The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-10-10
CAFFNEY WANTS BRAVES OR CASH
 PLEDGED TO HIM
Gives Present Owners Until Monday to Pay
 Indebtedness.

When the baseball races were shut down by the government on Septem- Der 1 of this year 1t was predicted that several big league clubs would be unable to withstand a period of war idleness and would go under f. nancially. The first crack is likely to take place in Boston, where the National League club is about to go on the rocks.
 James E. Gaffney, former owner of the club. said yesterday that he | would take back the franchise next Monday unless the present owners of the club met their obligations. There i is a considerable sum due GaffneY for rental of Braves Field, while the present owners also are behind in the payment of interest on bonds held by i Gaffney and associates.
 1 The Boston Nationals had been sail l ing along on half a rudder for some time and their finances were not in the best condition even before Gen. Crowder issued his famous Work or Fight" order.
 Percy Haughton resigned as presi- dent of the club to accept commits sian as Major in the chemical war i fare service. The club since then has been without a real executive, it's affairs having been left in the hands of Walter Hapgood, it's business man. l ager.
 The Boston Nationals are owned by a syndicate of New England bankers, who purchased the franchise from Gaffney in 1916, thinking they had made a great purchase. They soon discovered they had taken over a bloomer. The club lost money con- tinually from the time the new own CTS took charge and has been on the market for the last two years. But in these war times there are few baseball purchasers. Efforts were made to sell the club back to Gaff- ney at a considerable loss, but Gaff- ney would not buy it.
 Even during the 1917 season the
 financial difficulties of the Boston | club were common baseball gossip. ;The club continually struggled under it's big overhead charges. In his en-
 thusiasm over the 1914 Braves, which
 won the worlds series in four straight
 games from the then supposedly in-
 vincible Athletics, Gaffney built
 Braves Field, with it's 42,0OO seating
 capacity and immense playing field
 in Allston. Sta1lings had promised tc
 win the championship for the next
 five years after that.
 When Gaffney sold the club in 191G
 he retained possession of Braves
 Field and was paid a big rental. wltr
 the high salary paid Stallings and the increased operating costs in base
 ball the clubs indebtedness to Calf.
 ney grew continually, so that the clut now is on the point of reverting to its former owner.
 Gaffney was one of the few men tC make a big financial success of base l ball in recent years. He bought the club in 1913 when it was an habitua \ tail ender and had fallen to it's low . est ebb in the estimation of Bostor
 fandom. By winning the worlds ser ies in 1914 with club that was las 7 in midseason, the club almost over l night became one of the best drawing ) cards in baseball.
 On Labor Day, 1914. playing witt : the Giants at home, the club pcayet l to over 7O,O0O people in morning ant 2 afternoon games, using the Americal l League grounds at Fenway park
 When the club was sold in 1916 Calf ney and his associates were saida t r have received double the amount the, l paid for it.
 P In the event that Gaffney get
 back in the National League he ia vors complete house cleaning. H believes that when baseball come , back after the war it needs a nev set of governors to regain it's hold ol ;, the public.
 Especially does he favor the reor
 ganization of the National Commis
 sion and would faYor a one man com
 mission He also believes the Ma
 tional League made bad blunder i , permitting the resignation of John K : Tener as it's president. He consider
 Tener the strongest president tn ., league vet has had and a man it can .- not replace.