Sunday, June 5, 2011

Illigitimate Baseball Interests

Ted Sullivan, of St. Louis, has been hanging on the outskirts of the [Northwestern League] convention [in Chicago] to pick up men for the Union Association. He has signed two inferior players. During the past twenty-four hours the Union Association has lost six men. Their names are known to your correspondent. Four of them rank with the best players in the country. For obvious reasons I cannot make public these names, but evidence of the truth of the assertion has been furnished me in a shape that forces conviction. The Chicago Unions will lose one of their strongest men. He deserted when he found Corcoran had changed his mind. Legitimate base ball interests have been greatly strengthened by this convention.
-Cleveland Herald, January 12, 1884


Obviously, the two players signed by Sullivan were Scott and Roach. As always, I love the Herald's spin on the story. Sure, Sullivan signed two players but they weren't any good and, in the meantime, four of the best players in the country deserted the UA. Good stuff.

Also, it's of interest that the Herald states that Sullivan was signing players "for the Union Association" and not, specifically, for the Maroons. This is evidence that Sullivan was acting as an agent for the league as a whole and not just for the Maroons. While this isn't anything earth-shattering, it's not something that I've touched on before. So let it be dully noted that I've now mentioned it.

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