Omaha daily bee., 1919-09-22
new BIG LEAGUE
MAY Be FORMED
IF BAN STICKS
American League President
Must Be Forced Out or
Third Loop May Be
Organized.

New York, Sept. 2l-Threats
have been openly made that unless
Ban Johnson retires from the Amer
lean league, another base bali league
will be formed. Enough has de-
veloped in the Mays case to show
that Johnson is unfit and disquali-
lied on various counts from holding
office as president of the American
league. On his own admission Ben
Johnson is part owner in the
Cleveland club. He had concealed
that fact until it was drawn from
him during an inquiry into the Mays
case, and the manner in which John
son has been conducting the affairs
of the American league.
During the fight with the Federal
league Johnson denounced the inde-
pendent organization for just this
sort of thing. He grilled the Fed
erals on the ground that the league
represented syndicate base ball. Now
it develops that the Cleveland club
is a syndicate club, and that Ban
Johnson is one of the syndicate
owners.
Made Game Ridiculous.
One of the best-posted men in
base ball says. For years Ban
Johnson has been making the game
ridiculous because of his inordinate
vanity. He crowded himself into
the lirnelight that belonged to the
players. He assumed that the base
ball patrons were more interested
in the strutting and rawlings of
stout old gentleman than they were
in the game itself. Colonels Rup-
pert and Huston ofthe New York
Yankees have refused to compro-
mise with the old order that has
threatened the life and integrity of
base ball.
The developments in the Mays
case have shown that there is no
truce with pouter pigeonism and
the backstairs methods of Johnson
and his ilk. The Mays case is not
the primary cause Of the battle to
GUST Johnson. 1t is merely an in
cident.
The political inside of base bali
always has been petty larceny stuff
more or less. The maudlin mutter-
ings of certain magnates have bored
the fans time and again. The mag
mates place is in the back of the
ground, but the average magnate
does not know his place. With the
removal of Johnson or the curtail-
ment of his powers there will be
more base bali and less maudlin
magnates, which is a consummation
devoutly to be wished.
May Be Third League.
Unless organized base ball rids
itself of the stout octopus there is
more than a possibility that there
will be third big league. The men
behind the fight to GUST Ban john
son have the money and the courage
to enter upon this project. Also
they have some first-hand knowl-
edge of the Johnson methods in
trying to crush oppositions, which
coupled with a knowledge of base
ball and sincerity of purpose
should augur success. AND they
will have the base ball fans behind
them.
1t was Johnson who introduced
trust methods and trust talk into
base ball, making it more commerce
than sport. People are beginning
to distrust organized base ball as it
is being manipulated today. The
game itself is clean and has kept
free from scandal. There is no
reason why the management of base
ball should not be just as clean as
the game itself. The owners who
have thrown down the gauntlet to
Johnson will fight until it is. If
the old leagues cannot be cleansed
thev will start a new league.