Evening star., 1923-03-02
my THIRTY YEARS IN BASE BALL" "
BY JOHN j. McCRAW,.
NeD York Giants World Champion--
orth American Newspaper Alliance.)

: er men, mediocre at their very best,
get together and elect some young
! man. a star as their head. They take
! advantage of his position and popu-
| larity ito keep them In the game,
| thereby preventing younger men from
| coming in.
! Not so long ago a leading member
Of the present fraternity called on
me. He wanted to know if | would
confer with him and IL I was opposed
! to the union.
/ 81 have no objection to the union
| or to players belonging to it," / told
! him. IF there is cause for complaint
| or IL you feel that there is unfairness
or injustice let's have it. I'll listen"
He hemmed and hawed for d min
! what have you to complain Off" ]
! asked. What is your first aim?"
Well" he finally admitted. 81
| don't know just yet. But-well, there
is the reserve clause"
| The United States Supreme Court
had just decided that the reserve
clause was perfectly legal. All base
ball men know that IL is really the
backbone of the game. l told the
young man of this. He had not yet
didn't know just what he had called
for. except to find out if l was hostile
/ or friendly.
Unions without Aim.
| Right there is the trouble. They
don't know exactly what they are
| about. They are without definite aim.
! / sat down and gave this young man
"a fine fellow. too-the best sugges-
| tion that | had. If they will follow
! the advice that l offered l believe the
! base ball fraternity could be made
into wonderful institution. l would
be one of its most ardent supporters,
| and | think every other manager and
| old player would.
/ The prime motive of a base ball
| union should be to see that the vet
! eran player when he is down and out
| IS cared for. Very few of ehem have
! the foresight to prepare for old age.
! They have a good time while the good
| days are on. When their muscles be-
gin to slip they find their pocket.
! books just one or two slips ahead of
their muscles. Their salaries gradu-
! ally dwindle to nothing.
! Now. If the union would devise a
! plan by which these old-timers could
| be cared for-So there would be no
fraternity would be great and
| growing institution. 1t is perfectly
practical. The ball player is fully
protected in the matter Of contract
/ by the commissioner of base ball
/ The comm iSsioner is even more mind
| full of the players interest than OF
! the owners. because of his apparent
J helpleSsnesS and lack OF business
a II the can uttIN I'll
the goods he never has complaint
about the amount of his salary. II
, is the man who is slipping thao com
/ pains.
! That department Of a unions busi-
! ness is secondary. His first ain
/ should be the care Of old players
! There is no doubt that it can be done
Every fall, for instance. we have
| an old-timers game. 1t always at
! tracts attention. There is no reason
why one such game should not be
| held in every city at the end OF the
| season. If it was known that the re-
1 ceipts from these exhibition games
| would go to the aid of old ball play
| ers-the establishment of home, il
| necessary-fans would flock into the
| parks. Can you imagine what that
| would mean in funds?
| There are sixteen clubs In the two
| big leagues. If every one or them
! put on such an exhibition games q
| large sum could be realized. On 3
: rough guess. / should say that $4,000
| would be good average per game
! That would mean $4,000
| Good Leaders Necessary.
! Surely the members>of the base bal
! fraternity have enough constructive
| ability and enough Willingness tc
| work out the details of such 4 plan
| 1t would require intelligent admins
| tratipn. But they are engaging lead
| ers to run the union. Certainly those
| men could attend to such administra-
] tion.
The heart of every ball player
F, should be in his work. If they &c
| into it on that basis there is no Ques-
tion about the whole scheme being 6
| success. On the other hand. IL they
! try to make petty differences the
prime motive of organization the
. whole thing will fail just as TIL,
! unions have failed in the past. Moth.
ing insures the future of any organi-
zation like accomplishment
! ! cannot imagine any greater in
! centive to accomplishment than the
! helping of old ball players when thei,
| days of usefulness on the diamond
| are done.
| I outlined this plan in detail to the
| representative of the union and he
| said he would think it over. I assured
him that the Giants would be among
the first to fall in with the scheme
and put on the exhibition game. Any
other club in either league will dc
| the same.
| In other words. the success of Z
| union lies in the players getting the
owners, managers and fans to work
| with them instead of in opposition.
/. 1 am so enthusiastic about this plar
for helping the oldtimers that
! would be willing for the managers
not take it up as a body.
| Yes, there is field for a base bal
| fraternity. but it is not mere carp
hing over certain clauses in contracts
Its purpose must be broad and help
full. 1t must be constructive, not OBJ
structive.
! Copyright, 1923, L. s. and Canada, by Christ,
Walsh Syndicate)