The Washington herald., 1922-11-23
By FRANK G. MENKE.
(copyright. 1891, King Features
Syndicate. Incl


his undesirability.
Mays has been one of the out
standing trouble makers in base
ball. He was accused of having
wrecked the morale of the Red Sox
and nearly duplicating the stunt
with the Yankees. He precipitated
the only internal strife that the
American League has ever known.
And. in the matter of salary hold
ups. Mays never had an equal
Mays. with his freakish subway
delivery, always was a good pitcher
-at times a great one. None can
take that away from him. But
Mays Is perhaps the toughest loser
the game has ever known and one
Of the most fervently hated men in
diamond annals. 1t wouldn't re-
quire the use of many fingers to
count up his total Of baseball
friends.
HE HATES HIMSELF.
II he's winning Mays is like moss
winners-cheerful enough and not
so hard to endure, except that
Mays has the dainty little habit
of taking about ninety-nine per
cent of the credit to himself.
But when involved in a losing
struggle, the temper of Mays us
ually becomes uncomfortable. IL
q batsrnan wallops out a hit. MAYS
flies into a rage-and has the
habit of blaming one or another Of
his mates
He may abuse the catcher for
calling for a ball which the batter
happened to hit-or blame an in
fielder for not killing off the drive.
1t doesn't occur to him that maybe
it's his fault for delivering a ball
which wasn't deceiving a batsman.
Mays was known among the
players as a vicious loser while with
the Red Sox. The public didn't
become jerry to it until after the
Sox faded from glory and became
a second division outfit. And then
1t got its knowledge through Mays
desertion Of the club.
He quit it cold when he found
II couldn't win newer pennants and
pro ride him with world series
money. When he left the team a
wave of anger and resentment
surged through Boston fandom. 1t
came to despise Mays as it de-
spised no other man that ever
wore a Boston uniform.
SOLD FOR $4,000.
When Harry Frazee. owner of
the Sox, became convinced that
Mays wouldn't rejoin the team, he
sold him TO the Yankees for SAC, 1000.
Then came the split within the
American League. For Ban John
L,
able. He had placed the pitcher on
the Suspended list when he de-
serted. The baseball laws specify
that no suspended player can be
sold or traded. Therefore the deal
was void.
Frazee then declared war on
johnson. The Yankee owners
lined up with him. So did Charlie
Comiskey of the White Sox. The
Yanks wanted Mays. Each had
reason. Frazee wanted the $4,000.
The Yanks wanted Mays. And Co
miskey, an enemy of Johnson's for
several years. wanted help in fight
ing the American League chieftain.
The war was dragged into the
civil courts. Then, as a climax,
a. was deemed necessary to hire
some one of power and with pres
tige to rule the game and save 1t
from disruption. That's when X.
NJ Lands was hired at S50.000 a
year.
BECAME A HOLD-OUT.
Mays pitched great baseball for
the Yanks in 1921. He was the
outstanding pitcher of the year
Thereupon he took advantage of
what might be called an oppor-
tunity and became a sort of hold
out. The contract which he had
with the Yanks was said to en-
brace 1922 at a salary Of $4,000
a year.
But Mays announced he wouldn't
report for that sum. He demanded
more mopey-and a new contract
He got ft-but not before his ac-
tions had alienated most of the
esteem in which the Yankee own
eTs held him.
Then came 1922-and the down.
fall of Mays as a singing star.
His work throughout was erratic
Once a pitching ace, he became a
two spot. Once an insurmountable
barrier to enemy batting, he be-
came custard pudding. And, in
addition to all that. his fits Of
temper, his outbursts of rage. his
petty fault finding. made life a
miserable proposition for Miller
Huggins.
The conduct of Mays came about
as close to cracking the morale
of the team as any human agency
could.
In view of all that should there
be any real wonderment over the
fact mat the owners of fourteen
of the fifteen big league clubs
which had the chance to grab Mays
for the waiver price, shook their
domes and murmured:
''Nix-nixr'
WHITE SOx SEEK HIM.
BLOOMINGTON, ILL.,, Nov. 2s,-