William Richardson

William Richardson was said “to be so far in the background that few knew he owned forty percent of the team and held the title of vice-president (of the Washington Senators).”1 His friends knew him as “Billy” and as a successful Philadelphia businessman. Washington baseball fans knew him as the “silent partner” of Clark Griffith, or as co-owner of the Washington Senators.2 “The finest partner a man ever had,” Griffith said. “We became partners of the ownership in 1919, and in all those years he never questioned my judgment or challenged any move.

“I met Billy through Connie Mack. He was a (business) partner of John Shibe (in exporting), who owned the Athletics. We became more like brothers than partners.”3

The path to the partnership of Richardson and Griffith began in the fall of 1911, when Griffith arrived in Washington to manage the Senators, a franchise that had never experienced a winning season and was in danger of extinction. As an incentive to lure Griffith to the District, the Senators’ board of directors offered an opportunity to buy 10 percent of the franchise, a proposition that intrigued Griffith. After accepting the job and mortgaging his farm in Montana to raise the funds to buy into the franchise, Griffith managed the Senators through four consecutive winning seasons.

But Washington, beginning in 1916, finished in the second division of the American League standings in four of the next five seasons, including 1919, when they had their worst finish since Griffith had arrived in Washington. By that time, Griffith had lost his affection for the board of directors, the board of directors had lost their affection for Griffith, and Griffith knew the only way to lead the Senators to the promised land of American League champions was to buy out the seven men who comprised the board of directors (Berry, Callahan, Kane, Kauffman, Walsh, Harry Rapley, and team president Ben Minor). To do this, he knew he needed financial support and a business partner. He knew he could obtain a loan from the Metropolitan National Bank of Washington, where he was in high standing. A poor thrift with the bank’s president during the 1918 season resulted in the Senators’ board of directors pulling the team’s accounts and their personal accounts. Griffith wisely elected to keep his personal account with the bank, a decision the bank president appreciated, and to reward Griffith for his loyalty, he gladly gave Griffith a $100,000 loan.

Now Griffith needed a business partner to execute the buyout. He had expressed his desire of ownership to Connie Mack and had told him he needed partnership. Mack knew William Richardson, knew he was interested in investing in a baseball team, and introduced him to Griffith. The two men hit it off from the beginning. Richardson was impressed by Griffith and believed Washington was a good baseball town. Although never a sports team owner or sports promoter of any sort, he had somewhat of an understanding of baseball through his friends, Connie Mack and John Shibe. “I have been a frequent visitor to Washington for years, and I believe I am familiar with the baseball situation there,” Richardson told a Washington sportswriter. “An inspection of the grounds and ballpark has convinced me that for the real estate alone, (it) is an advisable investment, while growth of the city and the inauguration of Sunday games lead one to believe that ultimately the confidence we are reposing in the capital as a baseball town will be rewarded by an adequate return.”4 An astute businessman, he understood the possibilities in baseball ownership since the game had been boosted by the “boom” from the time the Great War had ended. He trusted Griffith and believed in him, and he was sold by Griffith’s enthusiasm and confidence in Washington’s possibilities as a baseball town.

In December 1919, Richardson and Griffith purchased nearly 80 percent of the Washington Senators, a business transaction that secured major-league baseball in Washington, D.C. for years to come. According to Washington Post sportswriter J.V. Fitzgerald, rumors had circulated through the years about Washington losing its major-league baseball franchise. “The change of ownership should put an end to such stories for a long time to come,” Fitzgerald told his readers.5 “We each purchased 7,851 shares out of 20,000,” said Griffith. “I bought up more shares over a period of years, but Billy and I were 50-50 right to the end.”6 Because he was always occupied with his businesses in Philadelphia, Richardson let his money invested in the club ride on Griffith’s judgment and always let Griffith vote his stock as he pleased.

After the purchase of the Senators, Washington baseball fans and sportswriters wanted to know more about William Richardson. So, while on his way back from the 1919 major-league baseball winter meetings in New York City, Washington Evening Star sportswriter Denman Thompson stopped off in Philadelphia and visited with the new co-owner of the Washington Senators.

William Miller Richardson was born February 1, 1878 (although other records indicate February 7, 1879, as his birthdate). He did not grow up in a wealthy family or have an over-privileged childhood. He helped his family make ends meet by going to work as a boy. “His story is a saga of a boy who rose from limited circumstances,” wrote one reporter.7 Richardson became one of the nation’s leading grain dealers and exporters through hard work, tireless energy, and earned integrity. A lifelong Philadelphian, he started working in the grain business as an office boy at age 13. Around age 40 in 1919, he was widowed and had no children. On November 19, 1904, he had married Martha Little Maneely. She died in May 1906. Richardson was described to be of average height, decidedly bald, and inclined to portliness. One would think he never participated in or followed sports, but in his youth, he was prominently identified with the Schuylkill Navy Athletic Club, for which he played baseball. He was an ardent sports fan who followed boxing and retained as much of his prowess as a swimmer acquired during boyhood and fostered by daily dips in the surf at Atlantic City, where he maintained a summer home. Although not rated as a millionaire, and uninterested in ever becoming one, he earned a comfortable fortune. “I have all the money I need,” was the way he put it.8

“What the fans want is a winner,” Richardson told Thompson in his Philadelphia office, “and that is what we are planning to give them. But a winner alone will not assure the successful operation of a ball club or any other enterprise dependent upon the patronage of the public. It is the fans who pay and it is the fans who should be given first consideration in any policy affecting an individual club of the sport in general.”9

“Mr. Richardson and I will make every effort to land the ballplayers we need to strengthen the Nationals and put the Washington club in the race for the pennant,” said Griffith. “We are going to get new material by trade and purchase, and we will not hesitate to pay a high figure if we can get the player or players we are after. The fans can count on us to be watchful of their best interest.”10

Richardson made it clear that his focus on the team operations would take a backseat to his businesses. “I shall not be actively engaged in the conduct of the club except in an advisory way,” he said. “My (business) interests in Philadelphia are somewhat exacting and permit limited time for outside considerations. Mr. Griffith will be in entire control. Everything will be left to him. It is his intention, I believe, to continue to manage the team on the field. Personally, I hope he does. He is a practical baseball man of wide experience and keen judgment, and I have confidence in his ability.”11

The first thing the new ownership duo did was plan to invest $112,000 on upgrades to their home park. New field boxes were installed, and seat backs were added to the running boards in the grandstands. The improvements impressed New York sportswriter Bill Hanna, who told his readers, “Washington has the prettiest baseball park in major-league baseball. The infield is uneven and bumpy, but the spectator does not see that. He sees rich, verdure, long stretches of green outfield, and a beautiful vista of trees and houses in all directions and beyond.”12

When the first season began under the team’s new ownership, true to his word, Richardson kept his distance. To prove he was willing to settle for second in command, he gladly accepted the role of team vice-president and supported Griffith’s title as the team’s president. During his first season as a baseball executive, Richardson frequently traveled to Washington to watch his team in action and often pitched in to help the ballpark staff. One time during a busy day at the ballpark, he took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and helped the five-dollar-a-day employees in the ticket booth. On that day President Wilson’s secretary, Joseph Patrick Tumulty, stepped up to the ticket window where Richardson was stationed and asked for four tickets. Richardson scurried around until he found four. “Thank you,” said the secretary, “and here’s something for you,” he added while handing Richardson a five-dollar bill.13

Each year, Richardson would accompany Griffith to the major-league baseball winter meetings, mostly to mingle with the other baseball team owners. When negotiations and trade talks were entertained by Griffith with other baseball executives, Richardson would never take part. At the 1923 winter meetings, Richardson was asked about the vacant Senators managerial position. Griffith had stepped down as team manager following the 1920 season so he could focus on his job as the team’s president. After going through a manager-a-year during the next three seasons, the question the press asked involved who would manage the 1924 Washington Senators. When asked, Richardson gave his opinion. “I’ve been urging Griffith to manage the club next year,” he said. The sportswriters laughed at his answer. “I was quite serious when I suggested to Griffith that he should become the manager of our club,” said Richardson. “I really hope he’ll go through with it. I think he can take the very good material we have and finish high in the race, or at least make the club contenders.”14

When Richardson, Griffith, and the rest of the Washington Senators’ stockholders held their annual meeting in January 1924, they reviewed the team’s finances, noting that the 1923 season attendance was more than 100,000 less than the previous year. Griffith spoke about spending $110,000 to increase ballpark capacity, adding six more feet to the right field wall, and improving the infield surface among other ballpark upgrades. He also mentioned spending $76,000 for rookie ballplayers. Because of the amount earmarked for stadium upgrades and rookie ballplayers, no dividend checks were issued, which did not make the stockholders happy. The stockholders did agree to reelect Griffith as team president and Richardson as vice-president.

Richardson left the 1924 managerial decision to Griffith, and the Senators team president surprised everyone when naming Stanley “Bucky” Harris, the team’s 27-year-old second baseman, as the team’s new manager. The decision to hire Harris was laughed upon and tabbed as “Griffith’s folly” by the newspapermen. “Our sympathies go out to Stanley Harris, the manager of the national capital’s club,” laughed a Chicago Tribune sportswriter who picked the Senators to finish last in 1924.15 Under their new manager, the Senators started slowly, but then got red-hot in June and inched their way to the top of the American League standings. On June 23, with first place on the line, the surprising Senators traveled to Yankee Stadium to take on the first-place Yankees. Richardson put his businesses aside and made the trip from Philadelphia to New York City to attend the entire four-game series. When the Senators won the first three games, they were atop the American League standings. To celebrate the occasion, Griffith and Richardson threw a party the evening following the third straight win. “This is the highest the Washington club has been in the league scramble this late in June,” said Griffith, his husky eyebrows vibrating with the possibility of the occasion. “I really feel we’ll come through on top.”16 The Senators won the next day to complete the series sweep. Following the series, Richardson said he was sorry he would have to head back home to run his businesses. “I saw them clean up the Yankees in New York and I wish I could spare the time to act as a mascot for them this week,” joked Richardson. “Harris and his players are headed for that pennant. Take it from me, we’re going to win the flag this year.”17

Late in the 1924 season, with the Senators battling the Yankees and Tigers in a close pennant race, there was great news for Richardson, Griffith, and the rest of the stockholders. “For years they held on to it (stock), purely for sentimental reasons, with the perpetual hope that ‘we’ll win out next year,’” noted a Washington sportswriter. Because of better home attendance due to the Senators success during the 1924 season, team shares with a face value of $10 jumped to $36 to $40 and still were rising.18

The Senators held on to win the 1924 American League pennant. They went on to beat the favored New York Giants in the 1924 World Series in one of the most exciting fall classics in major-league baseball history. When the Senators scored the winning run in the bottom of the 12th in Game Seven, which was at Washington, the city went wild and partook in a celebration that was said to be greater than the one that followed the Armistice.

When Richardson, Griffith, and the other team stockholders held their next meeting in January 1925, dividend checks were issued. The stockholders also received dividend checks the following year, after the Senators’ 1925 home season attendance soared to a then all-time high of 817,199 and the Senators won the American League pennant for the second straight year before losing to Pittsburgh in the World Series. One year later, the Senators finished a disappointing fourth, the home season attendance dropped to 551,580, and no dividend checks were issued.

Richardson continued to focus on growing his businesses and seeking new opportunities. In 1926, he saw what he believed was a golden opportunity, and being the aggressive businessman he was, he wasted little time in going after it. When coal miners went on strike, Richardson responded by traveling to Holland to buy and arrange for full containers of briquettes to supply the railroads. When the containers arrived, the strike was resolved, leaving Richardson at a loss of $550,000.

“I’m sunk, Griff,” Richardson told Griffith. “No, you’re not,” answered Griffith. “A good name means a lot in this world. We’ll go to the bankers. They will not let you down.” Richardson and Griffith went to the inner offices of the Philadelphia National Bank to present their case. “Billy, we’re not going to let you go broke,” the bank’s president assured him. “We’re going to see you through.”19 With the bank’s backing, Richardson fought his way back into the black. After recovering, regaining his financial status, and getting ahead, he founded another company, the Portland Cement Company, which became an instant success.

Following the 1928 season, Griffith fired Bucky Harris and hired Walter Johnson to manage the Senators. In 1933, he went back to the boy manager theme and hired Joe Cronin, the 26-year-old star shortstop of the Senators, to manage the club, and the results were instant. The Senators won the 1933 American League pennant but lost the World Series to the Giants. In February 1934, Richardson suffered another loss when his second wife, Florence Charlton Richardson, died. In 1934, the Senators fell to seventh place and suffered through a season of poor attendance. The impact of low ticket sales and the Great Depression left Griffith in debt and inspired him to sell his young player-manager. Richardson was not consulted before Griffith sold Joe Cronin to the Red Sox. When told by Griffith about his decision to make the deal, Richardson responded in his usual supportive manner. “If you say it’s a good move, it suits me,” he told Griffith.20

As baseball moved into the 1940s, Richardson continued to spend most of his time running his businesses and relaxing at his summer home in Atlantic City. He continued to make occasional trips to Washington and enjoyed watching his team when they played in Philadelphia. A widow two times and with no children, the Senators were in many ways his family. He enjoyed visiting the Senators clubhouse and mingling with the players. He always was well-dressed, dapper, and looked like the successful businessman he was by sporting a trim black derby and an expensive charm dangling from a fob across his vest, and was always well-supplied with 50-cent cigars. He also got a kick from sitting in the Washington dugout with the players. “That was a thrill,” he once told a reporter. During one game an umpire, noticing Richardson dressed like a civilian while sitting in the dugout, ordered him to the stands. “I suppose if he knew I was vice-president of the team he’d let me stay, but I didn’t want to break any regulations,” Richardson said. “A rule is a rule, you know. We have rules in our business, too.”21

In the spring of 1942, Richardson was reported to be in good health, although he started complaining about feeling ill during the three-week period extending from late May into early June. On Wednesday, June 10, while spending time at his summer residence in Atlantic City, Richardson spent the evening with a long-time friend, Commander Clifford Swanson of the U.S. Navy Medical Corps. Later that evening he went on a boardwalk chair ride. He returned to his summer home on States Avenue, where his mom was staying with him. He retired to his bedroom with newspapers, wanting to read about the Senators game recap. That evening he suffered a heart attack and died. He was 64 years old. Five days later, his funeral was held at a funeral establishment at 1820 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. His interment was at the Harleigh Cemetery in Camden, New Jersey.

“This leaves me much saddened,” Griffith said when hearing the news. “Billy Richardson was such a fine man. Our association was always on such friendly terms, and it was more like a family than a business association. His faith in Washington as a baseball town made it possible for our purchase of the team and my election as team president. Down through the years he has been a wonderful friend, and this is a sad blow to all who knew him.”22

Postscript

The question was what would happen with Richardson’s stock in the Senators? “I presume that Mr. Richardson has made provisions for the inheritance of his stock in the Washington club,” said Griffith.23 He was right. Richardson’s shares were inherited by his twin brother, George, which perfectly suited Griffith. Like his brother, George Richardson agreed with all decisions and transactions made by Griffith, including in 1944, when George Richardson gladly accepted a demotion to team treasurer to allow Calvin Griffith, Clark Griffith’s nephew, to assume the role of the team’s vice-president.

In 1948, just a few days before Clark Griffith Night at Griffith Stadium, George Richardson, who planned to attend the event, died of a heart attack. “All who knew him are saddened,” said Griffith. “Like his brother, George Richardson was a gentleman and a pleasant business partner. There has never been a disagreement between myself and the Richardsons in the 28 years of our association.”24 The shares that William Richardson had purchased in 1919 were inherited by George Richardson’s son, William Richardson II, who was said to be more interested in making money rather than co-owning a major-league baseball team. In 1949, William Richardson II told Griffith that he wanted to sell his shares. Griffith was okay with that; however, he asked if he could buy the shares, or be allowed to match all bids made by another buyer.

On December 23, 1949, Griffith was shocked when he picked up a newspaper and read that William Richardson II had sold his holdings to a 31-one-year-old citizen of Johnstown, New York, named James Jachym (pronounced “Yock-im”). “I was surprised,” Griffith confessed. “For I had an understanding with Richardson that I had the option to meet all bids. I did offer $70 a share, but he did not choose to sell to me.”25

Griffith disliked Jachym from the beginning. It didn’t sit well with him that his new business associate was backed by others in the sale, and it further infuriated him when Jachym said he’d be active in the management of the ball club. In private, Griffith told his friends that he wasn’t going to need help from “any upstart bush-leaguer who thinks he can take over my club.”26

At the time of the deal, Griffith said, “I’m still in control, and I will be in control after the stockholders meet in January.”27 At the January stockholders meeting the treasurer position previously held by George Richardson was assigned to a board member rather than to Jachym. As a consolation, Griffith gave Jachym two tickets to Opening Day. When asked about the board meeting by a sportswriter, Jachym said he had no comment. “I want to remain friendly with Griffith,” he added.28 When his wife was asked if she knew anything, she said her husband felt badly about being brushed aside. “I know John felt pretty bad about sitting in the background,” she added.29

Seeing the writing on the wall, Jachym sold his shares six months later to a Washington insurance firm executive named H. Gabriel Murphy, who was said to be a good friend of Griffith. Murphy owned the shares that once belonged to William Richardson until 1984, when he sold them to a Tampa Bay baseball group. After Calvin Griffith sold his majority control to Carl Pohlad later that year, the Tampa Bay group sold their shares to Pohlad.

For further reading

William Richardson features in SABR’s Washington Senators l team ownership history, by Andrew Sharp.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Mike Eisenbath and fact-checked by David Kritzler.

Notes

1 “Wm. M. Richardson Succumbs at Shore,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 12, 1942, 15.

2 “Wm. M. Richardson Succumbs at Shore.”

3 Frank “Buck” O’Neill, “Richardson’s Death Affects Nats’ Future,” Washington Times-Herald, June 12, 1942, 24.

4 Denman Thompson, “Billy Richardson Is a Fan as well as a Man of Business,” Washington Evening Star, December 14, 1919, 26.

5 J.V. FitzGerald, “Veteran Manager and Partner Obtain Control of the Nationals for $400,000,” Washington Post, December 14, 1919, 22.

6 O’Neill, “Richardson’s Death Affects Nats’ Future.”

7 O’Neill, “Richardson’s Death Affects Nats’ Future.”

8 Thompson, “Billy Richardson.”

9 Thompson, “Billy Richardson.”

10 FitzGerald, “Veteran Manager and Partner Obtain Control of the Nationals for $400,000.”

11 Thompson, “Billy Richardson.”

12 Denman Thompson, “Johnson’s Poor Twirling and Poor Umpiring Costly,” Washington Evening Star, May 11, 1920, 26.

13 Unidentified June 18, 1942 article in the William Richardson file at the Giamatti Research Center, Cooperstown, New York.

14 “Griffith Admits He Might Be Pilot of Nats,” Washington Herald, December 23, 1923, 1-S.

15 Frank Smith, “Giants Should Repeat in National League, Chicago Tribune, April 13, 1924, Sports, 1.

16 Will Wedge, “Griffith Elated Over Team,” New York Sun, June 25, 1924, 27.

17 Louis Dougher, “Looking ‘Em Over,” Washington Times, June 30, 1924, 25.

18 “Nationals Showing Reflection in Stock,” Washington Post, September 6, 1924, S-1.

19 O’Neill, Richardson’s Death Affects Nats’ Future.”

20 Article in Richardson GRC file.

21 Article in Richardson GRC file.

22 “Richardson, Baseball Club Official, Dies,” Washington Post, June 12, 1942, S-2.

23 “Richardson, Baseball Club Official, Dies.”

24 “George M. Richardson Dies,” Washington Post, August 15, 1948, 3C.

25 Shirley Povich, “Ex-Marine Hero Gets 40 Percent. Griff Keeps Control,” Washington Post, December 23, 1949, 4B.

26 Morris Siegel, “Gabe Murphy, Former Hoya, Is Reportedly New Buyer of Stock,” Washington Post, June 21, 1950, 15.

27 Shirley Povich, “This Morning with Shirley Povich: Jachym Disappointed but Richer Over Nats Deal,” Washington Post, June 20, 1950, 17.

28 Povich, “Jachym Disappointed but Richer Over Nats Deal.”

29 Povich, “Jachym Disappointed but Richer Over Nats Deal.”