Evening star., 1951-10-15
CLARK Griffith Admits
Once eJumpingLea
Now Opposes Practice
By Miriom Ottenberq

president of the Washington SEN
ators, today cheerfully admitted
that he Jumped from the Ma
tional League in his playing days
but he strongly Favored penalizing
any ball-player who does it now.
Mr.. Griffith, testifying before
the House monopoly subcommittee
as it resumed its antitrust inveS-
tigation of baseball, insisted that
times have changed and that
baseball's integrity and honesty
would be destroyed if players were
free to Jump" to high-paid jobs
In outlaw leagues.
Before Mr.. Griffith took the
stand, the congressional investi-
gators came up with a mysterious
and swiftly disputed 1946 docuZ
ment in which Larry MacPhail.
then president Of the New York
Yankees, quoted baseball's lawyers
as saying the reserve clause
wouldn't stand up in court.
Clause Is Target.
The reserve clause" corner
stone Of organized baseball's struc-
ture, ties ballplayers to the club
that first signs them. Players who
violate the reserve clause" by
jumping" outside organized base
ball have been penalized and
blacklisted. The reserve clause
is one of the main targets of the
committees investigation.
Baseball lawyers. as excerpts
from the document were being
read into the record, rose to in
sist they had been misquoted.
The document, which came into
the hands of the subcommittee
from an unnamed source, was en-
titled "The Steering Committee
Report of August 81. 1916" SUBJ
committee Counsel E. Ernest
Goldstein reported various efforts
the staff had made to get it from
organized baseball and he added
that organized baseball had in
sisted over a two-months period
that all copies had been destroyed.
Pure Coincidence.
Paul Porter, representing Or
ganized baseball. and Louis Car
roll. an attorney for the National
League. insisted it was pure
coincidence" that they were able
to locate a copy the same day
that Mr.. Porter saw a Transcribed
version Of the document in the
subcommittee's possession.
Mr.. Carroll said Mr.. MacPhail
prepared the report for the six
member committee of league pres
idents and club owners but de-
clared the committee did not con-
cur with 1t, found a good deal
of Objectionable" material in it
and the baseball players objected
to the legal opinions. Mr.. Carroll
said the document was physically
cut up and another version was
later accepted.
Decribed as Monopoly.
In one section Of the disputed
document. baseball was described
as a monopoly. There was also
discussion of how to resist at
temptS to unionize baseball and
this excerpt:
I'm the well considered opinion
OF counsel of both major leagues,
the present reserve clause could
not be enforced in an equity court
in a suit for specific performance
nor as the basis for a restraining
order to prevent a player from
playing elsewhere. or to prevent
outsiders from inducing a player
to breach his contract"
Griffith's Four Points.
Mr.. Griffith. a blunt and forth
right witness. told the subcom-
mittee:
l. That he is opposed to Civ
ing major league franchises to
West Coast teams.
2. That there are not enough
good players for the two major
leagues right now.
3. That he opposes teams flying
to games because II don't want
to put all my eggs In one basket. /"
4. That baseball's commissioner
should have more power, should
be elected by a majority vote in
stead of the present three-fourths
of the owners, the players should
have no voice in his selection and
that he shoud not be controlled
by anybody.
Before Mr.. Griffith left the
stand, Mr.. Golstein revealed that
Mr.. Griffith stands very well"
on total salaries paid his players
ahead of where your team
stands in the league"
@M0Mz 0af1SS79
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