OCR Text |
Show II BMBiOIIT 1 - BE INDUCED IB Pil j Thought Offer of $10,000 a Year Would Bring a Change of Heart. I Fevr peeple ,ire willing to helievo that j Frank Baker !i re'ired from baseb.ill l'or uo other reason th;iu th.it lie iias i tired of riding about tlie eouutry in Ptillmnu sleepers, suns tbo t-'Mladeipliut Koeord. There :in- disacreenble sides to every lino or business, but it. is rare, indeed, wh'n a man, who is a f-tar in his ehosen profession, feels like qMiirrel-lintf qMiirrel-lintf ivitli his bread and butter to the extent of qiiiriin wliilc he is still in his primp. 'I'ircd of riding about the eouiitrv Baker mav lie, but ho no doubt eould bo iiersuadc-d to eontiinie ridin" were tho proper inducements otVered. But MtmttgiT Mack sa.vs lie jiroposes taking flakor at his word and trv to r;ot nkow- without tho jjroiit lionie-run hitter, , and a;; Ataok jrenerally iiieuns what he say, Vrauk nibrht as well be eliminated from the Athlotb- line-up, liotwithstandinsr the tremendous linle in the already badlv punctured iuliobl his departure will make. Collins, linker. Plunk, Bender and Coombs gone, now who will he tho ue.xti Springiue the surprises coin at a time may be merciful merci-ful to the fans," but, tho 'blow- to the chances of the Athletics in the. comins season's campaign will be none the loss scvero when the. actual playing teasou arrived. . What WiU Larry Do? It is now up to JFack to build up another an-other infield irom the material at hand -Me.Innes, Barry, Lajoie and Kopf. Hack says he expects to plav larrv on second base, but it is freelv predicted that the one-time, star, who has been twenty years iu baseball, will be found more useful at first base, his original position, than at second, whoreasMc-Innes, whoreasMc-Innes, who started out as a shortstop, has demonstrated his ability to plav any of tho intield positions well. W'tk this in view, it, would not be surprising to seo Mclnnes shifted to second base, I.arrv placed on first and Kov.f sent, to third, leaving Barry iu his old job at snort. However, this is somethme that Mack will work out to his own satisfaction without, assistance from others. But, do what he will, there is no possibility that he can turn out an intield that will compare favorablv with the one that has .pist been broken up. It, is sure to 'bo weaker in batting strength, no matter how well it mav field. Baker and Collins were timely as well as hard hitters. Lajoie, slugger that he was in his prime, was ueVer a. good pinch-hitter, and it is not to be expected that he will imorove in that respect, at this late day. Kopf is just a fair batsman, and Melnnes is likely to be the only .300 hitter on the mnld. Lajoie looks remarkablv well and save he is but eight pound's overweight. New York Wants Baker. Mack has Baker tied up to a contract that has two years longer 1o run, so Frauk cannot go to another team unless un-less given his release, except by jumping jump-ing to the Federal league, which he says he. lias no intention of doing. But that is not saying that a big money offer would not tempt him to change his mind about retiring. It is not at all improbable that the clamor made over Eddie Collins 's $10,000 a year for live years with the Chicago W'bite Sox made Frank feel a little disappointed over his own $4-iOO contract with the Athletics, and Mock is not the man to boost a man's saiarv above tho amount called for iu his contract. Jle has admitted ad-mitted that the poor business nf last season prompted him to sell Collins, and also to let out his trio of star pitchers. That, beinfr the case, it is not to be expected that he should lend au car to any request for an increase from Baker, or that he will voluntarily offer him more money, and this may account for Frank 'ft desire to quit. An offer of $11,000 a year for a few seasons sea-sons would, undoubtedly make Baker feel like leaving his farming to others for ti time, and there is little doubt that the Ivow York American League club not only would pay him that saiarv, but also pay Maek an additional $10,oGo Frank Baker, Who Has Announced Intention of Quitting Baseball O xgcc' xn ; --f- " - : V - ' '- " f- . V . , " ! f ' 'mw? 1 Q&fiqs ' - or 0,000 for Baker's release. Jt is tho desire ot! every American league cJub owner that a winninf; team shall ;be built up in Niv Yorlt this season, and the addition of such a star as Baker would add greatly to the attractiveness of the Highlanders' games. Card for Yanks-Baker, Yanks-Baker, of all men, would be the player that New Yorkers would pick, binen no other man now playing hull would prove a. greater drawing card. Baker twice beat the Giants out of the world's championship by cracking out a home run, and his name is the most j popular synonym for hard and timely j hitting. Mack would hardly feel safe iu selling Baker's release outrieht to the new owners of the Highlanders for fear of displeasing patrons of his club, but after it has been shown that Baker is lost to the Athletics who can object to Frank's collecting the big wad that Ruppert and Houston are said to be willing to pay him Of course this may never come off and Baker may stick to his determination to retire or he may relent andeome back to the Athletics Ath-letics for au increased consideration after he gets through with his spring planting, "but if he is found wearing a New York uniform this season just put it down as a new way of breaking the news of the sale of a popular player to a rival club. Few Enjoy Comparisons. Comparisons are odious, and no doubt that is the way it looked to Baker when he read about Collins "s $50,000 for five vears, while he himself at his present rate could collect less than half that sum for the same length of eervice. Every intelligent baseball mun knows that Collins is not worth twice as much as Baker To any ball chib, and it 'is doubtful if he is right now worth a penny more. They. are both star players, play-ers, but on past performances Baker's record is even more remarkable than Collins Js. Frank has no one to rival him as a clean-up hit-tor. while Collins shares distinction as the host all-around ball player of his dav .with others, ono of whom is Ty Cobb, and another Johnny Evers. The latter collected over $40,-000 $40,-000 for his baseball services last season, sea-son, including bonus money and his share in the profits ofr the Boston Bu-ves. and no doubt this fnet made Baker's own salary seem smaller. Then, too, the air kas been filled with high salary talk all winter by reason of tne Federal league activities, and it would 'not have been out of the way had Mack ," ntTt red Baker an increase, even if he ;had put a string to it by stipulating (thai Frank must play up to his previ- ons bfst record in ordt'T to earn it. Tbe "'Athletic rhib could surely aiiord to pay .'a man of Baker V abilitv more than -l-'OO a i-eaon. Two of his home-run wallops in world V championship games netted the club several times that amount in actual cash, while the glory reflect t-d from those drives continued to put monev in the club's treasury during dur-ing the whole of tbe following season. |