Clipping:Purchasing a release; Bay City disbands

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Date Wednesday, July 30, 1884
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After a long, muddled and illogical defense of contract breaking under its new phase, one of the morning papers copies with a light comment a sharp and unmerited attack upon Mr. Von der Ahe for the manner in which he procured Foutz from the Bay City Club. What next? Mr. Von der Ahe went honorably to the Bay City Club directors, made his business proposition to them openly and above board and it was accepted. He paid a large amount of money for the privilege of signing the player and there was not a party to the transaction who was not perfectly agreeable and well satisfied. In the article appears this dirty and covert sling: “The meanest part of the transaction is that the $2,000 does not go to the player whose services were considered to be worth $3,500 for the remainder of the season.” Now the fact is that the $2,000 business was only part of the transaction. The season is now half over, and for the balance of the campaign Foutz will receive $1,500. This is at the rate of $3,000 for the season and of course Foutz is better satisfied than with the $500 or $600 he was to have received from the Bay City club, and it constitutes him one of the highest paid professionals in the country. St. Louis Post-Dispatch July 30, 1884

The Bay City Club, which was second in the Northwestern League, has not been well supported and was compelled to disband at Peoria July 22. At the time the club had won 41 games and lost 13. Previous to the collapse Mr. Von der Ahe, of the St. Louis, paid the extraordinary sum of $2,000 for the release of Foutz, the crack pitcher of the club, who will also receive $1,600 for the rest of the season. This $2,000 enabled the club to pay off all its indebtedness, arrearages of salary, etc., and then seeing no prospect of even paying expenses, let alone making any money, the management resolved to let the team go while it was possible to do so with a clean bill. The rumor of the disbandment brought a lot of managers to Peoria. Barnie, of Baltimore; Williams, of St. Louis; Hacket, of Cleveland; Manager Gifford, of Indianapolis; Chapman, of Detroit. Indianapolis secured Watkins, Robinson, Collins and Morrison; Kansas City got Cudworth, Davis, Turbidy and Strauss; Milwaukee got the batter, Porter and Bignall, for $2,800. The other managers got nothing, probably because the terms were too high. The Sporting Life July 30, 1884

Source St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Submitted by Richard Hershberger
Origin Initial Hershberger Clippings

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