Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-04
MURPHY NOT WISE
Could Have Sold Chance to
Farrell for $4,000.
LOCKE, TOO, WANTED HIM
National League Men Sore That
Peerless Leader Got Out
of League. :.
LOCKE, TOO, WANTED HIM

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, Janary 4.-Practical base
ball men who have no axes to grind have
inquired it out that Charles Webb Murphy
or the Cubs allowed an opportunity to
make $4,000 to slip away in order to
vent his spite when he sold Frank
Chance to August Hermann for 81 500.
Murphy could have sold Chances release
to Frank ]. Farrell for $4,000 last sum-
mer, for Farrell stated then, without
reserve, that If it were possible he would
readily pay that much money to place
the Peerless Leader in charge of the
Highlanders. If Murphy had controlled
his temper and had retained Chance on
the Cubs roster, even after he had ap-
pointed John ]. Evers manager. he could
have sold the p. l.. to w. II. Locke S
syndicate, which will take hold of the
Philadelphia National League club on or
before January 10.
Locke less than two weeks ago asked
Hermann and Murphy in Cincinnati if
there wasn't some way the Philadelphia
club could secure Chance. 1t is said
that Locke was ready to pay Hermann
a good round sum for Chances release
providing Hermann would declare off
the deal to transfer the P. l.. to the New
York Americans. Locke is said to have
appealed to Charles P. Taft for aid, but
was informed by Hermann that the
waiver on Chance secured from President
Wiler of the Quakers could not be
ignored. There isn't a doubt, therefore.
that if Chance now was the property Of
the Cubs Locke would readily agree TO
pay $4,000 to Murphy for the noted
managers release. or that he would be
willing to hand over to the CUBS SeVera!
of the Philadelphia clubs best players.
But Murphy. eager to humiliate Chance,
was willing to sell him to Hermann Tor
the paltry sum of $500, which was cal
culated to create the impression that
Chance as manager or PLAYER was a
worthless investment Summing up the
big three-cornered deal. base ball men
say that Murphy actually let Chance. a
PENTHOUSE nd dollar manager. and Tinker,
ten-thousand-dollar s'hortstop. go to the
Reds for five players and 81 800. The hve
players-Mitchell, Phelan, knlsely. Corrl-
don and Notwithstanding $4,000 paid
by Hermann for Corridor, would have
cost Murphy about $4,000 at the most.
SO that the owner of the Cubs came out
at the little end of the horn. The Cubs
have an experimental manager in Evers
and nobody to compare with Tinker as a
ShortstOp.
Murphy will be wholly to blame If
the Cubs fail to keep near the top this
season." said a National League club
owner the other day. Contrary TO the
impression he created Chance is in good
health and will continue to prove his
worth as a manager when he gets the
Highlanders in smooth working order.
The National League as a whole now
realizes that it was u fierce mistake to let
Chance get away, and that Murphy s
short-Sighted policy probably will prove
boomerang in Chicago. You cannot
blame Hermann for swinging the Chance
deal for the American League He saw
an opportunity to strengthen the Reds
and he didn't care what it cost He was
the man of the hour when the crisis ar
rived because he was smart enough to
buy Chance from Murphy at the waiver
price. If Hermann hadn't been tipped Off
by Farrell and Johnson to claim Chance
Murphy would have carried out his plan
to ship his former manager to the woods,
no say In the matter. The American
League simply outwitted Murphy, who
has put his own club and league in the
hole
President Lynch. it appears. firmly be-
lieved for some time that Murphy had a
logical reason for disposing of Chance
and that personal spite cut no figure.
Lynch refused to be convinced that Muir
ply would let Chance go for $1,000 I'M
less the former Cub manager had lost
his grip. But recently, it is said, Lynch
has seen a great light and is now Won
dering, with other National League men,
how it became possible for Chance to
hop into the Ban Johnson circuit with
all of the National League club owners
eyes wide open.