New-York tribune., 1920-10-01
Heydler W ants
Baseball Ruled
BY Outsiders
Continued from page ono)

NCoHt'Huoo from page oho)
must take in all minor leagues, and
have no doubt that 90 ner cent Of the
minor leagues would favor such a su
pervising power. They distrust the
National Commission as it exists and
do not blame them. They have rea
son to believe that the rulings of tho
present board arc not disinterestcd,
Suspicious of Commission
"The hclplessness OF the National
Commission in the present crisis
proves my contentious. When rumors
of the crookedness of the last worlds
series came to us VIC could not do
much without being suspected of hav-
ing ulterior motives Of some sort. They
might claim that we were prosecuting
ComiSkcy
"As a matter of fact, that was
charged As the commission stood at
the time it was composed of Ban John
son, president of the American League;
Garry HERMANN, owner of a National
League club and myself, president Of
the National League.
"If tNis investigation had been con-
duo by body of that sort there
would be all sorts of charges made
against US, no matter What we could
prove anything against this series. 1t
is the greatest good fortune that this
investigation is in the hands of those
men out in Chicago.
"They will see it through. | am
quite confident that before they finish
they will have the evidence to convict
the gamblers that caused all this,
those Shiny creatures who dragged
those players into the dust with their
talk of tho easy money to be made.
eve must do something quickly and
it must be no little thing to aid in
the rehabilitation Of baseball, but we
can do nothing with the present Ma
tional Commission. We must strengthen
the publics confidence in our sim
ccrity. l have enough work to do in
handling the affairs Of my own league.
| do not want to interfere with the
work of others
"The new ruling body is the only
preventive measure | can think of. Our
secrotivc policies have hurt US. | want
everything connected with baseball to
come out in the open hereafter. The
new ruling body of baseball must be
entirely frank and OPEN
No Row With Johnson
The president Of the National
desk as he recommended that he and
his colleagues be shorn of their abso-
Lutte power over big league baseball.
He did not say whether or not he had
consulted with Ban johnson in regard
to the revolution he advocated. But it
was the frankest interview that ever
was given out by a baseball magnate.
81 want to correct the impression
that Ban johnson and | had any quar-
rel over this Investigations he said.
AT first we both believed that the
series was on the level. Comiskey
himself sent for me after the second
game and said to me: John, | think
there is something the matter with my
team. These games look bad to me-
Il studied the games carefully and yet
could sec nothing suspicious about
them. | spoke to Ban Johnson about
Comiskey's fears, and he, like myself,
thought that the games were being
played on their merits. There was
delicate situation there, baseball poll
ties, Comiskcy and johnson not being
on speaking terms.
1T was not until midsummer that
johnson and I became convinced that
there was corruption in the worlds
series of 1919. We became convinced
after my investigation Of the case of
Lee Magce. But we could get nothing
tangible, no real evidence Then came
the reported fixing of the Cubs-Phillies
game and this grand jury came to the
rescue of baseball.
"lt is bitter to learn the truth, but
it is the salvation of baseball sat
with this grand jury, and if am any