Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 150, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1917 — WOULD SHATTER BALL TEAMS [ARTICLE]

WOULD SHATTER BALL TEAMS

Estimated That 110 Major League Player* Are Subject to Service Under Selective Draft. Something like 110 major league baseball players are subject to army service under the selective draft, this being the estimate of an official. The players liable to service are about equally divided between the two leagues. It is the custom of baseball players to keep their age down to about thirty, even when they are known to be considerably older, but even at that there are a good many youngsters playing on the big teams who are between twenty-one and thirty. There seems to be a bare chance that the ball teams will not be disrupted this season. Of the players who could be taken, probably 50 or 60 would be exempt for one reason or another. The remaining total would be insignificant compared with the size of the army to be raised and officials declare many congressmen are in favor of letting the big league finish their present campaign without breaking up .the teams. The congressmen, it is said, hold the nation needs its great pastime now more than in peace times, if only as a safety valve for the outlet of suppressed emotion. Whether such an opinion will carry any weight with army officials is quite another matter. Magnates are hoping for the best, but no attempt will be made to Influence any athlete who believes his country needs him more than does his baseball team.