Evening star., 1942-10-22
Fans Still Come
Brooklyn
Official Says
Hickey, Deemed Ideal
HeImsmun, Believed
Directors Choice
BY JUDSON BAILEY,


NEW YORK, Oct. 22.-If any fol-
lowers of the Brooklyn Dodgers are
worried about who will be the new
president and general manager, it
may comfort them to know that the
fans still are going to run the show.
This was the promise made today
by James A. Mulvey, vice president
and member of the Board of Di-
rectors, who has been most active in
the search for a successor to 1t.
Col. Larry MacPhail.
There are just two ways to oper-
ate ball club" he asserted. "One
is to run it for personal profit; the
other is to give the fans what they
want, regardless of what return the
management receives.
Our club has been run for the
fans ever since MacPhail took over
the job. That is the way it will
continue to be.
Some clubs show a profit by being
able to sell off star players each
year. But we would rather buy a
player for 100000 than sell one for
100000.
Obligated to Please Fans.
"As a matter of fact, operating a
ball club is an obligation, not a
privilege. We are obligated to give
the fans of Brooklyn as good a team
as we can produce. Then the mat
ter of a return on our investment
will take care of itself"
Mulvey said the other directors
supported this view wholeheartedly,
Actually four directors share in
the conduct of the club, whose stock
originally was split SO per cent to
Charles Ebbetts and Is per cent each
to the McKeever brothers, Stephen
and Edward. The Ebbets and Nc
keeVers are dead and the stock is
owned by many heirs, in some cases
tied up in trust and as security for
| loans.
Mulvey is the husband of Stephen
Mckeever's daughter. He took no
part in the direction of the club till
his father-in-law died four wears
ago, but now has become a spokes-
man for the directors. The others
on the board are Joseph Gilleadeau.
husband of one of the Ebbets
daughters; George Barnewall, vice
president of the Brooklyn Trust
Co.. the Dodgers principal creditors
before MacPhail solved the clubs
financial chaos, and William L,
Hughes. an attorney representing
the estate of Mrs. Edward Nc
Keever.
One Of Baseballs Best Jobs.
I'm our setup," explained Mulvey,
where none of the actual owners
has a controlling interest, the only
way TO operate is through an in
termedlary, as We did with Mac
Phall. We must have a man who
has had actual experience direct
ing and controlling a ball club.
1t is an important job, one OF
the best in baseball. We do not
want one who will stand idle
even during the war We do not
want some one who will be salts
ned to carry on with just any kind
OF ball players because they are 40
years old and have three children
so that they are exempt from the
draft.
1--WE want man who will look
ahead to the time when baseball
blossoms out again after the war
A club that goes to sleep now and
lets its strength run down will
need several years after the war to
get up speed again.
For that reason we don't expect
to let our selection of a man slide
along. We hope to have a presi-
dent without any great delay"
Hickey Sees Directors.
The man who apparently meets
Mulvey's qualifications is Branch
Kicker, sr., vice president of the
St. Louis Cardinals, whose Cardinal
contract expires December 81, end
ing an association that began in
1917.
Hickey was here yesterday to
confer with the directors and al
though none of the parties concerned
would discuss his candidacy, Rickey
said he hoped to know something
definite within the next week"