Clipping:Brooklyn beats out Lucas for the Cleveland players
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| Date | Wednesday, January 14, 1885 |
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| Text | The biggest sensation in connection with the resignation of the Cleveland Club from the League was the clever scoop of the players of that club by the Brooklyn Club, with the assistance of Mr. Hackett and the officials of the Cleveland Club. Mr. Lucas was after the majority of the players, and had made numerous offers to buy the franchises of the Cleveland Club, simply in order to get their reserve list. In any event he wanted some of the players badly, in order to strengthen his team in the event of his getting into the League, and was prepared to offer big money for them. The Cleveland Club officials were not willing that he should have any, and so the present successful scheme was hatched up. The start was made at the American Convention, at which Manager Hackett was present apparently as a looker-on. An interview with Mr. Byrne was had and a satisfactory conclusion reached. Mr. Hackett was engaged as Manager for Brooklyn next season, and at once started on a little pilgrimage for the good of Brooklyn. The result of that pilgrimage is that six of the best men in the Cleveland Club of last season have pledged themselves to sign contracts with Brooklyn and have accepted advance money from Manager Hackett as the agent of the Brooklyn Club. The six men are Harkins, Krieg, Hotaling, Phillips, Pinckney and Smith, and Bushong ha agreed to go to Brooklyn also. Leaving Holyoke Dec. 16 he reached Ilion, N.Y., on the 17th and got a pledge from Pete Hotaling. He went to Cleveland on Dec. 18, and after a short stay started ostensibly for Detroit, but really for Chicago. He reached that place on the 19th, and after eight hours' hunt the immortal old guardian of first base, Mr. William Phillips, was found and dealt with. On the 20th Mr. Hackett got two men. He dropped into Peoria, Ill., in the morning and got George Pinckney out of bed and made an agreement with him. The eh skipped to Chillicothe, Ill, and had Krieg's signature in a short time. Then Hackett returned to Chicago and on Monday, December 22, met Messrs. H. V. Lucas and Newton S. Crane, his lawyer, there. They wanted the pilgrim to get the Cleveland players for St. Louis and the pilgrim's terms to manage the St. Louis League team of 1885. Hackett was shy and reticent and Lucas open. They parted with an agreement on the part of Hackett to think the matter over and let Lucas know in the future. Then the wanderer turned his nose toward Cleveland and was seen by the local newspaper men. Still he “knew nothing,” but meanwhile managed to get Bushong's conditional agreement to play in Brooklyn next year. On December 24 Mr. Hackett “struck” Pittsburg, and hunted up Smith, who was in bed. Hackett knew that the Pittsburg Club wanted Smith and was very wary. He sought to persuade Smith to go to Holyoke for a vacation, but said nothing about his real object. Smith would not go because of some social holiday engagements. After warning Smith about his fealty to Cleveland and being assured that it was staunch, Hackett left him with a promise to be back in a week and take him to Cleveland for “some fun.” Christmas Day saw the pilgrim in New Brunswick, N.J., where, after a Christmas dinner of a sandwich and a cup of coffee, Harkins was hunted up and secured. Thus on Christmas night the trip was finished, and the next day Hackett reported to Brooklyn, was congratulated and departed for home. Two days' rest saw him off again. Boston was his point, and after seeing a player whom Brooklyn wanted, he called at New York again and thence went, via Philadelphia, to Pittsburg. Here Smith was seen and last Thursday both went to Cleveland. On Friday the scheme was broken to Smith and he too pledged himself to go to Brooklyn. During the entire trip the pilgrim slept on the cars, traveled incog. and kept his lines close and intact. All the players are now in a town near the Canadian border, and will stay there until they have signed regular contracts to play with the Brooklyn Club next season. These will be signed next Tuesday. There has been some outcry about a violation of the amended constitution of the American Association, but this was cleverly evaded by securing the pledged before the men were released.... Mr. Lucas passed through Philadelphia on his way to New York, and was seen on the train by a Sporting Life reporter. He expressed himself sanguine as to admission to the League. In Cleveland's deal with Brooklyn he considered himself badly used, as he paid that club's officers solid cash for their franchises solely for the purpose of securing their assistance in obtaining the most desirable reserved players. Instead of so doing they backcapped him and worked in the interest of Brooklyn. The Sporting Life January 14, 1885 [from a letter by F. H. Brunell] ...it is well to have it understood that every step taken by Mr. Byrne, president of the [Brooklyn] club, and by Mr. Hackett, its manager, has been with the full knowledge, consent and co-operation of the Cleveland Club previous to the release of its players, and therefore in no way conflicting with the National Agreement. The Brooklyn Club officials are among the staunchest supporters of that famous instrument, and are too level-headed to violate its letter or spirit. Mr. Byrne came here quietly, transacted his business with Messrs. G. W. Howe and C. H. Bulkley, the owners of the Cleveland Club, two of the most reliable gentlemen ever identified with the National game in this country, and everything was transacted on a simple business basis. He has not undertaken to interfere in the affairs of other people, and justly feels the same treatment should be accorded him. It has been charged that the Brooklyn Club's negotiations with the Cleveland men was a violation of the National Agreement. This is nonsense. Some time since Mr. Barnie, of Baltimore, negotiated with Cleveland and secured Muldoon. Pittsburg and Columbus had mutual business relations which all approved and indorsed. Mr. John B. Day, of the New York League Club, is now dealing and negotiating with his partners in the Metropolitan American Association Club to secure Keefe and Esterbrook for his League team. No one for a moment intimates that in these cases the agreement has been violated, and yet Brooklyn's position will found to be, when all the facts are known, much stronger than any of the cases named. The Sporting Life January 14, 1885 The seven Cleveland players...were not secreted in a small town near the Canadian border as reported, but were all the time since their release at a hotel in Cleveland under the watchful eye of Byrne and Hackett. Their whereabouts must have been well known to base ball managers as it is said they were deluged with offers. The Sporting Life January 21, 1885 |
| Source | Sporting Life |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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