The Baseball Salaries are Too Damn High: 1912 Edition

In 1912 the United States Baseball League did its best to muscle in on the turf of Major League Baseball, even instituting an early form of free agency by abolishing the reserve clause and letting players sign single year contracts if they so chose. It was like Wild Bill Haywood put together his own baseball league. Naturally, such a thing could not stand in the face of the big boys of Major League Baseball and they would be out of business within the year.

Surprisingly, the newspapermen also hated the idea. From the February 17, 1912 Sporting Life:

“President William Abbott Witman, of the United States League, is out with a statement in which he says the new league will abandon slavery in base ball. There will be no reserve clause in the contracts of the players who tie themselves up with the new organization, so that it will be possible for them to go where they please at the end of every season. Beautiful dream that. But the chances are that the class of players the United States League will have on its rosters will insist upon having the reserve clause made so strong that it will be impossible for the players to get away from the club.

The principles advocated for the new league by its officials would be better suited for a vaudeville sketch than a constitution for a base ball league. Slavery, indeed. It was high time that some one came to the rescue of the down trodden ball players. With salaries ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 for six months work, it is a wonder indeed that there has not been a rebellion long ere this.”

I really wish someone went ahead and made that vaudeville sketch because I would love to watch it.

The entire article is worth a read for anyone who gets enjoyment out of baseball’s weird history, but the most shocking thing is how similar this article is to the articles we read today when a columnist calls a ballplayer a turncoat for leaving his team for more money and greener pastures. It’s been 100 years and Major League Baseball has free agency, but the thought process still remains the same.

(via BBTF, Hardball Talk)