Clipping:The AA's eighth club; tried to place a club in Chicago
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| Date | Sunday, January 15, 1888 |
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| Text | It is known that the Association first sought to fill the vacancy by changing the Chicago Maroons or Western League team into the American Association. But A. G. Spalding refused to allow the change to be made. Then an effort was made to get the Boston League Club to put a team into the American Association. The triumvirs feared to give the Association a foothold in a city where they are none too popular. Cincinnati Commercial Gazette January 15, 1888 The vexed question of properly locating the Metropolitan franchise will, in all probability, be settled this week, as the committee which has had the matter in charge has progressed far enough to request a special meeting of the American Association. President Wikoff accordingly issued a call for a meeting to be held Monday, Jan. 16,, at the Grand Hotel, Cincinnati. What city has been selected is still uncertain, as the members of the committee have been unusually close-mouthed and have done their work very quietly. Troy, Albany and Hartford have all been under consideration, and a Baltimore report states that Kansas City has an excellent chance of selection. There is, however, a strong feeling in some quarters that the club should be located in New York at any cost. The Sporting Life January 18, 1888 Ex-president Hotchkin of the old league club of Troy asked President Robison [of the Cleveland Club] how much the salary of an association team would amount to. “Our’s costs about $28,000,” said Robison. “Don’t attempt to put in such a team here,” was Hotchkin’s answer. “It wouldn’t pay. Our league team of 1882, in which Tim Keefe, Buck Ewing, Roger Conner, Mike Gillespie, Fred Pfeffer, William Holbert and John Cassidy played, cost us between $12,000 and $13,000.” Cleveland Plain Dealer January 19, 1888 ...[reporting the AA special meeting of 1/16-11/17/1888] The report of the committee on vacancy made it apparent that an Eastern club could not well be selected. Troy, Hartford, Atlanta, Newark and Albany were willing to enter but had not sufficient financial backing to enter a team in these days of high salaries. New York was out of the question, as the committee reported the utter impossibility of securing a ground to play upon. Kansas City was then sprung upon the meeting by the Brooklyn Club. … The Athletics were utterly opposed to having the eighth club located anywhere but in New York City. Louisville jointed in the fight against Kansas City, and Cleveland also objected to the new deal, as it would class her among the Eastern clubs. After an hour of debate Cleveland was won over, and then it only remained to secure the vote of either Philadelphia or Louisville to secure the Cowboys' admission. Meanwhile Mr. Whitfield was again called in and new conditions submitted to him, which he immediately telegraphed to the officials of his club. Pending answer the Association adjourned late at night to meet again Tuesday morning. When the meeting reconvened the next day, Mr. Whitfield announced that the new conditions had been accepted by his club. … Mr. Whitfield then again retired and after some debate the Athletic and Louisville clubs surrendered, and Kansas City was admitted by unanimous vote upon three conditions. First they are required to furnish a bond of $10,000 as an agreement that they would fulfill all the obligations to the Association, and secondly, that Kansas City was to pay the fares of all visiting clubs numbering not more than fourteen men, from St. Louis to Kansas City and return. The Metropolitan players were then appraised at $7,000 and Kansas City given the privilege of selecting any or all of these men... The Sporting Life January 25, 1888 Bob Ferguson suggests abolishing scoring base hits and errors Bob Ferguson, the well known umpire, said in an interview yesterday that he was in favor of abolishing the base hits and errors in base ball games, declaring they are the greatest evil ever introduced. “If a player is credited with one more error than he has made in a game,” continued Mr. Ferguson, “he is all broke up and will do nothing but talk about that error and declare the reporters are trying to down him. If a game is scheduled for the following day he is unstrung and consequently plays his position poorly. You have no idea how sensitive base ball players are. They will not mind half so much an unjust criticism on them as they will the failure of a reporter to credit them with all their base hits, or see an extra error against them. I really believe there would be more interest taken in the national game were runs to be made the chief feature of the game. If the base hits and errors and the computing of players’ records were done away with you would see the men do better work. They will strive to outdo one another in scoring runs, and the runs win the game after all.” Cleveland Plain Dealer January 23, 1888 |
| Source | Cincinnati Commercial Gazette |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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