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Show BIG STRIDES IN BASEBALL GAME Public Interest Increases in Thirty Years in Phenomenal Phenom-enal Manner. $1000 ONCE BIG PRIZE World Series Now Pays Players Play-ers From Two to Four Thousand Each. (By Monty) Thirty years have seen the amount earned by a player in the world championship baseball series rise from less than $100 to several thousand thou-sand dollars. Public interest has in; creased In a phenomenal manner. The enthusiasm in 1884, -wlen the old Metropolitan of New York and the Providence team, winners of the National Na-tional league pennant, met, would be considered paltry today Only $1000 was the prize of this first series. This was contributed by A C. Spalding Spald-ing and Chris Von Der Ahe ot St. Louis and went entirely to the winning win-ning team to be equally divided. Each player got less than $100. Had the team carried such strings of players as do the present big league clubs, there would hardly have been enough in the purse to go around. In those days, however, the managers did not believe in letting their players have any rest, and a team with eight regulars and two or three pitchers was considered well supplied with talent. In case of need the extra pitchers worked in the outfield out-field In fact, man of the teams carried only a couple of outfielders and used a pitcher in the field as a regular thing No Rest for Players. Pitchers like Redbourne and Keefe. who opposed each other in the 1884 senes. never expected a couple of days rest between their pitching assignments as-signments They worked da after day and were nearly as much fixtures fix-tures in the line-up as were the men playing in the other positions The rosters of the two teams that played for the world's title In 1884 contain many names that ore still fresh in the minds of the older baseball base-ball followers The players who took part in the series were- Providence Pitchers. Radbourne. Sweeny; catchers, Gilligan Naa' basemen. Start, Farrell, Denny, short etop, Irwin, fielders, Carroll. Hines, Radford. Metropolitans Pitchers. Keefe. Lynch, catchers. Holbert, Reipshalc. basemen, Orr. Tro . Esterbrook. shortstop. Nelson, fielders. Kennedy, Roseman. Bradv. From 1884 until 1890 post season Beries were played each vear between the peDnant winners in the National league and American asoclatlon. It was not until 18S6 that tlfe plapr? began to share in the gate receipts The receipts that year were divided 50 per cent to the clubs and 50 per cent to the players, the club payin? all the expenses out of their share. The total receipts that year were only $13,920, which lefr about $7000 to be divided among the plaers. On the two teams that year there wore not as many plaers as are now carried by one major league team. Division of 1914 Series Money. The Braves" share of the world"s series money this year will be divided divid-ed among twenty-seven players, while the Athletics' share will be divided between twenty-five rnn making a total between both teams of fifty-I fifty-I two players who will get a slice of the receipts. Not more than twenty-two twenty-two men at the most got a share of the stakes in the old series between the American association and the National league. As years went by interest con tinned to become greater in these post-season series and the return to the players showed a corresponding Increase In 1889 the receipts reached reach-ed a new high figure in the series between New York, champions of the American association, and Brooklyn, chr.mplons of the National league The receipts that year were $25,628 After 1890, when the American association as-sociation resigned from the national agreement, there were no more real world's champion series until 1903, when the National and merican league champions met for the first time. In the interim between those years the Temple cup series absorbed much of the interest that was formerly for-merly centered on the other series. It was until 1905 when the Giants played the Athletics for the first world's series under the control of the National commission that the players made their first big 'killing. ' That year each of the victorious Giants realized $1142 out of the series The Boston Red Sox, winners in 1912. received the largest amount for their part in the series ever paid Each pltner received $4022. |