New-York tribune., 1920-09-05
, I tile
Ch:arge1Ga'l,r1e l
Was .@Fixed" !" |
For Phillies
President Of Cubs Starts In4
vestigation After Tele-
grams Tell of Betting

CHICAGO, Sept. <.-Presfdent Willie
lam veeck Of the Chicago NstionsI
League Baseball Club issued stats-
men< this afternoon, saying that he
WAS advised last Tuesday afternoon
prior to the Cubs game with PhilAdsi,
phia that It was "fxsd" fer Philadels
phia to win.
Veeck gave out copies Of six tele%
grams received from Detroit, Cleveland
and Chicago prior to the game, all res
porting that It WAS "ixed" and stating
that thousands Of dollars were being
waeersd on Philadelphia by Chicaro
sharps. Ono Of the telegrains named
9 Chicago player, whose name was with.
held by Veeck for the present
Claude Hendrix was slated to pitch
Tuesday, II the four first string pitch-
srs had been used in their regular
order. Manager Fred Mitchell, how
ever, sent In Grove Cleveland Alex
ander, and Veeck said to-day that Ale1-
ander was offered q $500 bonus II he
Veeck said he would appoint q com.
msttee Of three Chicago baseball WRIT
ers to conduct an independent invssti-
CATION, and would give them money TO
employ detectives.
If the charges are proved we will
drive the guilty players out Of base~
ball, sven though it shatter the Cub
team," the Cub president declared.
veeck's statement follows:
ION last Tuesday, August 81, about
2 o'clock, I received the frst Of several
telegrams, the last Of which came to
hand at 2:45.
Switch In Pitchers
an the same period I received two
long-distance telephone calls: one from
. man who said his name was G, z,
Allen and was telephoning from De-
troit. The other was from Detroit, by
one who gave his name as J. II. Clinton.
81 Ledbury Avenue. Both reported
that large bets were being made on
Philadelphia.
~ Immediately got in touch with
Manager Mitchell. Our unfortunate ex-
perience Of last year (alluding to the,
Lee Magee affair) made US feel doubly
! responsible, and sitter conference
Mitchell and ! decided to pitch Alex
ander. though he had pitched but three
days before. We know that Alexander
is q man above all suspicion, and we
felt that with our premier pitcher In
the box we were doing all we could, IL
there were any foundation for tho
charges, to insure that this dastardly
conspiracy, if any such existed, be
thwarted..
~ personally sent for Alexander and
sketched the situation to him, offering
him q bonus Of $500 If he won. am
sure no man ever went into the boz
wanting to win more than did Alex
| snder."
Veeck said he arranged with q de-
IN
| the park to watch for anything that
might be interpreted a. suspicious, and
after the game instructed the detective
agency to locate the persons who sent
the telegrams. The detectives found,
| he said, that there was no such address
as est Ledbury Avenue, Detroit" and
no such man as ~. H. Clinton"
Veeck said the club would defray all
the expenses Of an investigation by
the Chicago sporting editors. and when
It was completed would ask Presidents
| directors Of the league to take action.
Cannot Locate Senders
Veeck pointed to the fact that all
the messages came within q space Of
| three quarters Of an hour, and that
any Of the senders. He suggested that
messages may themselves have been
part Of o gamblers plot to have him
switch pitchers at the last moment
and send Alexander in, in the expects-
ton that Alexander would win.
Two Of the kilograms. exactly alike
in wording, came from Detroit and Chi
cago, one being signed mitchell B:
Stevens" and the other "B. Stevens"
Claude Hendrix, the pitcher who was
displaced by Weeks decision to pitch
Alexander, was not taken to Pittsburgh
with the team, and is now here. He
denied to-day knowing anything about
the reported betting coup.
PITTSBURGH, Sept. AZ know
nothing whatever about this report
from Chicago concerning betting on
baseball in Detroit, except what l have
heard from the newspapers" said Nam
ager Mitchell, of the Chicago National
baseball club, here to-day.
II pitched Alexander the day in ques-
tion because wanted to win the game.
Meadows was pitching for Philadelphia,
and it takes a good man to beat him.
I understand the charge came origin
ally from Detroit "fan," who did not
sign his name to the letter. It seems
to me that il there was anything in
the charges, or he believed there was
anything in them, he would not have
neglected to put down his name"