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Wall Street tycoon Charles A. Stoneham, buys the New York Giants

ByThis Day in Baseball

On January 14, 1919, a trio, led by Wall Street tycoon Charles A. Stoneham, buys the New York Giants. The other investors include manager John McGraw and politician Francis X. McQuade of New York. Stoneham rose from a job as a runner on Wall Street, to the president of a huge investment firm to make…

John McGraw, Charles A. Stoneham, and Tammany Hall politician Judge Francis X. McQuade buy controlling interest in the New York Giants from the John Brush estate. Having drawn just 265,000 fans in 1918, the club is sold at a bargain price. The three will spend many days in courtrooms fighting among themselves, and fending off government charges about Stoneham’s business practices.

John McGraw, Charles A. Stoneham, and Tammany Hall politician Judge Francis X. McQuade buy controlling interest in the New York Giants from the John Brush estate. Having drawn just 265,000 fans in 1918, the club is sold at a bargain price. The three will spend many days in courtrooms fighting among themselves, and fending off government charges about Stoneham’s business practices.

ByTom

1919 – John McGraw, Charles A. Stoneham, and Tammany Hall politician Judge Francis X. McQuade buy controlling interest in the New York Giants from the John Brush estate. Having drawn just 265,000 fans in 1918, the club is sold at a bargain price. The three will spend many days in courtrooms fighting among themselves, and fending off government charges about Stoneham’s business practices.

Harry H. Frazee, New York theater owner and producer, and Hugh Ward buy the Boston Red Sox for $675,000 (one report puts the figure at $750,000) from Joseph Lannin. Bill Carrigan announces that he will retire as Red Sox manager to pursue his interests in Lewiston, Maine.

Harry H. Frazee, New York theater owner and producer, and Hugh Ward buy the Boston Red Sox for $675,000 (one report puts the figure at $750,000) from Joseph Lannin. Bill Carrigan announces that he will retire as Red Sox manager to pursue his interests in Lewiston, Maine.

ByThis Day in Baseball

1916 – Harry H. Frazee, New York theater owner and producer, and Hugh Ward buy the Boston Red Sox for $675,000 (one report puts the figure at $750,000) from Joseph Lannin. Bill Carrigan announces that he will retire as Red Sox manager to pursue his interests in Lewiston, Maine.

Charles Ebbets
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Brooklyn Robins’ Frugal Proposal Rejected by National League

ByTom

1916 – The National League turns down a request from Brooklyn Robins owner Charles Ebbets, who had wanted to impose a limit of 2,000 seats that clubs can sell for 25 cents. The Boston Braves have 10,000 such seats, the St. Louis Cardinals 9,000, the Philadelphia Phillies 6,500, and the Cincinnati Reds 4,000.

James E. Gaffney sells the Boston Braves for $500,000 to Percy Haughton, Harvard’s head baseball coach and businessman Arthur Chamberlin Wise, who will raise $600,000 to build Fenway Park. The former owner, a Tammany Hall alderman and construction contractor, who bought the team in 1913 for $187,000, recently gained notoriety as a target of Hennessy and Whitman investigations into political graft.

ByThis Day in Baseball

James E. Gaffney sells the Boston Braves for $500,000 to Percy Haughton, Harvard’s head baseball coach and businessman Arthur Chamberlin Wise, who will raise $600,000 to build Fenway Park. The former owner, a Tammany Hall alderman and construction contractor, who bought the team in 1913 for $187,000, recently gained notoriety as a target of Hennessy and Whitman investigations into political graft.

Charles H. Weeghman buys the Cubs

Charles H. Weeghman buys the Cubs

ByThis Day in Baseball

1916 – The National League, happy to be rid of fractious Chicago Cubs owner Charles W. Murphy, allows Charles H. Weeghman, owner of a restaurant chain and president of the Federal League’s Chicago Whales, to buy the Cubs for $500,000. By putting up $50,000, William Wrigley, Jr. becomes a minority stock holder. Whales manager Joe Tinker succeeds Roger Bresnahan, and the Cubs will play in the Federal League’s newly built ballpark on the North Side, soon to become known as Wrigley Field.

Ban Johnson’s arranges the purchase of the Yankees by Colonel Jacob Ruppert and Captain Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston for $500,000 from Bill Devery and Frank Farrell
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Ban Johnson’s arranges the purchase of the Yankees by Colonel Jacob Ruppert and Captain Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston for $500,000 from Bill Devery and Frank Farrell

ByThis Day in Baseball

1914 – Ban Johnson’s efforts to strengthen the New York Yankees succeed when he arranges the purchase of the team by Colonel Jacob Ruppert and Captain Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston for $460,000 from Bill Devery and Frank Farrell. After Detroit Tigers owner Frank Navin refuses to let manager Hugh Jennings go, the new New York owners will name longtime Detroit pitcher Bill Donovan to manage the team. Under the new regime, the Yankees will make the most important trade in franchise history when they purchase Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox in 1920.

Ban johnson

Detroit Tigers President Frank Navin blames the length of the games on the coaches’ boxes

ByThis Day in Baseball

1913 – In a story in the New York Times, Detroit Tigers President Frank Navin blames the length of the games on the coaches’ boxes. Navin, reacting to American League President Ban Johnson’s complaint that too many games the previous season had taken two hours to play, says the boxes should be moved back so that the catcher can give the pitcher his signals more quickly. From where they are now, he said, the coaching players can detect the catcher’s signals unless he takes a lot of time to hide them. Navin said this slow signalling is the reason for the longer games.

Horace Fogel

With the Philadelphia Phillies franchise in disarray following the expulsion of President Horace Fogel, William H. Locke and his cousin William F. Baker buy the club.

ByThis Day in Baseball

1913 – With the Philadelphia Phillies franchise in disarray following the expulsion of President Horace Fogel, William H. Locke and his cousin William F. Baker buy the club.