The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1929-12-11
SAYS PL An.
REAPS NO
BENEFIT
b DAVIS J. WALSH

By DAVIS J. WALSH
NEW YORK. Dec. Like the
chappie who hit himself on the
head with . hammer because 1t
felt 20 good when he stopped, the
major league farm" Or chain
store operator cannot long sur
vive without one thing or the
other.
His immediate need Il educa.
ton. II he doesn't recognize this,
his future need Ii bound 70 be
new head. The baseball chain
store" system Is menace 70 no
body, except the man who operates
1t, and to him, Il Il business
suicide.
This, In substance, was the
message to baseball Of President
q. s. Barnard, Of the American
League, as the two majors went
into furious session again today.
They had found nothing %
do yesterday, 30 they deCIae0
they needed q little extra time
this afternoon In which 20
finish the job In D thoroughly
competent manner.
Tomorrow, however. they are 70
indulge In their annual joint ses-
sion. and IL is then that Mr.
Barnard may deliver himself Of
the doornsday warning TO the %.
Louis Cardinals. the New YORK
Yankees and all those VINO
operate minor league stores,
either extensively or otherwise.
others have feared the effect on
baseball Of the so-called n1onop-
olies the "chain-stores" may gain
IN the minor league field. II has
remained for Mr.. Barnard 70 ex-
press apprehension for the opera
tors themselves. !.
"They are inviting disaster. |"
he said. "and they win get II.
The system Is l1neccncKnic, I'M
stable. It means ultimate ruin:
I ought to know because We had
three excellent minor league
franchises curl UP and almost Die
on us when I was president o.
the Cleveland club. II Is Ike the
work Of japanese farmers, they
tin the soil 50 furiously that
there is nothing left Ia It after
4 couple Of years. So much Tor
the reaction to the farm itself.
'.Now then, what does the OPP
orator get out Of It IN player
material? Often enough the
players he needs are with clubs
That are not under his control.
He has to go elsewhere to buy
when the theory Of farm opera
ton Is that It makes the owner
elf sufficient. We have only TO
study the effect Of the system 70
know that 1t does nothing o. the
kind. .
meantime, Whist pride can
the minor league fan have n
the club Of his town when It
a constantly changing Its
personnel almost from day TO
day?
He sees an infielder he likes
On Monday. Two days later, the
man has disappeared, either to
20 up to the major league owner
or to some other club In the
chain. That sort of thing kills
local following. Outside owner
sEiV, does its share Of this, too.
The town fans figure that the
franchise is being operated for
outside owners benefit and not
for theirs. They can't help but
think that way when they see q
half dozen players pushed into
and out Of town In as many days.
I could quote the names OF
minor league franchises that are
expiring under this system. But
I won't. They are having too
hard q time as it Is. without
sailing attention to the fact"
Having thus pointed to the
cause, Mr.. Barnard then sug-
gested the remedy. Kt Is the
universal draft.
'"They wouldn't be bothered
trying to develop men in their
own particular preserves If every
body could come in there poach-
ing at the end of the season and
draft the men they fancied," he
declared. That's the only thing
we can do about it make their
position untenable.
1--WE can't make them sell their
clubs: indeed, so greatly have
some Of those holdings depre-
eiated they might find trouble
- selling. We can't even make
them see that this fact Is sig
nificant. All we can do Is try
TO protect them against them
selves"
Mr.. Barnard didn't add any In
formation as to how he hoped TO
make some of the diehard minors
accept the universal draft. This
win be q good trick, even il he
never does 1t.
McLEANS BOOKING
The Mclean floormen are cast,
ing about for encounters with