Evening star., 1940-02-14
Lands Eases Up
In War Against
Farm System
Owners See Brighter
Future After Chief
Makes Compromise
BY GAYLE TALBOT,
Associated Press Sports Writer.

BELLEAIR, Fla, Feb. 14.-Again
demonstrating the perfect sense of
timing that has made him worth
every cent of This whooping salary,
Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain
Lands has reached a a'"compromise"
with the embattled big league club
owners and told them, in effect, to
jump into their plans for another
happy, prosperous season.
But yesterday, with the start of
the training camps only a matter
Of days away, these owners who
maintain farm" systems were wan
dering around in quandary and
calling the commissioner names be-
hind his back. Some of them were
bitter. Today they were at least
mollified and looking to the future
with some hope.
Even Larry MacPhail of the
Brooklyns, one of the most outspok-
en- Of the commissioner critics, was
seen walking arm-in-ar1ns down q
hotel corridor with the man he re-
Gently was classifying as menace
to the game.
Parley Lasts Six Hours.
1t all came about when Lands at
noon yesterday asked the group of
officials who were here for the meet
ing of the Rules Committee to come
| up and see him.
When they got there they found
Lands willing to talk turkey, and
they talked it loud and long for
| nearly six hours. The owners, who
had been jittery as a cat in light
ming storm since the judge gave
Detroit the works last month, plead.
ed that he tell them where they
stood in the delicate matter of con.
trolling minor league teams.
Lands, though still determined
that all ball players should be pro-
tected from career Of bondage,
yielded a trife from his furious
seven points" Of January IS.
Now, if it becomes necessary at
this point to explain exactly what
they agreed upon at this momen-
tous session, that will be awkward.
Leslie O'Connor, the commission
secretary and former lawyer. tried
manfully to do so, but he wound up
by saying little lamely that "at
least, it represents q compromise. i"
Clubs WIN Submit Amendment.
Lands agreed to suspend tempo
rarily two of his seven points" to
which the magnates object most
strenuously, having to do with a
club losing minor Lacquer COM
pletely after three years and requir-
| ing that the major league clubs
make all working agreements di-
rectly. Then the club officials
agreed to submit an amendment of
one of their most cherished rules
to vote of their members.
The amendment, in the words of
O'Connor, merely prevents extern
sion of the period of three years in
which minor league clubs or major
league clubs could option a player.
Under the old conditions, he said
clubs got around this merely by con-
trolling the club that held the player
He said that adoption of the amend
ment would remove "above SO per
cent of the commissioner s objections
to present conditions"
It will take a week or 10 days fol-
the clubs to accept the amendment
and there isn't much doubt that they
will make it nearly unanimous.
The baseball men found yesterday
that they couldn't shove Lands past
a certain point. They tried to talk
him into letting clubs of a highe,
classification sign players for Their
subsidiaries, but the only thing they
got from him was a fiat no.