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Show BACK TO WORK; THERE'LL IE NO STBITOOH! Fraternity President Fultz Calls Off Threatened Walkout of Major League Ball Players. NEW YORK. Feb. 1-J. There will be j no strike of baseball players this year-This year-This ending of a long controversy was assured when President David L. Fultz of the Baseball Players' fraternity issued the following statement here today: Owing to the unfair position in which the major league owners have been placed In the -present baseball controversy between owners and players, the fraternity has submitted to the owners the following proposal: "To release aJl players from their pledges not to sign contracts upon the understanding that the owners will not discriminate against fraternity : players nor discipline them for their loyalty to the fraternity in observing their pledges." Early in the day Manager John Mc-Graw Mc-Graw of the New York Nationals and President Fultz held a conference, at which the fraternity executive said that if lie were assured that the members of the Players' fraternity would not be discriminated dis-criminated agaitibt financially or otherwise other-wise by the major league club owners, he would release the men from their pledges. McGraw immediately went to see President Tener of the National league and. after the situation had been ex-pluined ex-pluined to liim, Tener said: "You can assure Mr. Fultz that I give my word of honor as the president of the National league that the National league will not discriminate in any way against any ball player because of his connection with the fraternity." 1'pon receiving this statement from President Tener, McGraw declared to several sev-eral newspaper representatives: "I feel perfectly justiried in announcing that to all intents and purposes the strike is off in so far as it affects the National league." When President Johnson of the American Ameri-can league arrived here late In the day to attend the annual schedule meeting of the league tomorrow, he was informed of the action taken by President Tener. and in reply to a query as to whether he would give a similar assurance, he said: "So far as the fraternity is concerned, we give no assurance. All our players look alike to us. About So per cent of them have signed 3317 contracts and if the men come along to their training quarters, well and good. That is all the assurance that the American league will give." Chairman Herrmann of the national commission said that there was a. clause in all the major league contracts for 1!U7 which protected t lie players from discrimination dis-crimination on account of membership in the fraternit v and both of the major league presidents also called attention to this fact. The national commission was to have rlield a session here today, but it will not meet until tomorrow morning. The American Ameri-can league's schedule meeting also will be held here tomorrow, but It was announced an-nounced today that there would be no - spssIoii of the joint rules committee and the pennant race of 1017 therefore will be decided under the rules which governed gov-erned the struggle last season. The National league board of directors i ';wa9 increased from five to eight mem- I hers, the president of each club becoming becom-ing a director. No player in the league -an be released between August 2f and t the close of the championship peason. ex- ' i cept through the regular formality of the waiver rule. Sheckard in Charge. CHICAGO, Feb. 14. James Sheckard. ' - former star outfielder with the Chieasro -Nationals, who will assist Fred Mitchell. manager of the club, during the com in c . reason, will be in charge of the second team on the California training trip. It was announced today. Forty games will be played bv team Xo. 2, starting at Santa Ana Mar.-h 2. Ovincr to a rule adopted hy the Pacific Coast league, team No. 2 will not be permitted per-mitted to play any Barnes with the league teams on their home grounds, but several sev-eral games have been scheduled with these teams at other cities. The team will also play San Francisco at Sacramento Sacra-mento on March S and 10 and also at Marysville on March 12. The Chicasoans also will meet Spokane at Sacramento on the forenoon of March 11 and they play San Francisco on the same field in the afternoon. Two games are also scheduled with the Spokane club at Stockton, Cat, on March 17 and IS. |