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Show FEDERAL IK1 HAS HELPED PLAYER Organized Leaders Must Henceforth Show More Consideration. Tribune Special Sport Sen-Ice. v NEW Tp.lUC. iMny 2. It looks just now as though the presidents of the American and National leagues and the members or tho national commission will have a mighty task ahead of them this season enforcing the rules and regulations regula-tions as they apply to ball players. They'll have to treat those plnyors In the coddling sort of way that Is accorded 1o prima donnas or It Is likely that the players will hurdle to the waiting Feds. In other years, when ball players sansed umpires, sprayed tobacco Juice on their nice new coats, or clubbed an ump on the brow with a mace, those players were severely dealt with cither by the league president or the national commission, in the event of the case being appealed. Also, If a player fractured the club rules and "Fat up" with a "sick friend" until the early hours ofthe morning, or tried to get exercise by "raasling" with John Barleycorn, that player drew a fine of from J50 to 200 and usuallv was suspended sus-pended Indefinitely without pay. Things Are Different. In the days of old about the only thing the player could do was to submit to whatever penalty the powers ubove sought to dole out to Jilin. Ho had no altcrnatlvo. If he whs disgruntled, or thought he had boen dealt with unjustly by his club; it made no difference. It was a case of serving the sentence whether or not the conviction was just, and being as cheerful as possible about It. or quitting the temn. which would have left him without a Job. But things aro a bit different Just now. There's the Federal league, with Its generous bankroll, looming in thc-offlng, thc-offlng, waiting to snare any plavers who aren't satisfied with their organized borths. And no one knows this anv better bet-ter than do the organized baseball magnates. mag-nates. Therefore, It's pretty much of a cinch that during this year of mt the players won't have to submit to mnnv of the raw deals that characterized the past working of organized baseball, but will have things very much their own way. Rules Disregarded. 15 The national commission, it may be remembered, re-membered, ruled lust October that bail players would not bo allowed to write signed articles for newspapers during the 1914 season, nor would the phi vers Uc permitted to sell the use or their names' to articles. "An player who docs this will be deal' with In a sovere way," announced Ban Johnson. Have the players obeyed the rule"' They have not! They have assumed an attltudo of defiance. "We're writing articles now and wc'Jl continue to write them as long as the newspapers want them," Is the altitude of the "author" players, "Thai's the way wc feel about it. Jf the 'Cornish' doesn't like tho Idea of our writing and wants to fire us out of the league because, be-cause, of it why I guess wc can get Jobs with the Feds. So we aren't worrying." worry-ing." And they aren't, it's the "Cornish"' that Is doing the worrying. The Idea or mere ball phiyers calmly defying its Ironclad Iron-clad rule not only has piqued tho "Cornish," but also has caused Ihem to wonder just how far the defiance of the players will go. The owners of the different dif-ferent clubs In the organized majors are thinking the same way. They arc wondering won-dering Just what will happen If they fin-? and suspend a man for Infraction of the rules, In other words, tho players seem to have the club owners, tho league presidents presi-dents und the national commission bv the sneezing apparatus, and hereafter will do the leading Instead of being led. And It looks as if they're going to do some considerable con-siderable leading. |