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Show Ipbaking Released by Western Newspaper Union. 17HEN Bill Cox, head of a New ' York-Philadelphia syndicate, bought the Thils he took over a job that would make the most experienced experi-enced of baseball men cringe with sheer terror. Cox, 34-year-old former NYU and Yale athlete, organized the syndicate syndi-cate that bought the I'hils after the National league had foreclosed on thent. It Is his announced intention to bring a new deal to Philadelphia. The tables have been turned. When Cox took over the team the Phils constituted the most important impor-tant of the ivory markets. Under the old management, Philadelphia was the trading block of the circuit. When Gerry Nugent held the reins of the Phils, other ball clubs looked to him for building program reinforcements, re-inforcements, Nugent had few compunctions com-punctions about selling players. To him they were worth only the cash they would bring In the open market. mar-ket. The Cincinnati Reds, Dodgers, Giants and Cardinals all managed to win pennants with the help of players play-ers bought from Nugent. The Bargain The syndicate was reported to have paid $325,000 for the franchise. Included was a lease on Shibe Park and very little else. At that time there were about 20 players on the roster mot of whom were not world-famed for their prowess. Before he stepped out Nugent sold the Phils' best pitcher, Rube Melton, to the Dodgers. Catcher Benny Warren War-ren went to the Cubs. Nick Etten, the Phils' best hitter, went to the Yankees, and the one other good pitcher, Tom Hughes, is in the army. The history of baseball in Philadelphia Phila-delphia is not a gay, frolicsome tale. It is one of the game's oddest stories. sto-ries. It will come as no startling surprise to point out that every baseball base-ball league must have a tail-end club each year. But the Phils have taken advantage of the other seven clubs. Year after year they refuse to be budged from that particular, easy-to-remember location. Other clubs may view with alarm, but the Phils Ignore them with an indifference verging on boredom. Pennant Winner Only once since 1900 did they win a pennant. Pat Moran led them to glory in 1915. Except for a few isolated and unavoidable seasons the Phils have remained triumphantly in the cellar since that time. There are many reasons. The Nu-gents Nu-gents (Gerry and' Mrs. Nugent) inherited in-herited their holdings from the late William J. Baker, one-time police commissioner in New York city. Their operating methods followed no time-worn pattern. When the income in-come failed to keep pace with expenses ex-penses they sold a player or two. They managed to keep the books out of the red temporarily, but It was |