KLING TO BUILD HIS
OWN 1910 BALL PARK.
PLANNING FOR A BETTER CITY
LEAGUE FOR NEXT SEASON.
Has No Hope of Being Traded by
Murphy and Will Therefore
Form Fast Semi-Pro
Organization.
With the close of the Kansas City League, comprised of six clubs and which had a most successful season, comes the announcement from John Kling, the champion catcher of the world in 1908, that he will remain in Kansas City next year and will have a ball park, a team and possibly a league all his own. He will not own the league but he intends to have it run on the same plan as the Chicago semi-pro organization if he is connected with it.
Last season Kling tried to get away from Chicago and play with another National League club. Murphy refused to trade him. It cut the league out of a great ball player and Kling out of a neat salary. But Murphy had the whip end oft he argument, and Kling stayed out of the National League. He made almost as much money right here in the City League as he would have made in Chicago or any other city, but he wanted to play baseball. Now Clarke Griffith of Cincinnati, Charles Ebbets of Brooklyn and several others are trying to make trades for Kling but Murphy is as stubborn as ever, and it looks as though he intends to keep Kling right here in Kansas City for another year or force him to play in Chicago. The latter Kling refused to do, but he is willing to remain in Kansas City if he cannot play in any other major league city but Chicago, and he might play there if traded to the Cominskey crowd. Kling will play in the National League if traded but not with Chicago, and it looks as though Murphy will not allow him to make a change.
EXPECTS BIG CROWDS.
Therefore Johnny Kling is planning on staying right here for another year. He practically made arrangements yesterday to secure a ball park of his own for next season. He plans to have a park fully as large as Association park and it will be on one of the main car lines. He wants to get as near the center of the city as possible but may be compelled to go near Electric park. There are several good sites on good car lines which he has been considering and he will select one of them early in the year in order to have the grandstand, fences and bleachers completed before the opening of the playing season.
Kling is of the opinion that a good city league would be a big paying investment in Kansas City and he does not plan to have anything to do with a league run as the one this year was. Kling expects to have his park arranged so that it will accommodate at least 7,000 people, and he believes it will be crowded to overflowing on Sundays with a good ball team, which is undoubtedly true.
PLENTY OF TALENT.
There are many ball players of league caliber who would remain in Kansas City during the summer and quit league baseball if assured a good salary in the City League. Many of these players are married and do not want to leave their families half of the year as they are compelled to do traveling with league teams. Kling also has many friends who are playing semi-pro baseball in Chicago and other cities who would be glad of the opportunity to come to Kansas City and play ball here. There will be a lot of league baseball players who will retire next year, not because they will be too slow for the game, but because they are tired of the traveling they are compelled to do through the hot summer months and such men would be glad to earn a salary in a good city league. Kling's idea is to give Kansas City fans the best baseball possible and if this idea is carried this city should have a fast semi-pro league next season, which should meet with success.
