Clipping:A proposal for league classes, player draft; Brush plan
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| Date | Wednesday, July 17, 1889 |
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| Text | [from a letter from Spalding to Young] The National League and American Association to continue as they are now, the governing power in professional base ball. They jointly to make the playing rules and to furnish the system, means and power for carrying out the laws as provided for in the National Agreement and Articles of Qualified Admission. All other professional leagues and associations to be divided into say four classes to be known as Class A, B, C and D. Class A would probably include such associations as the International and the Western associations, California League and others of about the same grade. Class B to include associations whose draing power would be about 25 per cent. less than Class A. Class C to include associations whose drawing powers would be about 50 per cent. less than Class A. Class D to be the lowest, including clubs that cannot afford to pay over $50 or $60 per month salaries. Continue the present plan of protection to minor leagues with a right to reserve with the following modifications: Class D to be obligated not to pay salaries aggregating over $600 per month, and no individual player over $60 per month. All players in this class subject to requisition from any club of a higher class on, say, one week's notice, upon payment of a fixed bonus of, say $250, to be paid to the club releasing the player. Class C to pay salaries aggregating not over $100 per month, and no individual player to receive over $100 per month. All players in this class subject to requisition from any club in a higher class upon a payment of a bonus of $500. Class B to pay salaries aggregating not over $1500 per month, and no individual player to receive over $150 per month. All players in this class subject to requisition from clubs in Class A and the League and American Association clubs upon payment of a bonus of $100. Class A to pay salaries aggregating not over $100 per month, and no individual player to receive over $200 per month. All players in this class subject to requisition from League and American Association clubs upon the payment of a bonus of $1500, reserve system. Modify the classification salary limit by making it non-operative on players whose habits are exemplary and who shall have completed a service of three years in the League or American Association. To discourage the present sales system in the League and American Association, I would suggest that only one-half of the bonus paid for the release of a player shall go to the club releasing him, one-fourth to the player and one-fourth to the League or Association of which the releasing club is a member. The Sporting Life July 17, 1889 [See also TSL 7/24/1889 editorial for a long critique.] President Reach in speaking of it yesterday said: “Some such plan is necessary to stop this high salary evil which is slowly but surely killing the game. Such a scheme as Mr. Spalding suggests would work to the advantage of all parties concerned, for it would cut down expenses all round and without injuring ball players either. The pay in the smaller leagues would be less, but there would be fewer collapses of clubs. “Every young ball player would be continually striving by his play to attract the attention of managers in higher-grade leagues where the pay was better. The pay of men in National League and American Association Clubs would not be affected, but with good minor league clubs to draw upon the managers would not think of carrying more than thirteen players on the pay roll instead of fifteen to twenty as they do now. “If that system had been in operation it would not have taken us a month to have found a second baseman when Delahanty was hurt. We would simply have taken our pick of all the second basemen in the minor leagues, planked down the special amount of money and taken the man. The club thus weakened would have looked over the lists in clubs of the leagues below it and done likewise, and so on. Minor league clubs would not be likely to carry more than eleven or twelve players.” The Philadelphia Item July 16, 1889 ...Manager James. A. Hart, of the Boston Club, has formulated a plan which is given in full below. Mr. hart forwarded his scheme to Mr. Spalding, and shortly after he did so, Mr. Spalding's plan appeared in print with his name attached. An analysis of the two schemes will reveal a very close similarity in many respects, except that Mr. Hart's production is accompanied by elaborate tables that must have required a thorough knowledge of the subject, years of practical experience in base ball, and many hours of hard and studious labor to prepare. Mr. Hart's plan is submitted to public consideration for the first tame... A board of control should be created. This board should have full and supreme power, and its ruling in all cases should be final. The board should be clothed with power to discipline any league, club, player or umpire. It should consist of three members (a chairman and two associates); they should be amply paid, and should be supplied with a good office centrally located, also with a stenographer and clerk if necessary. … The board should name the limits of salary for each league, and have power to rigidly enforce the compliance of all clubs. It should have reports sent it of each game, stating the exact number of persons present at said game, together with the gross receipts thereof. All contracts between clubs and players and between leagues and umpires should be approved by the board. The board should be the tribunal to try and decide all disputes between leagues or clubs, or clubs and players, or leagues and umpires, and in all instances the decision rendered by the board should be final. The expense of the board would be met by dues from all leagues... … All clubs under the control of the board should be allowed to reserve players under contract on a certain date, say Oct. 2, at a price not less than that received by the player under the existing contract. All players who do not receive the full amount of salary called for in their contracts should be granted a release if their claim to that effect is sustained by the board. Any club under control should be compelled to release to any other club under control, when paid a certain price (as shown later) as a bonus, provided said player desires to change his place of service. The bonus should be uniform in each league, but may be changed from year to year by the board. The matter of releasing and signing of players should be done wholly by the board. A very desirable grouping and grading of cities would be as follows: [Tables of cities follow, with an eight club National League and cities divided into groups rated A through G.] The league first named [i.e. the National League] should be granted the right of reservation, but a player, upon being in one club's employ three years, should, if he desires, be granted his unconditional release. This league should have no salary limit law. The other leagues should be graded according to the drawing power of the league, but in no instance should a league be regraded during a playing season. A reasonable grading would be as follows: [A table of salary limits follows, by league level, giving both team and individual player limits, price paid for release, and length of contract.] [Tables of estimated expenses for clubs and leagues, and required attendance to meet expenses, and additional details follow.] The Sporting Life July 31, 1889 |
| Source | Sporting Life |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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