
ear that the financial side of the pro-
fessional game is becoming too much
., .,xpanded is seiZing upon some of the ,
promoters and yet they are power
'ess, for the smaller circuits have the
bit between their teeth and those who
have thing to sell are taking ad-
vantage of conditions to get all they i
can.
In one way and another more than
a half million dollars has gone out
o the Pacific coast for ball players in
he last four years. There never has
peen anything like it in base ball. The
10000 which the Chicago club re-
ceived years ago for the transfer of
CIarkson and Kelly is a paltry sum
by comparison.
Base ball no longer is the quarter
cam. of the bleachers, but the mil
.ion-tlOllar stake + he promoters. and
that is the striking feature Of the
Immediate moment. In 1918, when
vase ball had been stopped by the war
ard there seemed to he no peace in
s!ght for perhaps two years or more.
The whole league could have Seen
b"ught for pennies as compared with
,,pIlars now.
Copyright. 1917