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| Ban Takes Manhattan An Excerpt from Major Leagues: The Formation, Sometimes Absorption and Mostly Inevitable Demise of 18 Professional Baseball Organizations, 1871 to Present by David Pietrusza |
| After the 1902 season, jumping to the American League continued. Brooklyn outfielder “Wee Willie” Keeler, Brooklyn pitcher “Wild Bill” Donovan, Cincinnati outfielder Sam Crawford, Boston pitcher Vic Willis, Pittsburgh pitchers Jack Chesbro and Jesse Tannehill, Pirates catcher Jack O’Connor and Pittsburgh infielders “Wid” Conroy and Tommy Leach all signed with Johnson’s league. Even Christy Mathewson and catcher Frank Bowerman were hopping from the Giants to the Browns. The N.L. would later win contract disputes and retain Willis, Leach, Mathewson and Bowerman. The American League’s invasion of Manhattan was now—minus John McGraw—about to occur. Obtaining a field in Manhattan was always the major issue delaying the incursion, as Andrew Freedman enjoyed considerable favor from the local politicians, so much so that any site considered would soon have a street cut through it by the city fathers. In December 1902 Johnson located a promising site bordered by 142nd and 145th streets, Lenox Avenue and the Harlem River. It was, moreover, near a new station of the Interborough Rapid Transit subway. Johnson’s agents convinced John B. McDonald. an IRT contractor, to purchase the land and lease it to the A.L. McDonald persuaded financier August Belmont II to come aboard. However, an IRT director—one Andrew Freedman—soon killed the plan. “You know that I am out of baseball, having sold my controlling interest in the New York club to Mr. Brush,” gloated Freedman to the press in early January 1902, “but you may quote me as saying that someone has been stringing these Western fellows all along.” That situation was changing, however, and fast. On February 18, 1902, the estate of one Josephine Peyton had auctioned off 12 parcels of land for $377,800 to John J. Byrne, a nephew of “Big Bill” Devery. Devery, one of the Big Apple’s foremost gamblers, was a very active Democrat in Manhattan’s Ninth District, and a former city police chief. Devery soon was in business with Frank Farrell, another major operator. Ex-saloonkeeper Farrell owned 250 pool halls in the city and was closely connected to “Boss” Sullivan, an even greater star in New York’s underworld firmament. Coal dealer Joseph Gordon, acting as front man for Farrell and Devery, approached Johnson, telling him his group could easily arrange for a park to be built if given a franchise. Devery and Farrell paid $18,000 for the Baltimore franchise and installed Gordon as president. Devery’s name was missing from those listed as stockholders, although it was well-known he had contributed approximately $100,000 to the enterprise. “Me a backer!” Devery modestly, if somewhat dishonestly, exclaimed. “I only wished I did own some stock in a baseball club. I’m a poor man and don’t own stock in anything. Besides, how could I pitch a ball with this stomach?” That’s one version of the story. Frank Graham in The New York Yankees tells another. According to sportswriter Graham, Johnson and his new ownership group were brought together by the New York Sun’s Joe Vila. Vila had known Johnson since the A.L. president’s own sportswriting days and introduced him to Frank Farrell. Farrell was more than eager to purchase the Baltimore franchise, although Johnson was unsure about his prospective new club owner. His reticence evaporated when Farrell produced a $25,000 check and handed it over to Johnson, proclaiming, “Take this as a guarantee of good faith. If I don’t put this ballclub across, keep it.” “That’s a pretty big forfeit,” replied an amazed Johnson. “He bets that much on a horse race, Ban,” Vila informed him. In any case the deal was made between the American League and its somewhat shady triumvirate. For $75,000 in actual construction costs (plus $200,000 in excavating the rocky, hilly terrain) rickety, wooden, 16,000-seat park was constructed. A local Democratic politico, Thomas McAvoy, received contracts for both phases. A full 500 workmen went to work, excavating 12,000 cubic yards of bedrock, replacing it with 30,000 cubic yards of fill. On May 30, 1903, the Highlanders opened before 16,243 fans and defeated Washington 6-2 behind “Happy Jack” Chesbro. To help shore up the weak New York roster—which after all had finished dead last in Baltimore—Ban Johnson dispatched reinforcements. Clark Griffith, his pitching career winding down, would manage. Outfielder “Wee Willie” Keeler was lured from Brooklyn for a sizable sum. “I signed Keeler myself,” boasted Johnson, “and I found him an easy man to deal with.” The strengthened club would finish a respectable fourth in 1903. |
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| Big Bill Devery |