|
1878-A Return to "True Sport"
A letter from William Temple to Frank Richardson
Mr. Richardson,
I am so glad to see you back east where your skills and talents are better appreciated. Those Westerners can not recognize the subtleties of the game as we do on the coast.
As you are a busy man, I shall get straight to the matter. I am putting together a group of men to form a league free of the chicanery and deceit as McCormick has fostered in the Empire. While our league salary will be well below what you are currently making with the Philadelphias; I will offer you a personal services contract assuring you be paid the highest value in any league known to man.
While I feel the concern I am organizing can stand very well on its own, the credibility we gain by having a gentleman of your magnitude is incalculable. The press, players and populace will no doubt follow you from the Empire to our organization. The opportunity to again play for New York will put your talents on the biggest stage the world has to offer.
The Brooklyn conspiracy has shown it is time for new blood. Please contact me at the conclusion of the season to inform me of your attitude.
Yours truly,
William Temple
|