, 1923-03-05
WINNER
HURTS CAME:
DRAFT s VITAL.
One More Year of New York
remnants VIII Kill Inter-
est in Baseball.
BY I. E. sANBoRN

k41 AAACAA
opolistic control of pennants enjoyed
by the New York clubs for the last
couple Of seasons and major league
franchises can be had for less than
h inventory value OF the plants and
not much more than the estimated
> cost OF a single star recruit last fall.
Gotham fans will get SO satisfied
with success that It will take more
than another Babe Ruth to tar their
jaded interest into ~turnstile activity
and the fans of the other cities in the
big circuits will lose much of that
hope which springs eternal" with
the advent OF every training trip.
Once convince the rooters hat pen
nants follow the bankroll and the
devotees of baseball VIII seek some
other form OF diversion in which UNI
certainty is sufficient to compel their
interest.
Under present conditions. with tbs
weaker clubs deprived OF opportunity
to strengthen by drafting players
from any except the smaller minor
leagues and the strong clubs able to
outbid their opponents for all the best
recruits in the i've draft exempt min
ors, baseball will become what the
nations most popular indoor pastime
would be II ''the luck of the draw"
were eliminated. 81
Draft System Essential
Restoration OF the draft system is
as essential to the welfare OF profes-
sional baseball as It Is to the advance
ment of the players Tho existing
deadlock between the major leagues
>and the FIVE higher class minors has
established hat fact.
Minor league objection to having
their players drafted has hinged
chiefly on the dollar sign. The minors
claimed they had TO sell their stars
in advance OF the drafting season to
avoid losing them in the draft at a
r~idiculously low price. The majors
have claimed hat the draft price was
too high for the quality OF players
that could be drafted bocauso each
club owner in the minors sold all his
good players before the draft seaso
opened. Every solution attemnt has
failed to work satisfactorily to both
sides.
= Should Try Some Remedy
Why not try n remedy that has not
been taken before and which cannot
make the patients condition any
worse than It is? How would II work
to put the drafting season ahead of
the sales of players instead of having
the draft come last on the program
That would obviate the Complaint
of the minors that they had to sell all
their good players to AVOID losing
them In the draft and would permit
the major leagues to pay a high price
for drafting players IL they could be
assured of getting their pick of a
minor league team instead of taking
the leavings. as it always has worked
out before. 1t would protect a minor
club owner against having his team
wrecked by making It impossible for
the big leagues to draft more than
n player from a team zach fall. The
club ownr could keep all the rest of
his players II he wanted to. and there
IS hardly n major league manager who
does not have to hll the shoes OF at
least one star who shows UP each
year. The minors could do that as
easily.
After the drafting eson was over
a minor club owner could sell as many
others OF his players as he wanted to.
or could get his price for, and he
could demand almost any price be-
cause tho majors would know he
could not lose mora han INT player
hat year through the draft.
Put Draft Mt High Figure
This restoration of the draft at a
high figure for the privilege of pick
ing a player before al the best talent
had been sold of would settle the
question OF a players right to ad-
vance in his profession. II he de-
veloped into big league timber he
would be sure to be drafted sooner or
later. 1t would remove the menace OF
the big bankroll from tho sport.
When two or more major league
clubs claim n star payer by draft 1t
is decided by lot which club gets him.
Consequently the owner Of a weak
club and n Debated bankroll would
stand a chance to strengthen his