Evening star., 1926-12-15
BY GEORGE CHADWICK.

~ IRECT, ownership of minor
league clubs by major league
r. 'clhbs and. the existence of
49, the working agreement are
two evils in base bali whose
bad. points We're brought into the light
at the recent annual meeting of the
minor leagues. in Asheville, N. G.
Base, half club owners. are growling
Mt each. other again, simply, because
Of the total ina bility of any eugenics
theory to produce base bail stars rap
Idly. enough. ~ -;
= They 'dpn't grow. 'em any more"
said one of the more literary of the
gentlemen. engaged in the national
pastinge, He. was overheard in con;
versatien at Asheville. :"
Ball players that haven't been
secuted" said another, ARE divided
in three classes-those who wear
swaddling clothes. those who wear
wanted because they wear whiskers."
Even the scouts are sore:
We've gone as far as we can" said
one scout. 1--WE know every critter
in the United States who doesn't hit
with a nursing bottle, and blowed if
I'm going to scout them. I never
could hold a kid in long dresses"
System Tangled Mess.
The system Of controlling base ball
players has become an interlocked,
interviewer and intermingled mass
that is about to defeat itself, as indi-
cations point now. 1t should. 1t has
become a cold blooded business. In
many ways it has developed a monop-
oily and in other ways syndication of
interests as foreign to sport as black
Is to white.
Some years ago the farming" proc.
ess was conducted with freedom and
abandon. If ball club got its
tentacles on a young player it could
keep him in control as long as it
wished to do SO by farming" him
ont. That meant he was loaned to
some minor league club to be develop
ed and was sent back whenever the
major club thought the time had come
to use him. A young player was at
the mercy of the major league outfit
from the moment he entered base ball.
There was no such thing as a free
market.
The farming system was abolished
and in it's place have come optional
agreements based on q two-year ar
rangement.
Not satisfied with extension of the
option system, which Is simply the
old.fashioned farming process boiled
over, some club owners have tried to
build monopoly of players within
their own circuit. Opposed to them
are other club owners now shrieking
for aid to stop this syndication.
n-.lu NlAnL A..
Take the st. Louis National League
Club, for instance. IT has acquired
an interest In several minor league
clubs. all of whose players are said to
be at the beck and call of st. Louis.
The Cardinals are tying up enough
player output to discourage other
teams in the National League. which
do not own minor league clubs.
Judge Fuchs of Boston, who bought
the Providence club, because he saw
he might feed players from Providence
to Boston, now has seen a great ght
and probably will sell the Providence
club.
The Chicago Cubs own the Los An
geles club. The Athletics are said to
be interested in Portland, Greg. The
Giants were reputed to be interested
in Toledo because they held posses
sion of the ground. Cincinnati re-
Gently was In the market for the Co.
lumbus club. And so it goes.
The mischief in this arrangement
can be seen easily, for when the
minor leagues hold meetings, such as
that In Asheville, the majors are vot-
ing their. methods and system through
the votes Of the minor clubs. which
they own or with which they have an
alliance. They are then managing
minor league affairs.
working Agreement" Also Bad.
"The working agreement" is al
most as bad. For example, the Cleve-
land club comes to an agreement
with the Nashville club by which all
Cleveland players to be sent on op-
ton will be placed with Nashville.
The minor club, being under obliga-
tions because of this trade, will be
glad to see that the interests Of the