1915 New York Yankees Player Contract with VITAL Babe Ruth tie in!

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I copied this from my new listing for this item on Ebay. It's a bit long, but is a fascinating history of the player that the Yankees signed to this contract. He truly did play, unwittingly, an important part in the way that Babe Ruth ended up where he did...and thus played an important role in the history of baseball.

This is an ORIGINAL vintage players contract...not a reprint!

Ford Meadows never appeared in a game for the New York Yankees. How, then, does he have such an important part in the early history of George Herman "Babe" Ruth? As told by SABR historian Al Kermisch in "The Babe Ruth Beginning", it all has to do with Jack Dunn, the owner and general mamager of the minor league Baltimore Orioles. Please read the excerpt below...and note at the end where he talks about having a "copy" of the Meadows contract...the original of which is offered right here for sale!!! This is an amazing item which has the autographs of American League President Ban Johnson, New York Yankees President Jacob Ruppert, and Ford Meadows.

"there really was a pitcher by the name of Ford Meadows who pitched for Mt. St. Joseph's in 1914. There have been many versions of how Meadows fits into the picture, but one story I heard in Baltimore many years ago seems to have some merit. It concerns Brother Gilbert, who is often credited with the discovery of Ruth.

Brother Gilbert was Director of Athletics at Mt. St. Joseph's at the time. He had an outstanding college baseball team. One of his new pitchers was Meadows, who had pitched for Rock Hill College in 1913. No doubt Dunn had Meadows scouted in 1913 and was interested in giving the youngster a chance with his team.

Dunn used to pick up several youngsters a year from the local ball diamonds. Among those he had corralled that way up to that time included "Home Run" Baker, "Butcher Boy" Schmidt, Fritz Maisel, George Maisel, Lefty Russell and Allan Russell.

As the story goes, Dunn approached Brother Gilbert about taking Meadows south with his club. Meadows was the only southpaw on the Mt. St. Joseph's roster and Brother Gilbert was counting on him for the coming season. Brother Gilbert decided to divert Dunn's attention away from Meadows by telling him about young Ruth down the road at St. Mary's Industrial School.

Brother Gilbert had seen Ruth play several games and although he was impressed by his hitting and pitching he did not envision him as a big leaguer at that time. But he had heard his associates of the Xavieran Brotherhood rave about Ruth's playing at St. Mary's. So Brother Gilbert told Dunn that Ruth was really the one he wanted for his team. He told the Oriole magnate that besides being one of the speediest pitchers around, Ruth could play first base or the outfield as well as drive the ball a mile. That was apparently the way Brother Gilbert "discovered" Ruth while really saving Meadows for his own team."



" Ruth went on to a fabulous career, first as one of the outstanding pitchers in baseball and then as the game's greatest slugger. But what ever happened to the other young lefthander in this story -- Ford Meadows?

Well, for one thing, he was an outstanding college pitcher for Mt. St. Joseph’s in 1914 and 1915. After the 1915 college season, Meadows, who was known as Rube, signed with Dunn's Richmond International League club. (After selling his stars, including Ruth, Dunn had to move his franchise out of Baltimore after the 1914 campaign.)

Meadows made an auspicious start for Richmond. In a relief role at Jersey City on June 15, he pitched two innings and struck out five of the six batters to face him. That earned him a starting assignment the next day but Dunn had to yank him after he gave up four hits and six walks in four innings. Meadows appeared in 13 games and was 0 and 2 for the season. He gave up 27 hits in 23 innings, and was forever plagued with wildness, giving up 45 bases on balls while fanning 23. He had shown enough promise, however, for the Yankees to purchase him for $5,000. Meadows joined the New York club on September 3, but Manager Bill Donovan did not use him in a championship contest. At the time Meadows joined the club, Donovan had an unusually good crop of young pitchers to look over. Among them were Dazzy Vance, George Mogridge,

Neal Brady, Allan Russell, Cliff Markle and Dan Tipple -- all with good minor league credentials.

Meadows accompanied the Yankees to spring training at Macon, Georgia, in 1916. He pitched in one Regular-Yanigan game but pitched so poorly that he was returned to Dunn for more seasoning. Dunn had returned to Baltimore in 1916 after the Federal League folded. The Oriole pilot was not impressed with Meadows and suspended him until he got into better shape. Even after he reinstated him, Dunn would not trust the erratic southpaw in a game. Meadows complained to the head of the minor league association, and Secretary John Farrell contacted Dunn and told him that it was up to him to let Rube work or release him.

On June 30, 1916, in a game against Richmond at Oriole Park, Dunn finally thought he had found the proper spot to give the unhappy lefthander a chance to pitch. Two Oriole pitchers had been treated rather roughly and Dunn called on Meadows. Rube lasted only two innings and might have set a record for walks had not Dunn seen enough. Meadows had given up 11 bases on balls in the two innings when he was removed from the game. That night Dunn handed him his unconditional release.

Since Meadows did not appear in a championship major league game his name is not to be found in any of the baseball encyclopedias. However, if anyone should doubt that Meadows actually joined the Yankees, I have a copy of the contract he signed on August 26, 1915. The contract between the Base Ball Club of New York and B. B. (Ford) Meadows was approved by Ban Johnson, President of the American League on August 30, 1915. The contract, beginning on or about the 1st day of September, 1915, and ending on or about the 14th day of October, 1915, called for a total compensation for each month of the season contracted for $500."



A one of a kind offering and an incredibly important piece of baseball history! If not for Ford Meadows, the history of Babe Ruth, as well as baseball history itself, may have been forever altered!


My price on this item is fairly firm at $1,100. Please PM me or send me an email at tom@regalfinancialgroup.com if you have any questions.

Thanks!

Tom C