Show I ci I II R CE Salaries of o Athletes Pr THEY HEY were talking about the money a professional athlete could make and how much most of these athletes were worth In the first place among eight or orten orten orten ten old time old time writers in the discussion discussion discus discus- sion slon it was generally voted that the ring business was the most ed d. d This means that a few were far overpaid and the others were far underpaid i For example Joe Louis has bowled over close to four million dollars for his 62 fights Now four N million dollars is quite a chunk more than any other contestant i could collect a from any other game Above that well we'll say Louis picked up M thousand dollars his for last fight Babe Ruth That is about the pay that 10 lOot of I the paid highest-paid ballplayers would get for an entire season of games But after aUer all the fight champion champion champion cham cham- pion collects because he can draw When two ball clubs meet there may be 50 ball players engaged When fighters meet only two In the main event get any real money and one of these gets most of it iL After all a contestant contestant con con- is entitled to get his part of the swag which his drawing power can earn Babe Ruth was paid as high as a year He lie was actually worth more than double this amount to his Ws team the league and baseball baseball baseball base base- ball in general It would be hard to measure how much he actually earned Ive I've seen home teams drawing 1500 a game Jump to 33 when the Babe came along Fero Get Rich But while Jack Dempsey Louis and Gene Tunney have all collected huge amounts and a few others have picked up Important checks from the fight game the vast majority majority majority ma ma- get little except queer noises in their skulls Its It's a tough game if you make good Its It's a thousand times tougher when you dont don't Commissioner Eddie Eagen tells me there are more boxers than one might think who are putting away from to a year This is amazIng amazIng amazing ing when you figure the cut the manager and his helpers get The fight game is good only to the few For the others it Is largely large large- ly a matter of scrambled scrambled brains It is not a profession to be recommended recommended recommended mended too highly to the youth of the land Baseball and football are the two best average paying games especially especially especially espe espe- in the higher circuits I j Oddly enough more than a few young stars who dabble in both sports have to make certain drastic decisions Alvin Dark of the Braves was offered offered offered of of- more to play football than he gets playing baseball Dark picked baseball and the Braves Charley tried out both games and this season the ex- ex Georgia star decided to give all his time to the Chicago Cardinals leaving baseball fiat flat He found the combination too much to handle Chuck Conerly of Mississippi and Bobby Layne of Texas were two baseball stars Both had bright baseball futures Both picked football football foot foot- ball with the high guarantees now offered Years ago Walter Hagen could have been a noted big league star one one of the greatest in the game Hagen picked golf and and then proceeded proceeded pro pro- proceeded to roll up a million dollars in a few years years which which the carefree Haig Halg promptly spent Joe Gordon was an Oregon great at football before he switched entirely entirely entirely en en- to baseball of the Braves was another football star who picked baseball for a money money- maker There are many others I could mention Ballplayers Last Lust Longer One thing to be remembered is that one lasts longer on a general genera average at baseball than he does at football The wear and tear isn't so expensive A big league ballplayer with any particular merit should be good for 12 or 14 years Few football players last that long The Mel hems Sammy Baughs and Sid are scarce Bob Feller leads both leagues Inthe in inthe inthe the way of a pay check at something something something some some- thing like a year which so far this dizzy year Rapid Robert hasn't come close to earning Ted Williams is next and Joe DiMaggio DiMaggio Di- Di Maggio is third They get from 60 to and are earning It U every every every ev ev- ery day as two of the leading stars Stan gets nothing like these amounts although the Cardinal brilliant brilliant brilliant bril bril- is worth as os much as any man manin manin manin in the game There will be a big of ot values next year year year-up up and down is drawing something like 2000 this season but at his present present pres pres- present ent pace if he isn't a entry they have no ballplayers In the National National National Na Na- I It league ague |