grasped by others, they were disregarded, because they conflicted with
their immediate temporary prosperity.
The dead Base Ball organizer had looked further ahead than his time. His
plan was born under the best of intentions, but it unfortunately
devolved upon the theory that players would be willing to share alike
for their common good. Later in life, through another and unquestionably
even better method, he succeeded in bringing forth a plan which attained
the very end for which he sought in the '80s, but in the second resort,
by a far more efficacious method.
The Brotherhood League came into existence and rivaled the National
League. The players of the National League and the American Association
deserted to join the Brotherhood League, upon a platform that promised
Utopia in Base Ball. Unquestionably it was the idea of the general
Brotherhood organization that the National League would abandon the
fight and succumb, but the National League owners were built of sterner
stuff.
They fought back resolutely and hard and while for a time they were
combated by a fickle opinion, based upon sentiment, it developed within
two months that the public had learned thoroughly the reasons for the
organization of the new league and declined to lend it that support
which had been predicted and expected.
Meanwhile, Base Ball had received a setback greater than any which had
befallen the sport in an organized sense from a professional standpoint.
The Brotherhood League was a pronounced and emphatic failure. This is
not the verdict of personal opinion, but a record which is indelibly
impressed upon Base Ball history.
It was the theory of the Brotherhood League that it, in part, should be
governed by representative players, but the players would not be
governed by players. Discipline relaxed, teams did pretty much as they
pleased, and the public remained away from the games. It may be added
with truth that the National League games were not much better
patronized, but that was due to the prevalent apathy in Base Ball
affairs throughout the United States.
When the Brotherhood League was formed and withdrew so many players from
the National League the latter organization undertook to strengthen
itself where it could and when Brooklyn and Cincinnati applied for
membership in the circuit both were admitted.
The New York National League club had lost many of its players and, upon
the substitution of Cincinnati for Indianapolis in the National League
circuit, procured from Mr. Brush many players of note, among them Rusie,
Glasscock, Buckley, Bassett and Denny.
Relative to the withdrawal of Indianapolis from the circuit it may be
said that Mr. Brush flatly refused to give up his club, asserting
stoutly that he was perfectly able to continue the fight, but when he
felt that the exigencies of the occasion demanded that Cincinnati become
a member, he agreed to give up the franchise, providing that he be
permitted to retain his membership in the National League, and transfer
such of his players as New York desired to the latter city. It has been
alleged that he demanded an exorbitant price from New York for the
transfer of the players.
This is untrue. He asked the price of his franchise, the value of his
players, and the worth of giving up a Base Ball year in a city in which
there was to be no conflicting club and, as he had expressed full
confidence in his ability to make a winning fight for the National
League, it was agreed that his rights to be considered could not be
overlooked. To retain his National League membership he accepted stock
in the New York club.
Toward the close of the Base Ball season the Brotherhood League dealt
what it believed to be a death blow to the National League by the
purchase of the Cincinnati franchise. It proved to be a boomerang, for
before the first day of January, 1891, the Brotherhood League had passed
out of existence. The backers of the organization, tired of the general
conduct of the sport, were only too willing to come to an acceptable
agreement and retire.
A.G. Spalding, John T. Brush, Frank De Hass Robison, Charles H. Byrne
and A.H. Soden were prominent members of the National League to bringing
this result about. Of these, Mr. Spalding and Mr. Soden survive, but
have retired from active participation in Base Ball affairs.
It was through this settlement, resulting upon the Base Ball war, that
Mr. Brush's activities were turned toward Cincinnati. The National
League had a franchise in that city, but no one to operate it. Mr. Brush
agreed to take up the franchise and attempt to operate and rebuild that
club. That, however, is a detail which relates purely to the continuance
of a major league circuit.
The next most noticeable achievement in Mr. Brush's Base Ball career
and, to the mind of more than one, the greatest successful undertaking
in the history of the game, was a complete revolution in the
distribution of financial returns. By his success in effecting this Mr.
Brush brought about the very purpose which he had sought to attain by
his classification plan.
But the method was better, for the instruments of this readjustment of
conditions were the owners and not the players. Briefly, it was the
following:
There was still war in Base Ball between the American Association and
the National League. Recognizing that the best method to bring about a
cessation of this war was to effect an amalgamation of the conflicting
forces Mr. Brush sought, with the assistance of others, to weld both
leagues into one. He was aided in this task, though indirectly, because
A.G. Spalding was actively out of Base Ball, by that gentleman, Frank De
Hass Robison, Christopher Von der Abe, and Francis C. Richter, editor of
"Sporting Life" of Philadelphia. The writer also essayed in the task in
an advisory capacity.
The amalgamation was brought about, though not without some opposition;
indeed, much opposition. It was conceded at that time that a twelve-club
league, which was the object sought, was cumbersome and unwieldy, but
there was no other plan of possible accomplishment which suggested
itself.
But the principal consideration and the result accomplished in this
consolidation of leagues was that all gate receipts should be divided,
share and share alike, so far as general admissions were concerned.
That was the greatest and most far-reaching achievement in the history
of Base Ball. Prior to that time the principle of a fixed guarantee for
each game played had given each home club a stupendous bulk of the sums
paid by the public toward the maintenance of the sport. The inevitable
outcome of such an arrangement was that the clubs in the larger cities
completely overshadowed the clubs in the smaller cities.
The teams in the cities of less population were expected to try to place
rival organizations on the field that would equal in playing strength
those of New York, Boston and Chicago, but they were unable to do so
unless their owners were willing to go on year after year with large
deficits staring them in the face.
When Mr. Brush and his associates succeeded in placing Base Ball upon a
plane of absolute fairness, so far as the proper distribution of the
returns of the sport could be made between clubs, Base Ball began to
prosper, and, for the first time in all its history, the owners of
so-called smaller clubs felt that they could go forward and try to rival
their bigger fellows with equally strong combinations.
More than that, and which to the ball player is most important of all,
it "jumped" the salaries of the players in the smaller clubs until they
were on equal terms with their fellow players in the larger clubs, so
that Mr. Brush helped to accomplish by this plan the very aim which he
had at heart when he proposed the classification plan--a just, impartial
and equal reimbursement to every player in the game, so far as the
finances of each club would permit--and without that bane to all
players, a salary limit.
Thus, while it is always probable that some players may receive more
than others, based upon their preponderance of skill, it is now a fact
that two-thirds of the major league ball players of the present day owe
their handsome salaries to the system which John T. Brush so earnestly
urged and for which he fought against odds which would have daunted a
man with less fixity of purpose.
Having brought forth this new condition in Base Ball, which was so just
that its results almost immediately began to make themselves manifest,
the owner of the Cincinnati club devoted his time and his energies to
the endeavor to place a championship club in Cincinnati. He never was
successful in that purpose, although his ill fortune was no greater than
that of his predecessors.
The time came that Mr. Brush learned that the New York Base Ball Club
could be purchased. He obtained the stock necessary to make him owner of
the New York organization from Mr. Andrew Freedman, but before he did so
another Base Ball war had begun between the National League and the
American League, a disagreement starting from the simplest of causes,
but which, like many another such disagreement, resulted in the most
damaging of conditions to the prosperity of the pastime.
As had been the case in the prior war brought about by the organization
of the Brotherhood League, Mr. Brush fought staunchly for his rights.
Prominent National League players were taken by the American League
clubs, and this brought retaliation.
At length the National League opened negotiations to obtain certain
American League players and succeeded in doing so. Among these were the
manager of the Baltimore club, John J. McGraw, who felt that he was
acting perfectly within his rights in joining the New York National
League club. Directly upon his acceptance of the management of the New
York club Mr. Brush became its owner and the era of prosperity was
inaugurated in New York, which was soon enjoyed by every club throughout
the United States.
In its first year under the new management the team was not in condition
to make a good fight, but the next year it was ready and since then has
won four National League championships and one World's Championship.
In the spring of 1911, at the very dawn of the National League season,
the grand stand of the New York National League club burned to the
ground. A man less determined would have been overcome by such a blow.
Nothing daunted and while the flames were not yet quenched, Mr. Brush
sent for engineers to devise plans for the magnificent stadium which
bears his name and which, on the Polo Grounds in New York, is one of the
greatest and the most massive monument to professional Base Ball in the
world.
In connection with this wonderful new edifice of steel and stone, which
is one of the wonders of the new world, it is appropriate to add that
two world's series have been played on the field of the Polo Grounds
since it has been erected.
The rules for these world's series were formulated and adopted upon the
suggestion and by the advice of Mr. Brush and since a regular world's
series season has been a feature of Base Ball the national game has
progressed with even greater strides than was the case in the past.
At a meeting of the National League the following resolutions were
adopted:
_Whereas_, The death of Mr. John T. Brush, president of the New York
National League Base Ball Club, comes as a sad blow to organized
professional Base Ball and particularly to us, his associates in the
National League.
As the dean of organized professional Base Ball, his wise counsel, his
unerring judgment, his fighting qualities and withal his eminent
fairness and integrity in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the
national game will be surely missed.
He was a citizen of sterling worth, of high moral standards and of
correct business principles, and his death is not only a grievous loss
to us, but to the community at large as well. Be it, therefore,
_Resolved_, That the members of the National League of Professional
Base Ball Clubs, in session to-day, express their profound grief at
the loss of their friend, associate and counsellor and extend to the
members of his bereaved family their sincere sympathy in the great
loss which they have sustained by his death. Be it further
_Resolved_, That a copy of these resolutions be spread on the records
of the league.
In connection with the death of Mr. Brush, Ben Johnson, president of the
American League, said: "Mr. Brush was a power in Base Ball. He will be
missed as much in the American League as in the National League."
More than three hundred friends, relatives, business acquaintances,
lodge brothers and Base Ball associates attended the funeral of Mr.
Brush, on Friday, November 29, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church,
Indianapolis. Fifty or more of Mr. Brush's Base Ball associates and
acquaintances, principally from the East, were present.
The service was conducted by the Rev. Lewis Brown, rector of St. Paul's,
and was followed by a Scottish Rite ceremony in charge of William Geake,
Sr., of Fort Wayne, acting thrice potent master, and official head of
the thirty-third degree in Indiana. The Scottish Rite delegation
numbered more than 150. There were also in attendance fifty Knights
Templars of Rapier Commandery, under the leadership of Eminent Commander
E.J. Scoonover.
The Grand Army of the Republic, the Indianapolis Commercial Club and a
number of local and out-of-town clubs and social organizations of which
Mr. Brush was a member also were represented.
The Episcopal service was given impressively. The Rev. Dr. Brown, in
reviewing the life of Mr. Brush, spoke of him as one of the remarkable
men of America, who, in his youth, gave no promise of being in later
life a national figure. In the course of his remarks Dr. Brown said:
"The death of John Tomlinson Brush removes from our midst one of the
most remarkable men of our generation. His life was that of a typical
American. He began in the most unpretentious manner and died a figure of
national importance.
"He went through the Civil War so quietly that the fact was unknown to
some of his most intimate friends. He was mustered out with honor and
entered the business world in Indianapolis. His labors here put him at
the forefront for sagacity, squareness, honorable treatment and
generosity.
"His love of sport made him a patron of the national game. In a
perfectly natural way, he went from manager of the local team to
proprietor of the New York Giants. He was a Bismarck in plan and a
Napoleon in execution. His aim was pre-eminence and he won place by the
consent of all. The recent spectacular outpouring of people and colossal
financial exhibit in the struggle for the pennant between New York and
Boston were but the legitimate outcome of his marvelous skill.
"He was an early member of the Masonic fraternity. He took his Blue
Lodge degree in his native town and to demonstrate his attachment he
never removed his membership. Where he had been raised to the sublime
degree of a master there he wished to keep his affiliation always.
"He became a Knight Templar in Rapier Commandery and was one of its past
eminent commanders. He was a member of the Scottish Rite bodies in the
Valley of Indianapolis in the early days and performed his work with a
ritual perfection unsurpassed. He received the thirty-third and last
degree as a merited honor for proficiency and zeal.
"The conspicuous feature of his life was its indomitable purpose."
THE WORLD'S SERIES OF 1912
BY JOHN B. FOSTER.
No individual, whether player, manager, owner, critic or spectator, who
went through the world's series of 1912 ever will forget it. There never
was another like it. Years may elapse before there shall be a similar
series and it may be that the next to come will be equally sensational,
perhaps more so.
Viewed from the very strict standpoint that all Base Ball games should
be played without mistake or blunder this world's series may be said to
have been inartistic, but it is only the hypercritical theorist who
would take such a cold-blooded view of the series.
From the lofty perch of the "bleacherite" it was a series crammed with
thrills and gulps, cheers and gasps, pity and hysteria, dejection and
wild exultation, recrimination and adoration, excuse and condemnation,
and therefore it was what may cheerfully be called "ripping good" Base
Ball.
There were plays on the field which simply lifted the spectators out of
their seats in frenzy. There were others which caused them to wish to
sink through the hard floor of the stand in humiliation. There were
stops in which fielders seemed to stretch like india rubber and others
in which they shriveled like parchment which has been dried. There were
catches of fly balls which were superhuman and muffs of fly balls which
were "superawful."
There were beautiful long hits, which threatened to change the outcome
of games and some of them did. There were opportunities for other
beautiful long hits which were not made.
No ingenuity of stage preparation, no prearranged plot of man, no
cunningly devised theory of a world's series could have originated a
finale equal to that of the eighth and decisive contest. Apparently on
the verge of losing the series after the Saturday game in Boston the
Giants had gamely fought their way to a tie with Boston, and it was one
of the pluckiest and gamest fights ever seen in a similar series, and
just as the golden apple seemed about to drop into the hands of the New
York players they missed it because Dame Fortune rudely jostled them
aside.
As a matter of fact the New York players were champions of the world for
nine and one half innings, for they led Boston when the first half of
the extra inning of the final game was played. Within the next six
minutes they had lost all the advantage which they had gained.
It was a combination of bad fielding and lack of fielding which cost the
New York team its title. And if only Mathewson had not given Yerkes a
base on balls in the tenth inning the game might not have been won, even
with the fielding blunders, but Mathewson was pitching with all the
desperation and the cunning which he could muster to fool the batter and
failed to do so.
Such sudden and complete reversal on the part of the mental demeanor of
spectators was never before seen on a ball field in a world's series.
The Boston enthusiasts had given up and were willing to concede the
championship to New York. In the twinkling of an eye there was a muffed
fly, a wonderful catch by the same player who muffed the
ball--Snodgrass--a base on balls to Yerkes, a missed chance to retire
Speaker easily on a foul fly, then a base hit by Speaker to right field,
on which Engel scored, another base on balls to Lewis and then the long
sacrifice fly to right field by Gardner, which sent Yerkes over the
plate with the winning run.
Before entering upon a description of the games it is appropriate to say
that the umpiring in this series was as near perfection as it could be.
It was by far the best of any since the series had been inaugurated. The
umpires were William Klem and Charles Rigler of the National League and
Frank O'Loughlin and William Evans of the American League.
FIRST GAME
New York, Oct. 8, 1912.
Boston 4, New York 3.
Hits--Off Wood 8; off Tesreau 5; Crandall 1.
Struck out--Wood 11; Tesreau 4; Crandall 2.
Bases on balls--Wood 2; Tesreau 4.
Attendance 35,722.
In the description of the games of the world's series only those innings
will be touched upon in which there were men on bases. Tesreau pitched
the opening game for New York and the first man to bat for Boston was
Hooper. Tesreau gave him a base on balls. The next three batters were
retired in succession. Devore and Doyle, the first two batters for New
York, were retired and Snodgrass hit cleanly to center field, the first
base hit in the series. Murray was given a base on balls, but Merkle
flied to short. In the second inning the Bostons started as bravely as
they had in the first, as Gardner, the first batter, was safe on
Fletcher's fumble. Stahl batted to Tesreau and Gardner was forced out.
Wagner was given a base on balls, after Stahl had been thrown out trying
to steal second, and Cady flied to Murray.
The Bostons started with a man on base in the third. Wood was given a
base on balls by Tesreau and Hooper sacrificed. Doyle threw Yerkes out
and Speaker was given a base on balls, but Lewis died easily on a weak
fly to short.
In New York's half of this inning the Giants scored twice. Tesreau,
first at bat, struck out. Devore was given a base on balls and Doyle
batted wickedly to left field for two bases. Snodgrass was fooled into
striking out, but Murray smashed the ball to center field for a single,
and sent two men over the rubber, Murray was caught at second trying to
get around the bases while Doyle was going home.
With one out Herzog hit safely in the fourth inning, but did not score.
In the fifth, with two out, Doyle batted safely, but failed to score. In
the sixth the Bostons made their first runs on Speaker's triple to left
field and Lewis' out. If Snodgrass, in making a desperate effort to
catch the fly, had permitted the ball to go to Devore the chances are
that Speaker's hit would have resulted in an out, so that New York lost
on the play.
Snodgrass was safe in the sixth on Wagner's fumble, but was doubled off
first when Murray drove a line hit straight to Stahl. The seventh was
the undoing of the Giants. With one out Wagner batted safely to center
field. Cady followed with another hit to the same place. Wood batted to
Doyle, who made a beautiful stop, but with a double play in hand, was
overbalanced and unable to complete it. That cost New York three runs,
although it was unavoidable. Cady was forced out, but Hooper hit to
right field for two bases sending Wagner and Wood home. Yerkes followed
with a clean hit to left field for a base and won the first game for
Boston with that hit.
In New York's half of the inning, with one out, Meyers was hit by a
pitched ball, but no damage was done other than to Meyers' feelings. In
the ninth Wagner batted Crandall for a two-base hit, Crandall having
been substituted for Tesreau in the eighth inning, as McCormick had
batted for Tesreau in the seventh. Cady made a sacrifice, but the next
two batters were easily retired.
Then began the exciting finish, and if the Giants had made but a single
more they probably would have begun the series with a victory instead of
a defeat. With one out Merkle batted the ball over second base for a
single and the spectators, who had started toward the exits, halted.
Herzog followed with a slow low fly to right field, which fell safely.
Meyers crashed into the ball for a two-bagger that struck the wall in
right field and the crowd began to believe that Wood had gone up in
"smoke."
The Boston players encouraged him with all their best vocal efforts, and
when Fletcher came to the plate Wood was using all the speed with which
he was possessed. It was evident that Fletcher's sole desire was to bat
the ball safely to right field, for if he did so, both of the runners
could cross the plate and the Giants would win. Twice he met the ball,
and both times it sailed in the right direction, but with no result, as
it was foul. Then he struck out. Crandall, perhaps one of the best pinch
hitters in the major leagues, also struck out, and the Boston
enthusiasts who were present fell back in their chairs from sheer
exhaustion, but when they had recovered, with their band leading them,
marched across the field and cheered Mayor Fitzgerald of Boston, who was
present as a spectator of the contest in company with Mayor Gaynor of
New York. Governor Foss of Massachusetts was also present at the opening
of the game. Klem umpired behind the bat in this game.
SECOND GAME
Boston, Oct. 9, 1912.
New York 6. Boston 6 (eleven innings).
Hits--Off Collins 9, off Hall 2; Mathewson 10.
Struck out--Collins 5, Bedient 1; Mathewson 4
Bases on balls--Hall 4, Bedient 1.
Attendance 30,148.