Desevring Of Credit Instead Of Abuse

The young man who furnishes the Republican with its base ball news was slightly mistaken when he accused Houtz and McSorley of jumping the Stocks of this city and joining the Stars of Covington, Ky. These two players, it is true, had signed to play with the Stocks, but only conditionally, as they had previously signed with the Stars. The latter club promised to send them a sum of money by a certain date, but failed to do so, and they accepted an offer from the Stocks of this city, who paid them a certain sum to bind the contract. When they signed, however, they expressly stated that should the Stars forward them the promised sum, they would consider themselves under obligations to play with that club. The manager of the Stocks agreed to this arrangement, and, subsequently, the boys received their money from Covington. They at once returned the money advanced by the Stocks, and canceled their contracts with that club, and got from its managers a written release, which they carried with them to Covington. This is the true inwardness of the whole matter, and throughout the whole transaction Houtz and McSorley acted in a most honorable manner, and are deserving of credit therefor instead of abuse.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 21, 1876

This is a fascinating little example of how complicated it was to contract for baseball players in the 19th century and how easy it was for a player to get tagged as a revolver.