Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-13

~
thing to lose a president of a
VI major base ball league. and
l. another to replace him. There
has been no president for the
American League except Ban Johnson
since 1t began to be an organization.
There may be half dozen presidents
within the next 10 years.
Johnson was the sort of man who
could hold his organization to himself
and maintain its prosperity with fac
tional disputes going on within its
circles for long term of years.
There had been no peace between
him and Comiskey of Chicago after
a personal quarrel between them, but
Comiskey could not get Johnson out
of the presidency. 1t was a man-to-
man fight, neither making the slight
est effort to show that he could agree
with the other.
When Johnson broke down physi-
cally in the Winter of 1925 Comiskey
was one of the first to express his
sorrow. But they were not reconciled
even then on questions relative to
base ball.
The more recent criticism of john
son came from clubs other than Chi
cago. There was doubt in American
League circles as to who was pres1-
dent of the organization. Some of the
club owners asserted that Frank
Navin still held the voting power that
had been intrusted to him by his or
ganization as acting president. and 1t
was rather evident that ultimately
there would come another clash with
Commissioner Lands as to whether
Johnson or Navin was the head OF
the American League.
johnson Changes Mind.
Johnson had no intention of giving
I'D his rights, feeling that he was once
more fit to assume the duties of office.
He had no intention of resigning the
presidency of the American League
when he left Chicago for the New
York meeting.
Probably he expected that some
clash would come up with certain
clubs because of his executive acts.
| The Athletics have been put out be-
cause johnson punished Cobb as he
| did. and Johnson has been all put out
| because of the player-writer syndicate
| letter, of which Cobb purported to be
| the author, that insulted the head OF
| the league in the minds of his friends.
| It was the most fragrant outbreak OF
| a player against a league executive
| in base ball history.
The Athletics not only insist that
the umpire was wrong in the dispute
| between them and Ormsby-the UNI.
| pire-but they maintain the punish
ment was too severe and knocked their
| team all out of plumb. That, how
ever, is not dissimilar to the stand
| taken by other clubs in major or
| CARNATIONS.
| A Case i'm Point.
| In asking johnson to retire the
! American League took much the same
| ground that the National League took
when Nick Young was relieved OF his
| duties as president.
| After the National League lost
| Young it wabbled around. Harry Pull
liam made a good president and intro
| duced reforms, but he got into the
never got out of it. His decision was
thoroughly honest, but there were
many Of his friends who thought it
was a bad time to apply a rule that
had not been in effect for 20 years.
Thomas J. Lynch was treated shah
billy by the National League. He was
| a good president, and he was side
| tracked because the club owners
| thought he lacked some polish and
education, which they lacked them
| selves.
Gov. Tener was practically fought
| out of the National League by Nc
| Graw, who beat him in every instance
| in which there was trouble between
the manager and the league.
John A. Heydler, with the expert.
| ence Of the Office at his command, has
confined himself solely to the execu'
tive duties asked of him, and has been
| so successful in his rulings that he
holds his own from year to year, to
| the great joy of the fans.