The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-12-20
HEYDLER TO DECIDE FATE OF
 HAL CHASE

Having defined his foreign policy i when he announced he could not
 concur with the American League in
 fayoring the reelection of August
 Hermann to the chairmanship of the 1 National Commission, John Heydler,
 the new National League president,
 now is busily engaged in straighten- 1 ing out the domestic affairs of his circuit.
 Heydler is making an exhaustive in l vesttgation of the charges filed
 against Hal Chase, the Cincinnati first baseman, by Christy Mathewson
 of the Reds. Mathewson suspend | ed Chase for the season last August
 and accused Hal of betting against l Cincinnati. Before Heydler was
 elected president of the National
 League he did not feel he had the
 authority to deal with the Chase case.
 Heydler would not discuss the details
 of the case yesterday other than to
 say that he is examining all of the evidence submitted to the league.
 The National League president is
 giving Chase every opportunity to
 defend himself However, the fact
 that a manager of Mathewson's in
 tegrtty has seen fit to file these
 charges against Chase makes it look
 bad for the former Hilltop favor
 ite.
 ] Heydler today left for Boston, where
 he will attempt to put the house of
 the Braves in order. Despite the fact
 that Arthur Wise recently settled up
 with James Gaffney for heav notes the
 former Brave owner held against the
 club the Boston Nationals are moving around without a rudder and without any executive head.
 The club has had no president since Percy Haughton resigned last August to accept a commission as major in
 the Chemical Warfare Service. It is , doubtful if HaUghton will return to l the presidency of the Braves on his = return from France. He received Q , salary of S15,0O0 with the Boston l club, as his fame in Boston as coach ] of the Harvard football team was eX- f pected to make him a, great asset to s the club. However, the experience 0 of the Boston club has been that a i great football reputation possessed by
 a club president will not help bring in 3 fans when the team is losing Al The Boston club will probably un- Il dergo the same kind of a reorganiza- H ton that the Cincinnati club went If through the other day. While Arthur Il Wise and his banker associates paid II Gaffney, they did so to protect theil H rights to the franchise, as Gaffney i1' had threatened to forecIose on then
 and take back thee lub If prospec- l Nf+ ST,1 4Iah 1N1rE ent owners willingly would step out
 HEYDLTR TO-Sports Take Three
 walter Hapgood, a former Bostor z baseball writer, wEo has been busi N ness manager of the club for severa A years probably will be elected pres
 Ident. Since the resignation O
 Haughton he has been the active al head of the club.
 ss Both George Stallings, manager 0 " the Braves, and Charley Herzog, tn a- Boston captain, were in town durinI d the recent league meetings trying t r. ascertain where they stood for 1919. 1e While here Herzog said he hat al signed a two year contract last sprin ts but received his unconditional re nt lease last fall. He now wants t
 know whether the contract is bindin t. in 1919.
 lv My recollection of the Herzog con ,d tract is that it was for one year an Id ran out last fall" said Presideh ,n HeydIer yesterday. q recall tha es Herzog signed a contract with tn SC Boston club last spring, with the te he day clause stricken out. Presider id Tener, however, refused to honor thi r. contract, as the league constitutio H. now stipulates that no clubs ma of change the regular form of contract
 selected by both leagues. I think tn r- Boston club took over Herzog's Ne7 m York contract, which had anOthe re year to run.'
 Iv. The question was put to Heydle Ii- that if a player with a long term cor ga tract was released last Septembe he would the contract hold good fC +o 1919, provided the original contra no took in that year? There are vel
 few long term contra in existence ,c- said Heydler, "but in the event thI ks a player signed a two year contrar ,d last spring and was released with II ,ss other players when we were shl no- down by the War Department, it nv my understanding the original col ed tract would hold good in 1919. ars Baseball had a recess due to coI
 ditions over which we had no col af- trol, but the professional game col ha tinued in operation. The leagu ew continued in operation and the NJ rn tional Commission was functionin ri- After this recess conditions returnt itb to what they were before the 'woI Ter or fight order shut down baseba ,en Options contracts and other thin
 therefore automatically go back lit- force"