[T206Collector]

"As an amusement enterprise baseball today is scarcely second to the theater. It caters to millions of spectators and represents an investment of perhaps $100,000,000 in property and players. The property holdings of the National and American Leagues alone represent an investment of about $15,000,000. The sixteen major league clubs pay over $1,000,000 a season in salaries to players and spend nearly as much in securing and trying out new players. Add to this the salary lists of thirty-eight minor leagues, and the wages paid by thousands of semi-professional clubs, and the immensity of the baseball business as an amusement enterprise may be imagined."

-John J. Evers, Touching Second, 2nd Ed., May 16, 1910, page 24.

I find it REVOLTING that baseball is being thought of as a business -- an industry -- throwing around words like "enterprise" and "property holdings" and "investment." Worst of all, this kind of FILTH is being propagated by one of the leading second baseman of our time, the CRAB, Johnny Evers.

One need look no further than the tobacco industry, and how they exploiting adults by putting hundreds of images of baseball stars in every pack of Sweet Caporals. This is surely designed to hoodwink another generation of smokers and chewers as the kids line up outside the corner store to beg and plead for cardboard heroes like Nap Lajoie -- who greedily endorses Coca-Cola -- and Christy Mathewson -- who shameless pulls on his sock-garters for a quick buck. Even the candy companies are in on the racket, encouraging kids to by Dockmans chewing gum by advertising a set of 50 players, while only offering 40 subjects!

The ruthlessness of baseball as a capitalist enterprise is overwhelming to the senses. Does anyone else think that by 1911 or 1912 the greed of the baseball players and owners will begin to turn fans away?