The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-12-30
BY FRANK G. MENKB

If you have any tears to shed, let |
EN- fall upon the silvering dome OF
Frank Chance. For there is the man
who is to be tested as to his greatness
as baseball leader-without a SEEM
ing earthly chance for success.
Through more than Is years Chance
has been termed the peerless leader.
And through just so long stretch of
time, while his admirers termed him
truly great, there were others who
maintained that he is infinitely lack
ing in real leadership ability, and
that what transpired while he was at
the helm of the Chicago Cubs was
not of his making.
1.-THE worst dub in the world could
have managed the Cubs of 1906, 1907
and 1908 into championships declare
the critics of Chance. When he as
sumed management of the club he fell
| heir to one of the greatest collections
of ball players that ever fought under
one standard. This gathering of such
/ wonderful talent was due to Frank
| Selee, who preceded Chance, and who
| had spent several years in building it
up to pennant heights
! Deposed Near Success.
Unfortunately for Selee he was
! deposed Just at a time when success
was to crown his efforts And to
Chance came the fruits of victory and
the glory of triumph. They have Civ
en- Chance credit for what the Cubs
performed, but it wasn't Chance who
did it. 1t was Selee who. first of ALL
i welded together the Cub machine.
and it was the machine itself. smooth
running, tremendously powerful, and
with an irresistible force that steam
rolled the opposition"
Chance retired from the manage
ment of The Cubs in 1912. A year
later he took the helm of the New
j York Yankees. Great things were
expected from him by the club own
ers-and by the admirers of Chance.
They insisted that he would prove to
i the world there and then that he
was a genius in the matter of club
leadership.
But Chance was bust. The Yam
KEGS could do no better than a ter
rible seventh in the race of 1913, and
4 in midseason of 1914 were Laundering
around so badly that Chance quit in
i disgust. He declared that he did not
have decent material to work with,
and that his efforts to build up ball
club were severely handicapped by
criticism of an unkind and unwar-
ranted nature from many sources.
Good, Then Bad
i So that made things about 50-5O IN
/ relation to Frank Chance. He was
wonder with the Cubs-took rank
among the greatest team pilots OF all
time He was fearful flivYer at the
helm of the Yankees, which tallure
might have been due to his lack or
natural leadership, ability; or 1t might
have been due to many other causes
beyond his control.
Chance faded from the big league
picture after 1914 and has been out
of baseball for eight years. Through
all that onrush of time there has
ever been within hi mthe ambition to
get one more chance as team lead
er SO that he could demonstrate to
the skeptics that, given q fair break,
he could lift even mediocre outfit
J to lofty heights in the baseball world.
The opportunity has come to Chance
but what terrible opportunity it
is! He is to manage the Boston Red
Sox in 1928 No more hopeless task
: ever confronted any team leader 1t
! is 1000 to / against Chance winning
: a pennant and it is 100 to / that his
team will do anything beyond the pa
thetic.
If, by some seeming miracle, the
Red Sox should put on squirt in
1923, upset the dope bucket, and be-
come either a menace or factor IN
the penant race, then Frank Chance
surely will have earned claim not
! merely as peerless leader" but as
superman of baseball.
Backed by Club
For he is backed up now with a
club owned by man whose prime
purpose in baseball seems to be to
dispose of every good ball player that
: he gets on the auction block This
Harry Frazee, through sales covering
period of years, has so completely
wrecked and demoralized a once
, great baseball club that it is prac
( nk0NFNIr nTrFETrn