[Ads-l] sports "draft" (1887)

[Ben Zimmer]

My latest Wall St. Journal column is on the many meanings of "draft,"
including its use for allocating rookie players to pro sports teams:
https://on.wsj.com/4aRhOoW

OED3 has the sports sense (added to the "draft" entry in 2011) from 1891,
referring to baseball. Here it is from 1887:

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https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-chattanooga-commercial-draft-system/145459069/
Chattanooga Daily Commercial, Dec. 13, 1887, p. 7, col. 1, "Baseball
Millenium Plan"
Then a draft system is proposed by which young players are systematically
transferred by easy stages from the minor to the major leagues.
[...]
With reservation by leagues, supply of new players by draft [...] nothing
is left clubs but to play ball and divide the receipts.
[...]
He can't buy players from other leagues -- the draft supplies them.
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--bgz

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