Hide Article Text (OCR)
BASEBALL SLAVERY.A statesman in the California legislature Las arrived at lt;; the opinion that professional baseball players are iu a state i of slavery, and has introduced a bill in the body of which he is a member to abolish this thralldom and set free such men j as ILmns Wagner and Tyrus Cobb, one of whom has made a i fortune out of his bondage, while the other is getting rich * notwithstanding his chains.I J' hat a piece of asininity it is—tins balderdash about base* I ball slavery! Slavery is involuntary servitude. No man can be made to play baseball against his will, any more than a I bricklayer can be forced to ply his trade if he We fit to take a rest or engage irt something else. Indeed, this “slavery” is the very life blood of the game, the greatest athletic sport ever invented. Abolish it. and every grandstand will come down and the game will be given over to urchins on the backWould the “magnates” put money in the game if their players were free to abandon them at will# Not a dollar! This grandest of physical diversions comes from a combination of capital and skill, neither of which can get along with-) out the other. As a rule, a tail end club makes no money, and top notch club would give promise of no yield if its star players were released from the reserve danse at the end of I the season. As for the sale and exchange of players, that is mu. li for the advantage of the player as it is for the maff ! nate. A player worthless to one dub. under one management, may. and frequently does, develop into a star in another clubj and under another management.Besides, when did it get to be slavery to be a popular idol,• heralded in the newspapers, admired of thousands of men and 11 ) women, and adored of tens of thousands of boys and girls?‘sor is that all. These “slaves lour the country in palact si ■ears and live on the fat of the land. After the game, “ih|flt; 'mufti’’—that is. in all the gorgeous array purveyed by the most artistic knight of the shears, the needle and thread— they are conspicuous at the theater, where they divide with the star on the stage the admiration of the audience. But for this “slavery most of them would live on bacon and cabbage, and work for their living in hopeless obscurity.— Washington Post.-------------4---
Newspaper Details
San Antonio Light and Gazette
San Antonio, Texas, US
Mon, Feb 21, 1910
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Ryan E.
CA, USA 30 Apr 2017
Other Publications Near San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio Gazette
San Antonio Express
San Antonio Daily Express
San Antonio Light
San Antonio Evening Light
