Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-02
WARD SEEMS PEEvED
At BAN AND GARRY
New York Man Goes After
Pair Again, But Uses Rather
Weak Ammunition.


nature of interviews and. statements COM
ing out of New York since the base ball
meetings closed, one is led to infer that
John NJ. Ward is somewhat peeved.
writes Joe Jackson in the Detroit Free
Press. This impression grows with each
new broadside, despite the fact that the
defeated candidate. who certainly should
know, said after Lynch was chosen that
he himself was perfectly satisfied with
the outcome, and that he was never really
so hot about landing the job.
Ban Johnson and Garry Hermann,
who jointly jolted the Ward aspirations.
and who were principally impelled to
their course because they were a little
uncertain as to what might happen to
the Cincinnati mantle chairman being
chosen by the two other members of the
commission-should Ward be elected presi-
dent of the National League and thus
qualify for a place on the board. john
son was the outside man in the Ward
onslaught, and Hermann attended to the
doings inside.
In New York recently Ward issued his
latest statement, which is to the effect
that the two men named have been fiSur-
ing for several years on ways and means
of switching from two eight-club leagues
to one twelve-club league, and that they
still have the project in mind. and fire.
quently discuss it. With Mr.. Ward a
member of the commission, and around.
this, naturally, would not be good sub
ject to gossip over.
Says Ban Was After Commy.
At the same time Ward started after
Johnson alone, and said that he knew
why Johnson and Comiskey fell out a
few years ago. and got their whole league
fused up because of their troubles. His
story is that Johnson, for some reason,
was anxious to get Comiskey out of the
league, and offered him $4,000 in cash
If he would dispose of his Chicago fran
chise. Comiskey refused. was angered,
and started to make war on the league
leader.
Neither charge is of startling nature,
and both would be dismissed without con-
sideration were they made at any but the
dullest season of the year in base ball af-
fairs. The twelve-club thing is an old
story. 1t was brought up before the cleo
ton, it being claimed then that Cincinnati
and Pittsburg, and possibly other clubs.
would bolt if Ward were chosen, and
would go into the American League. The
best answer to the twelve-club proposition
is the action taken by the American
League at New York, where it named a
committee to draw an agreement that will
bind the present eight members to oper-
ate as an association for twenty years.
Nobody with money invested in base
ball pines for an unwieldy twelve-club
league, and all club owners agree that
there is more money in the game with
two leagues in action, keeping each other
on edge, than when competition Is sti1ed.
Might Be Consequence, Not Cause.
That Johnson ever tried to buy out
Comiskey Is absurd on it's face. The
while the feud was on. and an attempt
to get the stock would be possible as a
result of the trouble but not worth con-
sideration as a cause. About the time
that the trouble between the two men
started the Chicago club was a pretty
valuable piece of property and an offer
of $4,000 for franchise and players would
be no great inducement Comskey can
make more than that in any good year
Twice last season there were offers of
100000 for a half interest in an Ameri-
can League club in a city much smaller
than Chicago, and for a team that has
never had the success of the Sox. Base
ball values have been going up by leaps
and bounds, but some years have elapsed
since Il Chicago franchise and PLAYERS
were held at the price named. Charlie
Murphy's first year with the Cubs was
1906, and his hacker, Charles p Taft.
paid either $lOJ,OOO or $4,000, getting the
property cheap. 1t has made more than
the purchase price in single season
since Murphy got it.
Ward naturally feels sore over his de-
feat, and especially over the fact that a
man outside of the National League took
a hand in the fight. But he must dig I'D
better stuff to make an impression.