New Britain herald., 1919-01-31


III Grub charges Chase
s$f,1A of section 40 OF the
aeagNe constitution, which
s<ss slrdea Nhe heading "CroOked-
ID and Its PeAalties," and calls FOR
"a penalty of permanent disqualified
zion from baseball for any offender
found guilty.
Accused Of Violating Section 40.
Section 40 reads as follows: Amy
person who shall be proven guilty of
Offering, agreeing, conspiring or at
tempting to cause any game of ball
to result otherwise THAI on its merits
under the playing rules, shall be for
ever disqualified by the president of
the league from acting umpire,
manager or PLAYER or in any other
CAPACITY in any game of ball partici-
patcd il by a league club"
Chase was we'll defended at the
hearing. He had three lawyers, a
clerk and q stenographer. All re-
manned through both sessions of the
hearing. Rudolph l.. Cherurg looked
after Chase'S interests. He was as
sisted by ]. Franklin Tausch and
Harry Cheriet, other attorneys.
John Conway Toole, attorney of the
National league acted as counsel and
| adviser to John Heydler.
The witnesses called by the Cincin-
! natl club were A. Earle Neale of Par
, -kersburg, ". Va. outfielder of the
Reds; James ]. Ring OF Brooklyn,
| pitcher for the Reds; Michael j. Re-
| gan of Phoenix, n. Y, another pitcher
| for the Reds, and John J. McGraw,
! manager Of the Giants.
William Perritt the Giant pitcher,
also had been summoned to attend
| the hearing, but he wrote IIeydler
! from his plantation near Shreveport,
| La, that it would be impossible for
| him to attend. Affidavits were read
| from Perrftt also from Christopher
| MatheWaon, who still is in France as
| q member of the expeditionary forces.
l. O. DePasse and l.. E. Rich, local
business men, and Sid Mercer, a New
York sporting writer were called by
Chase's attorney as character wit
nesses for the first baselnan.
| There were no representatives of
| the Cincinnati club present, despite
the fact that the clubs executives are
responsible for Halls being tried.
Heydler explained this by saying:
The Cincinnati club made formal
charges against Chase that he vio1at-
ed section 40 of the National league
constitution and the club submitted
evidence to that effect. 1t was: up to
| me as president Of the league to take
up the charges of the Cincinnati
club, carefully, examine the evidence
submitted to me and render de-
cision.'
McGraw Gives Evidence.
Despite the fact that John McGraw
| was called by the league as a witness
againt Chase, McGraw intimated that
had q very strong case against the
PLAYER.
McGraW was asked to repeat a con-
versation he had with Perritt when
| the Giants played their last series of
| the season in Cincinnati last July, IN
| which Chase is alleged to have told
| Perritt that Chase would make it
| worth his while if Perritt used spe-
| cial efforts to win that game.
| Chase also is supposed to have
| made Jimmy Ring, the Brooklyn
pitcher, u present of SIS after he lost
| a game. Chase's defense is that the
! money was merely a gift.
| Earle Neale, the Cincinnati out,
| fielder, was the leading witness for
| She Cincinnati club. He repeated
| several conversations Chase had with
| other players, these conversations be-
\ ING TO 1ndSo O1SddNdnCaSo. A0aSo,
| en- the other hand, contends that
| Neale was the head of a clique on
| the Cincinnati club which chad it in
| Cor Chase, and that Neale lost no OPP
| portunity to make things unpleasant
| for him.
| It also was charged against Chase
| that he tried to influence Pitcher
| Mike Regain.
| Chase's defense was that the charges
| against him were absurd, that he has
| been in baseball since 1905, longer
| than any regular player in the game,
| and that no charge of dishonesty ever
| had been made against him prior to
| the present one. Chase entered his
| batting and fielding averages in the
! three years he played in Cincinnati
! into the records showing his hitting
was better with the Reds than with
| any major league teams he has
! played. Chase pointed out that he led
the league in hitting in 1916, and that
| despite the fact that evidence was
submitted that he did not give his
best efforts last season he hit .301 it
/ being only the fifth time in his four
teen years in the big leagues that he
! hit above 800.