The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-12-11
BAN JOHNSON RIDES
 INTO OFFICE ATOP THE STEAM ROLLER
Cries of Liar" ''Wrecker" and "Egoist" Feature the Meeting of American
 League Club Owners
By A..seIa,.d Pt.,,

1st0ct1te0
 New York, December 10.-Amcri-
 can league baseball club owners,
 flanked by n squad of attorneys.
 battled for some hours here today
 in their annual meeting and when
 the session ended President B. B.
 Johnson was surrounded by new
 board of directors favorable to his
 policies. The insurgent clubs were
 outSoted on every proposition that
 came before the meeting, but went
 down fighting and serving sum
 naonses which promise to carry
 the disputed points into courts.
 where final decisions may not he
 reached for months.
 A resolution to elect new president in place of Johnson was defeated five points to three and the new board of directors, consisting of Frank Navin. Detroit Ben Minor Washington. Thom- as Shibe, Philadelphia, and P. D. Ball. St, Louis, was elected by the same vote. Navin was selected as vice president in like manner, the Cleveland. St Louis, Philadelphia, Washington and Detroit clubs voting in the affirmative and the Boston, Chicago and New York clubs against A resolution to play a sched- ule of 154 games in 1920 was virtually all the baseball business transacted from the standpoint of the average fol- lower of the game.
 The meeting or the Ieague was
 nm uproarious one, and fragments
 of acrimonious debate seeped
 through the doors to the amuse-
 ment of eavesdroppers who were
 attracted to the corridors of the
 hotel by the sounds of battle. Out
 bursts in which "egotfst," "liar,''
 "wrccker. and similar terms were
 used occurred frequently.
 The confusion was followed by what the outside congregation called an "ominous calm" and when the session finally ended President Johnson was the first to leave. quickly followed by his supporters The so-called "insur- gents" remained for consultation with their attorneys. They said the fight would be continued and that President Johnson had been served with sum- monses in three legal actions.
 The resolutions adopted by the out going board of directors referred gen. orally to the Pitcher Cari Mays case, the cause of the split in the league ranks. and the duties and actions of Johnson as president.
 Before the National league club own CTS concluded their annual meeting here today Chairman Hermann of the na- tional commission stated that he was willing to resign from that position, which he has held for several years.
 Thirty days hence,' he said, If con- ditions exist as they do today with five men in the American league favoring my retaining the office and 10 club owners in both major leagues opposed to it, I will resign so as to relieve the situation. President Heydler said that the unani- nous sentiment of the National league was in favor of appointing a committee to consider a new agreement with the minor leagues.
 MT. Heydler will appoint a committee, with this object in view, to act with a committee f pm the American league. These two committees are to invite a committee from the minors to joint meeting which is to be held next Feb- ruary wherever the American league de- cides to hold it's annual schedule meeting. Every club owner went on record as being opposed to freak pitching, such as the sRtball. and a recommendation was made to the joint rules committee to this effect, but to avoid doing an injustice to any of the old pitchers who use the spitball it was decided that they should be exempt.