Introduction and Context

Professional baseball was mired in conflict throughout 1901. The American League abandoned the National Agreement of 1892 and announced its intention to compete on equal terms with the National League. The National League faced not only an external threat from the self-proclaimed new major league, but internal disunity revolving around organization and leadership. With the National Agreement having been abrogated and the big leagues at war, the minor leagues circled the wagons and set about defending their own interests. This strife set the stage at all three professional baseball meetings in 1901.

The first meeting, that of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, was held at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City on October 25. This was the second meeting of the year for the National Association, which represented all of the minor leagues except the California League.1 The leagues had previously met in Chicago at the Leland Hotel on September 6 to draft an agreement that would form a new organization for their mutual protection.2 The minor leagues were meeting in New York to ratify the agreement.

The American League met in Chicago at the Grand Pacific Hotel on December 2.3 The new major league had proved to be a potent and viable force in baseball and a serious challenger to the National League. It had acquired four teams from the National when that league contracted, and also inserted itself into Chicago.4 The AL was meeting for the first time as a major league.

The National League gathered in New York at the Fifth Avenue Hotel on December 10 for the last and most contentious of the three meetings. Casting a shadow over this one was the new contender, the American League. The threat of this strong newcomer, concerns about the league’s structure and leadership, and the election of a new president were already causing rifts within the organization. .

Player Movement

Little player movement or trades highlighted any of the three meetings. Business affairs and arguments left scant room for player trades in the National League, and while affairs were much more harmonious during the American League meeting, no trades were listed as having taken place in Chicago. The main form of player movement that winter was the removal of a number of players from the blacklist. The blacklist had been adopted by professional baseball starting with the adoption of the reserve clause by the National League in 1879, and was used primarily to prevent players from jumping to other teams for better salaries. The blacklist barred other teams in the league and their affiliates from hiring a player who had abandoned his contract.5

In the American League, pitcher Bill Dinneen was removed from the blacklist and allowed to return to play for the 1902 season.6 (Dinneen had jumped a contract with Boston’s National League club to play for the city’s American League team.7) Charles Comiskey announced that he had acquired a third baseman for the season, but declined to say who it was. The AL continued to urge players to abandon the National League. One, Brooklyn outfielder-first baseman Joe Kelley, was lured to Baltimore for the 1902 season.8

Despite conflicts over the presidency and the future of the league, some trading and player movement took place during the National League meeting. One major deal saw new Chicago manager Frank Selee signing first baseman Hal O’Hagan from the Rochester team.9 The Giants reportedly signed L. Quinlan, a shortstop with Montreal, and Matt McIntyre, an outfielder with Philadelphia’s AL club, although the deal was denied by Connie Mack — and, indeed, McIntyre did remain with the A’s.10 There were attempts made to move manager Ned Hanlon to the New York Giants, but Hanlon remained loyal to Brooklyn. There were reports that the Giants and Detroit had tried to sign Joe Kelley, but as we have seen, he wound up in Baltimore.11

The Business Side

The National Association

Business affairs dominated each of the three meetings. Foremost on the agenda at the National Association meeting was the ratification of a new National Agreement, which protected the minors from the effects of the conflict in the National League and American League; in particular, having their players plundered by the major clubs.12 The agreement was binding for 10 years and covered salary limits, transfer of players, and rules regulating contract-jumping.13 National Association President Pat T. Powers had gotten agreements from the American and National League presidents, who were by and large willing to respect existing contracts, though the Brooklyn and Boston clubs in the National League deferred responding until the matter could be taken up with the rest of the league. The minor leagues agreed on a sliding scale, illustrated in Table 1, below, for salary caps and fines for contract-jumping. The meeting set draft periods for each classification of the minors, with Class-A teams getting the most generous allotment of time to sign new talent, nearly the entire autumn.14

Clubs that signed the agreement were bound to the salary caps, and those that exceeded the caps would first receive a warning, followed by the withdrawal of benefits and protections of the Association. Similar penalties existed for players who violated contracts by leaving without consent to play for other clubs. Not only would the player draw a fine, but he would be disqualified from playing with any Association club until the Association rescinded the ban.15 The minors agreed to use a contract form similar to the one employed by the National League.

The minor-league magnates further agreed on a new classification system for the leagues that ran from Class A down to Class D. Table 2 illustrates which leagues were placed under which classification. Though there were no Class-D teams in the minors at this time, there was already talk about creating a Class-E circuit as well. Three leagues petitioned the Association for membership, the Ohio State League and two nascent leagues in Texas and in the “Northwest.”16

Table 1: Minor League Caps and Fines

Table 2: League Classification Scheme

In addition to business relating to the new National Agreement, the minors addressed the issue of protection fees paid to the majors under the old National Agreement. Since the old agreement had expired, President Powers took the position that that the minor teams were due a refund.17

Finally, the minors held elections for various offices, which included James O’Rourke to the National Board of Arbitration and Henry Chadwick unanimously elected to honorary membership in the new organization. The Board of Arbitration conducted brisk business on player transgressions. Among its decisions were the denial of Michael F. Hickey’s request for release from reservation by Lowell of the New England League, and the investigation of several instances of contract violation including the case of an umpire/player, George Prentiss, who was charged by the Waterbury club with playing for another club under an assumed name.18

The National Arbitration Board resolved the case Waterbury’s favor in 1902 and ordered Prentiss to return to Waterbury, though by then Prentiss had jumped to the Boston American League club.19 Prentiss died that same year, however, rendering the decision moot.20

American League

In contrast to the National League, the American League meeting was reported as being fairly harmonious. As reported in the Chicago Tribune:

“There is a strong contrast between the two big leagues this winter. While the National has so many important matters to attend to, the American has its plans for next year all laid out and well under way toward accomplishment. The only way they could be seriously upset would be a wholesale kidnapping of American League players by the old league or tempting them away by outbidding the already high salaries offered. Many players would stand by their contract at that.”21

With all clubs represented, Byron Bancroft “Ban” Johnson was reelected president, with Charles W. Somers again winning the vice presidency.22 One of the first orders of business was the selection of committees, including a committee on playing rules made up of Detroit manager Frank Dwyer (a former umpire), A’s owner Connie Mack, and Cleveland owner Jack Kilfoyle; a committee to discuss the transfer of the Milwaukee club to St. Louis, consisting of owners Ben Shibe (Athletics), Fred Postal (Senators), and Charles Comiskey (White Sox); and a new board of directors.23 Among the committee rulings was a decision to limit teams to a total of 15 players.

One of the main orders of business, and a point of contention at the American League meeting, was the transfer of the Milwaukee franchise to St. Louis. Milwaukee’s co-owners, brothers Henry and Matt Killilea, were divided on the question of moving the team. Henry told the meeting he felt the team should remain in Milwaukee and that Matt should join him in retirement, but Matt held with the other magnates and the league approved the transfer. Matt Killilea would move to St. Louis as owner, sharing control of the club with Fred C. Gross after Henry Killilea disposed of his stock in the club.24 In addition, the league announced a roster of teams and dates for the 1902 playing season, which was to run from April 23 to October 15, starting a week later than the previous season. The Chicago franchise was awarded the pennant for the 1901 season at the Board of Directors meeting.25

Changes in ownership of both the Detroit and Washington clubs were announced at the meeting. The Tigers switched hands from owners James Burns and George Stallings to a stock company headed by S.A. Angus. The Senators’ Fred Postal exchanged co-ownership with Jim Manning for co-ownership with Thomas Loftus.26

Ban Johnson ended the meeting with the proclamation that the AL would move to oppose wagering at league ballparks, including expelling spectators caught gambling on park grounds.27 Johnson had made a point of upholding the American League as being committed to both fair and clean play, and was thus firmly against betting on baseball.28

National League

The National League meeting was the most contentious of the three winter meetings in 1901. The main arguments among magnates concerned the election of a new president and the proposal from some of the magnates to alter the organizational structure of the league into a trust.

There is some conflict in the record as to who first sought to create a trust. There are some indications that Albert Spalding and Jim Hart sought to organize the league in this fashion in the late 1890s, but were unable to secure enough options on individual clubs to enact this plan. John T. Brush, owner of the Cincinnati team, proposed a new scheme for a baseball trust in 1901 and acquired the backing of Giants owner Andrew Freedman. In a meeting at Freedman’s Red Bank, New Jersey, estate, two other magnates, Frank De Haas Robison of St. Louis and Arthur Soden of Boston, agreed to back Freedman and Brush’s trust.

The Brush plan would have eliminated the office of president and turned executive duties for the league over to a four-man board of regents. Profits would be split between shareholders in the trust, with the lion’s share (30 percent) going to Freedman, and 12 percent each to Brush, Soden, and Robison. The rest was to be divided among the other NL owners.29 Management of each team, down to the supplies they used, would be handled by the trust.30

Freedman, an enthusiastic supporter of Brush’s plan, had long attributed the waning fortunes of the National League to a lack of competitiveness among teams, the league being dominated by three clubs. By redistributing players between franchises, the trust could make seasons far more competitive and standings and championships far less lopsided from year to year.31 Though the pro-trust faction endeavored to keep the details of their meeting a secret, the information was leaked to the press before they could present their ideas to the other magnates at the winter meeting.32

As chronicled in Sporting Life, which published the stenographic minutes of the National League meeting in its February 8, 1902, issue, conflict arose on the first day. The meeting wasn’t very old when Barney Dreyfuss of the Pittsburgh club, seconded by Charley Ebbets of Brooklyn, nominated Spalding as league president. President Nicholas Young, whose term had expired and who was not eligible to run for re-election,33 had excused himself from the meeting so that the owners would be able to discuss their candidate freely. Colonel John Rogers of Philadelphia joined Dreyfuss and Ebbets in backing Spalding, citing what he termed Young’s unsuitability for president as well as the need for strong, singular leadership that the league could rally behind to face the American League threat.34

At this point Robison raised a point of order, calling into question whether the National League still existed, stating that the agreement the League signed in Indianapolis in 1892 was no longer valid and that the organization’s charter had expired. Brush and Freedman spoke in support of Robison, but Rogers took the stance that the league was perpetual, that the 10-year dates Robison and the other Red Bank magnates referred to dealt only with procedural matters, as a sort of sunset clause for rules, not as a date on which the league was meant to expire.35

After much debate, primarily between Rogers and Freedman, and a personal appeal by Spalding that the owners not let the league expire, the matter was called to a vote on December 11, and the magnates decided in favor of perpetuity, 5 to 1, with Freedman and Brush abstaining and Robison ultimately the only vote in favor of syndicate ball.36 The league would continue, but the question was: What form would it take?

There were several allusions to the trust mentioned by Freedman during the meeting, as well as criticism of Spalding, who Freedman felt would not fully devote himself to the task of leading the league on a “wartime” footing. The vote on the perpetuity of the league having been decided, it was time to determine if Spalding would lead the league or if it would take a new shape. The vote on Spalding’s presidency, the first of 26 such votes, was divided 4 to 4, with the Red Bank faction voting unanimously against Spalding’s election.37

In an attempt to win over the other magnates, Freedman distributed a copy of the trust plan to each owner, with the caveat that several points would need additional verbal explanation. Rogers objected to the plan immediately. He asserted that none of the other owners would want to trade their property for stocks, that forming a trust would make the National League more liable to lawsuits, and that a single executive was far less cumbersome than a committee.38

The vote remained deadlocked, with no sign of compromise. Voting went well into the early hours of Saturday morning, December 14, with no resolution. Multiple votes to postpone the vote until the following month also failed — the matter was to be decided right then and there. Finally, the Red Bank faction walked out of the meeting, ceding the chair back to Nicholas Young.

At this point, the other four magnates attempted to vote on Spalding but Young, noting that there was no quorum, refused to hold the vote. However, Hart mentioned that roll call had not been taken and that proxies might be present, allowing the meeting to continue in session. Once Young retired for the evening, the magnates elected Rogers as temporary chair and voted in Spalding 4 to 0.39 The Spalding faction claimed that since the Red Bank members vacated without leave, they should be seen as present and abstaining.

After the conclusion of the meeting, Spalding went to Young’s room at the hotel and demanded access to minutes and records.40 Spalding claimed he would not withdraw his name but would accept only on condition that Freedman leave baseball. Spalding said, “On (Freedman’s) record in baseball, and I speak only of his baseball record, I openly and publicly charge Andrew Freedman with being a traitor and a marplot. He has done more to ruin baseball than any other four forces that ever existed in the history of the game.”41

The election of Spalding was problematic, to say the least. Freedman immediately initiated legal action against the league,42 which remained divided, possibly leaderless, and certainly no more unified in the eyes of the press and the public.

Summary and Close

Baseball remained locked in conflict as the winter meetings ended and 1902 began. The National Association had a new set of rules and protocols under which to operate, a major change from the previous year. The American League started 1902 in a much stronger position, unified, growing, and presenting a serious challenge to the National. The National League remained beleaguered as 1902 commenced, divided, no closer to peace, and not even clear as to who was running the league. Freedman and other magnates continued to challenge the legality of Spalding’s election until Spalding relinquished his claim to the presidency in April. An executive committee would rule the league until Harry Pulliam rose to the presidency later in the year. During that time, the American League was able to consolidate its gains and set the stage for the peace agreement negotiated by the two leagues in January of 1903.

Notes

1 Not to be confused with the National League, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL) was the corporate name of the minor leagues until 1999, when it renamed itself Minor League Baseball (MiLB).

2 “Minor Leagues in Union,” Chicago Tribune, September 6, 1901: 6.

3 “Session of the Baseball Men,” Chicago Tribune, December 3, 1901: 6.

4 Benjamin G. Rader, Baseball: A History of America’s Game (Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2002).

5 Robert F. Burk, Never Just a Game: Players, Owners, and American Baseball to 1920 (Chapel Hill,

North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1994), 62-63.

6 “Bars Those Who Bet,” Washington Post, December 4, 1901: 8.

7 Francis C. Richter, “The American League Is Bravely Holding Its Own in Every Direction,” Sporting Life, Volume 37, Number 4, April 13, 1901: 4.

8 “Approve Changes,” The Sporting News, December 7, 1901: 1.

9 “Two for Uncle Nick,” Washington Post, December 10, 1901: 8.

10 “Spalding Acts as League President,” New York Times, December 15, 1901: 13.

11 Jimmy Keenan, “Joe Kelley,” SABR BioProject, January 25, 2011. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/joe-kelley/

12 T.H. Murnane, “Hold the Power,” Boston Globe, November 3, 1901: 40.

13 “Baseball Meeting,” Hartford Courant, October 26, 1901: 1.

14 “Banded Together,” The Sporting News, November 2, 1901: 3.

15 Ibid.

16 Ibid.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid. Prentiss was misspelled as Prentice in this issue. For more on Prentiss, see David Forrester’s biography of him on BioProject at sabr.org/bioproj/person/a3bd6618.

19 “The Prentiss Case,” Sporting Life, Volume 39, Number 1, March 22, 1902: 7.

20 “George Prentiss,” SABR Encyclopedia, n.d., accessed May 20, 2012.

21 “Problem for the Old League,” Chicago Tribune, December 8, 1901: 19.

22 “Baseball Club Owners Assembling,” New York Times, December 2, 1901: 2.

23 “All Satisfied,” Chicago Tribune, December 14, 1901: 6.

24 “Approve Changes”; “Bars Those Who Bet.”

25 “Approve Changes”; “Session of the Baseball Men.”

26 “Make-Up of the Clubs,” Washington Post, December 3, 1901: 8.

27 “Bars Those Who Bet.”

28 Rader, Baseball, 80.

29 Burk, Never Just a Game, 152.

30 Bill Lamb, “Andrew Freedman,” The Baseball Biography Project. n.d. Accessed August 11, 2011. bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=2870&pid=17415; John Saccoman, “John Brush,” The Baseball Biography Project. n.d. Accessed August 11, 2011. bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=3632&pid=7362.

31 Rader, Baseball, 85.

32 Rader, Baseball, 90.

33 “National League Meeting,” New York Times, December 9, 1901: 10.

34 “Official Stenographic League Minutes,” Sporting Life, Volume 38, Number 21, February 8, 1902: 10. (Hereafter Minutes).

35 Minutes, 10-13.

36 Minutes, 15; “No Trust in Baseball,” New York Times, December 12, 1901: 10.

37 Minutes, 15.

38 Minutes, 21.

39 Minutes, 23.

40 “League’s Peril,” Boston Globe, December 15, 1901: 4.

41 “A.G. Spalding Is Made President,” Chicago Tribune, December 14, 1901: 6.

42 “Freedman Gets Writ,” Washington Post, December 17, 1901: 8.

Preemptive Measures by the Senior League

Before the 1902 season ended, the National League presidents met to strategize their approach to the burgeoning American League. The year-old AL already had four teams in National League cities (Philadelphia, St. Louis, Boston, and Chicago) and was threatening a move to the NL stronghold of New York.

For two days at the St. James Building in New York, John T. Brush presided over a meeting of six of the eight NL presidents. The presidents called the meeting to address what was called a “very disastrous year” by Philadelphia president A.J. Reach.1 To better address these issues, the NL presidents opted to reconvene a week later on September 26.

While all eight National League presidents sat in a highly secret meeting at the St. James, the American League opted for a more public approach. AL spokesman James C. Kennedy announced to the press that the AL would be placing a team in New York for the 1903 season. However the location of the AL grounds remained tightly under wraps.

National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues2

The feud between the National League and the American League was heating up when the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues gathered for their second annual conference in New York. The meetings, held from October 23-25, resolved only a few concerns facing the young association. However, some of the major-league managers used the meetings as a venue for discussion about several issues.

The NAPBL held elections of officers. President Patrick T. Powers and secretary John H. Farrell were reelected to their respective positions. Farrell’s only proposal at the meetings suggested that the organization adopt a more stringent drunk and disorderly policy. The rule changes were submitted for adoption in February.

Jim St. Vrain, Contract Jumper

Like the major leagues, the NAPBL had to deal with players and managers who jumped from league to league, chasing bigger salaries. Although officials were unable to come to a consensus on the matter of a new minor-league salary scale that might discourage league jumpers, the NAPBL chose to inflict severe penalties against perpetrators, starting with pitcher Jim St. Vrain.

The Tacoma Tigers signed St. Vrain to a contract after he led the Pacific Northwest League with 299 strikeouts. The numbers caught the attention of Chicago Orphans3 owner Jim Hart, who offered St. Vrain $300 a month to make the jump to the National League.

St. Vrain failed at the big-league level and was sent down to the Memphis Egyptians of the Southern League. Manager Charley Frank played St. Vrain in spite of the Tacoma contract. A legal battle exploded between the two leagues. Pacific Northwest League president W.H. Lucas said, “I wish I had Mr. Charles Frank managing a club in the Pacific League. I’d teach him a base ball lesson he’d not soon forget.”4

The NAPBL resolved the matter at the winter meetings. Frank was expelled, and St. Vrain was suspended until he paid a $100 fine. John McCloskey, who managed St. Vrain and the 1901 Tacoma team, was censured for his part in the case.

National League

The baseball world remained relatively quiet between the close of the NAPBL meeting and the start of the National League conference on December 9. In the meetings, the road toward peace with the burgeoning American League began to be paved. Like the minor-league talks, the NL meetings were held at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York.

The NL presidents passed some minor scheduling and rules changes over the course of the three-day meeting. The Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Beaneaters5 both agreed to play Sunday games for the first time in franchise history. After frontrunner John M. Ward withdrew from the race for league president, a unanimous vote raised Pittsburgh president Harry Pulliam to the head of the league. In place of an executive board, Pulliam would serve as president, secretary, and treasurer.

The threat of an AL team in New York loomed at the meetings. August Herrmann, president of the NL Cincinnati Reds, sent a letter to Ban Johnson proposing a meeting between the two leagues. The conference closed with a meeting between committees from both the NL and the AL to discuss peace accords.

Rampant Player Movement Between Leagues

Among other things, the frequent defection of players from the NL to the young American League was a major point of contention between the two. The NL faced the decision of what to do with such players. A certain precedent had been set when the senior league banned Nap Lajoie, William Bernhard, and Elmer Flick at the start of the 1902 season.

Lajoie, Bernhard, and Flick played together on the 1900 Philadelphia Phillies team in the National League. In 1901, Lajoie and Bernhard transferred to the cross-town rival Philadelphia Athletics of the American League. Lajoie led the team, batting .426, and Bernhard finished with a 17-10 record. Flick joined his former teammates in 1902.

The NL obtained an injunction that banned the three from playing in the state of Pennsylvania. Athletics manager Connie Mack allowed them to play for the Cleveland Bronchos, another AL team.

Another member of the 1900 Phillies squad, “Big Ed” Delahanty also caused an uproar at the winter meetings. The defending batting champ, Delahanty had allegedly signed contracts with both the NL New York Giants and the AL Washington Senators. Delahanty had played the 1902 season with the Senators. Delahanty’s case served as a major playing piece in the peace talks between leagues. AL representatives stated that Delahanty “would have to fulfill his contract with the Washington club or the war would be continued.”6 The NL hoped that lifting the ban on Lajoie, Flick, and Bernhard would give them leverage in the Delahanty case. Eventually Delahanty was granted to Washington.

Peace Committee Elected

The senior league had already won two “baseball wars” since its inception in 1876. The NL defeated the American Association, its first rival, in 1891 and the Players’ League, which folded after one season, in 1890.

Now, the NL faced the task of appointing a committee to face off against Ban Johnson’s American League. New NL president Harry Pulliam suggested a mutual respecting of contracts and extended an invitation to the AL for a meeting on December 12. They met at the Criterion Hotel in New York. The two sides agreed to cease hostilities until they could meet again in January.

Not all of the NL moves were peaceful, though. For the first time, the NL released the coming season’s schedule before their rival league. Many saw it as a declaration of war because the AL would have to plan its own schedule around cross-town NL games in order to draw better crowds.

American League

Just a few weeks later on December 22, the American League presidents met for a six-hour meeting. The conference, held at the Pacific Hotel in Chicago, was the shortest yet held in AL history. The AL executives gathered to name the three-man committee to negotiate peace accords with the NL in January. Additional player movements and business issues were deferred until another time.

Much of the winter was filled with wild speculation on the location of the New York American League stadium. Ban Johnson insisted that the team play on the island of Manhattan, but several hurdles postponed an official announcement for months. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company refused to lease the land for the original site, situated between 141st and 145th Streets, Lenox Avenue, and the Harlem River. Finally in mid-March 1903, Johnson announced that the New York Baseball Club grounds at 165th Street and 11th Avenue would host the AL New York team.

Elections and Attacks

The primary issue at the meeting was the restoration of peace between the two leagues. The AL chose Johnson, vice president Charles Somers, Cleveland president John Kilfoyle as representatives, and Henry Killilea as the league’s legal representation. They were to meet with NL presidents August Herrmann of Cincinnati, Jim Hart of Chicago, and Frank Robison of St. Louis. While on one hand the AL offered peace, they also discussed moving teams from Baltimore and Washington to New York and Pittsburgh, respectively. This would have created a direct conflict with existing NL franchises.

Joint Meetings

In late February, representatives of the NL, AL, and NAPBL convened in Chicago to discuss the state of the game as a whole. In this one-day meeting, officials regulated the slope of the field, ruling that the pitcher’s mound could be no more than 15 inches higher than the base lines and that the base lines must be level with home plate. The AL and NAPBL adopted the foul ball-strike rule as written in the NL rulebook. Initially, the American League representatives were fundamentally opposed to the foul-strike rule, but the alliance between the NL and NAPBL reps swayed the AL in favor of the rule. Finally, the three leagues agreed on a uniform balk rule, stating “a balk shall constitute any delivery of the ball to the batsman by the pitcher while either foot of the pitcher is back of the plate.”7

Conclusion

The ensuing peace meetings would create a temporary accord between the leagues. They agreed to honor each other’s contracts, in line with the ruling on Delahanty. The goodwill continued throughout the 1903 season and resulted in the first World Series behind held in October 1903.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the notes, the author was also informed by:

“Baseball War Declared,” New York Times, September 26, 1902: 10.

“For Peace in Baseball,” New York Times, December 11, 1902: 6.

“Baseball War at an End,” New York Times, December 12, 1902: 10.

“New Baseball Setback,” New York Times, January 8, 1903: 6.

“Agreement in Baseball,” New York Times, January 11, 1903: 10.

“Sweeping Peace Pact is Signed,” Chicago Daily Tribune, January 11, 1903: 9.

“Grabbing of Ball-Players,” Los Angeles Times, August 2, 1903: 8.

“Baseball Suits Dismissed,” New York Times, January 22, 1903: 10.

“More Baseball Troubles,” New York Times, January 30, 1903: 10.

“Baseball Meetings Called,” New York Times, February 19, 1903: 10.

“Baseball Season Near,” New York Times, March 1, 1903: 16.

Notes

1 “Baseball Owners Meet,” New York Times, September 16, 1902: 6.

2 Not to be confused with the National League, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL) was the official corporate name of the minor leagues until 1999, when they changed the name to Minor League Baseball (MiLB).

3 The Chicago Orphans would be renamed the Cubs prior to the 1903 season.

4 Harry Higgins, “Tacoma’s Tip,” Sporting Life, August 30, 1902: 3.

5 Boston’s National League franchise went through many monikers before settling on the Braves in 1912. Starting in 1936, the team was called the Boston Bees but reverted to the Braves in the 1941 season.

6 “Baseball Legislation,” New York Times, December 22, 1902: 8.

7 “Changes in Baseball Rules,” New York Times, February 24, 1903: 2.

The ceremony took place in 1903, which has proven to be an early watershed season for baseball. After two years of battling, the established National League and fledgling American League signed a peace agreement in January and proceeded to play their games under a wary and uneasy cloud. Much like a marriage in its first year, the two leagues were learning how to live together, so by the time the last pitch had been thrown and the owners met again for their Winter Meetings, certain things had been learned, certain accommodations had been made, and some things still needed to be sorted out.

The War and What It Meant

In the very early years of baseball, it was common for leagues to come and go. Owners realized that their economic success was tied to bringing people to their ballparks, and people came out to see star players, so there were often fierce battles for these athletes, even those already under contract to another club. The 19th century ballplayer, in fact, rarely gave a second thought to jumping from one team to another, choosing a lucrative salary over legal obligation. Realizing this could undermine the public’s respect for the game and thus keep people away, three leagues — the National League, the American Association, and the Northwestern League — got together in February of 1883 and signed the “Tripartite Agreement,” which recognized the validity of the signed contract and prohibited all teams from pirating players. This accord shortly became better known as the National Agreement,1 and by the turn of the 20th century it covered 13 minor leagues, plus the National League.

When the original agreement was signed, the American Association was considered the “other” major league. While it offered fans such amenities as lower admission prices, Sunday baseball, and beer, the league struggled throughout its 10-year history, and after the 1891 season four clubs — Baltimore, Louisville, St. Louis, and Washington — defected to the National League. The owners in Boston, Columbus, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia were subsequently bought out, ending the American Association as a major league, and turning the NL into a 12-team major-league monopoly.2

But in the 1890s, such a large circuit proved to be unwieldy, due to poor roads (no interstate highways then) and no air travel whatsoever. Many years later, when both majors expanded and became 12-team leagues (after the 1968 season), they wisely split into divisions to help with travel costs. Their Gay Nineties great-grandparents, however, did not do that, however, and for several years the NL struggled along until they contracted, ousting Baltimore, Cleveland, Louisville, and Washington after the 1899 season.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and that other man was Byron Bancroft “Ban” Johnson. He was President-Secretary-Treasurer of the Western League, one of the minor leagues that was a part of the National Agreement. Despite its success primarily in the Midwest, Johnson had higher aspirations, and for the 1900 season he moved into the newly-opened Cleveland market, transferred his St. Paul franchise to Chicago, and re-named his circuit the American League.3 Despite the name change it was still a minor league, but in the offseason Johnson grabbed for the brass ring, announcing his intention to operate the AL as a major league and, when the Senior Circuit scoffed, he renounced the National Agreement and declared war, moving into the open territories of Baltimore and Washington, as well as NL strongholds of Boston and Philadelphia.

All bets were off. The National League had the reserve clause and a salary cap of $2,400 per player in effect, but Johnson said there would be no such thing in his league, and 111 players jumped into the new circuit, including such marquee names as Cy Young, Napoleon Lajoie, John McGraw, and Joe McGinnity.4 After the 1901 season, Johnson moved the Milwaukee franchise into St. Louis and saw more players make the move, including Ed Delahanty, Jesse Burkett, and Elmer Flick. (You may note that all the jumpers named here would eventually wind up in the Hall of Fame.) The new American League outdrew its more-established rival by more than half a million fans in 1902, which emboldened Johnson even further — he announced the Baltimore team would be moving into New York.5

The Big Apple would prove to be the catalyst for bringing the war to an end. John J. McGraw had become a part owner of the Baltimore franchise, and he also became the team’s manager and third baseman. The pugnacious McGraw, however, quarreled regularly with umpires, and when Johnson, as AL President, regularly backed his arbiters, it incited the enmity of the Little Napoleon. After another tempestuous on-field dispute, Johnson suspended the Orioles skipper indefinitely, whereby McGraw jumped back to the NL, taking over as manager (and occasional infielder) of the New York Giants, a pitiful aggregation that, at the time of McGraw’s arrival, had only won 23 of its 73 games and had already gone through two other managers.6 It went through some players, too — McGraw brought a half-dozen men with him from Baltimore, including McGinnity and Roger Bresnahan, and he released people he felt were not producing.7 This soap opera proved to be the impetus for Johnson’s decision to invade New York and, when the newly-elected mayor, Seth Low, offered Johnson a site for a ballpark,8 the National League realized it was time to sue for peace.

On January 9 and 10, 1903, the two leagues met at the St. Nicholas Hotel in Cincinnati to negotiate terms. Both league presidents brought three owners,9 and the eight men hammered out the “Cincinnati Peace Agreement,” which would govern baseball for almost 18 years.

Better known as the National Agreement, it established the National Commission, the game’s version of the Supreme Court, which would be made up of both league presidents and, as Chair, a neutral third party, which became Reds owner Garry Herrmann, an NL owner but close friend of Ban Johnson. It allowed the Baltimore franchise to move to New York and also established that each league would be comprised of eight clubs, a configuration that would remain in effect until 1961!

It mandated that each team respect everyone else’s roster, which was a nice way of saying “don’t steal my players!” It required the two leagues to coordinate their schedules and to use the foul-strike rule.10 It prohibited “farming,” which meant signing a player to a major-league contract but then assigning him to a minor-league team. (By the 1930s, of course, that clause would become obsolete.) It gave the minors the “absolute” right to their players, except during a six-week period from September 1 through October 15, when a major-league team could draft players and pay the minor-league club a set fee.11

And, most importantly, it established a standard player contract that included the reserve clause, which essentially bound players to their teams for life unless they were traded, sold or released. Until it was overturned in the 1970s, the reserve clause made the players little more than property.

The National Association of Professional Minor Leagues (now known as the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, or NAPBL) also signed this agreement, making it the law of the baseball land. A special ruling was made on several players who were claimed by two clubs; for instance, Sam Crawford and George Mullin were awarded to Detroit, Wee Willie Keeler went to the Highlanders, Tommy Leach headed to Pittsburgh, Nap Lajoie was assigned to Cleveland, Ed Delahanty went to Washington, and Christy Mathewson wound up with the Giants. Despite gaining Leach, the Pirates lost several players to the Highlanders but gained in the long-run when the Agreement prevented Ban Johnson from moving a team into the Steel City.12 The Pirates, in fact, won the National League pennant in 1903, though they lost the first World Series to the Boston team known at that time as the Americans, led by Cy Young.

The Minors Meet

The minor leagues gathered for their Winter Meetings on October 22 in St. Louis, just nine days after Boston’s Bill Dinneen had thrown the final pitch of the inaugural World Series. The Mound City was a happening place at that time, as they were preparing to host the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and those members of the National Association who gathered for the three-day event at the Southern Hotel were treated to a visit to the grounds of what would be commonly known as the 1904 World’s Fair.13

John Farrell, the Secretary of the National Association, gave the delegates what was more or less a State of the Minor Leagues address. At that point in time, the Secretary was more like a Chief Operating Officer, responsible for day-to-day dealings, which made him, and not the President, the right person to speak to the gathering. He was very proud to report that, even amidst the tumult of the first season played under the new National Agreement, 19 leagues began the season and 19 completed their schedules.14 This did not count the independent Pacific Coast League which, because of the nice weather in California, was actually still in the midst of their 200-plus game season.15

The Association was hoping that, for at least this year only, the majors would issue an exemption to the National Agreement clause that allowed for minor-league players to be drafted during that six-week period in September and October. They were specifically seeking an exemption for players signed before September 11, but the new three-man National Commission disagreed and ruled that the draft had been held legitimately.

The Commission also ruled on the fate of numerous players who were being claimed by two teams or leagues, with the most notable one being Ed Walsh, the big right-hander who had been drafted by the White Sox. Walsh would go on to win 195 games in the majors, all with Chicago, including 40 in 1908, on his way to the Hall of Fame.16

The White Sox (also known as the White Stockings at that time) had another right-handed hurler bring his case before the Commission. Drafted off the Birmingham roster, Frank Smith balked, saying he preferred to go to the Boston Beaneaters (later known, at various times, as the Doves, Rustlers, Bees, and ultimately, Braves). Smith consulted with an attorney, who told him he could ply his trade wherever he chose because “the reserve clause was stricken out.”17 The new governing body, however, ruled against him, and since the record book shows that he did, indeed, pitch in the same rotation as Ed Walsh in 1904, one assumes he and his lawyer chose not to fight the decision in court.18

The Commission expected to have a very serious matter brought before it, the charge of fixed ballgames. Bill Phyle, a pitcher and third baseman who had played parts of three seasons in the majors — 1898 and 1899 with the Orphans, now known as the Cubs and 1901 with the Giants — had played with Memphis of the Southern Association in 1903 and claimed to have information about games that had not been on the up-and-up. He was asked to come to St. Louis and tell the Commission all he knew, but he failed to appear, whereupon he was banned from baseball for life.19 He appealed the decision and was actually reinstated and played through 1909, mostly in the minors but also 22 games with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1906.

The various leagues were busy on numerous fronts. The American Association (Class A, the highest level of the minor leagues at that time), lost their president when Thomas Hickey resigned. Several people were rumored to be candidates to replace him, but ultimately the post went, for one year, to a writer and editor, J. Ed. Grillo, who was based in Cincinnati and was also a contributor to The Sporting News.20

The Milwaukee Brewers chose New Orleans to be their spring training site, and they also announced a series of exhibition games against (Class-B) Southern Association teams such as Memphis and Nashville on their way north for Opening Day.21 Brewers manager Joe Cantillon announced he had purchased the contract of third baseman John Hankey from Decatur of the (Class-B) Three-I League. Hankey, however, had already marketed himself and signed to play with Atlanta in the Southern Association. The dispute was resolved by sending Hankey back to the Three-I (which stood for Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana), but not to Decatur; he played instead for Springfield, Illinois,22 and would, ultimately, never advance beyond Class B.

Also in the American Association, long-time minor-league shortstop Bill Clymer signed on to be the player-manager of Columbus.23 He stayed in the Ohio capital for several years and was a mainstay in minor-league dugouts through the 1932 season. Meanwhile, in an interview with The Sporting News, Indianapolis president William Watkins said of the meetings that the “most important things accomplished … were the regulations governing the drafting of players, the acquiring of territory and the fixing of a salary limit,” which he said was $2,100 per month.24

Patrick Powers, the ceremonial President of the National Association, was also head of the (Class-A) Eastern League and wanted to remain in that position. Some league officials, however, hoped to unseat him with Buffalo owner Harry Taylor.25 Powers would fight off the challenge and remain in control for two more years, when he resigned after purchasing the Providence club, and at that time was succeeded by Taylor.26

You’ll recall that the American League had been born when Ban Johnson renamed his Western League and declared it a major, precipitating the battle for big-league talent. In the shadow of this conflict, the Western League re-formed as a Class-A circuit, with cities such as Denver and Des Moines. By 1903 they found themselves facing a challenge — the American Association had been formed and was competing with the Western, not only at the Class-A level, but also head-to-head in both Kansas City and Milwaukee.

Obviously, while these were two of the premier urban centers in the Midwest, neither could support more than one club, and the two leagues hoped to settle the matter in St. Louis. While there was some talk about the Western dropping down to Class B, it was eventually decided to allow a “committee of three” to settle the matter via binding arbitration where, as predicted by former-pitcher-turned-sportswriter Tim Murnane, the American Association was victorious.27 Milwaukee would remain in the AA through 1952, when the Braves left Boston and appropriated the territory for the National League, while Kansas City would be a league member through 1954, when the AL’s venerable Philadelphia Athletics were sold and moved to the “Paris of the Plains.”

The Western League, meanwhile, had to scramble when George Tebeau, the manager of the Louisville club, made an effort to get Omaha to also bolt for the American Association.28 His effort would not be successful — in fact, Omaha would remain in the Western through 1936 — but the league did lose Peoria and operated as a six-team circuit in 1904.29

The Southern Association (Class B) seemed poised to lose its leader, Judge William Kavanaugh, who said he would not stand for re-election. No matter, the league’s leaders chose him again and he would, in fact, remain as president until his death just prior to the 1915 season. The Southern did, however, lose an umpire, W.B. Carpenter, who moved to the American League.30 Montgomery hired Bill Stickney to be its manager but, despite being “thoroughly familiar with Montgomery and its people,”31 he would not complete the season in the Alabama capital.

News was made in other Class-B circuits. Two cities in the State of Washington, Vancouver and Whitcomb, expressed interest in joining the Pacific National League but had travel concerns, especially those long trips to both Salt Lake City and to Butte.32 Vancouver eventually joined the Oregon State League (Class D), while Whitcomb would never field a team in Organized Ball.

The Central League was looking to add Zanesville (Ohio), but did not because of objections to the league policy of playing lay Sunday games.33 Erie, Youngstown, Peoria, and Anderson, Indiana were also considered, but only the last joined the circuit. The Three-I League decreed that all umpires would work the same number of games in each city, and that a sum of $2,000 was to be set aside to help strengthen any weak franchises, with the aim of raising that figure to $5,000 over time. They also determined that their policy of requiring each team to pay 10 percent of each night’s gate receipts to the league for operating expenses was too steep and they made an adjustment, though the new percentage was not reported in the press.34

The Hudson River League had an interesting winter. Elevated in status to Class C, they voted not to play any doubleheaders prior to July 1 or after September 23, and replaced Ossining, New York (home of the famous Sing Sing Correctional Facility) with Paterson, New Jersey. Having already expanded to Saugerties, New York, this gave them seven franchises and necessitated adding one more. Three candidates emerged, including two Massachusetts towns — Pittsfield and North Adams — plus Yonkers, New York.35 The best-laid plans, however: none of the three prospects panned out and, when Peekskill dropped out before Opening Day, the Hudson River once again operated as a six-team circuit.

The Texas League was already thinking bigger — it assigned J.W. Gardner of Dallas to meet with members of the South Texas League to gauge interest in a “consolidation” of the two Class-C circuits.36 The idea did not go over well and the South Texas wound up operating for three more seasons; the Texas League, of course, was still functioning into the 21st century at the Double-A level. Another Dallas-based executive, Ted Sullivan, announced he was attempting to convince the White Sox to hold their spring training in the town of Marlin, Texas (also known at times as Marlin Springs or Marlin Wells).37 Known even to this day for its mineral water, they did play host to Charles Comiskey’s club.

Meanwhile, things were looking up for the Missouri Valley League. After completing just its second season and watching two clubs go under during the summer, they were promoted to the Class-C level for 1904 after most of the surviving clubs made money, “not a bucketful, but a good profit on the investment,” according to the Sporting News correspondent.38 Topeka would become a new member and Leavenworth would re-join after having disbanded in July.

At that time, the lowest rung of the National Association was Class D,39 and three associations proved to be active. After re-electing George Wheatley as their president, the Cotton States League discussed adding the Mississippi towns of Jackson and Meridian to the fold.40 Both municipalities did become members, but not until 1905.

The K-I-T League (Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee, also known as the Kitty),41 was expecting to lose Jackson (Tennessee, not Mississippi), but was poised to replace it with Bowling Green, and was also receiving inquiries from Evansville and Cape Girardeau.42 Jackson did drop out, as did Owensboro (Kentucky), and when none of the potential suitors followed through, the Kitty operated as a six-team circuit for the next three seasons.

Over in the Hawkeye State, a group of businessmen were gauging interest in forming an Eastern Iowa League that would have a salary limit of $700 and travel limits of no more than 300 miles north-to-south and 125 miles east-to-west.43 Burlington, Keokuk, Marshalltown, Ottumwa, and Waterloo followed through and were soon joined by Boone, Fort Dodge, and Oskaloosa in what officially became known as the Iowa State League.

A couple of other minor-league notes of interest: Waterbury had been one of the founding members of the (Class-D) Connecticut League in 1899, but dropped out after the 1902 season. Perhaps people in the Brass City missed their baseball, or perhaps businesses complained about the loss of collateral income, but for whatever reason they sought to return and did. They did, however, have to wait until 1906, when the league moved up to Class B.44.

Another group of businessmen, this time on New York’s Long Island, had a similar intent. Interests from Flushing, Bayside (now both part of the Borough of Queens), College Point, Manhasset, and Port Washington formed the North Side League of Baseball Clubs. They intended to add a sixth franchise, with Corona, Hyde Park, or Roslyn mentioned as the strongest candidates,45 but the league never got off the ground. Probably the lack of good roads — neither the Long Island Expressway nor the Grand Central Parkway were built for many years — contributed to their failure to launch.

And then there was the Pacific Coast League. As mentioned earlier, it had been operating as an independent/“outlaw” circuit, completely outside the purview of the National Association, and Organized Ball was hoping to bring them into the fold. According to the Los Angeles Times, however, there was no great league-wide interest in joining up, and after the Eastern League and American Association attempted to “control matters,” the PCL delegates “bolted the convention,” which then “proceeded without them.”46

However, the Washington Post reported that James A. Hart, owner of the Chicago Cubs, was assigned the task of making the group a part of the National Association and “it is said the outlaws are not only willing, but anxious, to get under the wing of the major body.”47 The Post reporter got it right as the PCL joined as a Class-A league, the equal to the Eastern, Western, and American Association, with such cities as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Oakland.

Not everyone was pleased — former catcher Daniel Dugdale, who had made a fortune in real estate during the Klondike gold rush, had been operating the Seattle Siwashes in the Pacific National League.48 Despite having announced plans for a brand-new downtown ballpark,49 Dugdale saw the loop downgraded to Class B in the wake of the Coast League’s admission, and he sold the team and moved to Portland, though he returned to Seattle later in the decade to run the city’s Northwestern League franchise until the end of World War I.50

The Older Brother Takes Charge

After more than a decade of being the only major league, the NL was not used to sharing, much like an only child who suddenly has to make room for a new sibling. A peace agreement may have been signed, but the National League still felt like this was their game and they should be running things. It didn’t help matters when Boston’s American League champions defeated Honus Wagner and his Pittsburgh Pirates in the very first World Series. Something needed to be done to restore order, at least as defined by the owners in the Senior Circuit.

The National League formally met at the Hotel Victoria in New York City on December 8 and 9. Several routine matters were taken care of, including the ceremonial ratification of the terms of the peace agreement, which also meant that the league’s constitution needed to be amended so it would conform to the new National Agreement.51 Harry Pulliam was re-elected as league president and his power to maintain discipline on the playing field, including the ability to fine or suspend any player for disorderly conduct, was re-affirmed and written into the by-laws.52 They also gave him the power to rule that any player who “jumped” his contract was immediately ineligible to play anywhere.53

But perhaps the most important news to come out of these meetings was the lengthening of the schedule. A 140-game season had been played for the previous three years, ever since the NL had dropped down to an eight-team league, but now the owners agreed to a 154-game schedule, beginning on April 15 and ending on October 15.54

Surprisingly, money was not behind this move — the real reason was to kill off the World Series and any other postseason games.55 The Boston Globe reported that “Oct. 15 is too late to start the games,” the Chicago Tribune remarked that the “American league clubs made such a good showing against the National league this fall … that the effect on the public was not relished” by the NL, while The Sporting News opined that starting a series in mid-October would “make it too late in the year to play a world’s series with financial profit.”56

The Washington Post really railed against the move because it believed “the seasons always have been too long” and that “long before those 154 games are played both leagues will find that the public has tired of the contests.”57 It advocated for the season to begin in mid-May and run through mid-September, and even came out in favor of limited interleague play, all within the framework of a shorter schedule, because a 154-game slate “has been tried before and proved a lamentable failure, just as it will the coming season.”58

This was just one way the senior circuit tried to “stick it” to the younger league. National League owners also passed a rule that prohibited any player from being traded over to the AL without unanimous consent from the rest of the league.59 Rumors persisted that the NL would eventually do what it had done in the case of the American Association — absorb four AL teams, let the other four die off, and become a 12-team circuit once more.60 The scuttlebutt was universally denied, though the influential J. Ed. Grillo wrote that “the two leagues can not continue … change will have to come sooner or later … either … another 12-club league … or one major and a secondary league.”61

There was also talk that the leagues might trade franchises, with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati moving over to the American League while Detroit and Washington joined the NL lodge,62 a tacit admission that there were a couple of profitable franchises in the junior loop. And the foul-strike rule was another way the NL tried to re-establish its dominance. Its owners voted to continue using the rule, knowing full well that their American League counterparts were against it, and they instructed their Committee on Rules to stand firm on keeping it in place.63

The NL also made sure of their dominance over the minor leagues by establishing their “absolute right” to draft players from the minors between September 1 and October 15 of each year.64

The meetings weren’t only about carrying the biggest stick. Several teams announced spring training sites — Boston would be in Thomasville, Georgia; Chicago would be in Los Angeles; and New York would be in Birmingham.65 Frank De Hass Robison, owner of the Cardinals, was busy fending off reports that he was trying to find a buyer for his team. The Chicago Tribune speculated that this simply meant a “purchaser has yet to be found,”66 and in fact Robison did hold onto the team for three more years before selling to his brother.

As always, rumors abounded. Cincinnati first baseman Jake Beckley, who would be inducted into the Hall of Fame more than 50 years after his death, was rumored to be coveted by the Cardinals and the Phillies; the Chicago Tribune stated with certainty that he “will play with the Philadelphia Nationals next season.”67 It took two months for Beckley to move, but when he did it was to St. Louis.

The Sporting News, meanwhile, reported that Chicago right-hander Jack Taylor, who won 20 games in both 1902 and 1903, would be shipped to Cincinnati.68 The Cubs did move him but to the Cardinals, along with catcher/first-baseman Larry McLean. In exchange they received a catcher named Jack O’Neill and a young right-handed pitcher named Mordecai Brown, nicknamed “Three Finger” because of a childhood farming injury that took most of his right index finger.69 Brown’s erstwhile malady gave his pitches great movement and he won 188 games for the Cubs (second only to Charley Root in the team’s history), and a spot in Cooperstown.

The Reds were part of one more rumor, which had pitcher-turned-outfielder James “Cy” Seymour heading to the Giants in a straight swap for catcher Roger Bresnahan. According to a Grillo piece in The Sporting News, “McGraw can not get along with Bresnahan and Seymour doesn’t want to play another year in Cincinnati.”70 Everyone must have learned accommodation, however, because Seymour stayed in Ohio until July of 1906 (when he was purchased by the Giants!), while Bresnahan and McGraw tolerated each other for another five seasons.

Brooklyn surprised baseball fans everywhere by sending shortstop Bill Dahlen to the Giants for infielder Charlie Babb, right-hander Jack Cronin, and cash. The Washington Post said that “it looks like McGraw got very much the better end of the deal,”71 and they were right, as it turned out. Babb had a fair season in 1904, a terrible one in 1905, and then went back to the minors, while Cronin lost 23 games in 1904 and spent the rest of his baseball life in the Eastern League. Dahlen, meanwhile, continued his stellar career throughout the decade, even leading the league in RBIs in 1904.

Cleveland announced that it had signed outfielder Will O’Hara, but this proved to be another case where a player inked more than one contract. Toledo of the American Association also had a deal with O’Hara and that is where he wound up in 1904, not surfacing in the majors until 1909.72 A conflict that included Detroit, Pittsburgh and Buffalo of the Eastern League was resolved when right-hander Charles “Rube” Kisinger, infielder/outfielder Ernie Courtney, utilityman Lewis “Sport” McAllister and third baseman Joe Yeager were sent from the Tigers to the Bisons for right-hander Alfred “Cy” Ferry and outfielder Matthew McIntyre.73

Two future Hall of Famers made some news. Hugh Duffy had not played in the majors since 1901 and had, in fact, been the president and manager of Milwaukee in the Western League. The lure of the big leagues was strong, however, and he agreed to become player-manager of the Phillies, posts he held for the next three seasons.

The Reds, meanwhile, found themselves in need of a second baseman and were willing to give a shot to a young man who had impressed people at St. Paul in the American Association. It was speculated that this rookie would prove to be the best Cincinnati had seen at the keystone since Bid McPhee.74 Miller Huggins would, indeed, become one of the game’s premier second basemen, first for the Reds and then for the Cardinals, but he would cement his Cooperstown credentials by managing the Yankees to six pennants and three World Series titles in the 1920s.

And the Younger Brother Fusses and Whines But Eventually Goes Along

Well, that peace agreement may have been signed, but the National League still seemed to be lobbing grenades towards the Junior Circuit. So when American League executives convened for their Winter Meetings on December 17 at the Auditorium Annex in Chicago, there was some confusion as to what direction they ought to take, especially with the playing schedule. President Ban Johnson told the New York Times that he expected their schedule to remain at 140 games (though he personally favored a 126-game slate), and was disappointed by the NL’s expanding to 154 games, but admitted that there was a division of opinion among his owners.75 No doubt there was considerable debate on this topic, but in the end the AL felt they had to follow along.

Charles Comiskey of the White Sox called the 154-game schedule “one of the biggest mistakes ever made in baseball,”76 while I.E. Sanborn, writing in The Sporting News, said that “(t)wo wrongs never made a right…” and predicted it would only be a “makeshift” schedule.77 But the American League felt their hands had been tied and, as Comiskey stated, “…there was nothing left for us to do but follow suit.”78 It is rather ironic, then, that the 154-game season, so publicly maligned at the outset, became one of baseball’s most cherished foundations for almost six decades.

The same could be said for the foul-strike rule. The AL formally voted against it, deadlocking the two leagues and forcing the establishment of a conference committee to try and resolve the difference. National League President Pulliam had stated that if the AL declined to endorse the foul-strike rule, it would be a violation of the National Agreement and could renew the war,79 and perhaps this helped shape the feelings of the conference committee when they eventually met to discuss the issue. The foul-strike rule was upheld for both major leagues (and the minor leagues as well), and has been in full force for more than a century.80

Ban Johnson also had to deal with financial instability with his franchise in Washington, DC. Shortly before the AL meetings began, the Chicago Tribune reported that the league needed to “bolster the affairs” of its team in the District, and suggested that the current Brooklyn manager (and former Orioles skipper) Edward “Ned” Hanlon was being viewed as a good candidate to own and operate the team.81 At the same time the Washington Post was reporting that Philadelphia Athletics co-owner Ben Shibe was being “importuned” to take over in D.C.82 All the while a local attorney, Wilton J. Lambert, was doing his best to land the ballclub, which was purportedly $6,000 in debt.

What Lambert found, however, was that things weren’t quite on the up-and-up in Washington (imagine that!). He was initially negotiating with a Detroit hotelier, Fred Postal, who claimed to own one-third of the team, but Lambert eventually learned that Postal was just a front man — the club was actually owned entirely by the American League itself!83 He also discovered that the debts were $15,000, more than twice what he had been given to believe. Undaunted, though, Lambert continued to try making a deal, even after the Winter Meetings ended, but ultimately he was unsuccessful. New owners for the Senators would not be found until March.84

Other matters were dealt with, of course. Following the NL lead, the National Agreement and uniform players contract were both formally ratified,85 and a committee was appointed to revise the league constitution so it, too, would conform to the wording of the National Agreement. Rosters were capped at a maximum of 16 players after June 1.

Ban Johnson was given a raise of $2,500, bringing his salary to $10,000 a year (the equivalent of about $265,000 today). An attempt was made to also give him a one-time bonus of $5,000, but he objected so strongly that the offer was withdrawn.86 The St. Louis Browns were confident that they could conclude a spring training deal with the city of Corsicana, Texas (which they did), while Cleveland was also looking for a Lone Star State location. Their manager, Bill Armour, had been hoping to travel to San Antonio and perhaps strike a spring training deal with them, but the city was under a yellow fever quarantine, making a visit impossible.87 (He must have made it down eventually, because the team did train there in 1904).

Player movement seemed to be restricted to the committee that was arbitrating disputes between the two major leagues, fallout from the Late Unpleasantness. Only one deal of note was discussed, at least publicly — the Highlanders (today’s Yankees) were looking to move Jesse Tannehill, a noted outfielder and left-handed pitcher, and found a partner up in Boston, who sent right-hander Tom Hughes to New York in a straight swap.88 The Red Sox got much the better of this deal, as Hughes was swapped to Washington in July (where he spent the next eight-plus seasons), while Tannehill had great success in Boston, winning 20 games each of the next two years.

Summary

The Winter Meetings of 1903 took place in three different venues, no doubt reflecting the status of a game trying to recover from a harsh two-year war, with its three entities — the National Association of Professional Minor Leagues, the American League, and the National League — still being cautious, not sure whether or not to trust one another, not even certain that the peace would hold. The NL, probably viewing itself as “first among equals,” took the initiative and virtually dictated certain terms, especially in the case of the foul-strike rule and the increase of the schedule to 154 games. Their ulterior motive, however, in approving a longer season was to eliminate the possibility of a World Series and prevent being “embarrassed” again, but in this they obviously failed, as the Fall Classic quickly became one of the premier events in American sports.

Yet, while there would be other battles over the years — three attempts to form a third major league, antitrust issues with Congress, and numerous labor disputes with both players and umpires — the peace agreement hammered out in 1903 between the American and National Leagues and ratified at their respective Winter Meetings, has remained intact. Presumably, then, after more than a century of matrimony, we can call this union a success.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the notes, the author also consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Don Jepsen’s biography of John McGraw, part of SABR’s BioProject and found at http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/fef5035f, accessed October 9, 2013.

Notes

1 “The Commissionership: A Historical Perspective.” http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/mlb_history_people.jsp?story=com, accessed October 5, 2013.

2 John Thorn, Pete Palmer, Michael Gershman and David Pietrusza, editors. Total Baseball: The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball, Fifth Edition (New York: Viking Penguin, 1997), 1858.

3 Joe Santry and Cindy Thomson, “Ban Johnson,” SABR Baseball Biography Project (http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dabf79f8), undated, accessed October 5, 2013.

4 Ibid.

5 Robert L. Finch, L.H. Addington and Ben H. Morgan, editors. The Story of Minor League Baseball (Columbus, Ohio: The Stoneman Press, 1952), 15.

6 “The Shaky Peace of 1903,” (http://baseballhistoryblog.com/1590/the-shaky-peace-of-1903/), accessed September 13 and October 9, 2013.

7 Ibid.

8 This would become Hilltop Park, in the Washington Heights section of upper Manhattan; it would be the home of the Highlanders for 10 years, from 1903 through 1912. See Philip J. Lowry, Green Cathedrals (New York: Walker Publishing Company, 2006), 151.

9 The National League was represented by President Harry Pulliam, Frank DeHass Robison of the St. Louis Cardinals, James Hart of the Chicago Cubs, and Garry Herrmann of the Cincinnati Reds. The American League was represented by President Ban Johnson and Charles Comiskey of the Chicago White Sox, Henry Killilea of the Boston Americans, and Charles Somers of the Cleveland Naps. “The Shaky Peace of 1903,” (http://baseballhistoryblog.com/1590/the-shaky-peace-of-1903/), accessed October 9, 2013.

10 The foul-strike rule is, simply, the rule that we have all grown up with — a foul ball hit with no strikes or one strike on the batter is called a strike, but once the batter has two strikes on him, subsequent foul balls will not count against him. The NL had adopted this rule in 1901 but the AL, in its first two seasons, did not have this rule in effect, which may have led to more offense in the Junior Circuit. Having both leagues play by the same rules was a key aspect of the negotiations. http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Foul_strike_rule, accessed September 13 and October 9, 2013. Interestingly, with the adoption of the designated hitter rule for the 1973 season, the two leagues have now played for better than 40 years under slightly different parameters.

11 Reach Guide, 1904, 115-123; accessed online October 9, 2013.

12 “The Shaky Peace of 1903,” op. cit.

13 Judy Garland fans will recall that the 1904 World’s Fair was the backdrop for the 1944 musical Meet Me in St. Louis, one of her best films. It was also where she met director Vincent Minnelli, whom she later married.

14 “Farrell’s Report,” The Sporting News, October 31, 1903, Vol. 36. No. 8: 2.

15 “Late News: Minor Leagues in Session,” The Sporting News, October 24, 1903: 1.

16 J. Ed. Grillo, “Subject to Draft,” The Sporting News, October 31, 1903: 1.

17 “Late News: Minor Leagues in Session,” op. cit.

18 Smith had a decent major-league career. He won 120 games in nine major-league seasons, plus another 19 in his two years with the Federal League, the World War I-era group that lured many players in an attempt to become a third major league. Smith eventually did pitch, very briefly, in Boston, but ironically it was for the Red Sox.

19 “Gossip of the Players,” The Sporting News, October 31, 1903: 2.

20 “Boosted Prices,” The Sporting News, October 24, 1903:

21 Arthur B. Marsh, “Only Outlaw Body; Cantillon’s Spring Plans,” The Sporting News, October 31, 1903: 2.

22 Earl Obenshain, “Late News: American League Meeting; Needs Three Players,” The Sporting News, December 19, 1903: 1.

23 Marsh, op. cit.

24 “Not Yet Decided; Advanced Their Interests,” The Sporting News, October 31, 1903: 1.

25 “Late News: No Prospects for War; Opposition to Powers,” The Sporting News, December 26, 1903: 1.

26 Charles Bevis, “Patrick Powers,” SABR Baseball Biography Project (http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/e95ef025), undated, accessed October 29, 2013.

27 T. H. Murnane, “Disputes to Settle,” Boston Globe, October 26, 1903: 5.

28 P. H. Saunders, “Late News: No Prospects for War; Tebeau is Scheming,” The Sporting News, December 26, 1903: 1.

29 “Late News: American League Meeting; Western’s Annual Postponed,” The Sporting News, December 19, 1903: 1.

30 “Late News: No ’04 Post-Season Games,” The Sporting News, December 12, 1903: 1.

31 “Late News: Cases Decided By Herrmann; May Manage Montgomery Club,” The Sporting News, October 31, 1903: 1.

32 Walter H. Murphy, “Make Them Equal: May Lose Freeman,” The Sporting News, December 12, 1903: 1.

33 R. H. Archer, “Ignored Patrons; Central League Circuit,” The Sporting News, December 19, 1903: 1.

34 “Fans Displeased; Reserve Fund of $5,000,” The Sporting News, October 24, 1903: 1.

35 Skye S. Colt, “Late News: American League Meeting; Hudson River League,” The Sporting News, December 19, 1903: 1.

36 “Ignored Patrons; Belongs to the Browns,” The Sporting News, December 19, 1903: 1.

37 Ibid.

38 “Not Yet Decided; Advanced Their Interests,” The Sporting News, October 31, 1903: 1.

39 Though minor-league baseball had been played for years, official classifications had begun in 1902, ranging from A down to D. The Double-A level was added in 1912, Triple-A in 1946. With the decline of attendance and the corresponding number of leagues in the 1950s and early 1960s, the major leagues affected a reorganization of the minors following the 1962 season, eliminating the B, C, and D levels and, later in the decade, adding the short-season and complex leagues. W. Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, editors. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. (Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, Inc., 1997), 479.

40 “Only Outlaw Body; Cotton States League,” The Sporting News, October 31, 1903: 2.

41 The K-I-T, or Kitty, League was made up of teams from towns in Kentucky, Illinois, and Tennessee, and occasionally Indiana as well. To quote its website, it brought baseball to “fans in Western and Central Kentucky, Southern Illinois and Indiana, Southeast Missouri, and West and Middle Tennessee for thirty years between 1903 and 1955.” http://www.kittyleague.com, accessed November 2, 2013.

42 “Late News: Cases Decided By Herrmann; K-I-T’s 1904 Circuit,” The Sporting News, October 31, 1903: 1.

43 “Late News: No Prospects for War; Proposed Iowa League,” The Sporting News, December 26, 1903: 1.

44 “Late News: No Prospects for War; Wants League Ball,” The Sporting News, December 26, 1903: 1.

45 “Foul Strike Rule Out,” New York Times, December 18, 1903: 7.

46 “No Peace for the Magnates,” Los Angeles Times, October 25, 1903: B3.

47 “Baseball Gossip,” Washington Post, December 20, 1903: A2.

48 Eskenazi, Daniel and Walt Crowley, “Dugdale, Daniel E. (1864-1934), Baseball Pioneer.” HistoryLink.org/index.cfm7.DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3431, published July 5, 2001, accessed September 26, 2013.

49 Walter H. Murphy, “Lengthened Race; Dugdale’s New Park,” The Sporting News, December 26, 1903: 1.

50 Eskenazi and Crowley, op. cit.

51 “Meeting of Magnates,” Washington Post, December 9, 1903: 8.

52 Ibid.

53 “Longer Season on Ball Field,” Chicago Tribune, December 10, 1903: 8.

54 “More Games,” Boston Globe, December 10, 1903.

55 A postseason exhibition series between two teams, such as the Cubs and White Sox, was common at this time as a way for both players and owners to make extra money.

56 “More Games,” Boston Globe, December 10, 1903; “Longer Season on Ball Field,” op. cit.; “Late News: No ’04 Post-Season Games,” op. cit.

57 “Baseball Gossip,” op. cit.

58 Ibid.

59 “Late News: No ’04 Post-Season Games,” op. cit.

60 “No Baseball Combine,” New York Times, December 9, 1903:10.

61 J. Ed. Grillo, “Fair Deal To All,” The Sporting News, December 19, 1903: 1.

62 I. E. Sanborn, “Almost the Limit,” The Sporting News, December 12, 1903, Vol. 36, No. 14: 1. This wasn’t the only buzz about the soon-to-be Motor City, by the way. Reportedly a group out of Milwaukee was hoping to buy the team and move it to Wisconsin, but the AL, however, was not inclined to approve such a deal because, according to the Washington Post, it is “a good beer town, but a poor baseball drawing card.” “Baseball Gossip,” op. cit.

63 “Meeting of Magnates,” op. cit.

64 “Baseball Rules Defined,” New York Times, October 27, 1903: 10; and Reach Guide, 1904, accessed online October 9, 2013.

65 T. H. Murnane, “Gets to Work,” op. cit.; “Late News: No ’04 Post-Season Games,” op. cit.

66 “Problem for Old League,” Chicago Tribune, December 6, 1903: 10.

67 “Longer Season on Ball Field,” op. cit.

68 J. Ed. Grillo, “Not Sensational,” The Sporting News, December 12, 1903: 1.

69 Not long after suffering this injury, he fell while chasing a rabbit and broke his other fingers, which left him with a bent middle finger, a paralyzed little finger, and a stump where the index finger used to be. Cindy Thomson, “Mordecai Brown,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, (http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/b0508a3c), undated, accessed November 11, 2013.

70 J. Edward Grillo, “Boosted Prices,” The Sporting News, October 24, 1903: 1.

71 “Baseball Gossip,” op. cit.

72 Sanborn, “Almost the Limit,” op. cit.

73 “Late News: Cases Decided By Herrmann,” The Sporting News, October 31, 1903: 1.

74 J. Edward Grillo, “Cut in Salaries,” The Sporting News, December 26, 1903: 1.

75 “American League Plans,” New York Times, December 16, 1903: 7.

76 “Long Schedule,” Boston Globe, December 18, 1903: 5.

77 Sanborn, I.E., “Lengthened Race,” The Sporting News, December 26, 1903: 1.

78 “Long Schedule,” Boston Globe, December 18, 1903: 5.

79 Sanborn, “Lengthened Race,” op. cit.

80 Interesting to note that, when the American League voted to implement the designated hitter rule for the 1973 season, it did so alone — the National League refused to add it, and to this day the two leagues play with this slightly different set of rules. There is never any mention of an abrogation of the National Agreement, or of the two leagues going to war.

81 “Magnates to Hold Meeting,” Chicago Tribune, December 8, 1903: 8.

82 “Baseball Deal Hangs Fire,” Washington Post, December 9, 1903: 8.

83 Bruce Goldberg, unpublished paper on the history of the Washington Senators, accessed September 28, 2013.

84 Ibid.

85 “Long Schedule,” op. cit.

86 “Washington in Deal,” Washington Post, December 19, 1903: 8.

87 “Tips By The Managers,” The Sporting News, October 31, 1903: 2; H. P. Edwards, “Not Yet Decided,” The Sporting News, October 31, 1903: 1.

88 “Long Schedules,” The Sporting News, December 26, 1903: 1.

Introduction

At the 1904 winter meetings, power was the common theme, as the National League, American League, and minor leagues continued to fight for their positions within Organized Baseball. Topics receiving ample attention and dissension included the reserve clause, the foul-strike rule, the length of the schedule, postseason play, syndicate ownership, and unpopular ownership.  Most notably, though, a plan for a consistent World Series emerged from these sessions. 

The 1904 season had been notable for a few reasons. Future Hall of Famers Ed Walsh and Miller Huggins made their playing debuts, as did Phillies star Sherry Magee. Dan Brouthers and Jim O’Rourke, both also later bound for the Hall of Fame, played their final games. Most conspicuous, however, was the absence of a World Series. After the first modern World Series had been played in 1903, one of the pennant winners was unwilling to play in 1904. Discussions and agreements at the 1904 winter meetings ensured that future World Series would be run by the National Commission rather than being left to the whims of the qualifying teams. 

Once these issues were solved, there were even a few notable trades. In addition, a struggling major-league team was purchased, ensuring its survival as a franchise.

The Minor League Meetings

The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the minor-league organization, held its fourth annual convention at the Victoria Hotel in New York City. The first high-stakes dispute involved a minor-league pitcher named Skel Roach. Roach posted a 22-9 record for the Butte Miners of the Pacific National League in 1903. He moved to the Portland Browns of the Pacific Coast League in 1904, claiming that he had a written agreement releasing him from Butte’s control. During the season, however, Butte reclaimed Roach even while he was pitching for Portland. The National Association, through its Board of Arbitration, turned down Roach’s request to be freed from Butte. On appeal, the National Commission, Organized Baseball’s highest court, decided Roach did not belong to Butte. At the New York meeting, the issue reached a head on October 25, when the Minor League Board rejected the National Commission’s decision. In fact, the decision was made by the minor-league magnates as a group.1 A slight modification was made, and plans were instituted to have the Board of Arbitration reopen the situation through a conference with the National Commission in Cincinnati on January 2.

Perhaps the partial reversal stemmed from the implications associated with the case. Roach reached out to American League President Ban Johnson, who sharply criticized the National Association for its action. Johnson declared that the minors were in violation of the National Agreement regarding the Roach case as well as in other instances involving fiduciary claims. Johnson noted that the National League was especially upset with the minors, but he kept his comments focused on the importance of the minors adhering to the National Agreement and the potential consequences of continuing violations.  “The National Commission and the Major Leagues have no interest in this player aside from a desire to see that he gets the justice due him under the National Agreement,” Johnson said. “It is a matter of indifference to both Major Leagues whether the minors keep this agreement or break it. For the two years of its operation it has worked all in favor of the minors, and if  they want to go it alone that will suit the American and National League.”2

The January 2 conference was later moved to January 9. National League President Harry Pulliam, a member of the National Commission, was ill on the day of the rescheduled meeting and was ordered to stay in bed, but the matter was still resolved as scheduled. Johnson and Garry Herrmann, the other two members of the National Commission, strong-armed the minor leagues into accepting its decision on Roach and rulings on other players, including Pat Flaherty, Lee Tannehill, and Dave Brain. The Commission said that it would not allow minor-league officials to appear before it unless they accepted the validity of all National Commission rulings.3 

Johnson and major-league officials may have been angered by comments made at the National Association banquet, when P.T. Powers, the president of the association, suggested that the National Association was really more national in scope than either of the major leagues. Major-league representatives, including Frank Farrell, John I. Taylor, and Clark Griffith, were among the approximately 150 guests at the banquet.4

The minor leagues’ most significant action may have been the creation of a new classification, AA. Previously, minor leagues were classified as A, B, C, and D. The argument in favor of the new classification centered on the contention that too many good players were being drafted by the major leagues from high-level minor-league clubs.5 A new, higher classification allowed for the introduction of higher posting fees. For about a week, there was apprehension about the potential major-league response to these increased costs.

The Major Leagues

Since the last offseason, ownership of American League clubs in Detroit and Washington had changed, leaving only Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Chicago with their founding owners from four years earlier.6 Actually, ownership in Washington remained an unsettled issue, although it was considerably improved from the previous season, when the league financed the team. It became a topic of discussion at the major-league meetings on December 7 at the Auditorium Annex in Chicago. The Washington club, it was felt, had too many stockholders, preventing it from making decisions. Ben Minor, who was both American League attorney and secretary of the Washington club, wanted to take over the franchise. Minor noted that the club had incurred expenses exceeding $22,000 in 1904 through relocating its “plant” and ending its old lease, but he said the team had managed to cut those expenses significantly, leaving room for optimism.7  “I can’t say definitely that the present deal will go through, but I feel confident it will, and if so the club will be in the right kind of hands next year, with every prospect of better success,” Minor said.8 He was hoping to complete the sale soon after the winter meetings, and even left the meetings early in hopes of closing the deal.

Other topics occupied day one of the meetings. The American League opposed the increased draft prices proposed by the National Association.9 The magnates unanimously opposed Garry Hermann’s proposal for a round-robin series involving all clubs of both leagues, an early suggestion of interleague play. American League owners favored a 140-game schedule followed by a postseason series between the two pennant winners. National Commission secretary Bruce suggested that scheduling be left to the two league executives instead of two committees. Pulliam expressed hope that by letting the league executives work through the schedule, some of the friction from playing-date conflicts could be avoided.10

Discussions also started the first day on the possibility of eliminating the foul-strike rule. The Chicago Tribune had recently advocated for its repeal. Its article said the original intent of the foul-strike rule had been to shorten the length of games, which had been growing. The rule succeeded at this, but also had markedly decreased offensive production, the Tribune said, while it had made games almost too short to satisfy fans.11 The deliberations on the fate of the rule carried over to the following day. The underlying issue involved creating enough offense and rhythm to keep fans engaged. Charles Comiskey opposed a rule change, saying, “I didn’t see any indication at my gates or in the returns from other cities where my club played that the public was sore on the rules of the game. … My public didn’t show me it was aching for a change.”12  Others, including Joe Cantillon and Nap Lajoie, offered possible alternative ways to increase offense. 

In a final vote, American League owners deadlocked, 4 to 4, over whether to change the foul-strike rule. They did agree on another change: the size of the strike zone. While the previous strike zone spanned the area between the knee and shoulder, the new rule cut it in half, dictating that a “pitched ball must pass between the hip and shoulder in order to make it a strike.” The magnates also created a new waiver rule designed to prevent major-league teams from waiving a newly drafted player. Up to then, clubs could draft a player simply to prevent other clubs from selecting him, and could waive the player right after the draft.

The American League magnates voted by acclamation to raise Johnson’s salary to $10,000 a year. The vote reportedly turned into more of a college yell, setting the stage for a toast at 6:00 P.M. to league success.13 Johnson had been elected president in 1900 for the 10-year life of the American League agreement. Granted a raise to $10,000 in 1903 with a $5,000 bonus, he refused the bonus and accepted the $10,000 salary only for 1903 because he believed the league might not remain prosperous enough to maintain the salary. The 1904 vote established the $10,000 salary for the remaining six years of Johnson’s contract. These events may have highlighted one distinction between Johnson and his minor-league counterpart: Powers received no salary for his role as the National Association president. National League President Pulliam may also have benefited from Johnson’s raise; his salary was also raised to $10,000.

Controversy also surrounded actions by the New York Giants and by John Hart, owner of the Chicago Cubs, over actions involving the still-infant World Series. The first modern World Series in 1903 had been arranged between the champions of the two major leagues, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Americans. In 1904 the manager of the National League champion New York Giants, John McGraw, who disliked Ban Johnson, refused to play Boston, which had repeated as American League champion. Though the refusal violated the National Agreement, McGraw asserted that the Giants should be considered the world champions because the National League was, in his view, the only authentic major league. In July Johnson released a scathing statement denouncing McGraw and Giants owner John T. Brush for their reluctance to participate in a world championship series. The statement also denounced Hart, saying, “At a meeting of the joint schedule committee of the American and National leagues last spring, a motion that a world series be played this fall was put by President Hart of the Chicago National Club, and was carried unanimously. Recently, however, Mr. Hart and his associates have shown little inclination to live up to this agreement.”14

Hart may have compounded the controversy that surrounded him by making some controversial statements about a player just before the winter meetings. He alleged that pitcher Jack Taylor had thrown some games while pitching for Chicago. Comiskey encouraged the National Commission to investigate the charges. Taylor had been traded to St. Louis before the 1904 season. The pitcher said that before the trade, Hart had confronted him with accusations of dishonesty based on some misunderstood comments he had made after the 1903 season. Taylor was offended at the suggestion of impropriety and refused to play for Hart anymore, prompting the St. Louis trade. The National Commission later found insufficient evidence to support the allegations against Taylor.

By the time of the winter meetings, the American League was united and hopeful of a world’s series being played once more, but the response of the National League remained uncertain.

The National League meeting began at 3:00 P.M. on December 13 at the Victoria Hotel in New York. The late start time occurred because the whereabouts of St. Louis owner Frank Robison were unclear; it turned out that Robison would miss the meetings because his wife had become ill. On a more positive note, the National League reported that it had overcome its $125,000 debt, assumed when the league reduced to eight clubs in 1891. Much credit went to former league President Young for managing the debt. Current president Pulliam was re-elected.

In what might have been perceived as a savvy public relations move, the National League invited the minor leagues’ attorney, Howard Griffiths, to come to the sessions and explain the minors’ position on their proposed changes in drafting fees. These were the same changes the American League had rejected earlier in the month. When Griffiths appeared, the National League decided to champion the cause of the minors. No one knows how much of the support represented a belief in the cause, but that was a moot point.  To change drafting fees, and the National Agreement, approval was required by the National Association, American League, and National League. A few days after the meeting, Johnson suggested that compromise might be reached on the minor-league draft rule.

On December 14 the National League voted unanimously to play postseason games with the American League for a world’s championship:

Resolved, That the National league hereby declares in favor of having post-season contests annually between the champion teams of the National and American leagues for the championship of the world, and,

Resolved, That in order that such contests, as well as those that may be arranged from time to time between the National and American league clubs, may be conducted under proper rules and regulations, the national commission hereby be delegated with the authority to arrange all details of said contests in regard to the preparation, rules, regulations, and government of the same, such detail to be submitted to the National and American leagues for their approval.15

The devil, of course, could well be in those details.

That resolved, the National League disagreed with the American League over the 140-game schedule, deciding instead on a 154-game schedule. Johnson protested that after the players finished the lengthier schedule, a world championship might be unrealistic. To have the regular season run as late as October 10 and then play a series of postseason games, a world’s championship and/or intercity or intracity championships could extend baseball to rather late in the year.

In the National League, the Philadelphia club had fallen on financial difficulties by the end of the 1904 season and there was uncertainty over whether the franchise would continue.16 Because the Phillies did not have enough money to pay their players, the National League had assumed control of the team and had issued the paychecks. During the winter meetings, ownership of the team was transferred to the Philadelphia Ball Company, led by Bill Shettsline, a former Phillies manager. The team then became active in the trade mart, swapping utilityman Del Howard to Pittsburgh and receiving in exchange first baseman Kitty Bransfield, utility player Otto Krueger, and outfielder Harry “Moose” McCormick. Pittsburgh reportedly was motivated to move Bransfield because he had taken a swing at Honus Wagner in the Pirates dressing room. Philadelphia also made a trade with its bottom-dwelling companion, the Boston Beaneaters. Right-hander Charles “Chick” Fraser and third baseman Harry Wolverton went to Boston, while right-hander Charles “Togie” Pittinger came to Philadelphia.  Pittsburgh made a second deal as well, sending catcher Eddie Phelps to Cincinnati for utilityman Henry “Heinie” Peitz.

Summary                        

The 1904 meetings exemplified the politics that surrounded the early years of professional baseball. The minor leagues and both major leagues fought with one another and among themselves for survival within the national pastime. Baseball executives also showed early concern for topics like the strike zone, offensive production, and the World Series, all of which would become more important to baseball’s success in later years.

Notes

1 “Major and Minor Leagues May War,” Chicago Tribune, October 27, 1904.

2  Ibid.

3 “Baseball Men Before National Commission,” New York Times, January 10, 1905.

4 “Baseballists’ Convention,” Los Angeles Times, October 27, 1904.

5 “New Class for Minors,” Chicago Tribune, October 28, 1904.

6 “Murnane’s Baseball,” Boston Globe, December 4, 1904.

7 “Baseball Men In Session,” Chicago Tribune, December 8, 1904.

8 Ibid.

9 “Two Sessions,” Boston Globe, December 8, 1904.

10 “League Owners Meet,” Washington Post, December 8, 1904.

11 “Batting Is Too Light,” Chicago Tribune, November 6, 1904.

12 “Johnson Voted a $10,000 Salary,” Chicago Tribune, December 9, 1904.

13 Ibid.

14 “Scores M’Graw and Brush,” Washington Post, August 1, 1904: 8.

15 “Long Baseball Season Planned,” Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1904: 10.

16 “Philadelphia Baseball Club in distress,” New York Times, October 7, 1904.

Introduction

Baseball had just completed perhaps its most profitable season ever, with every club in both leagues reportedly showing a profit. There was concern about the decline in hitting as well as questions about the length of the season. Even with these issues, the winter meetings of 1905 were expected to be routine affairs. However, both leagues experienced fireworks that centered on their respective presidents.

American League Meeting

The American League held its 1905 winter meeting at the Auditorium Annex in Chicago on November 22 and 23. However, the day before the meeting began, Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey accused AL President Ban Johnson of conspiring with Cincinnati Reds owner and National Commission Chairman Garry Herrmann in a plan to consolidate the AL and NL into one league. Rumors speculating how this would come about had been circulating in the press for some weeks. Reports varied, but the one most favored was consolidating the teams in Boston, Philadelphia, and St. Louis into one National League team in each city, and relegating the American League teams in Chicago and New York to a new Class-A minor American League. Another version of the story had Johnson at the head of this new National League. Whatever plan came about, Comiskey and Frank Farrell in New York would be on the losing end.1

Comiskey felt Johnson had been too cozy with Herrmann and had been too influenced by him. Comiskey made his feeling toward the senior circuit very clear: “I always have fought the National League and always will. It has no real desire to be at peace with the American League and never had. It has only been waiting the opportunity to crush us. This opportunity is now coming in this proposed amalgamation of the two leagues. When this amalgamation is attempted I shall immediately attempt to organize a new league if the American League falls into the National’s hands. I will fight the National League to a finish.”2

Comiskey and Johnson had been on bad terms for many months over Johnson’s handling of two cases in which the AL president backed his umpires, suspending a White Sox player in one case.3 According to Chicago sportswriter William A. Phelon, it was comical to see how the two behaved at the meeting: “Ban kept at the north end of the hotel, surrounded by his cohorts, and Commy seemed to limit himself to the south end, with a few friends. Between them the crowd of magnates gravitated, going first to one and then the other. On the sofas sat crowds of players and managers, telling good stories and keeping their eyes open for any rows or reconciliations. When the secret meetings were called, so I was told, Ban and Charlie kept far apart, debated every question with punctilious attention and never spoke to each other.”4

Johnson’s reply to the Comiskey charge was simple and to the point: “As far as any amalgamation of the two big leagues is concerned the man who even thinks of such a thing is either a fool or a knave.”5 He pointed out that the AL had just completed the most prosperous year in its short existence, every club in the league making money. “Money came in plentifully, public interest was at a fever point, [and] the quality of ball was superb.” There was no reason for a consolidation, and Johnson said he knew of no American Leaguer who entertained the idea.6

As could be expected, Comiskey told a Chicago Tribune reporter that he had been misquoted: He did not think the AL was in any danger of dissolution, only that he was against anything that was not in the best interest of the league.7

Before the meeting opened, the board of directors met, approved Johnson’s accounts, and formally awarded the 1905 pennant to the Philadelphia Athletics. When the meeting got under way, the first order of business was the re-election of Charles W. Somers of Cleveland as the AL vice president. After the new board of directors was set, the prime order of business was brought up. There was a strong feeling that changes in the rules were needed to improve hitting in the league. Proposals to this end included giving the batter first base on three called balls; another was to narrow home plate; and a third was to collapse the strike zone to balls crossing the plate between the batter’s waist and shoulder. Few thought much of these proposals.8 In the ensuing weeks more ideas were brought forward, but in the end nothing was done to change the rules.9

The league constitution was changed to provide that a game postponed on a team’s first trip to any city would be made up on the team’s second visit to the city. There was discussion about shortening the season from 154 to 140 games. Six clubs favored the shorter schedule, and it was decided to send the matter to the joint committee of the two major leagues in the spring. The shorter schedule had little chance, though, as most National League owners were against such a move.10

On the second day, the AL magnates publicly came out in support of their president. Benjamin S. Minor of the Washington club proposed a resolution saying Johnson “had consistently worked and fought for the maintenance of two independent but friendly major league organizations” and was offered the league’s “very sincere congratulations and … its earnest thanks” for his work in managing the affairs of the AL. Comiskey endorsed this resolution, saying, “I always have held the best interest of the American League close to my heart. There never has been any question of my honesty in base ball, nor has there been any question in my mind of the honesty of Ban Johnson, or any of my associates in the league.” Even with this, it was considered doubtful that the former intimate relationship between the AL president and the White Sox owner could ever be restored.11

Next on the agenda were the minor leagues. The minors wanted the draft rules changed so that no team in a Class-A minor league could lose more than one player in the draft in any year. The minors also wished sales of players barred until after the draft. The AL owners listened but were not disposed to grant these concessions, so they decided to let Johnson talk directly to the minors at their meeting the next month.12

Player Movement and Stories

Trade rumors filled the air, but there was very little in actual player movement at this meeting. The biggest player transaction of the session was the sale of first baseman Charlie Carr by the Cleveland Blues to the Cincinnati Reds. The trade puzzled Cincinnati writer Ren Mulford Jr. a bit, as Carr had hit only .235 in 1905 while the Reds’ first sacker, Shad Barry, hit a nifty .324 after being acquired from the Cubs in May, and also played nicely in the field, even though he “fell down once or twice in the pinches.” It was believed Barry would either go to the outfield or sit on the pines.13 He was, in fact, traded by the Reds to the St. Louis Cardinals in July. There was also speculation that Carr would manage the Reds in 1906. However, the manager’s job would go to Ned Hanlon in December, and Carr wound up spending most of the 1906 season in Indianapolis of the Class-A American Association.14

Cleveland sent infielder Nick Kahl to Columbus of the American Association. It was reported the Detroit Tigers traded right-handed pitcher Frank Kitson to the St. Louis Browns for another righty, Willie “Demon” Sudhoff, but the deal did not materialize and Sudhoff was instead sent to Washington a week later for left-handed pitcher Al “Beany” Jacobson.15

Perhaps because of this lack of player movement there was plenty of story-telling in the lobbies. No doubt one of the best was a story about Rube Waddell. It was said that one day Rube was visiting his home and a team of bloomer girls came to town. A makeshift squad was assembled to play the girls, with Waddell on the mound. It was supposed that the future Hall of Famer would toss the ball to the girls nice and easy, but instead he fired it in “as he might if opposed to Mathewson.” It was feared that if he hit one of the young ladies she would be killed, so the girls took to the bench and refused to proceed with the game. After some discussion Rube went to first base and the game continued.16

National League Meeting

The National League held its winter meeting at the Victoria Hotel in New York December 12-14. What was billed to be a “featureless, routine” meeting proved, however, to be very interesting.17

The usual preliminaries took place with the awarding of the 1905 pennant to the New York Giants and the approval of the accounts of league President Harry Pulliam. The books showed that the 1905 season had produced the largest receipts in the history of the league, bringing the NL out of debt and giving it its largest cash reserve since the league was reduced to eight clubs in 1899.18

The next order of business was the announcement by James A. Hart that he had sold the Chicago Cubs to Charles W. Murphy. The NL magnates thought so much of Hart that he was elected an honorary member of the organization for life.19

The owners amended the league constitution to add one position to the league’s board of directors. In the coming season it would have representatives from Boston, Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Various committees were set up, and sentiment prevailed to continue the 154-game schedule. The Spalding ball was approved as the official ball of the NL for the next six years.20

To tighten player discipline, the league strengthened a previous resolution that any player removed from a game by the umpire would be fined $10, and if the offense resulted in a suspension by the league president, the player would owe an additional $10 for each day of the suspension, and would be ineligible to play until the fine was paid. Moreover, the president was given the right to make the fine more than $10 if he deemed the offense severe enough.21

The major news was the battle for the re-election of Harry Pulliam as president, treasurer, and secretary of the National League. It had been anticipated that there would be no opposition to his re-election, but on the day before the meeting began, New York Giants owner John T. Brush produced a new candidate for the presidency: John Montgomery Ward, the former player and labor leader who was now a successful lawyer in New York.22 Garry Herrmann of Cincinnati also announced his opposition to Pulliam. Brush and Herrmann asserted that Pulliam had made too many mistakes and lacked the “depth and breadth necessary” for the position. The bone of contention was Pulliam’s handling of a row between New York manager John McGraw and Pittsburgh owner Barney Dreyfuss during the season. Pulliam fined and suspended McGraw, who took his case to court and had the suspension lifted. Pulliam then lifted the fines of all NL players.23 It was thought Dreyfuss would join Brush and Herrmann, as would the owners in Boston and Brooklyn. The Philadelphia and Chicago owners were not expected to make much of a fight for Pulliam. Arthur Soden of Boston went so far as to tell Tim Murnane of the Boston Globe that he felt sure Ward would be the next president of the NL.24 However, there was doubt that Ward would give up his lucrative law practice, even for a salary of $10,000.25 More to the point, AL President Johnson said he would not sit with Ward on the National Commission. Johnson was quoted as saying he had no use for Ward and did not trust him after the lawyer had argued against the White Sox in a reserve clause case involving George Davis a few years earlier.26

William Shettsline, president of the Philadelphia Phillies, and Frederick Knowles of the Giants were lobbied to seek the job, but took no interest. It was believed that if Shettsline accepted the nomination, Boston and either St. Louis or Brooklyn would have voted for him, and thus Herrmann and Brush would have at least five votes (no doubt Philadelphia would go with Shettsline), enough to end Pulliam’s presidency. But Shettsline declined the nomination, making Pulliam a little more secure. Even Ban Johnson voiced his support for the NL president. Herrmann said he would not support Ward, and Hart was urged to put his name in the hat. Hart refused, and the anti-Pulliam faction had no alternative candidate.27

The next day James Potter, a stockholder in the Phillies and former president of the club, came to New York from Philadelphia to lead the fight for Pulliam. That day new Chicago Cubs owner Murphy let it be known he was in favor of Pulliam, and Dreyfuss said he would not permit his personal feelings to interfere with his conviction that the best interests of the NL required Pulliam to remain as its head. Soden of Boston soon planted himself in the Pulliam camp, saying he could see no reason for change, as the NL was doing so well. Brooklyn’s Charlie Ebbets also placed himself in the Pulliam camp.28

It soon became apparent that the anti-Pulliam faction would not get enough votes for even a tie. However, this did not stop Brush. After Pulliam was nominated for the president’s position (by none other than Dreyfuss) and this was seconded, Brush nominated Hart. This was not seconded. Hart then protested against his nomination, assuring everyone he would under no circumstances run against his friend and protégé Pulliam. Still, Brush would not withdraw the nomination and the election was held. Pulliam received six votes. Hart got the votes of New York and Cincinnati. Hart was “thoroughly displeased” with votes being cast for him. To appease him, the league passed a resolution stating that even though there had been “a complimentary vote” for him, he was in no respect a candidate for the office.29

While the NL was meeting, the minor leagues (National Association of Professional Base Ball Leagues) met at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York.30 The issue that concerned the minor leagues (and the majors as well) was the draft rules, which the American League magnates had authorized Ban Johnson to discuss with the minor leagues. The minors proposed that the majors be allowed to draft no more than one player from a Class-A club at $1,500, with full payment at the time of draft (instead of the current two-payment system). Draft prices would be $750 for Class B, $500 for Class C, and $300 for Class D, with no player limits in these classifications. In addition, no player could be sold within a 10-day period prior to the draft. The proposal was accepted by National Commission members Johnson and Herrmann, except for the price for a Class-A player; they cut it to $1,000.31 This was accepted by all parties in January, and made part of the National Agreement.32

Personnel Movement

Although not a player movement, there was news on the managerial front. The Cincinnati Reds signed Ned Hanlon as their manager. Hanlon had been managing in Brooklyn for the previous seven seasons (he won back-to-back National League titles in 1899 and 1900), but Ebbets was reluctant to sign him for 1906. The Reds offered Hanlon $8,000, and Brooklyn would only go as high as $6,000. One condition Hanlon made to sign with Cincinnati was that ex-manager Joe Kelley would be retained as player-captain at his old salary.33 Ebbets then signed Patsy Donovan to skipper his team, as well as to play the outfield.34 The St. Louis Cardinals were also looking for a manager, but failed to sign one at the meeting.35

A number of multi-player deals involving bigger-name players were transacted at the meeting. Pittsburgh sent third baseman Dave Brain, second sacker Del Howard, and right-handed pitcher Vive Lindaman (who had won 24 games with Jersey City in 1905) to the Boston Beaneaters for future Hall of Fame pitcher Vic Willis; the righty immediately became the ace of the Pirates’ staff. Boston also traded catcher Pat Moran to Chicago for right-handed pitcher Francis “Big Jeff” Pfeffer and catcher Jack O’Neill. Donovan had only been on the job for Ebbets for a matter of hours when he traded outfielder Jimmy Sheckard to the Chicago Cubs for right-handed pitcher Herbert “Buttons” Briggs, third baseman James “Doc” Carey, outfielders Jack McCarthy and Bill Maloney, and cash.36

Notes

1 Sporting Life, November 25, 1905: 8, December 2, 1905: 2, 3, 5; Boston Globe, November 21, 23, 1905; Chicago Tribune, November 22, 1905; New York Times, November 23, 1905; Washington Post, November 23, 1905.

2 Sporting Life, December 2, 1905: 5.

3 Boston Globe, November 23, 1905; Sporting Life, December 2, 1905: 5.

4 Sporting Life, December 9, 1905: 9.

5 Sporting Life, December 9, 1905: 5, 8.

6 Sporting Life, December 2, 1905: 5, 8; Chicago Tribune, November 22, 1905.

7 Chicago Tribune, November 22, 1905.

8 Boston Globe, November 23, 1905; Sporting Life, December 2, 1905: 5, 8.

9 Sporting Life, December 9, 1905: 7.

10 New York Times, November 23, 1905; Sporting Life, December 2, 1905: 2, 3, 5.

11 New York Times, November 24, 1905; Chicago Tribune, November 24, 1905; Sporting Life, December 2, 1905: 5, 9, 10.

12 Boston Globe, November 23, 1905; Chicago Tribune, November 24, 1905; Sporting Life, December 2, 1905: 5.

13 New York Times, November 24, 1905; Sporting Life, December 2, 1905: 2, and December 9, 1905: 5.

14 Chicago Tribune, November 24, 1905; The Sporting News, December 23, 1905: 1.

15 The Sporting News, December 9, 1905: 5, 9; Chicago Tribune, November 24, 1905. Kitson was swapped just a couple of weeks later to the Washington Senators for right-hander John “Happy” Townsend, who was then flipped to Cleveland for yet one more righty, Francis “Red” Donahue.

16 Sporting Life, December 9, 1905: 9.

17 Sporting Life, December 9, 1905: 3, and December 23, 1905: 4.

18 Sporting Life, December 23, 1905: 4.

19 Chicago Tribune, December 13, 1905; Washington Post, December 13, 1905; Sporting Life, December 23, 1905: 4.

20 Sporting Life, December 23, 1905: 3, 4.

21 Sporting Life, December 23, 1905: 4.

22 Boston Globe, December 12, 1905.

23 New York Times, December 13, 1905; Frederick G. Lieb, The Pittsburgh Pirates (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1948), 115-119; Sporting Life, December 23, 1905: 6.

24 Boston Globe, January 12, 1905; The Sporting News, December 23, 1905: 1; Sporting Life, December 23, 1905: 4.

25 New York Times, December 13, 1905.

26 Sporting Life, December 23, 1905: 6; SABR BioProject article on George Davis by Nicole DiCicco.

27 The Sporting News, December 23, 1905: 1; Sporting Life, December 23, 1905: 4, 7.

28 Chicago Tribune, December 13, 1905; Washington Post, December 13, 1905; Sporting Life, December 23, 1905: 4; The Sporting News, December 23, 1905: 1.

29 Sporting Life, December 23, 1905: 4.

30 New York Times, December 13, 1905.

31 Sporting Life, December 23, 2905: 4, 5.

32 Sporting Life, February 10, 1906: 8.

33 Sporting Life, December 23, 1905: 4.

34 Sporting Life, December 23, 1905: 4; The Sporting News, December 23, 1905: 1.

35 Sporting Life, December, 23, 1905: 4.

36 Sporting Life, December 23, 1905: 4.

Introduction and Context

By the time the National and American Leagues had held their winter meetings in New York and Chicago, respectively, the internecine trade war that had transpired between the two had been over for three years. Though formal conflict between the two leagues had been extinguished, rivalries between the individual team magnates still remained. In the more established National League, one of these conflicts broke out over the presidency of the league. Harry Pulliam had been president of the National League since the National and American Leagues had called a truce, and full major-league status was granted to the latter, in 1903.1 The truce led to more economic stability for both leagues by limiting the competition for fans and players. With the passage of more than a century, reliable information about team finances at that time is now hard to verify, but at the 1906 meetings Pulliam claimed that the previous season had been the most financially successful ever for the league.2 Team owners were no doubt happy with such fiscal stability, and the relative health of each franchise led to many owners having little reason to part with their best players. Conditions were therefore right for many unsuccessful cash bids to be made for star players.

Though the truce had stabilized baseball’s finances, the young major leagues still had to suffer through many more growing pains. Resentment remained between owners of the two leagues, especially between owners located in the same city, and those National League owners whose players had been poached from them by their upstart counterparts. These conflicts manifested themselves most saliently at the 1906 meetings through disagreements over scheduling. In the years after the two leagues joined forces, they would continue to compete over Sunday and holiday dates in cities with more than one team, as well as doubleheader dates, the start and end of seasons, and the number of games that should be played.3 The number of games to be held in the regular season and postseason was an annual disagreement between the two leagues, with many owners from the American League wanting to shorten the regular season from 154 games and add games to the World Series. National League owners, on balance, wished to pack as many games into the schedule as possible, with some wanting to add games to both the regular season and the World Series.4

Conflict wasn’t limited to owners in opposite leagues. Intraleague scuffles were commonplace, and they often sprang from league presidents’ attempts to reinforce the authority of umpires and promote proper conduct of team personnel through fines and other measures. Public and often vulgar denunciations of umpire decisions were much more common, and both Pulliam in the National League and Ban Johnson, president of the American League, fought this behavior. John T. Brush, owner of the New York Giants, campaigned vigorously in 1906 and beyond to oust Pulliam from his presidency because of a fine and suspension Pulliam had levied on Brush’s manager, John McGraw.5 In addition, a temporary reconciliation between Johnson and White Sox owner Charles Comiskey received a great deal of attention in the newspapers during the 1906 winter meetings.6 The genesis of this particular quarrel (the two had a chronically rocky relationship, spanning many years) was Johnson’s fining one of Comiskey’s players for using foul language.7

Player Movement

In advance of the winter meetings, the newspapers buzzed with excitement over what promised to be eventful sessions, with many players changing hands. In fact, few players were traded, but it wasn’t for lack of effort on the part of owners trying to improve their teams. Healthy finances meant owners had cash to throw around, and several large offers were indeed made.

The top two National League teams, the Chicago Cubs and New York Giants, were illustrative of this dynamic, as they began a bidding war for two of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ best players. Chicago’s 1906 squad won 116 games, but owner Charles Murphy wasn’t content with such a historically good squad. He offered $10,000 in cash and three players — pitcher Ed Reulbach, utilityman Solly Hofman, and outfielder Jimmy Slagle — for Brooklyn’s star outfielder Harry Lumley, who had led the league in slugging average in 1906. The New York Giants countered with an offer of $25,000 for Lumley and Brooklyn’s other star, first baseman Tim Jordan, who had led the league with 12 home runs.8 Many other rumors filled newspaper columns in the days leading up to the meetings, but nearly all of them amounted to nothing. Explaining the lack of movement in the American League specifically, Johnson said, “Any one of the eight clubs would be willing to unbelt from $25,000 to $30,000 in a minute at this meeting to strengthen its team, but a bank roll cuts small figure in the talk of trades and only playing material of experience or excellent promise has any temptation for the men who control the clubs.”9 Such a dynamic could surely be attributed to the National League as well.

The one major move that did take place went through due to unusual circumstances. Infielder Ed “Batty” Abbaticchio was traded by the Boston Beaneaters to the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Ginger Beaumont, pitcher (and occasional outfielder) Patsy Flaherty, and infielder Claude Ritchey. Abbaticchio was under Boston control in 1906, but had not played because he was living in Pittsburgh and tending to a hotel. The Pirates, naturally, were the only team Abbaticchio was willing to play for, so the Boston club wisely worked out a deal that netted it something for a player who was no longer willing to don its uniform.10

Business and Politics

Perhaps the most conspicuous difference between the two leagues was in the strength of their presidents. The American League was Johnson’s creation and many American League owners came to own their teams through his machinations. In the National League, however, the presidency was far weaker, and the owners kept its power in check by, at least initially, granting Pulliam one-year terms.11 Even so, Pulliam managed his post assertively and made honest efforts to control what was known as “rowdyism,” or coarse language and behavior, from players and managers toward each other and the umpires.

As he had the previous year, Pulliam faced significant opposition during the 1906 meetings from John T. Brush and August “Garry” Herrmann, owners of the New York and Cincinnati teams, respectively. The conflict between Brush and Pulliam began in 1905 when Pulliam fined and suspended Giants manager John McGraw for publicly accusing Pittsburgh Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss of bribing umpires. Brush tried but failed to get his fellow owners to replace Pulliam with John Montgomery Ward, a former player and player rights activist now a lawyer. When that move failed, Brush put up James A. Hart, the former owner of the Chicago Cubs. Pulliam was re-elected. Brush and Herrmann campaigned vigorously against Pulliam during the 1906 winter meetings. The final vote however, was 6 to 1 in favor of Pulliam, with Herrmann abstaining and Brush the only nay vote.12 Before the votes were cast, Brush sought to nominate A.H. Soden, the Boston owner, who was in the process of selling the club, to be president. Soden, however, wouldn’t accept the nomination and the coup was a failure.13

Besides political and personnel considerations, the winter meetings were the forum where rule changes were debated and implemented. These campaigns often amount to little, and in 1906 no rule changes were actually voted in. The two main changes that were debated were placing numbers on uniforms (at the NL meeting) and the elimination of the foul-strike rule (in the AL meeting). The owner of the Cubs, Charles Murphy, proposed that numbers be placed on the sleeves or backs of the players’ uniforms with corresponding numbers on the scorecards, so that fans could better identify the players.14 Movements to number the players date back to at least the 1890s, but this practical idea didn’t become official until the American League adopted it in 1931.15

The movement to abolish the foul-strike rule16 was indicative of the dearth of offense in the first decade of the 20th century. The 1906 Chicago Cubs, with their lusty .763 winning percentage, had no player with a slugging percentage higher than .430. The 1906 Chicago White Sox, American League and World Series champions, were known as the Hitless Wonders for their success in spite of their offensive futility.17

The foul-strike rule had only been adopted in 1901, so removing it was not such a radical option for boosting the chances of beleaguered offenses as it would seem today. Its repeal, however, was voted down in 1906,18 and the problem of defensive dominance was ameliorated four years later with the introduction of a new, livelier baseball.

Conclusion

The 1906 winter meetings were a snapshot of the gradual détente between the two leagues, and the financial success it brought to team owners. The truce, along with the reserve clause, reinstated control of players by the owners, which allowed salary costs to be controlled once again. Lingering animosity between owners led to minor conflicts, but overall the owners knew they stood to gain more by working together than through unbridled competition.

This collective spirit showed itself in the gradual strengthening of the governing bodies of the individual leagues and the major leagues as a whole. The American League was created with a strong executive already in place, but the National League had to ease itself into such a state of affairs. Owners didn’t like to see their players and managers fined, as the case of John T. Brush illustrates. Most owners, however, understood that the game benefited when law and order was imposed by strong league presidents. A modern baseball fan is used to seeing ownership generally speak with a unified voice, through the commissioner’s office, and with the 1906 meetings one can see this management philosophy in its embryonic stages.

Notes

1 Harold Seymour and Dorothy Z. Seymour, Baseball: The Golden Age, Vol. 2 (New York: Oxford Paperbacks) (Kindle Locations 141-142). Kindle Edition.

2 “Candidates for Pulliam’s Place,” Hartford Courant, December 12, 1906: 9.

3 Seymour and Seymour, Kindle Location 209.

4 “Food for the ‘Fans’ is Being Prepared,” New York Times, December 9, 1906: SN15;

“No Baseball Trouble Over Presidency,” New York Times, December 11, 1906: 7.

5 Seymour and Seymour, Kindle Location 383.

6 Boston Globe, December 14, 1906; Chicago Tribune, December 16, 1906.

7 Seymour and Seymour, Kindle Location 344.

8 “Bank Roll Battle On in Baseball” Chicago Tribune December 9, 1906: A1.

9 “Magnates Here to Meet” Chicago Tribune; December 12, 1906: 12.

10 “Votes Pulliam Full Approval” Chicago Tribune, December 12, 1906: 12.

11 Seymour and Seymour, Kindle Locations 363, 364. 209.

12 “Pulliam is Reelected,” Boston Globe, December 13, 1906: 9.

13 Ibid.

14 “Votes Pulliam Full Approval.”

15 Seymour and Seymour, Kindle Location 852.

16 Before adoption of the foul-strike rule (by the NL in 1901, the AL in 1903), foul balls did not count as strikes.

17 Seymour and Seymour, Kindle Location 1839.

18 “Pulliam is Reelected.”

New York was the home of both sets of minor-league meetings, which were held in different New York hotels. The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues held its sixth annual meeting, assembling at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, also on a Tuesday through Thursday schedule, October 29-November 1. The Eastern League held its meeting on Monday, October 28, at the Victoria Hotel, beginning at noon. There was some thought that the American Association might break away from the National Association. 

In general, though, baseball had continued since 1905 to enjoy a period of prosperity.

For the second year in a row, the Chicago Cubs had won the NL pennant, this time facing the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. The Tigers had won the franchise’s first flag. After being beaten by their South Side counterparts in Chicago during the 1906 World Series, the Cubs grabbed their first world championship, sweeping the Tigers in four games. The two teams would repeat, with nearly identical results, in 1908, providing back-to-back World Series wins for the Cubs. That was only the fifth World Series played, and the Cubs were the first team to have won two.

Under Hughie Jennings, Detroit had climbed from sixth place to first in the AL, beating out Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics by a game and a half. The 1908 race would prove even closer, the Tigers finishing by just a half-game ahead of Cleveland and a game and a half ahead of the White Sox.

A number of other postseason series were also played, for instance the seven games played in Boston’s City Series between the city’s NL and AL ballclubs. There were some 40 interleague contests in all with the National League winning 22 games to the AL’s 18. It was the first year in which the senior circuit teams had beaten their junior rivals.

As had the Eastern League, the National Board met the day before the minor-league meetings, also on October 28, and elected California League President Cal Ewing to take the place on the board of Eugene Bert, who had resigned. Agreement was quickly reached on a point designed to prevent ballclubs from releasing players merely to avoid the draft; it was determined that any player released in the last 30 days of the season would instead become a free agent and could sign with any club except the one that had released him. There was discussion of the abuse of “over-drafting,” with some clubs claiming too many players and stockpiling them.

In another preliminary, Pat Powers was unanimously re-elected as head of the Eastern League. Powers was also the head of the National Association.

Tim Murnane wrote in the Boston Globe that the American Association would arrive “with a large chip on its shoulder.” It wanted to place a team in Chicago since both Milwaukee and St. Paul “have turned out to be weak sisters.”1 The placing of a third team in Chicago would not be welcomed by either of the major leagues. The American Association thought about refusing to attend and just going its own way, but elected at the last minute to send President Joseph D. O’Brien.

Every club was present for the Eastern League meeting, which was harmonious, with “no disputes of any consequence,” and the meeting was concluded rather quickly.2

For the National Association meeting, over 80 delegates represented 23 leagues on the Association’s roster, comprising 195 clubs.3 The other seven leagues were represented by proxy; in all, 244 clubs were represented. It was the largest turnout of any meeting to date and on two days the room was too small to accommodate everyone, delegates as well as magnates, managers, and ballplayers. There was some talk abroad regarding a possible third major league, but most of the serious discussion related to defending the integrity of the minor leagues vis-à-vis the existing majors. Even then, the meetings were workmanlike with the minors “practically a unit on every proposition.”4

It was agreed that no player could play in an Eastern League game unless under regular contract to one of the teams in the league; though this might seem logical enough, a number of younger players had been farmed to one or another Eastern League club by NL and AL clubs, particularly after the minor-league seasons had ended. The New York Times said the practice had “become very prevalent during the last two years.”5 The agreement also proscribed players from traveling to the West Coast to play in the longer California League season.6

There was one controversial plan advanced by the Eastern League: to ask the National Commission to bestow Double-A status (AA) on the Eastern League, ranking it above the Class A distinction enjoyed by the American Association. The matter was never introduced, though Sporting Life suggested that “had they done so they might have secured important concessions, as the storm of the previous day had subsided, and there was manifest a disposition to placate them with a view to harmonizing the discordant elements in the Association.”7 A committee was appointed to study the matter, basically a sop. A Class AA was created in 1911. 

When the National Association meeting began, the first day was mostly routine. The Eastern League and American Association met by themselves later in the day to talk about their own issues and planned to meet separately again on the second day. AA President O’Brien said that the talk about them seceding was just talk and there was nothing to it. NL President Harry Pulliam spoke by invitation to those assembled and announced his own opposition to unrestricted farming. He also told delegates that NL players were banned from playing for the outlaw California League and subject to a $100 fine.

The National Board was given the authority to punish anyone for assault on an umpire. An attempt that would have reinstated some 22 players who had been banned for jumping to the Tristate League was beaten back.

On the second day, Wednesday, President O’Brien did introduce a resolution that four leagues would be reduced from Class A to Class B and that there would be a restructuring of the national board of arbitration, but virtually no one saw any benefit in the restructuring and it was argued that the Western League was a charter member of the association and could not be demoted, and it was pointed out that one of the conditions of the Pacific Coast League joining the National Association was the promise that it would never be lower than Class A. The vote was 20 to 3 to table the motion. The New York League joined the Eastern League and the American Association in the minority.

Most delegates left for home on the 31st. A six-hour session on the final day, November 1, was largely been devoted to hearing protests and appeals. One such resulted in placing A.J. Laws on the permanent ineligible list. Laws was the former president of the Western Pennsylvania League who had “organized a club at Butler, Pa., and offered a diamond ring to the young woman who sold the most season tickets and that the ring was never presented.”8

All in all, relatively few changes were legislated, simply because there was a sense that 1907 had been a successful season

1907 Winter Meetings: The Major League Portion

The two leagues met separately but simultaneously in December, the American League wrapping up its work in two days while the National League meetings extended to four days. The most notable feature of both was the internal harmony, as well as the fraternal peace between the two leagues.

Indeed, each league president sent the other a telegram wishing his counterpart well. Ban Johnson congratulated Harry Pulliam on the Cubs winning the World Series and Pulliam replied with thanks, concluding, “Long life to the American League and its president.” Anything along those lines would have been unimaginable just a few years earlier.

Matters that might have divided the two leagues, such as scheduling and rules, were referred to those respective joint committees, which would meet in February. The NL would no longer arbitrarily declare the start to its league schedule, as it had done prior to the 1903 season. Pulliam wired Johnson just before the meetings began that the NL would appoint men to a schedule committee and work things out in concert with the AL. It was, wrote the Boston Globe, a “minor discrepancy” and with Pulliam’s undertaking “the last difference between the American league and the National league has been wiped out.”9

The AL met at the Auditorium Annex in Chicago, a hotel complex built in 1893 and in the early 21st century known as the Congress Plaza Hotel.  The meeting began at 3 P.M. on December 11 and ended on the 12th. The NL met at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City from the afternoon of December 10 into the 13th, the final day added on when things ran a bit longer than anticipated.

There were some rumors before the gatherings hinting at possible discord. One was that Charles Comiskey would attempt to unseat Johnson. There was always bound to be some friction over one matter or another, particularly in the AL, which had only seven years under its belt. But no fractious issues materialized in either league. Prosperity seemed to have bred satisfaction.

A few issues came up that one league or the other favored, but after peace had been declared and a joint rules committee had been created, no change could be made unilaterally.

It had taken a full two hours to read the minutes from the previous meeting and then there followed reports from the various league officers. Pulliam’s report to the NL magnates recommended that no liquids in bottles be sold in ballparks and that no intoxicants be sold in grandstands. He also came out against “artificial doubleheaders” – ones declared by a club looking for advantage of one sort or another – and that league procedures be implemented for the rescheduling of postponed games, rather than having them be left to the home club to decide. He wanted there to be no more seven-inning games as the second games of doubleheaders. The New York Times dubbed it a “stand against bargain baseball.”10 He suggested that a ballclub not be permitted to recall a player once he had been placed on waivers. Lastly, he said that dressing rooms in four of the parks were substandard and should be upgraded.

It was not as though there was unanimity of opinion within each league. John T. Brush of the Giants, for instance, cast a lone vote against Pulliam’s re-election as president, voting instead for Frank DeHass Robison. In the AL, Johnson’s term ran to 1910, so he was not up for re-election. In appointing members to the rules committee, the AL substituted Comiskey for Thomas C. Noyes of Washington, and the league also asked Boston’s John I. Taylor to stay on the board of directors for one more year rather than rotate off as planned in favor of Washington. Both could be seen as rebukes to Washington, but none of this seemed to engender any ill will on the part of the Washington club.11

Before the two concurrent meetings had begun, both leagues had agreed to discuss the possibility of lengthening the World Series to a “best-of-nine” competition, as had been the case in 1903 but not since. The National League was in favor and initially it seemed the AL was, too.

That was the only matter which went to a vote at the AL meeting on December 11; the vote was 7 to 1 in favor. All other matters were resolved unanimously. The White Sox cast the vote in opposition, the vote cast by the team secretary in Comiskey’s absence. The following day, Comiskey was asked to explain why he had wanted to oppose the motion and he said it was because the AL races were much more competitive than the NL races (this had been the case for four years running) and that consequently the pennant-winning teams in the AL were more exhausted at the end of a 154-game season. Should they agree to revert to a 140-game schedule, he would withdraw his opposition. His argument was persuasive and the 7-to-1 vote in favor of a “best-of-nine” series was rescinded on December 12; a unanimous vote to retain the best-of-seven system, was substituted.12

There was a discussion after Boston Doves president George Dovey suggested the limiting of rosters to 18 players, but no resolution occurred.

At prior meetings, when the leagues referred matters to the joint rules committee, they had typically done so with instructions. This year, neither league issued any “hard and fast instructions to either of its joint committees.”13

Pulliam had proposed that there be no pitcher’s mound at all, that the pitcher’s slab be on the same level as the playing field so the pitcher was not pitching downhill, giving him an advantage. There was even a suggestion by Max Fleischmann of the Cincinnati Reds that the number of balls required for a base on balls be reduced from four to three, to help with offense.

Fleischmann suggested that a batter who advanced a baserunner by means of a fly ball be credited with a sacrifice hit. And he suggested some changes in when umpires were allowed to call “time.” These proposals were discussed but no actions were taken.14

The American League suggested that pitchers not be permitted to take a new baseball and rub it on the grass and dirt to make it less slick and shiny – it was called “ball-soiling” and reportedly burned up a great deal of time.

The language adopted by the AL on postponed games read: “All postponed games of the first series shall be played on the first or succeeding days of the second series; all postponed games of the second and third series shall be played on the next day or succeeding day of the same series.”15

Considerable time was spent discussing the relationship between the majors and minors, and player movement back and forth – for instance, would a major-league player sent back to the minors be permitted to keep his big-league salary? There was also discussion about “covering up” players and farming. The AL adopted a rule that “restricts the practice of acquiring a player by refusing waiver on him and then immediately turning him over to a club outside the league.”16 A new system was put in place to regularize waiver rules; it seemed the sort of thing that a new league would need to address in its early years.

Although there was said to be a larger than usual number of players and minor-league men present at the two meetings, relatively few trades were consummated. At midnight on the eve of the NL meeting, Dovey had signed Joe Kelley to a deal to manage in Boston. The Tigers purchased catcher Ira Thomas from the New York Highlanders, and handed Hughie Jennings a new two-year deal as manager. The White Sox purchased John Anderson from Washington. Boston brought Fred Tenney to the NL meetings, seemingly to help market him. On the final day, December 13, Tenney, Al Bridwell, and Tom Needham were traded to the New York Giants for Frank Bowerman, George Browne, Bill Dahlen, Cecil Ferguson, and Dan McGann.

All in all, the fact that business was good no doubt contributed to the pacific nature of the two sessions and the relations between the leagues. Francis C. Richter wrote in Sporting Life of the AL meeting that there “was not the slightest approach to friction.”17 Feeling was so good that Detroit declined to collect a $300 fine that had been levied on Cleveland during the season for delaying a game.

All in all, Sporting Life editorialized, the two meetings reflected a “New Era” characterized by “amicable spirit, “mutual toleration,” and, perhaps above all else, “the manifest desire to elevate the game.”18

Notes

1 Boston Globe, October 29, 1907: 5.

2 New York Times, October 29, 1907: 9.

3 Hartford Courant, October 29, 1907: 14. The Courant had said 30 leagues would be represented but only 23 were.

4 Boston Globe, November 1, 1907: 4. The Washington Post wrote that President Powers had heard rumors about a third league but that “the national officers had no intimation of such a plan, and he did not believe there was anything in it.” See Washington Post, October 30, 1907: 8.

5 New York Times, October 29, 1907: 9.

6 The Sporting News, October 31, 1907: 1.

7 Sporting Life, November 9, 1907: 6.

8 Chicago Tribune, November 2, 1907: 10.

9 Boston Globe, December 11, 1907: 4.

10 New York Times, December 8, 1907: S3.

11 Washington Post, December 13, 1907: 8.

12 The best summary of the discussion is in the December 15, 1907, Chicago Tribune.

13 Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1907: C1.

14 Hartford Courant, December 12, 1907: 12.

15 Sporting Life, December 21, 1907: 5.

16 Ibid.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid.

Introduction

After what some call the greatest baseball season of all time, the winter meetings of 1908 produced much thunder, especially on the minor-league level, that had implications for the majors. Two minor leagues looking to be ranked almost on the level of the major leagues dominated the minor-league proceedings. Two major issues during the 1908 season and World Series—both involving the National League–were the major focus of much of the problems at the big-league meetings. However, much of what was started at these meetings was not finished—some never really concluded—until months after the meetings ended. Only minor changes in draft procedures and game rules were passed by the major-league magnates.

Minor League and First National Commission Meetings

The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues held its eighth annual meeting in Chicago on November 10 to 12, 1908. The meeting was held at the same time and in the same city as baseball’s National Commission meeting. The chairman of the National Commission, Garry Herrmann, could not attend the meeting, so his secretary and the two major league presidents (the NL’s Harry Pulliam and the AL’s Ban Johnson) conducted the National Commission meeting.1  In regard to major-league activities, the Commission ruled on a player playing in a minor league under an assumed name, (the club fined and the player declared ineligible to organized baseball). They also approved the design of World Series emblems in the future.

The Commission took up the mishandling of the tickets by the Chicago Cubs in the 1908 World Series, but made no decision. All the Commission would say at this time was that there was no merit in charges of deliberate graft, or that Cub officials were in collusion with ticket speculators.  However, the club was “reprimanded for the crude and unbusiness-like manner in which the tickets were handled, causing annoyance and disappointment to many supporters of the Cubs.”2  However, the Commission made no formal report on the matter. The ticket scandal would be handled later.3 (See below) A large number of minor-league cases were heard by the Commission, including player salary grievances, decisions on ineligible players, some league circuit changes, and player appeals. But soon all attention shifted to the minor-league meeting at the Chicago Auditorium Annex.4

The NAPBL meeting started in routine fashion, taking up the case of some Minneapolis and Milwaukee players (among others) who played in some barnstorming games against the outlaw Logan Squares of Chicago. The players were suspended and would be reinstated after payment of light fines.5  There was discussion on raising the minimum admission price in the higher-level minor leagues to 50 cents. The Milwaukee Journal was concise in its thoughts on this: “That might be all right in the eastern cities but not in Milwaukee.”6  This idea did not get off the ground.  After hearing arguments regarding the contested ownership of the Hot Springs club, a plea to have the player draft price raised from $200 to $300, plus a request for the shortening of the drafting period to help the Class-C and D leagues (known as the “Microbes”), the minor-league delegates retired for the day. 7

The meeting then became something of a sensation in the press.

First, a little background: the  NAPBL had been formed in November 1901 as a way of ruling the various minor leagues and protecting each other, both from the warring major leagues and from themselves. One year later the recently-formed American Association, having been an “outlaw” league during the 1902 season, joined the National Association. The minors, having waived rights to representation on the National Commission, were under the rule of major-league baseball, without any say in the process.8 

The minor leagues were placed in various classifications according to the aggregate population (from the latest U.S. census) of cities forming the league, from Class A (1,000,000 total population and over) to Class B (400,000 to 1,000,000), Class C (200,000 to 400,000), and Class D (under 200,000).9  Originally the American Association, Eastern League, and Western League were classified as Class-A leagues. The Western had been given special Class-A status, as its population was below the classification, as a condition of ending the baseball war with the American Association.10

The Pacific Coast League was admitted to organized baseball as a Class-A league in 1904, even though its population was below the Class-A limit. The status was given under special circumstances to end another baseball war on the West Coast.11 

At the 1905 winter meetings the Southern League was elevated to Class-A status. This was done primarily as a reward to Southern League president William Kavanaugh for his part in defeating a scheme to reclassify the bigger minor leagues and raise draft prices. Thus three of the five Class-A leagues had populations under the constitutional limit.12  These reclassifications, and an enlargement of the National Association’s board from five to seven members, gave the smaller minor leagues the upper hand over the larger-populated Eastern League and American Association in the National Association.13

In 1907 the American Association was demanding that the Western, Pacific Coast, and Southern Leagues either be dropped to Class-B leagues, or the American Association and Eastern Leagues be given a new AA status.  This demand went nowhere and now, in November 1908, the American Association was changing its tactics. League President Joseph O’Brien said his owners no longer wanted Class-AA status, as that required a change in the National Agreement, which no doubt would fail again. He stated if the NAPBL would enforce its constitution there would be no need for a new status for the American Association and Eastern League, and therefore no need to change anything in the National Agreement.14 

O’Brien presented a resolution that the Southern and Western Leagues be demoted to Class-B status, and the Board of Arbitration be reduced from seven to five members, three of those members coming from Class-A leagues. The Eastern League supported this demand, while the Pacific Coast League told the National Association members it would not join in on this request.  After much debate the measure was voted down in the constitutional committee by a vote of 3 to 2. O’Brien insisted the resolution be placed before the entire delegation for a vote. After debate on the main floor, the resolution was defeated by a vote of 17 to 4, with the Missouri-Illinois League and the Pacific Coast League joining in with the American Association and Eastern League.15

O’Brien next asked permission for the American Association and Eastern League to withdraw from the NAPBL so they could form a working agreement directly with the major leagues. The two leagues wished to have contracts and reserves honored by the other minor leagues. Of course, this was a bombshell and caused much debate. The two requesting leagues claimed their intention was to withdraw temporarily to seek advice from the National Commission, while the other delegates saw it as the two leagues seeking permanent withdrawal from the NAPBL. This request was put to a vote, resulting in a 19 to 2 defeat.

The delegates of the American Association and Eastern League left the meeting room, refusing to work on an appointment of a committee to lay the matter before the National Commission; a committee was then appointed in their absence.16  This entire situation placed Pat Powers in an uncomfortable situation, as he was both president of the Eastern League and head of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Leagues. He stepped down as head of the minors and D. M. Shively of the Western Association took over the convention.17

O’Brien tried to play down any talk of revolution by saying: “We have done nothing more serious than to withdraw from the meeting. We have not withdrawn from organized baseball nor have we severed our connection with the national association by our action. We have not become ‘outlaws’.”18

The minor leagues did conduct two further pieces of important business at the meeting. The lower minors gained a victory when it was decided that players who had been drafted would be returned to the same league they had been drafted from when the drafting team cut the player. It was also voted to increase the number of cities in the Western League from six to eight by adding clubs in Wichita and Topeka. 19

Meanwhile, the National Commission members discussed the impasse and announced it had decided the NAPBL was clearly within its rights and the Commission would not receive any delegates from the Eastern League or American Association, as they had no legal standing. Section 4, Article VI, of the National Agreement clearly stated “The National Association shall have the classification of its leagues and the adoption of a salary limit for clubs according to classification.” 

However, in an effort to settle the matter, it was decided that National Commission chairman Herrmann be asked to come to Chicago so the Commission could deliberate as a whole.  Herrmann, however, was immobilized due to a sprained ankle, so the American Association and Eastern League delegates announced they would hold a full meeting of their two leagues in Buffalo on November 18 to map out any future plans and then make a statement to the public.

The Commission, by and large, was trying to stay out of the matter, but did make clear it was going to stop this type of last-minute sensationalism by adopting a new rule that, in the future, all proposed amendments to the National Association constitution must be sent to the secretary 60 days in advance of the annual meeting.20

Eastern League president Pat Powers explained in a circular letter sent to the owners of the Eastern League that what the American Association and Eastern League wanted was representation on the National Commission. This would enable the leagues to push through new draft rules. The two leagues wanted the privilege to draft one man from the clubs of the other three Class-A leagues and two from the Class-B clubs at the same time as the major leagues were drafting, and at the same price. These players would then be allowed to remain with the club during the season in which they were purchased. The American Association and Eastern League also wanted the right to draft territory from the lesser minor leagues for a fixed compensation. In addition they wished to prevent the majors from drafting players below Class-B leagues.21

The Sporting News acknowledged the two “bolting” leagues had some legitimate grievances, but thought the thread of secession was stultifying. The editor did not believe the two minors were economically prepared for a baseball war, not even for a single season.  And the final statement of the editorial was perhaps a warning from the two major leagues: “The National and American Leagues will not admit a representative of the National Association to the Commission, nor will the majors make any other concession to the minor leagues, as a body, or to its members as individual organizations. Under no circumstances will protection be extended to a league or association of leagues that is not a party to the National Agreement, a major league or a league in the fold of the National Association. And as a corollary, the American Association and Eastern League must continue in the National Association to enjoy the benefits of organized base ball.”22

Of course, rumors of a new baseball war were all around. It was asserted the Eastern League planned to withdraw from Montreal and place a club in New York, with the specific location said to be in the Bronx. It also was hinted that the Toronto club might be moved to Detroit. The American Association reportedly was expected to invade St. Louis and Pittsburgh, as well as Chicago, abandoning St. Paul and Minneapolis, though where the third franchise would be taken from was undecided, at least in the minds of the rumor spreaders.  Charles Havenor, president of the Milwaukee Brewers, was in the meantime denying the American Association was planning on putting a franchise in any American or National League cities.23

Representatives of the Eastern League and American Association did meet in Buffalo on November 18. A committee was formed, with O’Brien as chairman. No information was released at this time, but it was believed the leagues were still pressing the points in the Powers’ letter. It was decided the leagues’ requests would be put in writing and given to the National Commission at its next meeting on December 7. The two minor leagues were scheduled to meet again on December 6.24

Second National Commission Meeting

At the December 7 meeting, after taking up some minor issues of player salaries and draft disputes, the Commission took up the minor-league “bolter” issue.25

The Eastern League and American Association had met on December 6 at the Victoria Hotel in New York City. They drew up the complaints that they would put before the National Commission, but gave out no details. The lawyer representing the group, Henry Killilea of Milwaukee, stated the two leagues only wanted to be classed higher than the other minor leagues and be allowed to manage their own internal affairs. He thought these two leagues were important enough to be given these considerations.  To make his point Killilea said the American Association and Eastern League represented a population of 5,000,000 people, more than twice as many as were represented by all the other minor leagues put together. In addition to that, the attendance at games in the two leagues was twice as much as in all the other minor leagues combined.  He said the two big minors were not looking for a baseball war, but he did hint at that possibility.26

The major leagues were certainly not shaking in their boots. National League president Pulliam told reporters before the meetings: “We are prepared for anything that comes along. Of course, the game of freeze out would be very unwelcome. ‘War is sure hell’ for the man who has to pay the piper. But organized baseball is better able to stand the strain than are the minors, and if it comes to a showdown we will all be doing business after ‘outlawry’ is suppressed.”27

The American Association/Eastern League petition was presented to the National Commission in Pulliam’s ‘office in the St. James Building on December 8, with the “loyal” minor leagues also present.28 Henry Killilea masterfully presented the concerns of the “bolting” leagues to the Commission. His petition asked for the following:

1) to conduct their affairs as a separate organization under organized baseball;

2) that the American Association and Eastern League be permitted to draft players from all other leagues except the American League and National League, provided only one player could be drafted from Class-A minor-league clubs;

3) that draft and purchase rules be amended so that players drafted by the major leagues from Class-B, C, or D leagues and later not kept, be offered to the American Association or Eastern League before being returned to their original club;

4) that major-league player reserve rosters be capped at 25, and at 20 after May 15;

5) that the American Association and Eastern League be permitted to draft players from other minor leagues for a period of 15 days after the majors had drafted, and the draft price be $750 for Class-A league players, $500 for Class B, $300 for Class C, and $200  for Class D;

6) the major-league draft period for players from the American Association/Eastern League be from September 15 to October 1;

7) that the American Association and Eastern League be permitted to draft territory from other minor leagues; and 8) that no individual player could be sold more than once under an optional agreement.29

One of the points in Killilea’s argument for the American Association and Eastern League to obtain a higher status was his belief that the NAPBL legally expired on September 6, 1906. His argument was based on the fact that the NAPBL was created on September 6, 1901 for a period of five years. A resolution was later passed verbally to extend this period to September 6, 1911, but Killilea argued the added five years was not legally binding and that the NAPBL was simply a voluntary organization from which any member could withdraw without violating any contract. He went one step further, saying that with the contract between the parties to the National Agreement thus ended, the major leagues had any legal “as well as moral right” to change the conditions of the National Agreement and accept the “bolters” as partners. This argument would take away the National Commission’s reasoning for staying out of the minor-league issue.30

Michael Sexton, a board member of the NAPBL, said Killilea’s statement was not correct.  He looked at the minutes of the inaugural meeting of the National Association and found there was nothing in them relative to the length of the life of the NAPBL. He found in subsequent minutes that the 10-year agreement had been adopted by a unanimous vote and was binding upon all organizations that were members at that time, “and upon all associations, leagues and clubs hereafter becoming parties to this National Agreement.”31 

The National Commission asked for more time to look at the petition, as it was different than had been anticipated.  It was decided the National Commission would report on the issues at its annual meeting in Cincinnati on January 4.32  This delay did not sit well with the American Association/Eastern League combine, who were now reported to be in a state of mind to withdraw from organized baseball. However, Milwaukeeans Killilea and Charles Havenor calmed the group down, saying the National Commission did not even have to take the matter up and the delay put the NAPBL on the defensive. In a face-saving move Killilea, O’Brien, and Powers were granted an audience before both the National and American Leagues to present their case and ask for future negotiations. The “bolters” were granted permission to attend the January meeting “in an advisory capacity.”33

Many American Association owners thought the two big minor leagues had secured a victory. Havenor told the Milwaukee Sentinel the demands of the American Association/Eastern League were perfectly just, and he was certain they would all be granted by the major leagues in January.34  But Havenor was not listening to what American League president and Commission member Johnson was saying: “I have great respect for Mr. Killilea, but he was not furnished with the facts and it was only too plain that there was no real grievance named by the Milwaukee man.”35

National League Winter Meeting

The National League held its annual winter meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York on December 8, 9, and 10. The New York Giants did not send a delegate at the meeting, until forced to attend on the final day. League president Pulliam acted as chairman for all the sessions. The meetings consisted of the usual activities, including the awarding of the league championship to the Chicago Cubs, the president’s report on the season just past, Pulliam’s re-election to the post, the election of a Board of Directors and the forming of committees. All clubs agreed to take “extra precautions” in enforcing the league’s law against gambling on their grounds. A number of other items were discussed, but held over for a later meeting. One item of sentimental importance was the decision to make up any deficit in the fund to erect a monument to the late Henry Chadwick, and to make an annual appropriation for its care.36

Regarding player matters, the National League voted to reduce the time limit for the return of a player on waivers during the season from 10 days to 5 days. The “Microbes” request to increase the draft prices for players was approved and recommended to the National Commission for incorporation into the National Agreement. The delegates also adopted the National Agreement amendment to limit the major-league drafting period from September 1 to September 15, a cut back from October 1. The NL also heard the requests of the American Association and Eastern League, presented by attorney Killilea, and told the minor leagues they would have the National League’s sympathy in its struggles.37

At the same time of the baseball meetings President-elect William Howard Taft was in town, and Pulliam had the opportunity to meet him at the Hotel Astor. The President-elect told the National League president: “Glad to meet you, Mr. Pulliam. We are going to be rival Presidents, but I hope we shall always get along pleasantly.” Pulliam responded by saying he would not try to appoint the Ambassador to England, provided Mr. Taft would agree not to rob him of any of his umpires.38

The third day of the meeting produced a first in major-league history. The National League received a visit from an American League delegation, a request that had been made by AL president Johnson, for an exchange of courtesies. The remarks made were the expected ones with hopes of future harmony. According to Sporting Life “the last germ of ill-will between rival majors was wiped out.”39

After this show of harmony and unity it appeared the National League executives could adjourn with a calm, ho-hum meeting under their belts. But Pulliam sprang a sensational charge—being “like the bursting of an anarchistic bomb in a family of royalty”– that an attempt had been made to bribe umpires James Johnstone and Bill Klem in the extra game between the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs played on October 8—the game ordered to play off the tie game of September 23 (which had featured the famous Merkle play at second base). The umpires had filed formal charges, including the name of the person who initiated the bribe and the names of the persons he claimed to represent. This sensation necessitated an extra, unscheduled, day for discussion, the issuance of a formal statement, and the appearance of New York owner Brush, who had not been present at the earlier sessions, claiming illness—although some thought it was to show his disgust of the throwing out of the “Merkle game.”40  The National League statement—signed by all eight club officials–gave an outline of the attempted bribery, then continued:

“We are of the opinion that a most thorough and searching investigation of this matter be made in order to maintain the high standard and honesty of the game throughout the entire country, and if possible, to punish all persons connected with this disreputable proceeding.

“To make such an investigation as the undersigned desire, we deem it unwise to give any names of persons claimed to have been connected with this matter, as we have grave doubts as to the truths of certain statements alleged by the person who approached one of the umpires; and it is for that reason, as well as having in mind the proper punishment of all guilty parties, that all names be withheld for the present.

“We desire, however, to state that none of the persons whose names are withheld at this time is in any way connected with organized base ball.”

The statement further went on to commend Klem and Johnstone for refusing to become parties to the bribe and reporting it to the league.41

It was the opinion of some in the press that the two umpires had been approached by a gambler representing a syndicate that wanted to wage a large sum on the game. The gambler wanted Klem and Johnstone to “see” that the Giants won the game. It was stated the umpires were offered $10,000 if the Giants won. The only identification at this time was that the man who approached the umpires was “a prominent businessman of New York, who also represented many other big men of that city.”42

A committee was formed, consisting of John T. Brush (chairman), Charles Ebbets, Garry Herrmann, and Pulliam to investigate the matter.43  Some have found it odd that Brush was the chairman, since his club was involved in the scandal. However, Philadelphia newsman Horace Fogel thought it not only appropriate, but a good move, writing: “If his club is involved, it was a good stroke of policy to put him at the head of this committee, so that the evidence can be adduced in his presence and he can not afterwards charge unfairness, trumped-up charges, etc. and rush into court for an injunction or any redress.”44 The matter would take months to settle. (See below).

American League Winter Meeting

The American League held its meeting at the Hotel Wolcott in New York on December 9 and 10. All the clubs were represented, with AL president Ban Johnson chairing.  This meeting was unassuming. A Board of Directors was named and committees formed. The Detroit Tigers were awarded the 1908 league championship. As the National League did, the Americans decided to recommend to the National Commission the request for a higher draft price of the Class-C and D leagues for incorporation into the National Agreement.

The AL also voted for the National Agreement amendment to limit the major-league drafting period from September 1 to September 15, thus making this time frame baseball law.45 J. M. Cummings, of Baltimore thought this of little practical benefit to the minor leagues, as most of the majors had determined who they would draft days, if not weeks, before the draft period started.46  The American League also heard the American Association/Eastern League grievances and assured Killilea of the major league’s “sincere desire to aid those leading minor leagues to a better condition with a view to conserving the peace and prosperity of all connected with the National game.” 47

A number of new rules and practices were passed by American League delegates. Among the more important that there would be 40 minutes before each game for practice, the first 30 minutes for the visitors, then 10 minutes for the home team. The rule was put into place to prevent the indiscriminate throwing and batting of balls in the park.  An important, and lasting, rule change prevented a runner from advancing more than two bases when a thrown ball went into the stands.  Prior to this the runner was allowed to continue to run until he scored. 

The American League also decided no passes to games were to be issued to members of the visiting team, as this practice was being abused. A new rule was put into effect regarding something modern fans take for granted – all clubs were ordered to maintain a large bulletin board giving the batting order accurately and indicating all changes as they were made.48

After business was finished Johnson suggested his league delegates and those of the National League meet. The NL men accepted and the meeting mentioned above took place. The American League meeting adjourned shortly after 2:00 p.m. on December 10.49

Player and Manager Transactions

As at most winter meetings, trades and signing of players were done with more frequency than at other times of the year. Perhaps the major occurrence at the 1908 National League meeting in this regard was the signing by the Cincinnati Reds of Clark Griffith as the team’s manager.  It was reported Griffith’s salary was to be $7,000, with a privilege of renewal. This signing set in motion a three-club deal. The Reds traded catcher George Schlei to the St. Louis Cardinals for left-handed pitcher Ed Karger and right-handed pitcher Art Fromme. Schlei and outfielder John “Red” Murray and righty Arthur “Bugs” Raymond were then traded by the Cardinals to the New York Giants for catcher Roger Bresnahan. The future Hall of Famer would be the St. Louis player/manager.50

Another managerial maneuver involved another future Hall of Famer. It was reported during the National League meeting that veteran catcher Frank Bowerman would be elevated to the Boston Braves’ manager’s job, succeeding Joe Kelley. Kelley, who was present at the meeting, had one year remaining on his two-year contract and threatened legal troubles to Braves owner George Dovey. Pulliam mediated an arrangement for Toronto of the Eastern League to take Kelley’s contract and manage in that Canadian city. As the Future Hall of Famer’s contract called for an amount over the Eastern League salary limit, the Braves would pay the excess.51

The major trade in the American League was that of catcher Lou Criger from the Boston club to the St. Louis Browns for catcher Ed “Tubby” Spencer and $5,000.52

Conclusion of Matters Taken Up at Winter Meetings

World Series Ticket Scandal

Later in December of 1908, the National Commission gave its ruling on the Chicago World Series ticket scandal. In summary the Commission found that the Cub management had told the public tickets would be on sale at Spalding’s store on Friday morning, October 9. Tickets for all four scheduled home games — the first in Chicago to be on Sunday, October 11 — had to be purchased in one block.

The public assembled at Spalding’s only to be told later in the afternoon that the tickets would not be available until the next morning at the box office of the ball park. However, while the public was in line at Spalding’s the club was selling tickets at its own office to bands of “scalpers.” These tickets were then sold to the public at exorbitant prices. When the public did assemble at the ball park on Saturday morning, they were told only those who had arranged for reserved seats would be accommodated. While this was happening the club was still selling tickets at its office to scalpers.

The public was never notified of the sale of tickets at the club’s office, and no other tickets except those purchased by scalper’s could have been out in the public. The Chicago club officials admitted 630 tickets were sold to one person at their office.53

The National Commission found “the Chicago Club is deserving of the severest criticism and censure for the manner in which they handled the sale of tickets during the last world’s series, and that they must be held responsible for the great annoyance they caused many patrons of the game in Chicago.” 

As there was no direct charge, or proof offered, that anyone employed by the Cubs was in collusion with the scalpers, it was requested that Cubs president Charles Murphy—whom the Commission acknowledged was not in Chicago on the days this took place–look into how these tickets were secured by these persons. The commission called for clubs to make an effort to have local authorities in their city pass proper laws and ordinances to prevent the scalping of tickets. The Commission “was strongly of the opinion” that hereafter all World Series ticket sales be handled by the Commission to prevent future similar occurrences.54

Murphy made a short statement after the Commission reported its findings, saying that the Commission’s statement there were no ticket sales at the park was incorrect. He said the sale of tickets began at the park offices at 1:00 p.m. and continued until the line of buyers had melted away. Murphy said that the tickets were not on sale at Spalding’s at the advertised time due to a delay in the preparation of the tickets, which had not been delivered in time to the printer. He took the “mea culpa,” saying: “My own illness was doubtless responsible for much of the trouble and confusion.”55

Chicago sportswriter William A. Phelon wrote of the National Commission’s investigation and ruling that “everybody is laughing raucously.” He went on to say that the “Commission’s report soaked nobody and everybody, satisfied no one, and left things just where they began. The report did not do justice either way. If the employees of the club were really guilty of any scalping, they escape exposure, punishment and condemnation; if they were innocent, they are not given any vindication, and are left with a cloud hanging over them … (t)he fans, who loudly insisted that somebody must be shown up as either guilty or innocent, get nothing — they are not shown wherein the ticket-men did wrong, nor are they shown where the unlucky officials were in the right.”56

Attempted Bribe of Umpires

The inquiry of the attempted bribery of umpires Klem and Johnstone took longer. In late January, Joe Vila, the New York correspondent to The Sporting News, was urging the committee of Brush, Pulliam, Ebbets, and Herrmann to issue a statement on what evidence it had gathered.57 

A month later H. G. Merrill from Wilkes-Barre made the same plea.58 The matter was finally turned over to the National Commission who ruled on the matter on April 19, 1909.

In its official statement the Commission ruled that “after a full and thorough investigation of all of the matters that have been presented” the statements of the umpires were true and the two were “deserving of the highest commendation” in spurning the bribe attempt and reporting it to the National League.

The Commission declined to give out the name of the person who offered the bribe, but took this action: “In this matter the Commission would not hesitate a moment to instigate a most rigid prosecution against the offender if they had the power to do so, and the corroborative testimony to sustain the charges as made by the umpires. We feel, however, that in the absence of this, the party charged with this offense by the umpires should not go unpunished, and for that reason we will furnish to every major league club owner the name of the person who attempted this offense, with instructions to such club owners to bar him from their respective grounds for all time to come.”59

The Chicago Tribune soon gave the name of the man as Joseph Creamer, the Giants’ team physician, and stated the money offered was first $2,500 and later raised to $3,000.60

Decision of Status of Minor-League “Bolters”

On January 4, 1909, the National Commission met in Cincinnati. After the usual player reinstatement issues, the members took up the American Association/Eastern League issue. Owners and representatives from the NAPBL and the “bolters” were in attendance, both giving their side again.61 According to the Milwaukee Journal: “The session waxed warm at times and there was more than one exchange of hot words.”62

After the first day adjournment, attorney Killilea and NAPBL secretary John Farrell met in an attempt to reach some type of compromise to present to their respective parties. The compromise they ironed out provided for a separate classification of the American Association, Eastern League, and Pacific Coast League, plus additional drafting privileges of players and territory for these three leagues. Another point would be that the three big minor leagues could have control of their own affairs, except where a lower class player was involved and subject to appeal to the National Commission. This compromise solution did not address the matter of the “bolters” withdrawal from the NAPBL and separate admission to the National Agreement. It was felt this was a matter for the National Commission to decide.63

On the second day this compromise proposal was presented to all members of both sides. With some tweaking, all issues were adjusted to everyone’s satisfaction in the NAPBL, except for the American Association and Eastern League leaving the National Association. Members of the American Association and Eastern League had some issues with the compromise.

John Farrell then submitted to the National Commission what the minor leagues were willing to concede to the three big minors: 1) The Eastern League and American Association would have the privilege of settling their own internal disputes; 2) Disputes involving the “bolters” and other National Association clubs would be passed on to the NAPBL board; 3) All leagues would have the right to draft territory from leagues next lowest in classification at the same time and in the same manner that players were drafted. Prices would be set for the territory in each class; 4) The big minors could draft from Classes B, C, and D only at $100 less than that paid by the major league. This drafting would take place in the 15 days immediately following the draft period of the majors; 5) There would be no objection to the secondary draft—meaning a player not kept by the majors must be offered to a minor league of a higher class than the player was originally drafted from, starting with Class AA and working down; and 6) The Eastern League, American Association, and Pacific Coast League would be designated as Class AA, without any further privileges.

The “bolters” were willing to accept most of the conditions. However, the limitation on drafting territory only from the classification immediately below their class was of little use to either the American Association or Eastern League. This would limit them to only claiming a city from the Southern or Western League—something not useful to either big minor. The “bolters” also demanded the right to draft players from the Southern and Western Leagues. Of course, the American Association/Eastern League combine was still insisting upon its primary goal — the privilege of withdrawing from the National Association in order to become a separate party to the National Agreement.

The National Commission chairman, Herrmann, stated the commission thought the territorial drafting complaint of the American Association and Eastern League was well founded, but under no circumstances would the National Commission agree to the “bolters” demand for recognition as a separate party to the National Agreement, even if the minor-league association would agree to this demand. Herrmann, “in courteous terms,” advised the two leagues to accept the compromise offered by the NAPBL.64

After the day’s adjournment the Eastern League and American Association committee met to discuss the situation. There was much sentiment in favor of withdrawal from the NAPBL, an action that would mean outlawry and war.  Henry Killilea pleaded with the excited delegates to rethink this position. Cooler heads prevailed and after some time the delegates decided to accept the NABL proposal, with the exception of the territorial draft clause and the additional right to draft players from the Southern and Western Leagues. In regard to the territorial rights a compromise was decided in which it was “understood” the price for rights to a city would be $5,000 for a Class-A city, $4,000 for a Class-B city, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively for Class-C and D territories.65

The loyal minors accepted these proposals, with some modifications—most notably that Class-AA leagues could draft one man from each Class-A club, only in cases where the major leagues had not previously selected a man. The National Commission took over the territorial issue and decided any league had the right to draft territory from any contiguous class upon certain terms. These terms were to include a set price for the territory in each class, three months’ notice of intention and three more for consummation, notice to the National Board for the reasons for drafting territory, and additional money to be determined for the value of the franchise, plant and team.66

With the matters in this satisfactory state, the National Commission adjourned and delegates from the minor leagues made arrangements to go home. The American Association and Eastern League held a joint business meeting to make some adjustments in regard to the new conditions. AA president Joseph O’Brien resigned his seat on the NAPBL board, and Patrick Powers formally resigned his office as president of the NAPBL (Michael Sexton was soon elected to the post).67

Upon returning to Milwaukee, O’Brien told reporters: “We got all we wanted, and both the Eastern League and the Association should flourish under the new conditions. Our request to be allowed to act as a third part to the agreement with representation on the National Commission was not allowed, but that was only a minor detail to the other conditions. Great credit is due to Mr. Killilea for the part he played in securing the concessions.”68

The winner in this agreement, without really entering the battle, was the Pacific Coast League. They were granted the privilege of gaining the new higher classification because of the promise made to it when it entered organized baseball that it would never be asked to accept a classification more than one step below the major leagues. Pacific Coast League president Cal Ewing said he would not be doing his duty to his league unless he took everything that was handed him.69

In March 1909 the revised National Agreement was published, incorporating the concessions granted the Eastern League, American Association and Pacific Coast League, with the exception of the territorial draft, which had not yet been approved by the big leagues and minor leagues.70

Then on May 4 all these bitterly fought gains evaporated when the National Commission abrogated the entire new National Agreement, and announced all baseball rules and regulations would go back to what they had been before the concessions were made to the big minors.

The National Commission said the revised Agreement had been sent to the American Association and Eastern League to be ratified and approved, but neither had done so. Thus “no league or club operating under organized base ball will be required to pay attention to any of the new features embodied in the revised Agreement.”

Garry Herrmann said there was no ulterior motive in all this, only that they two leagues never replied and the National Commission was forced to do something to avoid confusion throughout the baseball world.71  It was reported the American Association and Eastern League refused to ratify the new agreement because the major league magnates would not put a definite price on the territorial rights of any league. The National Commission told the American Association/Eastern League combine to sign the agreement and an amount would be inserted later.

At the earlier meeting it was “understood” what the territorial prices would be, but wording of new National Agreement stated a league “may draft a city from a league of lower classification upon terms and conditions to be proscribed by the National Commission within 30 days from the signing.” In other words, the price of a territory would not be known until after the purchase.72  As J. M. Cummings wrote in The Sporting News: “A child knows that there are no ‘understandings’ in law. Black and white goes and only that.”73  As the new AA classification gave the Big Three little or no additional power, they decided to ignore the agreement and continue under the old one.74

Thus the big three minors lost their AA classification. Southern League president William Kavanaugh had no objection to the National Commission abrogating the revised National Agreement, but did object to the wording of the announcement. In his opinion the new Agreement became binding when the National Association of Professional Base Ball Leagues ratified it, and the ratification and approval of the American Association and Eastern League was not necessary.75 

With this news there were the usual rumors of a baseball war, especially the renewed story of the American Association planning an invasion of Chicago. It was thought the American Association was more eager to go to war than the Eastern League, as the Eastern had no interest in placing a team in any of the major league cities in the east.76  O’Brien pretty much put the entire matter behind him when he said: “We are too busy catering to the base ball public. This is no time to meddle with the politics of the game.”77  Havenor was quoted as saying “I guess that we are about as well off this way as we would have been the other, if not better.”78

The American Association and Eastern League would have to wait until the 1912 season to obtain Class-AA status.

Notes

1 Sporting Life, November 21, 1908: 1.

2 Sporting Life, November 21, 1908: 7.

3 Sporting Life, November 21, 1908: 1, and November 28, 1908: 6, 7.

4 Sporting Life, November 21, 1908: 6.

5 The Sporting News, November 12, 1908: 1.

6 Milwaukee Journal, November 9 and 11, 1908.

7 Chicago Tribune, November 11, 1908:61; Washington Post, November 11, 1908:8; Milwaukee Journal, November 11, 1908.

8 Sporting Life, November 21, 1908: 1.

9 The Sporting News, November 19, 1908: 4; Sporting Life, November 21, 1908: 1.

10 Sporting Life November 21, 1908: 6.

11 Milwaukee Sentinel, November 10, 1908;   Hartford Courant November 10, 1908;    Sporting Life, November 21, 1908: 6.

12 Milwaukee Sentinel, November 10, 1908.

13 Sporting Life, November 21, 1908: 2.

14 Milwaukee Sentinel, November 10, 1908.

15  Sporting Life, November 21, 1908: 6; The Sporting News, November 12, 1908: 1.

16  Sporting Life, November 21, 1908: 7.

17 Milwaukee Sentinel, November 12, 1908.

18 Hartford Courant, November 12, 1908.

19 Hartford Courant, November 12, 1908; Sporting Life November 21, 1908: 2; Milwaukee Journal, November 14, 1908.

20 The Sporting News, November 19, 1908: 4; Sporting Life, November 21, 1908: 6, 7.

21  Sporting Life, November 21, 1908: 7; Milwaukee Journal, November 19, 1908.

22  The Sporting News, November 19, 1908: 4.

23  Milwaukee Sentinel, November 14, 1908; Milwaukee Journal, November 13, 1908; The Sporting News, November 19, 1908: 3.

24  Sporting Life, November 28, 1908: 6.

25 The Sporting News, December 10, 1908: 5.

26  Sporting Life, December 1, 1908; Washington Post, December 7, 1908: 4

27 Milwaukee Journal, December 7, 1908.

28 Milwaukee Journal, December 8, 1908; The Sporting News, December 10, 1908: 1, December 17, 1908: 2.

29 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 1; The Sporting News, December 10, 1908: 1.

30 Sporting Life, December 26, 1908: 6.

31 Sporting Life, January 2, 1909: 10; The Sporting News, December 24, 1908: 4.

32 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 1, 2.

33 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 2; Milwaukee Sentinel, December 11, 1908.

34 Milwaukee Sentinel, December 13, 1908.

35 Boston Globe, December 13, 1908.

36 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 4; Milwaukee Sentinel, December 10, 1908.

37 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 4; Milwaukee Sentinel, December 9, 1908.

38 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 5.

39 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 4.

40 Boston Globe, December 9, 1908; Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 4; Milwaukee Sentinel, December 12, 1908; The Sporting News, December 17, 1908: 1.

41 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 4.

42 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 4.

43 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 4.

44 The Sporting News, December 17, 1908: 5.

45 Sporting Life, December 26, 1908: 2.

46 The Sporting News, February 17, 1908: 2.

47 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 4.

48 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908:4; Milwaukee Sentinel, December 11, 1908.

49 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 4.

50 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 5.

51 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 5.

52 Sporting Life, December 19, 1908: 5.

53 Sporting Life, December 26, 1908: 1; The Sporting News, December 24, 1908: 2.

54 Sporting Life, December 26, 1908: 1, 2; The Sporting News, December 24, 1908: 2.

55 Sporting Life, December 26, 1908: 2.

56 Sporting Life, January 2, 1909: 5.

57 The Sporting News, January 28, 1909: 1.

58 The Sporting News, February 18, 1909.

59 Sporting Life, April 24, 1909: 7.

60 The Sporting News, April 29, 1909: 2.  The entire matter is too lengthy and falls out of the compass of this article, but is interesting. The best reading on the details and possible full involvement in the matter can be found in David W. Anderson, More than Merkle, A History of the Best and Most Baseball Season in Human History (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999), 210-222; and Cait Murphy, Crazy ’08, How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, (New York: HarperCollins, 2007), 261-263, 284-286.

61 Sporting Life, January 16, 1909: 1.

62 Milwaukee Journal, January 5, 1909.

63 Sporting Life, January 16, 1909: 1. 

64 Sporting Life, January 16, 1909: 2.

65 Sporting Life, January 16, 1909: 2; The Sporting News, May 20, 1909: 4.

66 Sporting Life, January 16, 1909: 2; The Sporting News, January 14, 1909: 4.

67 Sporting Life, January 16, 1909: 2.

68 Milwaukee Journal, January 7, 1909.

69 Sporting Life, January 16, 1909: 2.

70 Sporting Life, April 3, 1909: 10.

71 Sporting Life, May 15, 1909: 1.

72 The Sporting News, May 13, 1909: 2, 6; June 2, 1909: 2.

73 The Sporting News, June 2, 1909: 2.

74 Sporting Life, May 15, 1909: 1.

75 The Sporting News, May 13, 1909: 4; Sporting Life, May 15, 1909: 1.

76 The Sporting News, May 13, 1909: 4; Sporting Life, June 5, 1909: 16.

77 Sporting Life, May 15, 1909: 2.

78 Milwaukee Journal, May 5, 1909.

But the 1909 season will always be remembered by one shattering event.

Harry Pulliam was a Kentucky native with an eclectic background. He was a law school graduate who chose to write for a newspaper in Louisville rather than practice law, and he also served for a time in the Kentucky Assembly.4 Somewhere along the way he made the acquaintance of Barney Dreyfuss and joined his organization, first as secretary of the Louisville Colonels (then in the National League), and later as president of the team, which moved to Pittsburgh and became the Pirates. Pulliam has been described as an idealist, a dreamer, a lover of solitude and nature.5 He was known to be sensitive and a gentleman in a sport where being rough and tough was a hallmark.

Pulliam’s health suffered in February of 1909, and he decided to take a leave of absence. Pulliam was back at his desk by late June of 1909, but he “lacked his usual effervescence.”6 One month later he left the office early, saying he wasn’t feeling well, went back to his apartment, and put a bullet in his head. He was just 40 years old, and baseball canceled all games on August 2 as a tribute to him.7 They also made Heydler – who filled in during Pulliam’s leave of absence – the interim president, and scheduled a new election for the winter meetings.

The Calm Before the Storm

The minor leagues were relatively unaffected by these events, and proceeded with their Winter Meetings, which began on November 8 in Memphis, Tennessee, the first time that the NAPBL had held their annual convention in the South.8 Of the 37 leagues that made up the organization, 19 were present.9

Business was brisk in Memphis from the very first day. Mike Sexton, the minor leagues’ president, appointed a committee to revise their bylaws. John Farrell, secretary of the organization, gave a report that included a lot of numbers: there were now 257 member cities; the American League had drafted 86 players in 1909, 9 more than the National League; 484 players had been suspended and another 11 declared ineligible, while 161 men were reinstated. And the owners of the Wichita team in the (Class A) Western League won a judgment in a case involving a pitcher named Hunt, who had been purchased by the Boston Doves (the name used for a time by the National League club as a paean to owner Dovey).10

The next day the executives got down to serious business, foremost of which was admitting the California State League into the NAPBL. This league had been considered an “outlaw,” operating outside the purview of Organized Baseball; today we would simply call it an independent. The agreement that brought them into the fold allowed each team in the league to keep all of their players, even those who had violated their previous reserve clause contracts. Most players were bound to play in the league for two seasons, but a few of them were tied to the newly-assigned Class-D association for four full years. Fresno, Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Stockton were admitted as member cities, and one other town (which would prove to be San Jose) would be named later.11

The Class-B Northwestern League was also heard from on this day. Officially they argued that, because of their unique Pacific Northwest location, they ought to lose only one player to each Class-A league and no more than two to the major leagues, but in reality they were angling to be “re-zoned” as an A league, which at the time was the highest level in the minors. Their request was referred to committee and – no doubt to their regret – they never did get to advance.12

Drafting of players was a topic at a great many conventions during the early part of the twentieth century, and the 1909 meetings were no exception. The President of the Class-B Central League, Dr. Frank Carson, stumped to have major-league teams pay the same price for any players they drafted, regardless of classification. At the time a player from a higher level cost more, but Dr. Carson argued that if a Class-C athlete, for instance, was considered to be draft-worthy by a big-league general manager, then that elevated his status and the price ought to go up accordingly.

This idea was also referred to committee;13 it is unlikely that the majors ultimately looked very favorably upon this suggestion. Meanwhile, the Class-C and D leagues petitioned the minors to allow them to keep drafted players until their seasons had concluded, as opposed to the rule in effect at the time, which required those players to be delivered on August 23. This also went to committee, as did Dr. Carson’s idea that if a player had not returned his signed contract by a to-be-determined period of time, he would incur a fine.14

Dr. Carson was also involved in one more piece of business, which had to do with possible re-districting. The Presidents of the Central, Ohio-Pennsylvania (Class C), Ohio State, and Pennsylvania-West Virginia Leagues (the latter two were in Class D) were to get together to see if, perhaps, there were too many teams in too close proximity to one another.15 Those discussions would bring about the demise of the Pennsylvania-West Virginia, the move of Mansfield from the Ohio State to the Ohio-Pennsylvania, and the addition of three new towns into the Ohio State.

Day Two ended with a birth and a re-birth. The Virginia Valley League was admitted to the Class-D ranks, with teams in Charleston, Huntington, and Parkersburg, West Virginia, plus Ashland, Kentucky.16 An interesting side note about this league was that the 1910 pennant was won by the Huntington club, managed by Cy Young, who was still able to find the time to get into 21 games, and throw 163 innings, for Cleveland.

Despite a rumor to the contrary prior to the start of this gathering in Memphis, Mike Sexton was re-elected as president of the NAPBL. It was a position he held for the next 24 years.17

The final day saw a flurry of activity. The minors leagues in effect renewed themselves as an organization for another 10 years, and they passed a rule requiring players to formally be under contract before they could play in a game; while this may seem obvious to us today, at that time different leagues had different rules that basically gave ballclubs the ability to “test-drive” players for a week or two.18 In another contractual matter, it was decided that any player who broke the signed agreement with his team would be suspended for five years.19

Several more new leagues sprang into existence. Based in Santa Ana, the uniquely-named Southern California Trolley League became part of the NAPBL’s Class-D level, but despite fielding two teams in Los Angeles and four others nearby, they only wound up playing a handful of games before disbanding.20 The Southwest Texas League was also admitted as a D-level loop, and they lasted for two full seasons.21 Other attempts, however, never fulfilled their promise. Despite receiving NAPBL approval that included applications from six towns, an Iowa league did not get off the ground, and the same fate met would-be entrepreneurs in both Pennsylvania and Mississippi.22

Charles Murphy, owner of the Chicago Cubs, came to Memphis to arrange for spring training for his team, and he announced that they, along with Cleveland, would spend most of their time working the kinks out in New Orleans before barnstorming their way north.23 And the final order of business was choosing a site for the minor leagues’ 1910 Winter Meetings, and the lucky winner proved to be Chicago, which out-polled Louisville.24

There Are Battle Lines Being Drawn

As was the custom of the day, both major leagues met separately, with the National League convening in New York on December 14 and the American League gathering at the Hotel Wolcott, also in New York, the next day. With no major issues on the docket, Ban Johnson’s group expected to take care of all its business in a single day.25

The Senior Circuit, however, could not make that statement. Since Pulliam’s suicide, a triumvirate of NL owners had banded together to try and make sure the “right man” would be selected as the new president. What parameters were being considered? Just one — according to the New York Times, all this trio wanted was a leader who did not back his umpires, as Pulliam had done and as Heydler had done in his short time in office.

Ebbets of the Dodgers, Brush of the Giants, and the Cubs’ Murphy wanted someone “they can influence on this umpire question as in the old days…when it was possible for certain umpires to be barred from working in some baseball parks by the President of the League at the request of managers.”26

Curiously, the person they had chosen to carry their flag was someone who had been a thorn in the side of ownership just 20 years before – John Montgomery Ward. The former infielder and pitcher had helped to organize perhaps the first union in professional sports, the Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players, and also the Players League, which had been formed as a challenge to the National League and its salary cap.27 The league, however, only lasted for one season (1890), and after his retirement Ward became a practicing attorney who at times represented players in their lawsuits against baseball.28 Despite this track record, however, Messrs Ebbets, Brush, and Murphy apparently felt he would be a malleable leader.

Barney Dreyfuss of the Pirates and Herrmann of the Reds were the primary owners stumping for Heydler’s election, with Herrmann by far the most outspoken. Arriving in New York several days ahead of the Winter Meetings, he said that Heydler’s consistent backing of his umpires had given the public great faith in his administration and had therefore lifted baseball to “a high standard.”29 He thought that the objections raised against Heydler were “silly,” and went on to say that “it looks … as if some of the managers wanted to go on the diamond and umpire their own games … (e)ven then some of them would not be satisfied.”30

Dovey and Stanley Robison, owner of the St. Louis Cardinals, aligned themselves with Dreyfuss and Herrmann, which meant that Heydler needed just one more vote to be elected, and that vote resided in Philadelphia. Which is exactly what Murphy wanted.

Even to this day no one can be quite sure if, and why, the Cubs’ owner hated Heydler. When asked point-blank why he was opposed to retaining the league president, Murphy “rose to heights of indignation…and said that it was none of the public’s business.”31

This was a typical statement by the often blunt and obstinate Murphy, whose teams were perhaps the best in the history of the franchise but whose actions, machinations and words earned him numerous enemies throughout the game and made him (along with John McGraw), “the most hated man in baseball.”32

He was, however, also very well connected. He had begun his professional career as a sportswriter for the Cincinnati Enquirer, which was owned by Charles Taft, the older half-brother of William Howard Taft, the future 27th President of the United States and 10th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.33 Murphy and Taft struck up a lifelong friendship, which led to his becoming sports editor of the newspaper, which led to a rapport with New York Giants owner Brush and his eventual purchase of the Cubs in 1905, made possible by a $100,000 loan from Taft.34 And when the Phillies franchise became available, Murphy and Taft made sure that it was bought by a group headed by another former sportswriter, Horace Fogel.35

A Pennsylvania native, Fogel worked for newspapers in Baltimore and Philadelphia, as well as Sporting Life, a weekly publication that was a competitor to The Sporting News for more than 30 years. Fogel also briefly managed two major-league teams, including the New York Giants, but his career mark of 38-72 attests to his skill on the bench. He was not much of an evaluator of talent, either, as he auditioned 21-year-old Christy Mathewson at both first base and the outfield.36 After Fogel’s dismissal, Mathewson went back to the mound for good.

Back in the newspaper business, Fogel was described as “a loudmouth front-runner with little-to-no credibility…and (who) often feuded with players in print,”37 yet somehow he was able to come up with the $500,000 necessary to purchase a major-league ballclub. Despite repeated denials, speculation quickly focused on Murphy and Taft being the true source of the money,38 and their reasoning became apparent when Fogel aligned himself with the anti-Heydler, pro-Ward faction, which deadlocked the vote.

Despite the fact that this matter had nothing whatsoever to do with his teams, American League president Johnson decided to throw gasoline on the already-smoldering fire. He told reporters that he and all eight AL owners were firmly opposed to Ward, citing the 1903 case involving infielder George Davis, who had jumped from the Giants to the White Sox when the fledgling AL was offering lucrative contracts to NL players.

Davis went to court, where his legal counsel was none other than Ward.39 Even though the American League won the case and Davis wound up concluding his career in Chicago, Johnson had not forgotten the incident and was obviously holding a grudge.

He told reporters that he could not work with Ward, that the “good will between the leagues would be a thing of the past…,” and it could foment a new internal baseball war.40 Charles Comiskey, owner of the White Sox (and Johnson’s hunting buddy) and Charles Somers of Cleveland both agreed with their leader, with Comiskey stating flatly, “I am absolutely for war. I can’t see how we can avoid it…I think a little war now and then helps the game…”41

This, then, was the backdrop as the National League owners arrived at New York’s famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. There was, of course, other business on the docket. The Boston Doves, for instance, signed a new manager by pirating Fred Lake away from the cross-town Red Sox,42 while another manager chose to stay put: in spite of rumors that he would retire, Fred Clarke signed a multi-year contract to remain at the helm of the Pirates, for a salary reported to be $15,000 per year.43 Another personnel matter to be disposed of involved pitcher Bill Torrey, who was being claimed by both the Giants and Reds, as well as the Springfield club of the (Class B) Three-I League and an outfit named the Logan Squares of Chicago.44

There were issues on the agenda that would be debated by both major leagues, headlined by the possibility of lengthening the schedule to 168 games. The Cubs’ Murphy brazenly predicted that both leagues would adopt the longer season, which would open around mid-April and end in mid-October and still leave enough time for the World Series.45 Yet Pittsburgh’s Dreyfuss objected, saying he had no interest in playing 168 games and would, in fact, favor a reduction in the number of contests.46

There was also much talk about banning both the spiked shoe and the spitball. A representative from the Class B Three-I League was scheduled to demonstrate a new device that was said to be blunt and would therefore not cut another player, yet was strong enough to dig into the dirt.47

But Grillo of the Washington Post correctly predicted “it is not at all likely that any change will be made in the rules … (i)t is generally admitted that to do away with the spike will … make the game slower … accidents resulting from the wearing of spikes are really very few … players are spiked simply because they are clumsy.”48

Meanwhile, the spitball was also causing a great deal of discussion. In a poll of more than two dozen sportswriters, nearly 60 percent favored abolishing the pitch, while the rest were evenly divided between those who wanted to keep it and those who really had no strong opinion either way.49 A year earlier Pulliam had advocated against the pitch, and now Frank Chance, the Cubs’ player-manager, came to New York to try and have it banned.50 It would, however, be another decade before the spitter was declared illegal.

The owners also were casting at least furtive glances towards Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The Barons, a (Class-B) New York State League team, had purchased a pitcher, Joseph Pelequin, from the Allentown team,51 paying $300 in cash along with a $200 promissory note. When Allentown did not receive the balance, they went to court, and Wilkes-Barre filed a most unusual defense, saying that “the sale of a baseball player is (in) direct violation of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution,” thus not making them liable for the remaining $200.52 The Thirteenth Amendment famously prohibits slavery, so the Barons were, in effect, telling the court that they shouldn’t have to fulfill their financial obligation because they were engaging in an unconstitutional practice. In an editorial, the Washington Post prophesized that “professional players may one day learn definitely what their rights are under the thirteenth amendment.”53 That day, however, would not come for more than six decades.

The Phillies seemed to be everywhere. In addition to all the speculation as to whose money was behind Fogel, another matter occupied the owners in the early phase of the meetings. The Philadelphians had been in New York on October 4 for a doubleheader and, after dropping the opener, a brouhaha occurred in the nightcap. With the score tied at one in the fourth inning, right-hander Lew Moren complained when one of his pitches was called a ball. The argument grew heated and Moren was tossed out of the game, along with his catcher, Red Dooin, and second baseman Otto Knabe. The two position players, however, refused to leave the playing field, which resulted in the game being forfeited to the Giants.54

Not content with the sweep, the Polo Grounders asked the league to extract $1,000 from the Phils, no doubt to make up for lost revenue, since the game was not official at the point of forfeiture. The league took the matter under advisement, but did rule that the three players would be ineligible to play in 1910 unless they paid the fines that had been levied upon them.55 Since all were Phillie regulars in 1910, it is fair to assume the league received their money. Dooin, in fact, became the player-manager after Fogel fired Billy Murray, who actively lobbied for his job in New York by brandishing his contract, which still had two years to run. Despite a winning record and published sympathy from the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times56, Murray was not retained and never managed in any league again.

Meanwhile, Just A Couple Of Blocks Away …

The eyes of baseball may have been on the National League and their contentious presidential election, but the American League also had a meeting of their own, which commenced a day after the senior circuit’s festivities began. And while they were anticipating a concise, one-day affair, they were going to have to deal with an important issue during their time at the Hotel Wolcott.

The basic business was relatively easy. A committee consisting of President Johnson and two league owners – Frank Navin of Detroit and T.C. Noyes of Washington – was charged with drawing up a new agreement to perpetuate the league and to revise their constitution.57 A team’s active roster was set at 25 players from May 1 through August 20, and 35 players from August 20 until the following May 1.58 And though more noise was made about a 168-game schedule, the AL voted to continue playing 154 games.59

Johnson also placed his pet peeve – barnstorming – on the docket. A common practice of the time, it consisted of players getting together and playing exhibition games in small towns all around the country once the World Series had concluded. The reason for doing this was simply to earn extra money, since salaries were very low in those pre-union days. Owners hated barnstorming because it just increased the chances for injuries, but rather than pay their players enough money to keep them at home, they sought to end the practice via the rulebook, and Johnson was happy to carry the ball, proposing that players be under contract to their teams for a full 12 months, which would obligate them to receive permission to barnstorm, an OK they were not likely to receive because, as Johnson said, “it cheapens our game.”60

Nothing, however, can be more damaging to the sport than an accusation of cheating. The New York club, then known as the Highlanders, had been a mediocre squad in 1909, finishing fifth with their 74-77 record, 23 ½ games behind Detroit. But they had a terrific September, posting a championship-caliber record of 20-11. Was it simply a salary drive? Not according to Joe Cantillon and Hughie Jennings, managers of the Senators and Tigers, respectively. Cantillon believed that the New Yorkers were involved in a “wigwag scheme” – stealing signs from opposing catchers – and was happy to say so publicly.61

Future Hall of Famer Jennings decided to investigate when his team went east in late September, and he sent a couple of people to check out all the nooks and crannies of their upper Manhattan ballpark. One of those “detectives” was trainer Harry Tuthill, and he noticed that “the crossbar in the ‘H’ of a Young’s Hats sign in center field was changing colors.”62 A closer look produced the reason: a man, outfitted with a pair of binoculars, was sitting up there and, using a lever and a mirror, was letting New York batters know if the next pitch would be a fastball or not.63

Highlander manager George Stallings and Johnson had been enemies for almost a decade, and now it appeared as if the AL prexy could drop the hammer on his foe. Instead, when the season ended, it was Cantillon who lost his job. Now, in truth, that was primarily on merit: the Senators had a record of 158-297 in Cantillon’s three seasons, including a 110-loss campaign in 1909. But the official reason given for his dismissal was disloyalty to the (Washington) organization, a charge which upset him enough that he demanded complete vindication or else he would go to court.64

Unlike the civil war taking place over at the Waldorf, however, Johnson was able to contain this potential stink. Unwilling to butt heads against two of his stronger franchises (New York and Detroit), Stallings and the Highlanders were allowed to skate,65 and Cantillon received his complete exoneration.66 A former minor-league infielder and major-league umpire, Cantillon remained in baseball as a minor-league owner and manager, though he never did return to the big leagues.

One thing these meetings lacked was player movement. Only two deals of any note were made, both by New York. The Highlanders acquired journeyman catcher Lou Criger from the St. Louis Browns in exchange for outfielder Ray Demmitt and right-hander Joe Lake, who was the only one from this trio to have any semblance of success in 1910, winning 11 games with a 2.20 ERA, though he did also lose 17 times. The New Yorkers also sold infielder and former manager Norman “Kid” Elberfeld to Washington for $5,000.67 This was rumored to be the precursor to a much larger deal, one in which 22-year-old right-hander Walter Johnson – a 25-game loser in 1909 despite a 2.22 ERA – plus catcher Charles “Gabby” Street, would move to the Big Apple.68 Nothing came of it, however, and Johnson would turn around and win 25 in 1910, the first of 10 straight 20-game seasons for the Big Train.

However, as always, there were some good rumors going around. One of them had outfielder George Stone, the 1906 American League batting champion, plus an unnamed Browns teammate, heading to the White Sox for right-hander Frank Smith, a 25-game winner in 1909.69 Another had infielder/outfielder Freddy Parent moving from the White Sox to Cleveland in exchange for infielder George Stovall;70 both proved to be unfounded. There were, however, a few deals made with minor league clubs, with perhaps the most notable being Pittsburgh’s acquisition of first baseman Jack Flynn from St. Paul of the (Class-A) American Association.71 Flynn would take over for Bill Abstein, who was waived to the St. Louis Browns and who was out of the majors by 1911.

Minor League Interlude

The minors made a bit of news while these major-league meetings were being held. Henry Berry, president of the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League, was hoping to force the resignation of Danny Long as league secretary. Berry was upset with the shoddy way in which the PCL’s final statistics were distributed to newspapers in league cities, as well as with the league utilizing the field manager of the San Francisco Seals in an administrative capacity, and was hoping to push Long out the door, but he was not successful at this time.72

Also in the PCL, former major-league infielder Harry Wolverton was hired to manage the Oakland Oaks.73 This would be the first of eight seasons in which Wolverton would lead clubs out on the west coast, though he would have less success when he went east in 1912, losing 100 games as the skipper of the Highlanders.

A couple of other minor league clubs brought in new field leaders. Ed Ashenbach, who had managed Altoona in the Tri-State League, was tapped to take over Syracuse in the New York State League, while another Tri-State man, George Heckert, simply moved from Harrisburg to Trenton.74 Meanwhile, back in the New York State, Scranton owner E.J. Coleman reportedly offered his managerial job to three people – Sam Strang, Monte Cross, and Hugh Hearne, with former big-league shortstop Cross accepting the position.75 And there was talk that the American Association would be bringing back Joseph O’Brien as its president after a one-year hiatus, but that proved to be nothing more than talk.76

The Ghost Of Merkle

Dennis Pajot has already thoroughly described the charge that the two umpires who worked the October 8, 1908 “playoff” game (the Merkle follow-up), had both been offered a bribe. (See the chapter on the 1908 Winter Meetings.) The matter threatened to explode again at the 1909 meetings.

While the public had been told about the bribe attempt, the official conclusions were kept secret until the spring of 1909, when Harvey Woodruff of the Chicago Tribune broke the story.77 But unlike today, when a cable media volcano would have erupted, the matter just withered and died. And Dr. Creamer, after threatening to sue everyone for defamation of character, quietly accepted his banishment and retreated from the spotlight and returned to his medical practice.78

But then Ban Johnson told reporters that he had “considerable new evidence” in the case, information that included different names and proved that Dr. Creamer was “merely a scapegoat for others.”79 And then … nothing more was ever said!

So was there really new evidence and, if so, what was it? Assuming Johnson, arguably the most powerful man in the game at the time, really knew the truth, why would he issue a teaser like that and then stay quiet? Was he, perhaps, using his knowledge to try and influence the National League’s choice of a new president, as intimated in a Chicago Tribune article?80 We shall never know.

And Now For The Main Event

As if he were firmly perched in the eye of a hurricane, Heydler began the second day of his league’s meetings with a “State of the League” report. He told the assembled executives that attendance and gate receipts had virtually doubled since the war with the American League had been settled back in 1903, and the league was debt-free for the first time in the 20th century.81 Heydler did make it a point to mention that six games had been protested in 1909, which he felt were six too many, and he urged team owners to forgo this practice and support the decisions made by the umpires.82

The moguls took care of one piece of old business. A proposal had been made to put up a monument to their fallen leader, Pulliam, but it turned out that one had already been erected on the family plot in Louisville, so instead it was decided to pay Mr. Pulliam’s sister “a sum of money” as well as money which may have been equal to a portion of his $5,000 salary.83

But the main event was the election of a president. Heydler told reporters that he was in the fight to stay, but that he thought too much importance was being given to the matter. “If I am not elected,” he said, “I shall continue to exist, and probably will be much happier ….”84

In a move which caught everyone by surprise, Heydler’s name was not formally put forward in nomination. After some five hours of discussion and debate behind closed doors, National League owners finally decided to call for a vote. Ward was nominated, as expected, and then Cincinnati’s Herrmann told his colleagues that he had been “authorized to withdraw the name of. Heydler if it was presented in nomination.”85

At this point Stanley Robison of the Cardinals nominated Robert Brown, a Louisville newspaperman and friend of Herrmann’s who was, no doubt, serving as a “stalking horse” for Heydler.86 No matter, the vote ended up in a tie, with Brooklyn, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia supporting Ward, while Boston, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis were lined up for Brown/Heydler. Two more ballots did not change anyone’s minds, and with that the moguls adjourned for the day.87

Immediately there was speculation that a compromise candidate would have to be found, and one did not need the deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes to know who was hoping to be tapped. The name of Edward “Ned” Hanlon, who had managed pennant winners in both Baltimore and Brooklyn in the previous decade, was being tossed about freely, and Adrian “Cap” Anson, one of the game’s early stars and the first man in history to collect 3,000 hits, had deliberately made the trip into New York so he would be available to take the position should it be offered.

Meanwhile, O’Brien, the one-time American Association president who was seeking the office again, may have also dropped hints that he could be persuaded to lead the NL before stating publicly that his only interest was in the minor-league job.88

Johnson’s supposed “new evidence” in the 1908 umpire bribery case was not the only attempt at exercising political pressure. A story began making the rounds that two of the four clubs supporting Brown or Heydler, the Pirates and Reds, were ready to bolt over to the American League if Ward became the new National League president.

Attributed to an “unnamed friend” of Reds’ owner Herrmann, it stated that the AL would operate for one year as a 10-team circuit and then “Detroit and some other city (would be) handed over to the American association.”89 More ridiculousness came from Brush of the Giants, who told his fellow owners that since New York and Chicago were the “biggest money-making clubs in the circuit” and they wanted Ward as their leader, then “their demands should be granted.”90

All this hogwash emanating from the Waldorf-Astoria, as well as the entire tenor of the proceedings, caused the New York Times to, first, tacitly come out in support of Heydler — “whose administration of the office seems to be satisfactory to every one except Murphy, Brush, and Ebbets” — and then lambast that trio by stating that their “objections to Mr. Heydler have caused the baseball world to sneer at their absurdity.”91

And the Times reminded readers that the owners had been in a similar spot in 1902, when Nicholas Young, the NL President since 1885, was challenged by Albert Spalding. Each candidate received support from four teams, with the deadlock eventually being broken by the selection of a compromise candidate, who turned out to be none other than Pulliam.92

With the stalemate continuing, Johnson once again inserted himself into the proceedings. He sent a telegram to his friend Herrmann, informing the National League owners that their American League counterparts had concluded their business and departed from New York, which “should indicate forcibly to you…that we do not wish to influence…to the slightest degree your organization in the election of an officer.”93 Johnson’s words shocked the assemblage and were seen as a retreat from his previous position, in which he said he would never be able to co-exist with Ward. It strengthened the resolve of the Ward faction, with Brush indicating he could wait it out all winter, if it came to that.94

And what if it did, what would happen then? Three possible scenarios emerged:

• Heydler would remain in office indefinitely until a successor could be named;
• A “regency” would be named, a commission made up of three owners;
• One owner would be named to the post, probably on an interim basis.

The first option was not seen as likely because it was assumed, probably correctly, that this would simply strengthen Heydler’s position and his ultimate hold on the presidency. The other two were not probable because, according to Ebbets, owners’ responsibilities with their own teams precluded anyone finding the time to devote themselves to league-wide duties.95

So now the back-room machinations began in earnest. Brush was given the opportunity to name a compromise candidate, but he fatefully declined because he still held out hope for a Ward victory.96 He countered with a unique, though convoluted idea: each side would select an attorney and then those two would name a third, presumably neutral, lawyer.

The 1903 George Davis case (described earlier) would then be brought out of mothballs and re-examined by this new three-man panel. Why? As explained by the Washington Post: “If these lawyers decided that Ward, as attorney for Davis, had acted illegally or unprofessionally, Ward would agree to withdraw as a candidate, but if the lawyers decided in Ward’s favor Herrmann and his friends would have to vote for his election.”97

This strange brew apparently was discussed but then, mercifully, rejected. The Ward faction then may have turned to an old-fashioned remedy, bribery. Rumors were rampant that both the Giants’ Brush and the Cubs’ Murphy had approached Stanley Robison of the Cardinals and assured him that he “can obtain sufficient players to make an almost pennant winning club…” if he came over to the Ward side.98 (It should be noted that the Cards had not had a winning season since 1901.)

Perhaps these intrigues got to be too much for the other owners, because Herrmann met privately with Robert Hedges, the owner of the St. Louis Browns. One of the premier baseball reporters of the era, Sanborn, realized that Hedges was the only AL owner still hanging around and concluded that he had not remained in New York “to do some … early Christmas shopping … but for the purpose of being consulted as to the acceptability to the American League of numerous compromise candidates for the National League presidency.”99

Shortly thereafter, a subcommittee of Herrmann, Murphy, and William Locke, an official with the Pirates who was “trusted implicitly by members of both factions,”100 was put together; while their mission was not made public, it was widely presumed that they were charged with identifying compromise candidates.

The next day the impasse came to an end with the selection of Thomas Lynch as the new National League president. A minor- and major-league umpire, primarily in the 1880s, Lynch had built up a reputation for honesty and integrity before going home to New Britain, Connecticut to manage a theater, disenchanted by the treatment he had received from those in uniform and the lack of support he had received from those in business suits.101

Brush put his name forward and, because of his reputation and availability, he proved to be acceptable to all parties. Lynch insisted that Heydler return to his old position as secretary-treasurer and the owners agreed, electing him to a three-year term102which, according to Sanborn, was a clear victory for Dreyfuss and Herrmann and “a practical vindication of Heydler” because it kept “the details of handling the National League’s affairs in the hands of John Heydler.”103

There was no doubt, however, that the whole matter left a bad taste in the mouths of many, and their feelings were summed up by. Grillo. In what we would now call an op-ed piece, written just prior to Lynch’s election, Grillo said the game was in “deplorable condition,” which he blamed on the owners, “men who… have enjoyed too much prosperity and are determined to tear down what it has taken years to build up.”104

Presaging sentiments that continue to be expressed more than a century later, he decried the lack of “true sportsmen” among the moguls, calling them “a mercenary lot whose interest ceases with the box office…”105 But there was no shortage of other materialistic types seeking membership into this exclusive club. An anonymous executive thought that a third major league was likely to be formed within two or three years, because the “immense profits…have opened…eyes, and…they are now casting about for a favorable opportunity…”106

While there would be at least three attempts over the years to form a third major league, none of them would prove to be successful; however, those “favorable opportunities” did translate into expansion, with the first growth spurt taking place after the 1960 season. For half a century, major-league baseball was played by the same 16 franchises, housed in the same 11 cities, but today the big-league landscape has practically been doubled, with 30 teams located in all regions of the country.

Tying Up Loose Ends

With the league’s leadership question now settled, the final bits of business could be dealt with speedily. With the exception of the Boston Doves, all spring training sites were finalized. Arkansas proved to be the most popular state, with the Pirates and Reds opting to join the Red Sox in Hot Springs, while the Cardinals chose to be in Little Rock. Three teams went to Texas – Marlin Springs would host the Giants, San Antonio got the Tigers while Houston welcomed the Browns. The Cubs and Indians chose New Orleans, while the Yankees (Athens) and the A’s (Atlanta) both planned to camp out in Georgia. The Dodgers selected Columbia, South Carolina while the Phillies went to Southern Pines, North Carolina, and the Senators chose to be relatively close to home with their Norfolk, Virginia locale. The White Sox were the most daring, splitting their squad between Los Angeles and San Francisco.107

The NL adopted a roster rule similar to that of their Junior Circuit counterparts. Just like the American League, they set the active roster at 25 players, but their dates were May 10 through August 10, unlike the AL’s May 1 through August 20. The waiver rule was also changed back to its former wording, so that if a player were to be claimed on waivers, his team could withdraw him and not send him to the claiming club.108

And with that, the very eventful 1909 Winter Meetings came to a close.

Summary

The contentious battle for the National League presidency was easily the highlight of the Winter Meetings of 1909, with both intransigent sides standing firm for their candidates until it became apparent that neither could win and a compromise would have to be effected. While Lynch was elected to the office, the battle in reality demonstrated the power and influence of American League President Johnson, whose outspoken opposition to Ward’s candidacy helped to keep the former infielder/pitcher out of power. It also showed the esteem in which Heydler was held in most circles. While he did not remain in the President’s chair, he was given a three-year contract to return to his former position as secretary-treasurer, which today we might call the Chief Operating Officer. And nine years later he did, in fact, become the NL’s chief executive, a position he would hold for 16 years.

The 1909 meetings also gave glimpses into the future. Interest in the profitability of franchises forecast baseball’s eventual expansion. There was a challenge to the reserve clause, there was a look at the possibility of night games and, perhaps most importantly, the influence and pervasiveness of betting was glossed over, further empowering the gamblers. Over the next decade their shadow would loom larger over the game until the scandal of the 1919 World Series exploded, causing public outrage, threatening the very fabric of the National Pastime, and finally forcing baseball’s leadership to change their structure in order to confront the problem head-on.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the notes, the author also consulted:

“Baseball Meetings Here This Week,” New York Times, December 11, 1909: S1.

“Baseball Warclouds Vanish,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 19, 1909: C1.

“Big Series in Doubt,” Washington Post, December 21, 1909: 8.

“Elect Tom Lynch,” Washington Post, December 19, 1909: S1.

“Fogel on the Grill,” Washington Post, December 12, 1909: S1.

“Full Salary for President Lynch,” New York Times, December 20, 1909: 10.

“John Heydler is Dubious,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 12, 1909: C1.

Lowry, Philip J. Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebration of Major League and Negro League Ballparks (New York, NY: Walker Publishing Company, 2006).

Murnane, T.H. “Ward? Heydler? Base Ball Fight Area Spreading,” Boston Globe, December 13, 1909: 5.

Simpkins, Terry, “Kid Elberfeld,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/f51f274d, undated, accessed March 31, 2014.

“Still Opposed to Ward,” New York Times, December 13, 1909: 7.

Stout, Glenn. Yankees Century, 100 Years of New York Yankees Baseball (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002).

Thorn, John; Pete Palmer; Michael Gershman; and David Pietrusza, editors. Total Baseball: The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball, Fifth Edition (New York: Viking Penguin, 1997).

“Ward Cannot Be President,” Los Angeles Times, December 12, 1909: 16.

Notes

1 Gary Gillette and Eric Enders with Stuart Shea and Matthew Silverman, Big League Ballparks: The Complete Illustrated History (New York: Metro Books, 2009), 38.

2 Ibid., xxv.

3 Ibid., xxiii and 155.

4 Bill Lamberty, “Harry Pulliam,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, (http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/6e05b19c), undated, accessed January 28, 2014.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.

7 Ibid.

8 “Baseball Men to Meet,” New York Times, November 7, 1909: S-2.

9 “Minors to Admit ‘Outlaws’,” Chicago Tribune, November 10, 1909: 12.

10 “Boom in the Minors,” Washington Post, November 10, 1909: 8.

11 “Sexton is Reelected,” Washington Post, November 11, 1909: 8.

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid.

14 Ibid.

15 Ibid.

16 By opening day, two other franchises would be added – one in Montgomery, West Virginia, and one that split its home games between Gallipolis, Ohio and Point Pleasant, West Virginia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Valley_League, accessed March 17, 2014.

17 http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Michael_Sexton

18 “National Agreement: Extended by Baseball Clubs Until 1921,” Hartford Courant, November 12, 1909: 14.

19 Ibid.

20 “Minor Magnates Plan for Future,” Chicago Tribune, November 12, 1909: 14; The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. W. Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, editors. (Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, Inc.), 1997.

21 “New Life for Ball Leaders,” Los Angeles Times, November 12, 1909: 16.

22 “Minor Magnates Plan for Future,” Chicago Tribune, November 12, 1909: 14; “Baseball Men Adjourn,” New York Times, November 12, 1909: 16; “Minors Renew Pact,” Washington Post, November 12, 1909: 8.

23 “Minors Renew Pact,” Washington Post, November 12, 1909: 8.

24 Ibid.

25 “Baseball Magnates Ready to Tackle Big Problems,” Chicago Tribune, December 13, 1909: 14.

26 “Baseball Magnates Coming to New York,” New York Times, December 9, 1909: 12.

27 Jessica Tully, “Meet John Montgomery Ward, Penn State’s Only Baseball Hall of Fame Player,” Onward State, http://onwardstate.com/2014/01/21/meet-john-montgomery-ward-penn-states-only-baseball-hall-of-famer, undated, accessed March 21, 2014.

28 Ibid.

29 “Herrmann is Here to Elect Heydler,” New York Times, December 10, 1909: 12.

30 Ibid.

31 “C.W. Murphy’s Plans for Baseball Meet,” New York Times, December 11, 1909: 9.

32 Lenny Jacobsen, “Charles Murphy,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/e707728f, undated, accessed March 22, 2014.

33 Ibid. The Taft family, by the way, has been one of this country’s most prominent political families for many years and have included Senators, Congressmen, governors and cabinet officers.

34 Ibid.

35 “Philadelphia Club Changes Ownership,” New York Times, November 27, 1909.

36 Michael Lalli, “Horace Fogel: The Strangest Owner in Phillies History,” Philly Sports History, phillysportshistory.com/2011/07/06/horace-fogel-the strangest-owner in-phillies-history, undated, accessed January 27, 2014.

37 Ibid.

38 I. E. Sanborn, “Baseball Fireworks at New York,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 14, 1909: 14.

39 “Ban B. Johnson Booms Heydler,” Hartford Courant, December 14, 1909: 14.

40 “Back Ban Johnson,” Washington Post, December 12, 1909: S1.

41 T. H. Murnane, “Eager for War,” Boston Globe, December 16, 1909: 4.

42 “Lake to Lead Doves,” Washington Post, December 10, 1909: 8.

43 I. E. Sanborn, “Baseball Fireworks at New York,” Chicago Tribune, December 14, 1909: 14.

44 “Baseball Rumors in Air at Waldorf,” New York Times, December 14, 1909: 9. The Logan Squares are an interesting little part of baseball’s early history. They were founded by a man named Jimmy Callahan, who was both a pitcher (99 career wins) and infielder (901 career hits) for the Cubs and White Sox, but who retired after the 1905 season to form his own semipro team in Chicago. He purchased and renovated an old ballpark in the Logan Square neighborhood and made money playing a slate of games, including victorious October exhibitions against his former major league employers. Callahan had no compunction about signing professional players who had been suspended or were, for whatever reason, currently not in uniform, which spurred the majors to adopt a rule in 1908 that prohibited players from appearing in any games in which anyone – players, managers or even owners – had previously been declared ineligible. And then in 1909 Callahan got involved in that four-way dispute over Bill Torrey, which saw the National Commission (a three-man panel made up of the two league presidents and Cincinnati’s Herrmann) rule in favor of the Reds.

45 “C.W. Murphy’s Plans for Baseball Meet,” New York Times, December 11, 1909: 9.

46 “Dreyfuss Believes Heydler Will Win,” New York Times, December 13, 1909: 7.

47 I. E. Sanborn, “Baseball Fireworks at New York,” Chicago Tribune, December 14, 1909: 14.

48 J. Ed. Grillo., “Men in Control of Baseball are Injuring the Sport,” Washington Post, December 19, 1909: S1.

49 Anderson, 123-125.

50 Anderson, 125.

51 There is no listing for an Allentown team in The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, so it is likely that it was either a semipro or independent ballclub.

52 “Baseball is Slavery,” Washington Post, December 19, 1909: S1.

53 “Baseball and Slavery,” Washington Post, December 21, 1909: 6.

54 1909 Philadelphia Phillies Season, http://melaman2.com/phillies/1909/1909-september.html, accessed March 29, 2014.

55 I. E. Sanborn, “Magnates Postpone Election for Banquet,” Chicago Tribune, December 16, 1909: 16.

56 “Baseball Men Adjourn,” New York Times, November 12, 1909, p. 16; “Ball Magnates Still Talking,” Los Angeles Times, December 15, 1909: 16.

57 T. H. Murnane, “Eager for War,” Boston Globe, December 16, 1909: 4.

58 “American League For 154-Game Season,” New York Times, December 16, 1909: 10. This contrasts with the present day, when rosters are set at 25 on Opening Day and remain at that level until September 1, when they can then be expanded to 40.

59 R. W. Lardner, “Johnson Courts War With Rivals,” Chicago Tribune, December 12, 1909: C1; “American League For 154-Game Season,” New York Times, December 16, 1909: 10. Except for the World War I season of 1918, the 154-game schedule would remain in effect until the AL expanded by two clubs, and eight games, for the 1961 season; the NL followed suit in 1962.

60 Lardner, “Johnson Courts War With Rivals.”

61 Mike Lynch, “The Great Wigwag Scheme of 1909,” http://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/great-wigwag-scheme-1909, accessed March 3, 2014.

62 Ibid.

63 Ibid.

64 J. Ed. Grillo, “Many Important Matters Up To Baseball Magnates,” Washington Post, December 12, 1909: S1; J. Ed. Grillo, “Heydler is Doomed,” Washington Post, December 14, 1909: 8.

65 In an official statement, “the New York club is free from all complicity in such a tipping affair…”; Lynch, op. cit.

66 An official league resolution expressed “confidence in the loyalty to the American League of Joe Cantillon during the time he acted as manager of the Washington Baseball Club, and expresses to him its best wishes for his future prosperity.”; “American League For 154-Game Season,” New York Times, December 16, 1909: 10.

67 “Ball Magnates Still Talking,” Los Angeles Times, December 15, 1909: 16.

68 “American League For 154-Game Season,” New York Times, December 16, 1909: 10.

69 “Baseball Notes From Big League Meetings,” Washington Post, December 15, 1909: 8.

70 I. E. Sanborn, “Magnates Postpone Election for Banquet,” Chicago Tribune, December 16, 1909: 16.

71 “Banner Year for Baseball in 1909,” New York Times, December 16, 1909: 10.

72 He would, however, succeed a year later, when the league elected a new president. “Ball Magnates Still Talking,” Los Angeles Times, December 15, 1909: 16; personal e-mail from Dick Beverage, April 9, 2014.

73 “Baseball Notes From Big League Meetings,” Washington Post, December 15, 1909: 8.

74 I. E. Sanborn, “Magnates Postpone Election for Banquet,” Chicago Tribune, December 16, 1909: 16.

75 “Magnates Deadlock,” Washington Post, December 17, 1909: 8.

76 “O’Brien’s Chances Improve,” Chicago Tribune, December 19, 1909: C2.

77 Charles C. Alexander, John McGraw (New York: Viking Press, 1988), 140.

78David W. Anderson, David W. More Than Merkle: A History of the Best and Most Exciting Baseball Season in Human History, 217.

79 “Back Ban Johnson,” Washington Post, December 12, 1909: S1.

80 “Baseball Magnates Ready to Tackle Big Problems,” Chicago Tribune, December 13, 1909: 14.

81 “Banner Year for Baseball in 1909,” New York Times, December 16, 1909: 10.

82 Ibid.

83 Ibid.

84 I. E. Sanborn, “Magnates Postpone Election for Banquet,” Chicago Tribune, December 16, 1909: 16.

85 “Heydler Drops Out of Baseball Fight,” New York Times, December 17, 1909: 13.

86 I. E. Sanborn, “National League Magnates in Deadlock Over Election of President,” Chicago Tribune, December 17, 1909: 17.

87 “Heydler Drops Out of Baseball Fight,” New York Times, December 17, 1909: 13.

88 I. E. Sanborn, “National League Magnates in Deadlock Over Election of President,” Chicago Tribune, December 17, 1909: 17; “Ball Magnates Still Talking,” Los Angeles Times, December 15, 1909: 16; “Baseball Rumors Fly Thick and Fast,” New York Times, December 15, 1909: 12. Ironically, O’Brien wound up being passed over by both the National League and the American Association.

89 “Baseball Magnates Ready to Tackle Big Problems,” Chicago Tribune, December 13, 1909: 14.

90 “Magnates Deadlock,” Washington Post, December 17, 1909: 8.

91 “Baseball Rumors Fly Thick and Fast,” New York Times, December 15, 1909: 12.

92 Ibid.

93 “Baseball Deadlock Remains Unbroken,” New York Times, December 18, 1909: 11.

94 I. E. Sanborn, “Deadlock Balloting in National League Ends Ward’s Chance of Victory,” Chicago Tribune, December 18, 1909: 10.

95 Ibid.

96 Ibid.

97 “Deadlock is Still On,” Washington Post, December 18, 1909: 8.

98 “Big Leaguers’ Horns Locked,” Los Angeles Times, December 18, 1909: 17.

99 I. E. Sanborn, I.E., “Deadlock Balloting in National League Ends Ward’s Chance of Victory,” Chicago Tribune, December 18, 1909: 10.

100 Ibid.

101 I. E. Sanborn, “National League Elects T.J. Lynch,” Chicago Tribune, December 19, 1909: C1.

102 Jon Daly, “Tom Lynch,” SABR Baseball Biography Project (http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/c633b89f), undated, accessed January 27, 2014. Heydler remained the league’s secretary-treasurer until 1918, when he was, finally, elected the National League’s president, a position he would hold until 1934. Among his accomplishments, he hired the Elias brothers to keep official statistics, he pushed for the selection of Judge Landis to serve as Commissioner, he helped to establish the Hall of Fame, and in 1929 he suggested something akin to the modern designated hitter. Amazingly, he has never been enshrined in Cooperstown. (Biography of John Arnold Heydler, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Heydler, accessed February 27, 2014.)

103 I. E. Sanborn, “National League Elects T.J. Lynch,” Chicago Tribune, December 19, 1909: C1.

104 J. Ed. Grillo, “Men in Control of Baseball are Injuring the Sport,” Washington Post, December 19, 1909: S1.

105 Ibid.

106 “O’Brien’s Chances Improve,” Chicago Tribune, December 19, 1909: C2.

107 “Heydler Drops Out of Baseball Fight,” New York Times, December 17, 1909: 13.

108 “Rumors of War are Silenced,” Los Angeles Times, December 19, 1909: 17.