Clipping:Adopting a ten-team schedule; working to reduce the League

From Protoball
Jump to navigation Jump to search
19C Clippings
Scroll.png


Add a Clipping
Date Wednesday, March 12, 1890
Text

[reporting the NL meeting of 3/4-3/5/1890] On Tuesday a deadlock occurred over the schedule presented by the committee—Spalding, Soden and Nimick. It had been supposed that a partially satisfactory tend-club schedule could be made, but when the committee got down to work they did not find it so easy as anticipated, and the schedule they did manage to form suited nobody. In fact, so defective was it that nearly all the delegates became convinced that an eight-club circuit was an absolute necessity and cast about for means to bring about such a thing. So, instead of meeting Wednesday morning in regular session, the time was spend in lobbying, making and breaking deals, all with a view to reducing the membership to eight. Brush, of Indianapolis, was the object of attention from all the other delegates, as he held the key to the situation, which, if surrendered, would solve the difficulty, as there would have been no trouble getting rid of Washington.

At noon the delegates assembled in the meeting room, but there was no formal session, but simply a conference. A committee was appointed, though, to devise some means of solving the difficulty. It began its work immediately and had a long conference with Mr. Brush. He could not be moved and the committee did nothing. This was the situation all day, and no session of the League was held.

All sorts of stories were afloat. It came pretty straight that Washington wanted $20,000 to withdraw. The picture was drawn that Washington was like a railroad with nothing but a right of way and two streak of rust. Even Mr. Hewitt and Mr. Brush admitted that in a financial sense an eight-club league would be a better thing, but they wanted financial salve before they would allow themselves to be offered as burnt sacrifices on the League alter. It was stated that Indianapolis wanted $75,000 for franchise and players, and that the League would not give it. It was further stated that Boston and New York had joined hands in the matter of reducing the membership and that Chicago was undecided.

In the evening at 8 o'clock the meeting reconvened and the schedule and question of membership was then discussed without interruption until about 9 o'clock, when President Young emerged from the meeting room and approached the waiting newspaper delegation. “The League,” said he, “has referred the schedules back to the committee and adjourned until 10 o'clock to-morrow morning. It will be re-arranged on the basis of ten clubs, and on thing the committee will do is to avoid race week at Cleveland.” Then Mr. Young retraced his steps to the room where the “adjournment” had taken place. Not a League delegate withdrew and the debate went on fast and furious. It was stated that Indianapolis had put a prohibitory price upon her franchise, and the fight was whether to call that bluff on the principle that it will be cheaper in the end than making a fight with ten clubs.

As Brush would not budge, and as John B. Day, Al Reach, C. H. Byrne and others were anxious to get home there could be no further delay, and in the afternoon President Young called the meeting to order. The schedule was the only thing touched upon in the meeting, and there was considerable trouble before it was adopted. The committee's schedule was the best that could be done under the circumstances, even with the best efforts of Jim Hart, an experienced schedule maker, but the bets is very bad and no one was satisfied.

In the schedule as adopted there are twenty-three open dates, fourteen actual ones and nine spent in traveling from place to place. The jumps are long and expensive, and in all ways the schedule was not satisfactory. The committee had done its best, however, and it had to be accepted. The magnates were outspoken in their disgust over the sch3edule, and even conservative Nick Young said:-- “Its a nasty piece of work all round, and very unsatisfactory. It's the best that could be done, however, and that is all there is to it.

Source The Sporting Life
Comment Edit with form to add a comment
Query Edit with form to add a query
Submitted by Richard Hershberger
Origin Initial Hershberger Clippings

Comments

<comments voting="Plus" />