Evening star., 1954-10-18

y6Stcrudy are, SeaGcu IEOm lcI'
Standing, left to right are: RI
Lehman, Isadore Sley, John
Athletics
Continued From Page A-19J
$3.50 900 in the new ownership as
a partner.
The new owners. who plan to
meet early this week to reorgan-
ize the club, elect officers and a
board of directors, are:
Arthur Gallagher. trucking
firm executive and former ma
tional sculling champion; T. r.
Hanff, an investment man; Bar
ney Fischer, oil and automobile
industrialist; Isadore Sley, owner
of the Racquet Garage Corp;
Morton Lehman, son of a Phila-
delphia department store mag
nate; Arthur Rosenberg, food
chain executive; Jack Rensel. ad-
vertising agency man; John
Crisconi. automobile dealer, and
Roy Mack.
News Stuns johnson.
johnson, who flew here late
last night in desperate last
minute effort to forestall the
Philadelphia deal, was stunned
at the news Roy had signed
away the team to the local
group.
II can't understand it," he
said at international Airport.
Il offered Roy a much better
deal. He would have been a
vice president at a high salary
and a key factor in the Kansas
City setup. I promised to give
his son, Connie Mack III, a five-
year training course and make
a baseball man out of him. I
offered him the moon. And now
what has he got, a one-ninth
interest in nothing. His son
won't have a chance in this
group"
Roy has been guaranteed q
one-year contract at his present
$25.000 salary by the new group.
In Kansas City, where the
citizens held a premature cele-
bration last week, assuming they
had become big league, the re-
action was summed UP by L. P.
Cookingham, city manager:
'We had opened our heart and
our home to some one who ap-
peared in need of shelter. Kan
sas City remains a major league
city without a major league
baseball team"
johnson said his bid to get
the Athletics would cost him
d1OuAlO $tO,UVU.
Manager Not Selected.
Rosenberg was the spokesman
for the new owners at a press
conference last night. He said
nothing as yet has been done
about general manager and a
field manager, denying the
group had contacted Eddie Null
ligan. president of the Sacra-
mento club of the Pacific Coast
League as a possible general
manager or Frank Lefty
ODoul of San Diego as field
skipper. 1t is believed that Roy
Mack did sound out both Null
ligan and O'Doul.
| Rosenberg said all the matters
Of organization would be taken
up at meeting tomorrow or
Wednesday.
Rosenberg was reminded that
the Athletics drew only 323, 200
customers last year and was
asked if his group was prepared
to lose as much as $500, 900 next
year. He replied:
1--WE are capable businessmen
who have been successful In our
own ventures. We are not in the
habit of losing money, especially
$500.000. However, we are pre-
pared to lose it If that is the
case I don't think we will lose
it. We will operate the ball club
like business should be operat-
ed. We will budget our finances
accordingly"
The food chain executive SAID
the group had no intention OF
moving the club out of the city
Connie Is Saddest Figure.
The saddest part of the pro.
ceeding came when Connie Sr.
arrived in the law offices to pose
for pictures and to congratulate
the men who had purchased the
team he raised from the cradle
The tall. straight-backed ole
gentlemen isn't as alert as ht
used to be, but he had a misty
look in his eyes indicating HI
understood his work Of a lifetim,
was passing into other hands
It mattered little to him tina
he would be honorary presiden
Of the new group.
] The story of the Athletics IL
Philadelphia is 50 years old. I
goes back to 1901 when Conni,
took the Quaker City into th'
American League. Even waer
he stepped down in 1850 as activ'
field manager. 1.-THE Grand Ok
Man Of Baseball" as he is know
the world over. remained a sym
Dol of baseball to generations o
Philadelphians. The Athletic
under Mack won nine pennant
I