Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-02
SELDOM PLAY
CAMELIMITIN
WORLD SERIES
Number of Contests Makes
Financial Difference to
Players in Event.
By !. E. sANBORN

Just what the difference between a
nine game worlds series and one OF
seven games means to the ball players
who take part in it cannot be estimat-
ed to the fraction of a dollar because
there is no actual basis for compari-
son, but it is a considerable sum
A nine game series does not mean
one consisting of nine games neces-
sarily but that it is necessary for
one team to win five games in order
to annex the worlds championship.
In the old days of seven game series
the limit was played only once be-
cause it required only four victories
by one of the contenders to terminate
the affair.
The big financial difference between
the longer and the shorter worlds
series is caused by the fact the play
number Of games required to win the
big pennant. That means they par
take of the benefits of only four
games in a seven game contest in
stead of five under the nine game
regime. 1t means a considerable diff
ference to the club owners. too, but
the fans are not interested in what
the promoters get, only in the emolu-
ments accruing to their heroes among
the athletes.
Cloudy 1918 Series
The last worlds series of the seven
game variety played under normal
conditions was that of 1917 between
the White Sox and the Giants. The
affair between the Cubs and Red Sox
in 1918 was conducted under a cloud
on account of the war departments
order to curtail the season of a mon
essential pastime." Consequently the
attendance and receipts were subnor-
NAL. The 1919, 1920 and 1921 worlds
series were of the nine game species.
Still another difficulty in the way of
comparison exists in the fact cOndi-
tons governing the distribution of the
coin have been changed since 1917.
restricted to a percentage of the re-
ceipts of the first four games, was
divided wholly among the players of
the two competing teams. The follow
ing year, 1918, the new deal was put
in force whereby the players of the
teams finishing second and third in
each major league were cut in on the
players pool to a certain extent. That
change produced the almost forgotten
strike of Red Sox and Cubs in Boston
which added to the d~iscoloratiop of
the eye already blackened by the war
department.
The conditions whereby the first
three teams in each league will share
in the worlds series coin will exist
this year. Allowing for this change
it is possible to produce a vague idea
OF what that extra game included in
the players pool amounted to by com
pairing some OF the figures of 1917
and 1921.
Comparison of Pools
The total attendance in 1917 was
1861. Last fall it was 269, 976. 1t
TO lick the Yankees in 1921 and only
six for the White Sox TO trim the
Giants in 1917. That accounts for
some of the big difference in attend
ance and receipts. The coin taken in
at the 1917 series totaled S425.S7S and
that was more than doubled last fall
when the gross receipts amounted 70
$500, 233. The fact the latter series
was two games longer than the form
er does not account for all that diff
ference, but the prices were a lot
higher in 1921 than four years be-
fore.
The players pool in 1917 amounted
TO S152.SS8 and last year it was $780,
522. or nearly twice as much. although
it included a percentage of only one
more game than in 1917. The White
Sox's aggregate share of their series
with the Giants amounted to S91,7S3
or a little more than $4,000 for each
or the worlds champions of that fall.
The Giants share of their contest
with the Yankees last year amounted
to S131,645 and their individual shares
were over $1,000.
The defeated Giants in 1917 split
a purse of S61.155, which made a little
more than $500 per man. Last fall
the Yankees divided SS7. 756-only
$4,000 less than the winners share of
the 1917 series-and their individual
shares amounted to nearly $500.
That is, the losing athletes last fall
profited nearly as much as the winners
did in 1917. although the players pool
was shared by four teams which did
not cut in in 1917.