Читать книгу Bad Boys, Bad Times. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Prewar Years, 1937–1941 онлайн

67 страница из 96

A month later, activities in the League Park office began to gather speed. Player contracts were being negotiated at a rapid pace, while plans for spring training were just about finalized. Bob Feller was rumored to have been offered a substantial deal of $17,500 plus a bonus for attendance at the games he pitched. Feller’s strong performance in September convinced a now-healthy Cy Slapnicka that his pitching prodigy was just about on par with the best pitchers in baseball. Johnny Allen got a tremendous contract calling for a team-high salary of $40,000 for two years. It seemed most of the players were able to get raises without much of a tussle from the front office.

Baseball Magazine published an old classic anecdote about salary negotiations between players and owners. The tale concerned Colonel Jacob Ruppert, the proprietor of the New York Yankees. Ruppert’s grandfather and father had founded a large brewery in the New York area years ago, where they produced the popular Knickerbocker Beer. Colonel Ruppert was already an enormously wealthy man when he purchased the Yankees in 1916. With some wise player acquisitions named Ruth and Gehrig, the Yankees became the top-drawing team in all of baseball. Knowing the franchise had cash to burn; the players started to get aggressive in their contract demands. Waite Hoyt, one of Yankees’ best pitchers, met with Ruppert about his salary for the next season. A frustrated Ruppert, said, “Hoyt where’s this going to end? Ruth wants more money, Gehrig wants more money, Pennock, Meusel and all the others want more money. What do you fellows think I am anyway, a millionaire?” Hoyt’s reply went unrecorded.