Clipping:A single-entity league proposal to keep salaries down
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| Date | Sunday, December 31, 1876 |
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| Text | One of the chief evils of the profession is the exorbitant salaries demanded by certain of the best players in the country. No remedy for this evil has yet been found. But Colonel John B. Joyce, so well known as the gentleman who engineered the old Red Stocking club, of Cincinnati, through their season of complete victory, has stepped to the fore with a plan. He has thought the matter over, and, together with other baseball men, believes that he “has found the lacking ingredient.” His plan is something like this: The League Association is to be sued as the means of accomplishing the desired end. The modus operandi is as follows: When the League directors meet next year it shall be to form an association of players. Every baseball player in the country, wether professional or amateur, who wishes to play in the League for 1878 shall send in his application, together with his playing record for the year 1877, officially indorsed by the officers of the club, together with a statement of the position he plays. The first thing for the Convention to do on assembling is to determine what cities shall be represented in the League. For instance, we say that Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Louisville, Boston, Brooklyn, and Baltimore should be admitted, then there will be eight clubs to be made up. Let there be eleven men assigned to each club. There would be eighty-eight players to be selected from all the applicants to make up the League. The Convention would then pick out eight of the best pitchers, as shown by their records, eight of the best catchers, eight of the best first basemen, and, in fact, eight of the best men for each position in the filed. After this was done sixteen of the best general players to play as substitute or eleventh man. Then let the association fix upon a certain salary that all the clubs are to pay for men in certain positions. For instance, pitcher, $1,500; catcher, $1,500; first basemen, $1,400, second and third basemen, $1,300, short-stop, $1,350; and fielders, $1,200. Then take the names of the eight pitchers first. Say these are Bradley, Matthews, Devlin, Bond, Manning, Nichols, Nolan, and McCormick. Put the names in a hat and draw lots. Say Chicago got Nolan, Cincinnati Nichols, Louisville, Bradley, and so on. Do the same with the other positions, and draw lots for two substitutes for each club. In this way all the clubs are made up by lots, and the chances are that they will be pretty generally equalized in strength. Then let the best club win for the championship. The players would be bound to play for the established salaries provided, only that each club may add to the players’ salary afterward out of their own funds if they choose. In case of the resignation, death or expulsion of any player, his place shall be supplied by the secretary of the League. The consequence would be complete success. No other cities than those in the League would be able to support a club with higher salaried men than those of the League. So there would be no danger that enough players could not be obtained to fall in with such a movement. Mr. Keck, of the Cincinnatis, offers an amendment to the above. He says let each club be compelled to advance its player’s salary in such percentage each month as his playing shall continue to improve. For instance, the pitcher–if his playing on June is five per cent better than in May, add to his salary for that month five per cent. more money. These plans are at least worthy of consideration and study. |
| Source | New York Sunday Mercury |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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