Clipping:Blacklisting players holding out

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Date Wednesday, March 16, 1887
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[reporting the AA meeting of 3/7-8] Then the following addition to section 33 of the constitution, which treats of contracts, was adopted:--

“And in case any player under reserve shall willfully hold off and refuse to sign a regular contract with the club which has him reserved, for the prupose of harassing the club or compelling it to increase his salary, or shall by any means, directly or indirectly, endeavor to attempt willful extortion from the club which has him reserved, he shall, upon complaint and satisfactory evidence being furnished from the club so aggrieved, be placed upon the blacklist by the president and the secretary and notices issued to all clubs as provided by this constitution and the National Agreement.”

This is a piece of special legislation, and unworthy a place in the American constitution. It is for the benefit of the St. Louis club, and is aimed at Caruthers, Foutz and Latham, who are seeking to extort excessive salaries from their club, recognizing that they have Von der Ahe--with his early championship games with Chicago--in a tight place. Cleveland, Brooklyn and the Mets opposed it, and succeeded in cutting off a lot of its original savagery. The Sporting Life March 16, 1887

[editorial content:] This is simply an outrage. There is no sense or legality in punishing any player for endeavoring to secure all the compensation possible for his services. Such an effort is not extortion in any sense of the word. It is sufficient hardship to reserve a player, thus preventing him, for the good of base ball, from carrying his services to the highest market, without seeking to coerce him by threats of attaching the stigma of the blacklist to his name into signing against his will or at a less compensation than he considers an equivalent for his services. As a matter of fact the amendment is altogether illegal in common law and under the National Agreement. Refusing to sign a contrat is not an offence in any sense of the word, and therefore is not punishable, and any player blacklisted under the amendment would have ample cause for legal action. A great many managers proceed upon the assumption that an unsigned reserved player is upon the same basis as any player under regular contract. They fail to recognize there is a vast difference between the two, and that a player not under contract, although reserved, is not amendable to discipline. The reserve rule is simply an agreement among clubs not to contract with each other’s designated players, and is not binding upon the player. The Sporting Life March 16, 1887

Source Sporting Life
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Submitted by Richard Hershberger
Origin Initial Hershberger Clippings

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