Show PRESENT CIRCUIT NO MORE FEASIBLE CLOSKEY r PROPOSES AI A ANEW S NEW EV LEAGUE LACUE I J j. j McCloskey veteran n baseball er eg er erand and md manager who with the tho late am H. H Lucas organized the pre present c t association consented to an inthis in in- S tw this morning on his opinion of S future of ot baseball in the tho inter inter- tam taw region In view of ot McClos- McClos g I long experience n as well as of ot thorough knowledge of ot local condi condi- 5 throughout th the intermountain it t his remarks and nd opinions should or cf general interest No No SAid eald John the circuit ot of l- l put t seasons is not cot feasible and andt t do for or the reason that the jumps jump too big Think of the jump from It II Lake to Great Falls farther than UI m St. St Louis to Boston in the tho Nal Na Na- Jal l la league c. c The Tho railroads in Mon Mou- compel a club to pa pay full fare I expense coupled with the fact the ball ballparks parks in n these towns arc are far tar oat out drawing but a small email at- at dance on week days das the guarantee trig only 75 15 75 per game amo doesn't ben bea be be- n a to cover the expenses on the tho road N say sav nothing of salaries salarios The Tho as s cu in the to towns s in Montana ha have o r per per- r. r llly uY contributed toward to maintain maintain- t c g the team as a matter of ot civic pride prider ir r T the past two years but they are ne nen ing n 0 Os of last it and the southern clubs lien ien go p there thero are arc lo losers ers financially ich tb eh pro proves pros s that the circuit is HI a failS faile fail fail- e S beyond ond the question of a doubt The lo logical cal thin thing for the Montana us 3 to do is to form a state calUc the towns of Butte lid lIel Missoula Billings V Le Lewistown and anel andt eat t PaIls Falls Then a circuit might be bo mul in the south with Salt Lake rray Ogden en Boise with d Blackfoot as a n joint club Halt Half the games am s of or the s series ries of each week lId aid Id be played in and half Blackfoot av flay three in Pocatello and pe in Blackfoot Those These two towns to eighteen miles apart and ami have a alcy aley Icy lcy line over o which the clubs 8 could lb ck and forth daily Twin Falls M 14 make the sixth town tOt and it ghi hl be possible that another r small email n 1 could he bo found to divide the tIle themes roes mes with Twin Fa Falls all This would Ice ike a six club circuit in th the south a six club circuit iti in in the north At Athe Athe he end of the la n a postseason so- so 0 i ic ii i could be bo pl between cen tho the win win- rJ iri which would be quite interesting nd a great drawing card carrl This southern south south- ern rn ru circuit would mean short jumps and ana mild he be a success Murray could lI use e field and anti continuous ball could 30 C 6 II here re during the entire season Reason bile hile the Skyscrapers would Mould bo ho playing Q o n Boise Boille Ogi O u rould play phay Murray at nt atu u as HeM field Sn So you can eRn see e there is il no noC C of to Great Groat Tall rails when Circuit like this thin can bo ho organized own here bere What caused you and Lucas I to or or- such a Ion long jump circuit f was eked r S Well it was wa our intention nt nl first o 0 or orlI organize lI 7 n a Montana state la league cJ nt ut s B as we knew nothing of Lewistown font fout being 5 such ch r a good ball 11 town ton ind Dd seeding needing a sixth town wo we o thought jre Ie e. e would make it four our towns in iu Montana Mon- Mon tana wa ana and two farther south viz iz Boise tad and Salt Bait Lake This Thi w we learned d to bo ho f fatal tatal mistake as tb the distance bercen be- be the tO towns n proved pro entirely too great glut to prove pro a financial 1 tucce success success' success v. v Before this t league learue a was 1 or organized th the lat late President nt I Lucas Luea u 88 came camo to Mil Mu- waukee where I 1 was employed empl-ed as maner man man- er ot of the Milwaukee club at a salary r of f a year r. r pictured to mo me that if it we we came to Montana and or or- the league I r would own tho Butte franchise and ami make nake or per year car lIe Hc said Fair You Yon know John you OU made a bi bit big success of the tho Butte club in 1 K 2 when you won tho the pennant there and if you Jou return and give them a winner inner avlin it will he be II a bi big thin thing for you ou financially financial h So I y T I agreed ed to come out to Butte which i I 1 I. di did an and Wp we or organized tho the present ont I Circuit with the exception of or OJ Option Ogden en It it was then understood b by us both that tho the Union association was was to be bo a a. a school to develop the young players payers picked up in Montana Idaho Idabo and Utah I 10 o as s 5 not to send east for talent thus giving t t the e youngsters youngster in the west a chance to develop The salary l limit wa was to 0 bo be 1500 p per r month and affidavits were ero taken to the Ule effect that MO wo 0 would adhere i C I to tho the salary limit Wo We ai all started in an in In good faith except r Fall Falb T I had bad ha brought George S ne d a. a out from Crom Mobile Ala in the thc ther Southern SL league and taken him to r Gnat Faits HU vai c X caw n HB and ana anu put him mm in good with 1 tb the w. w HU vai c X caw HB and ana anu put him mm in 1 tb the w. w good with e people there therol We all aIt sent pent our conTacts con can tracts In fn to President J Lucas for I S 01 nt J Lucas threatened threat threat- promulgation pro pro- Zoned ened Great at Falls that if the they didn't und in their contracts before a certain corbin date th that v th tho franchise would be turned over to ome some other town as President d that Beed ei Ing tn n 5 high suspected salaried was 8 nt veteran ran players ers t p guessed ri right ht t and in a few day alya wo saw M by the Associated Press Pres that Reed fled had Purchased Murphy ct et al iii Think ot of purchasing players vor in a little D lea league e when had bad we agreed to d develop youngsters I adhered strictly tto to the salary limit Umit and picked tip such playon a Catcher Hannah I I Geor George e Duddy Eddy Edd- D Joe Mathes and I many other Bold Hannah Promising Joun youngsters I and t to Detroit I for 2500 besides e. e othe othen drafted Butte forged to the w lead ea w with these youngsters winning fourteen straight ht games from Missoula Later on while in the l lead d. d we transferred to Salt Lake Ikc on account of the the tho games horse in Butte I sure had tough h luck fin in Butte a as it f rained hailed baited and for a month Then earn came e the tho Sf horse races which caused the S t transfer CJ of the I games ames es and we c finished the son In on th the sea sea- rod road In En Great the mea C 11 Fas with its veteran teams I 10 n PRESENT CIRCUIT S Continued from pa page page- e 1 17 i. i had defeated Helena th thirteen out of I fourteen gam games s and taken the lead and and- was n never ner er headed off thereafter but won tho the pennant tIn t. t In 1912 Lucas advised ise mo me to jo take the Ogden franchise on account of his his' trouble with the Boise Boie club which had dropped out of the tho league It was wu wasa a n. mistake to let Boise out out as as' the year car before it had proven pro a good town Lucas Lucas Lu Tu cas was was determined in 1912 to enforce the t salary limit to the tho letter and asked mo me again if T I would ouM adhere to the same 1 T I told him yes e and Bcd kept pt word ord while the others went wont m my beyond it and the consequence wa was that the Ogden club was outclassed Later on 00 about June Tunc 1 tho the Weber club agreed to take the franchise off oft my my hands ant and strengthen the team which they did They told me to cut ut loo loose e and get a good gooI ball baU club which I did We Wo were hopelessly last at the time in the thc race but made a splendid finish defeating the tho Skyscrapers at the end fifteen out of seventeen enteen games II We We had won twenty out of thirty five ve just before that from all the tc teams ms in the tho league and I r believe if the northern teams had bad finished in inthe inthe inthe the south and wo we had bad had bad three w weeks eks to go we W would uld have won the pennant pen pen- nant nant II At At tho the close of the season seMon I c came cameto came cameto mc to Salt Lake and I promised th the baseball baseball base base- ball ban public that I would give them a a team in iu Salt Lake that they wouldn't be ashamed of I made good and gave ga them good clean ball baU I also wish to thank the public for forthe forthe forthe the way it patronized and nd nd stood by tho the thoI I club and I shall always bo be grateful for the way it boosted and root rooted d for forus forus I us the Skyscrapers to winOn winOn win On the first first- trip north wh when n wo we were playing in in Helena Heena we wo had won sixteen and nd lost four games on en tho thu trip up to that time Imagine my sur sur- pris prick pris when hen President showed I II I up lip a n a aa a spectator at our last game arne before before be be- fore leaving in ea for Salt Lake and sai said Joh I believe you rou are arc over the tho salary alan r I admitted the truth and said T was a few dollars I Well We then let two men pien go right awa away which I did letting Pitcher Gaut and Catcher Fox out O and reea released ed them From that time on our team was never the same as the loss of these two men weakened wakened tho the Skyscrapers The other managers wouldn't wouldn admit they were over O the tho salary sal sal- ary any limit and were watching for a chance to strengthen all the time which some of them did Had I be been n allowed to strengthen as I wanted to do 10 the tho pennant would have boon beon ours I am am aID amnot not blaming anyone anone but only ono one man can run nun a ball ban club and if I 1 should be I here in 1914 1014 I 1 must be bo given i cn full fun control control con con- tro of the club and unless I am given that ten thousand for the season would be no be-no no inducement for me to remain The Montana papers tapers I 1 r understand arc are agitating Player mana ers ers' for ct This is 15 amusing musin to me because be be- cause like liko in in else it takes experience to be bo a successful leader Baseball is the only business on earth that that- thinks ho knows more about th than n the manager does docs him himself elf In the railroad business busine's ono one starts start at the bottom and when the top is reached one is gi given gien en credit for tor ku w. w mug ing Dg something Docs Does anyone imagine that team work and tho to strategy of oC the the game gome can ean be learned in ri a season or two vo How y m many times have I Dulled pulled tho the pitchers out oat ox 01 the box in thE the early part o of ot a season or at a critical pars pare of the game I I 1 know v of twenty live games we wc won last Jc year r by pulling the tho pitcher out at the rj right time and ana substituting sub subS someone else ele and sometimes substituting a and so on sow Now suppose that tho the pitcher r 1 I pulled out hn had lost fost the game every cry I fan tan at the thu game would have roasted and condemned con con- me but my experience stood the tho test and was ns the winner During the tho or while we e had our winning spurt in iD Ogden how many litany t times time m nave o 1 I beam that Kitty Kilty Knight was vas the tIme brains of time tiie Ogden Kitty is a fine tine tallow follow and a good pitcher but be he la lacked ex ox as a R leader and this year no noone noone noone one knows how ho much mono money the Ogden club lost experimenting paying railroad rail road tare fare for tor players Dring cringing ng them to Ogden and th thou n letting them go Did bait alt Lake do to an any experimenting Not that I know of This is where a club loses money by not in ha having an au experienced ex cx- leader II Does Does anyone mean to tell me ins that I Dad c experience isn't good for some lome club The Tho cry is they dont don't want bench managers in ina a class dais I D league The Union association was no cla class s D league last year and should have been in class B. B The Salt Lake club in 1912 was just as bood as th the one I had in Milwaukee Nil Mil wa waukee keo in 1909 1009 when we lost the pennant pennant pen pen- nant to Louisville Louis b by one game rame An and if the tho patrons of the game gama nere bera are not given on this class of ball next year ear a aI great howl will go up from tho the fan fans I Vo We aio alo in class D only onty because our combined population will not let us gony go any ny higher but wo we played class B ball bail all just just- the tho same caine In speaking of the ing ng managers ors how a about boot Connie Mack fack McGraw and dozens of others in the older organizations Denver had Jack HendricKs last year car and Portland Or had Walter 1 McCredie both of ot whom arc pennant winners ers and any number of little lea leagues es have hae man man- rigors AH AU these men meD are experienced veteran players who coach their teams from third bacce which is th the proper place for a 8 leader of of ofa a team in these days ays Connie Conni Mack sits on the bench benchin in citizens citizen's clothes and coaches his bis team with a set of signals but if Connie Connie Con Con- nie wasn't an owner in the club he would bo be out on the field in in uniform just tho the same sarno as McGraw and others under tinder salary My Mr day dar as a player is is over oer The Thelast Thelast Thelast last game I took part pant in was in 1905 between Vancouver and Bellingham Wash I played first base in a nine nine- inning game without an error and we were beaten 5 to 4 I 1 have th the tabulated score of the game I Ire retired re no- tired as a player after that game But But this is not what tho the tan fans are interested in The slogan is ie Wh Why cant can't Salt Lake get et into the Coast league And who knows but that in a short short- while whilo the fans fan may be rooting rooting root root- in ing for Salt Lake to shut out ant San Ban Francisco or Los Angeles Angeles' At least let us hope BO so for as the tho old saying laying goes goel I While there thero is life there is hope |