Evening star., 1937-01-24
SALARIES TO BEAT
S3,0DO,0DO IN 81
Gehrig Tops With $4,000
Last Year, Among First
to Hit for Raise.
BY ALAN GOULD,
Associated Press Sports Editor.

"a vEW YORK, January 23-The
~ upward trend in big league
VI base bali salaries will send the
4 aggregate pay roll beyond
s3,O0O000 for 1887, an Associated Press
survey indicates today.
The combined total for the 16 major
league clubs will be the highest since
l930-3l. the peak years. The BOOM
time aggregate. however, ran well over
s3,500,0O0 per season before the big
downward dip from the days when
Babe Ruth collected $4,000 for his
base ball chores.
The Babes old companion in clout,
Henry Louis Gehrig, now is the highest
paid performer. The Yankees famous
Iron Man" also is among the first
potential holdouts of the new year,
on the theory that his great 1886
season entities him to a substantial
boost over the $3l 900 he has been
paid for each of the last two cam
paigns.
Despite the upSwing in salaries of
most stars, the demands of the hired
hands may be as vociferous as it was
last Spring, when the first of March
found about so holdouts sticking to
their guns. Two perennial holder
cutters, Dizzy Dean Of the st. Louis
Cardinals and Van Lingle Mungo of
the Brooklyn Dodgers, already have
lifted their voices to defiant pitch.
MagnateS Appear Generous.
ITS still a trifle early, however, to
forecast the extent of the annual
salary struggle between base balls
capital and labor ranks. The mood
of the magrates, to judge from early
reports, is one of comparative gen.
crosity, as result of Sounder basic
conditions in base ball and tine sub
stitution of black ink for red in most
front-office books.
Player salaries for the two New
York clubs which shared in world
series profits Will be increased sub
stantially. The Yankees, who yielded
top ranking position in the pay roll
department last year to the affluent
Boston Red Sox, probably will go
to the head of the list for 1887 with
an aggregate salary list exceeding
100000.
In addition to Gehrig, the Yankees
have the highest paid manager in the
business, Joe Mccarthy, who gets s35,-
900, under long-term contract NC
Carthy's nearest rivals, under contract
terms. are: Mickey Cochrane, De-
troit, $4,000; Bill Terry, Giants, s27,-
500, and Joe Cronin, Red Sox, S25, 900.
The pay rolls of the Red Sox, Giants.
Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs and st.
Louis Cardinals likely will exceed
s250,0OO each this year. The average
for the last few years has been well
under 100000 per club.
Dizzy to be Heard From.
COMPARED to boom years, the up
per salary brackets still are far
from over-crowded. Outside Of the
managerial class, no more than
dozen players figure to get $4,000 or
more for their 1887 efforts.
Among the daily workers, Gehrig's
nearest salary rivals last year were Al
Simmons of the Tigers and Jimmie
Foxx of the Red Sox, each understood
to be paid around S25,000. Dizzy
Dean, who topped the pitchers with
Lefty Gomez at s22.500, can be relied
upon to keep the folks Informed dur
ing negotiations leading up to another
salary boost. Meantime Carl Hubbell,
who confined himself to out-pitching
the great Dean last year, already has
quietly signed for more than the
S17,500 he got for hurling the Giants
to a pennant.
Subject to changes in either direc-
tion, the list of athletes in the $4,000
class, or close to it, includes Lefty
Gomez, eccentric Yankee twirler;
Charley Grimm and frankie Frisch,
respective pilots of the Cub and Cardi-
mails: Hank Greenberg, Detroit first
baseman who broke wrist after end
ing his 1896 holdout siege; Gabby
Hartnett, veteran backstop of the
Cubs; Wes Ferrell, hardhitting and
hard-working pitcher of the Red SoX;
Charley Ruffing, Yankee right-hander;
Charley Gehringer, Tiger second
sacker, and Bill Dickey, Yankee back
stop.
Cleveland'S pitching sensation, Bob
Feller, will be the highest paid rookie,
at $4,000 this year. Joe De Maggie,
who hao a great freshman year with
the Yankees on an $4,000 salary. will
be In the five-f1gure class for 1887.