The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1922-10-17
By GEORGE CHADWICK
Special Correspondent OF The Accelerate
Copyright 1922, by The Age-Herald)
Accumulated PRESS

New York. October 16.--There are
six major league baseball owners
who are determined that the selling
of human flesh, designated on the
sporting pages as ballplayers, shall
cease during certain period of the
year. If 1t were TO cease altogether
1t would be the best thing that could
happen to baseball 1t is a practice
which is as soundly opposed to the
orthodox idea of personal liberty. as
foreign ship owners are to the
Daugherty dry ship ruling. Three OF
the six owners who object to buy
ing of pennants" during the season
are in the National league Three
are in the American league. There
Is likely to be fourth added in the
National league. and in time, a fifth.
The poor major league owners.
who have only niekels to the dollars
of some of their rivals, made up
their minds that they haven't much
hope of getting into a worlds Sc
ries under present laws OF baseball.
Not rules. but laws, the laws that
tell the clubs what they may and
may not do.
The poor owners are right. They
are beginning TO find themselves
They have discovered what a man
with a lot Of money and an instinct
to gambling can do when he gets
into q game where the principal
thing is to raise the other fellow out
of it. Exactly as in poker. the chap
who has the long purse has the bet
ter end of the bet. under present con-
ditions.
Getting Bali Players
The bet hinges on the securing Of
ball players. Ball players are Sc
cured when most needed by those
who are ready to bet high on the pos
sbility Of getting into worlds Sc
res. and they bet high by offering
thousands for available players
where the poor owner can offer only
paltry hundreds.
In 1919 the New York National
league club was battling the Cncn-
natis to win the championship. There
came a time when ii seemed to the
Giants manager that he could not
win with what he had. and he sug-
gested that the owner buy fresh ma
terial The plunge was made but
even with added strength the Giants
could not win.
They Finally Won
Again in 1890 the contents of the
exehequer were lavished upon the
land. II brought no championship,
but 1t made the pace too hot for some
Of the lothers. In 1921, success
crowpcd the spreading Of kale and in
1922 1t won another opportunity to
play for the grand stake. contemp-
toraneously with this method Of get
ting there, another club pursued the
same policy with much the same re-
suits.
Out where the 81 admissions do not
grow as thickly on the bushes as
they do in the east, some owners
were operating on the old half-fash-
toned doctrine and the good sporting
platform which called for matching
of wits against wits. They succeeded
after fashion, but their patrons OBJ
jected and asked whether the ma
tionai game was o simple question
like buying eggs and butter or really
was game in which personal skill
and personal mentality counted for
something against the Jingle of the
coin on the table.
The players wanted to know some
thing about it. They never had boon
consulted since baseball had driftcd
by easy stages into the selling OF
mans labor at auction, and, as more
and more of them went to the larger
colleges Of the country. their opin-
ions changed upon tbs right Of
company to hitch them up to 4 con-
tract that ran into perpetuity.
That Is the reason Why another
ball players union Is rea. at hand.