Читать книгу No Money, No Beer, No Pennants. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Great Depression онлайн

90 страница из 104

A good example of an unhappy player was Cleveland pitcher Joe Shaute. He sent back his 1929 contract despite getting a raise. A year earlier, Shaute had an incentive-based contract. Any wins he registered above thirteen meant an additional $400 for each victory. Shaute argued that, by the time he got win number thirteen, the Indians had thrown in the towel for the season. Roger Peckinpaugh was playing rookies and minor-leaguers to see who, if anybody, might provide more help next year. Shaute did not win any further games in 1928 and blamed the makeshift lineups as the reason. He had expected to win several more games and cash in on his incentives. He wanted the Indians to make up for the situation by raising him another thousand or two. That would not happen, and Shaute gave up the fight in early March and reported to spring training. He simply had no other action to pursue.

Alva Bradley had developed a progressive approach in contract disputes. If a player refused to sign, Bradley would take the necessary time to study the previous year’s stats and contributions of the holdout. This meant both on the field and off. If the player was a good citizen and had made positive contributions at the ballpark, a raise would be offered. As part of this policy, the Cleveland owner made it utterly clear that there would be no more negotiating: the new contract was final. Billy Evans claimed that the majority of players who quickly signed their contract, indeed got a raise from Bradley. The owner was, in any case, decidedly more generous than his counterparts in the American League. As a result, the Cleveland players understood his policy and thought twice before staying home.