Baby Bonus Babies

By 10 p.m. the ballplayers' parents were a little uneasy; their kids had not yet come home from the game. For a pair of twelve-year-old Little Leaguers, this was violating curfew with a vengeance. When a phone call to league headquarters brought word that the Allentown (Pa.) Jets were not even scheduled to play that evening, the parents began to worry for fair. Then the truants arrived in a taxi. The parents demanded an immediate explanation. In a town that takes its Little Leagues seriously (the Mountainville League that the Jets belong to has a total of 270 players and the only regulation ballpark in town), the truth hurt. The two boys were not gadabouts; they were Little League "contract jumpers."

Sharp-eyed Neal Kromer. manager of the Bogert Builders of the rival Knee-High League, had been impressed by the two youngsters' strong throwing arms and their better-than-.400 batting averages. He offered them free taxi rides to and from every game, flashy jackets and future trips to New York if only they would jump from the Jets and sign with the Builders. Flattered as any bonus baby, the kids agreed.

When word leaked out last week, the contract jumpers were promptly cut from the Builders' roster. But Manager Kromer had no apologies for his bonuses. He had no fancy ballyard, he said; how else could he lure players? His words went unheeded. Fearful lest the youngsters be embarrassed by the publicity, local papers kept their names out of stories of the scandal. One of the boys is already back in a Jet uniform thanks to his father's appeal to the league's board of governors. The other, unfortunately, has yet to report back and apologize to the Jets' manager. He is home sick with the measles.

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