![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/johnson2.jpg\" "\\"johnson2\\"")
<\/a>Those "in the know" suspected Ban Johnson was the true owner of 50% of Red Sox stock when McAleer, McRoy, and Stahl "bought" half the team<\/p><\/div>\n
The Coshocton Daily Times<\/em> out of Ohio chimed in as well.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In baseball circles Ban Johnson is looked upon as the owner of the Boston American League franchise.\u00c2\u00a0 The sale of the club recently to Jim McAleer and Rob McRoy made the knowing ones smile.\u00c2\u00a0 Neither McAleer nor McRoy has been credited with being a wealthy man\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6those on the inside of baseball are confident that it was Johnson who put up the money.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\nMcAleer immediately issued denials that his investment was anything less than that initially reported and that he had contributed more than $50,000 towards the purchase.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So big a share of my savings have been taken by me from the banks in which they were deposited, or out of investments, and put into this deal, that if baseball were to die tomorrow I would have to start life anew,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he told reporters.\u00c2\u00a0 McAleer was allegedly worth approximately $75,000 and, had he invested all of it, would have owned 25% of the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stock.\u00c2\u00a0 Since McRoy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s contribution was never established, Johnson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s name continued to come up as a major stockholder in the Red Sox, owning at least 25% of the team and possibly more if McAleer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s investment was indeed closer to $15,000-$25,000 than the $50,000-$75,000 he insisted was his actual share.<\/p>\n
Gossip about the sale and its details finally died down for a while and focus shifted to Stahl as autumn inched closer to winter.\u00c2\u00a0 McAleer and McRoy announced on November 6 that Stahl had agreed to come back to baseball and manage the Red Sox, but Stahl denied the report and insisted he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d yet to make a decision, but intimated there was little chance he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d return.\u00c2\u00a0 Later it was reported that McAleer made at least a dozen trips to Chicago to convince Stahl to come back, telling him that he was the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153missing link\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the team needed to win a championship and with a new ballpark in place, they could make a lot of money.\u00c2\u00a0 He also relayed to Stahl how much respect and admiration the players had for him.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jim had felt out the players during the 1911 campaign,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d wrote the Mansfield News<\/em>, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153and he says that in all his experience he never found a player so universally popular with his teammates as Stahl.\u00c2\u00a0 The Red Sox players admire Jake as much for his excellent qualities as a man as for his ability as a player.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\nAs is usually the case following such a terse denial Stahl signed a two-year contract five days later to play first base and manage the Red Sox from 1912-1913. On the day Stahl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s return was reported, a list of investors was also made public, verifying that Stahl and his father-in-law were stockholders, as were McAleer, McRoy, and a Chicago investor named C.H. Randall, all of whom allegedly owned half the team.<\/p>\n
Before the ink was dry on Stahl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new contract, newspapers began trumpeting reports about McRoy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s return to Chicago from Boston and his meetings with Johnson, in which the two discussed Boston\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spring training plans.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Just how President Johnson figured in Boston club affairs was not stated specifically,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Joe S. Jackson wrote in the Washington Post<\/em> on November 14.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is not customary for club owners to get instructions from league officials or outsiders as to their training plans.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 In an effort to maintain some kind of authority, John I. Taylor announced that the Red Sox would return to Hot Springs, Arkansas to train in 1912, after abandoning Hot Springs in 1911 for Redondo Beach, California.\u00c2\u00a0 McRoy conferred with Taylor about the decision, but McAleer did not.<\/p>\nApparently Hot Springs enticed the Red Sox to come back by agreeing to build new baseball grounds that would satisfy two teams instead of one.\u00c2\u00a0 Previously, the Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds would battle for time on the lone diamond and both teams\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 managers would complain about the fact that they only had half-a-day to train.\u00c2\u00a0 But now each team would have its own diamond, assuming that McRoy and Reds president Garry Herrmann approved of the cost of construction.<\/p>\n
Prior to the start of the season, Red Sox brass still had to deal with red tape, but most of it was just a formality.\u00c2\u00a0 McRoy resigned his post as American League secretary and was replaced by William Harridge.\u00c2\u00a0 Stahl was reinstated to good standing by the National Commission, which declared him eligible to play again on the grounds that he played ball only with the Woodlawn Business Men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Association in 1911 and only for charity, and that he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t play with or against ineligible players, which would have drawn a fine at the very least.\u00c2\u00a0 Then McAleer was officially named president of the team, with John I. Taylor acting as vice-president, McRoy as treasurer, and General Taylor and his attorney, J.H. Turner, being named directors.<\/p>\n
McAleer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first order of business was to reduce his work force to 35 men by letting go of some of the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scouts, although he hired Joseph Quirk, his former trainer in St. Louis and Washington.\u00c2\u00a0 Of course, controversy continued to dog the franchise, as it was reported in late December that Johnson, McRoy, and Harridge left Chicago quietly for a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153secluded spot\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in which they were to meet National League president Thomas Lynch, Pirates owner Barney Dreyfus, and N.L. secretary John Heydler for the purpose of discussing the playing schedule.\u00c2\u00a0 Those who might have wondered why McRoy accompanied the A.L. contingent need look no further than his commitment to stay on as acting secretary until the end of the year when Harridge would take over on a full-time basis.\u00c2\u00a0 But conspiracy theorists relished the idea of McRoy and Johnson holding clandestine meetings about the Red Sox.<\/p>\n
Approximately three weeks later, McAleer went on the defensive again, insisting to Sporting Life<\/em> that Johnson had no financial interest in the Red Sox and that those who continued to crow about his involvement, especially Chicago Cubs owner Charles Murphy, were talking through their hats.\u00c2\u00a0 Murphy told reporters that it wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be long before baseball would see \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Johnson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s robust form nestling closely in the bosom of the Presidential chair of the Red Sox,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and that by placing McAleer and McRoy in Boston\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s front office, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Johnson got in a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwedge.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\nBut McAleer refuted that in a statement he made to Sporting Life<\/em> in it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s January 27, 1912 issue:<\/p>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can take it from me and tell it to the public and any one that wants to hear it, that Ban Johnson doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t own one penny\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth of this club.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m telling you straight.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my money and McRoy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s money that we have put into this club.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m the president of the new club since the recent change in owners, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to be president until I get out of baseball or until I quit breathing.\u00c2\u00a0 These people who are chirping about Johnson backing us give me a pain.\u00c2\u00a0 They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking about, and for that reason they should be looked after and kept quiet.\u00c2\u00a0 This goes for that Murphy person from Chicago.\u00c2\u00a0 Ban Johnson is my friend, and, of course, he is McRoy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s friend, too, for we worked for him for a good many years.\u00c2\u00a0 He knows McRoy as he would his own son, and for that reason wants him to make good.\u00c2\u00a0 The only thing Ban Johnson has in this club is his heart.\u00c2\u00a0 That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s here because McRoy is connected with it, and because he and I have always been warm friends.\u00c2\u00a0 Take it straight from headquarters that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heart and hope, not money and power, that Bancroft Byron Johnson [sic<\/em>] has in this base ball club.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\nOnly two weeks passed before more controversy cropped up.\u00c2\u00a0 On February 10, 1912, Sporting Life<\/em> reported that Hugh McBreen, who acted as treasurer of the Red Sox from 1906-1909, invested his life savings in the Jersey City Skeeters of the Class AA International League and speculated that Jersey City would serve as a Red Sox farm team, which was illegal at the time.\u00c2\u00a0 The Red Sox acquired pitcher Hugh Bedient from Jersey City for a handful of players, including pitcher Jack Killilay, but of the 28 players on the Jersey City roster in 1912, only five ended up in Boston and only Bedient enjoyed any kind of success.\u00c2\u00a0 Killilay pitched for the Sox in 1911, going 4-2 with a 3.54 ERA in 14 appearances, then spent the next five seasons in the minors, with his best season coming in 1912 when he went 15-4 with a 2.55 ERA with Oakland of the Pacific Coast League.\u00c2\u00a0 Bedient went 20-9 for the Sox as a 22-year-old rookie in 1912, then pitched to a 0.50 ERA in four World Series appearances before a sore arm ended his major league career in 1915.\u00c2\u00a0 Needless to say, both McBreen and McAleer denied any relationship between the Skeeters and the Red Sox.<\/p>\nWhile the team trained in Arkansas, Fenway Park was nearing completion.\u00c2\u00a0 The Red Sox christened their new grounds on April 9 with a 2-0 exhibition win over Harvard University, then officially opened it on April 20 with a hard-fought 7-6, 11-inning victory over the New York Highlanders.\u00c2\u00a0 The victory gave them a 5-1 record on the young season, but their play fell off and they went 11-9 in their next 20 games, putting them in second place at 16-10, five-and-a-half games behind the Chicago White Sox, on May 18.\u00c2\u00a0 From there, though, the team took off and won at a .706 clip the rest of the way to finish with an American League record 105 wins.<\/p>\n
Center fielder Tris Speaker was named the league\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most valuable player after hitting .383 and leading the league in homers (10), doubles (53), and on-base percentage (.464).\u00c2\u00a0 Smoky Joe Wood fashioned one of the greatest seasons of all time, going 34-5 with a 1.91 ERA and 258 strikeouts, and winning 16 consecutive games from July 8 to September 20.\u00c2\u00a0 And while Stahl the manager was leading his team to 105 victories, Stahl the first baseman was hitting .301 with 60 RBIs in only 95 games.<\/p>\n
Attendance across the A.L. dipped slightly from 1911 to 1912, dropping by two percent, but attendance in Boston was up 18% as nearly 600,000 fans watched the Sox play at Fenway Park.\u00c2\u00a0 Braves attendance also climbed a modest four percent, but they drew only 121,000 patrons.<\/p>\n
On June 8, with the Sox sitting in second place at 28-18 only one game behind the White Sox, Henry P. Edwards reported that all was rosy with Red Sox management.\u00c2\u00a0 McAleer was more than happy to sit in his owner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s box and let Jake Stahl do all the worrying.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am genuinely happy to be where I am at the head of a club after all these years and just stick in a word of advice now and then\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut never during the progress of the game.\u00c2\u00a0 Not on your life.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 But at least one writer gave all the credit to Stahl, calling McAleer \u00e2\u20ac\u0153an autocratic sort of fellow when his interests are at stake.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The fact that McAleer is content to sit back quietly as an American League magnate is certainly a tribute to the diplomacy of Stahl,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d wrote W.J. MacBeth.<\/p>\n
The Red Sox tied the White Sox on June 10, then took over first place for good on the 11th<\/sup> and never looked back.\u00c2\u00a0 In August, Sporting Life<\/em> reported that Paul Powers, the majority owner of the Youngstown (OH) Steelmen of the Class B Central League was considering selling a half interest to McAleer.\u00c2\u00a0 Five days later, McAleer signed 19-year-old shortstop Everett Scott off the Youngstown roster.<\/p>\nAs the season progressed, more details about McAleer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interest in the Red Sox emerged.\u00c2\u00a0 In late September, it was reported that McAleer owned $200,000 worth of Red Sox stock and paid for it with $130,000 of his own money and $70,000 borrowed from White Sox owner Charles Comiskey.\u00c2\u00a0 Then Sporting Life<\/em> corroborated that report in mid-October, adding that McAleer had made $20,000 a year for the last eight years of his managerial and scouting career and that he saved all of it.\u00c2\u00a0 At first blush, it would seem odd that another American League magnate would lend such a substantial sum of money to a rival, but Comiskey and McAleer were more than just mere acquaintances.\u00c2\u00a0 They played against each other in the Players League in 1890 and in the National League from 1892-1894, and Comiskey always considered McAleer to be the best outfielder he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d ever seen.<\/p>\nLater on the two men became hunting buddies.\u00c2\u00a0 During the offseason, Comiskey and his good friend Ban Johnson would head to Minnesota and Wisconsin every fall to hunt and fish, taking other baseball executives, players, and writers with them on their excursions, the group rarely numbering less than 60.\u00c2\u00a0 In 1907, Comiskey purchased the Jerome Hunting and Fishing Club on Trude Lake, twelve miles south of Mercer, Wisconsin and renamed it Camp Jerome.\u00c2\u00a0 It became home to the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Woodland Bards,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a group of Comiskey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s friends that initially numbered 35, eventually grew to 250, and included McAleer, McRoy and Stahl.\u00c2\u00a0 Later, McAleer and his wife would accompany Comiskey on his world tour in 1913.<\/p>\n
Towards the end of the season, some congratulated McAleer on his long-awaited success, while others gave him little credit for the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fortunes.\u00c2\u00a0 One newspaper pointed out that it was Taylor who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d acquired all of the players upon which the team was built, and that the McAleer\/McRoy contingency contributed \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no playing material and are reaping the profits resulting from Taylor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s judgment.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Either way, the team was a runaway success and headed into the World Series to take on the John McGraw-led New York Giants, who famously refused to meet Boston eight years earlier to determine a champion at the conclusion of the 1904 season.\u00c2\u00a0 The Red Sox took Games One, Four, and Five and went into Game Six with a three-games-to-one lead (Game 2 ended in a 6-6 tie) and a clear path to their second World Series title.\u00c2\u00a0 Everyone expected Joe Wood to start Game Six at the Polo Grounds and Red Sox players were so confident of victory behind \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Smoky Joe\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that they were already calculating their winning shares on the train trip to New York.\u00c2\u00a0 McGraw was expected to counter with Rube Marquard, who began the season with a 19-game winning streak, en route to a league-leading 26 wins, and pitched brilliantly in the Giants\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 only win in the first five contests, allowing only one run on seven scattered hits in a 2-1 Game Three victory.<\/p>\n
But an odd thing happened on the way to the championship.\u00c2\u00a0 Needing only one more win to bring home the championship, Stahl tabbed Buck O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien, a 30-year-old journeyman hurler, who enjoyed a very good season, going 20-13 with a 2.58 ERA, then suffered a heartbreaking loss to Marquard in Game Three.\u00c2\u00a0 But as good as he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been that year, he was no Joe Wood.\u00c2\u00a0 Stahl half-jokingly told reporters after Game Five that he was planning on starting O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien in Game Six.\u00c2\u00a0 Many newspapers reported that Ray Collins would most likely get the start.\u00c2\u00a0 O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien was an interesting selection for Stahl, who, according to Mike Vaccaro, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pushed every proper button\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to that point in the Series.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d shown faith in Hugh Bedient,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d wrote Vaccaro.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d eschewed small ball in favor of big innings, a gamble that had paid off.\u00c2\u00a0 Refusing to be intimidated by McGraw, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d told his team to play the way they were accustomed to playing, not be sucked in by anything the Giants tried.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
But it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Stahl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision at all, it was McAleer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.\u00c2\u00a0 It was an odd time for McAleer to go back on his earlier statement that he wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t interfere with Stahl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s handling of the lineup, and his intentions were more Machiavellian than he was letting on, although no one was fooled.\u00c2\u00a0 On the train to New York, McAleer sidled up next to Stahl and more or less demanded that O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien start Game Six so he could avenge his loss at the hands of Marquard in Game Three.\u00c2\u00a0 Besides, he argued, Wood would get two extra days off instead of one and would be fresher for Game Seven at Fenway Park.<\/p>\n
But everyone knew McAleer was hoping for an extra home game, which would bring in more revenue, especially with Wood on the mound.\u00c2\u00a0 Stahl tried to convince McAleer that his strategy was risky, that O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien may have won 20 games but he also lost 13 during the regular season and his only World Series start, despite pitching well.\u00c2\u00a0 But McAleer would have none of it.\u00c2\u00a0 The move either backfired or worked perfectly, depending on the perspective.\u00c2\u00a0 O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien lasted only eight batters and allowed five runs on six hits and an error before coming out of the game after only one inning.\u00c2\u00a0 To add insult to injury, he balked the first run home and recorded the first balk in World Series history.\u00c2\u00a0 Ray Collins took over in the second and was masterful, shutting out the Giants for the rest of the game on only five hits.\u00c2\u00a0 But Marquard was brilliant again, going the distance and allowing only two unearned runs on seven hits in the 5-2 Giants victory.<\/p>\n
Most were furious when they learned that O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien and not Wood was getting the nod.\u00c2\u00a0 Wood\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s brother Paul, especially, who wagered $100 on his sibling, figuring it was money in the bank.\u00c2\u00a0 Because it was a last-minute decision, O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien had allegedly been out drinking the night before and was in no shape to pitch.\u00c2\u00a0 But Stahl sent him out there anyway under McAleer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s orders.\u00c2\u00a0 After the game tensions were high, and according to Glenn Stout, Paul accosted O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien on the train back to Boston and punched him in the face, giving the hurler a black eye.\u00c2\u00a0 A separate report in the Washington Post<\/em> claimed that O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien retaliated by punching Joe Wood in the face while the two argued about Game Six in the dugout prior to Game Seven.\u00c2\u00a0 According to the article, Red Sox catchers Bill Carrigan and Hick Cady were also involved at one point or another.<\/p>\nMeanwhile, just as McAleer had hoped, both teams\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 coffers continued to swell.\u00c2\u00a0 Joe S. Jackson reported that the gate receipts for Game Six came to $66,654, that total receipts for the Series climbed to $403,133 and, that after the leagues got their cut, each team would easily clear over $100,000.<\/p>\n
Not to be outdone, however, McRoy blundered next by inexplicably selling the Royal Rooters\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 seats in the makeshift left field bleachers to the general public prior to Game Seven.\u00c2\u00a0 The Rooters were a band of Red Sox fans made up of Boston luminaries such as Boston mayor John Fitzgerald, Johnny Keenan, and Michael \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nuf Ced\u00e2\u20ac\u009d McGreevey, owner of the Third Base Saloon and arbiter of all things baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been vociferously rooting for the Red Sox since the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inception, after abandoning the National League because of its syndicate practices, and had been instrumental in helping the Sox win games by incessantly singing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tessie\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from the Broadway musical \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Glass Slipper\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to inspire their boys while distracting the opponent.<\/p>\n
Three hundred Rooters arrived in New York for Game One, accompanied by a brass band, and received a round of applause from Giants fans who enjoyed the revelers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 renditions of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tessie,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sweet Adelaide,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and a bastardized version of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tammany,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which boasted custom lyrics celebrating the Boston nine.\u00c2\u00a0 Then after Boston\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 4-3 Game One victory, the Rooters marched out of the Polo Grounds singing a custom version of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In the Good Old Summertime.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 And so it went\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe Rooters would parade around the ballpark, singing, making noise, and carrying on; take their seats, sing and make more noise; then parade out of the ballpark at contest\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s end.<\/p>\n
By Game Six their numbers had doubled, and despite a disappointing 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Giants, the Rooters marched out of the Polo Grounds with the same fervor and swagger they always had.\u00c2\u00a0 They marched into Fenway Park amid the same pomp and circumstance prior to Game Seven, paraded around the field to the strains of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tessie,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d then headed for their customary left field seats, only to find them already occupied.\u00c2\u00a0 After holding up the game with a near riot eventually quelled by Keenan and Boston police, the dejected revelers were forced to take up residence wherever they could find room to stand.\u00c2\u00a0 Needless to say, they were not happy, especially Fitzgerald, who promised he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d deal with McAleer and McRoy after the game.<\/p>\n
Once the game got underway, Smoky Joe Wood was obliterated by the Giants, who plated six first-inning runs on seven hits, a double steal, and a sacrifice, en route to a resounding 11-4 win that evened the Series at three wins apiece, and was deemed \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a slaughter\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by the Boston Globe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/em> Tim Murnane.\u00c2\u00a0 Wood lasted only one inning and faced all of nine batters before coming out in favor of Charley Hall, who surrendered five more runs in eight innings.\u00c2\u00a0 The Rooters, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been silent throughout the contest, took the shellacking as expected and used the opportunity to voice their displeasure at the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153utmost discourtesy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with which they were treated.\u00c2\u00a0 After the game, they marched around the park and booed McRoy unmercifully, while cheering loudly for the Giants\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 management.\u00c2\u00a0 Then they marched out of the park and towards the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s offices, insisting that McRoy make an appearance and explain himself.<\/p>\nMcRoy explained that he had not been contacted by a member of the Rooters until 12:45, three hours later than was usual for them, and was afraid he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be stuck with unsold tickets, so he ordered the reserved section be opened to the public.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The situation was the result of a misunderstanding,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d McRoy explained.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There was absolutely no intention on my part to be discourteous to the rooters.\u00c2\u00a0 I have tried my best to please everyone, and if the Royal Rooters don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like it, they should take their medicine like the rest of us.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Keenan refuted McRoy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s version of the events and insisted there was no way their block of tickets was still sitting on McRoy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desk at 12:45 because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d already received and distributed approximately half of them at 12:20.\u00c2\u00a0 Timothy Mooney, chief of the bureau of information of the Mayor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s office, corroborated Keenan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s version of the story, claiming he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d signed for and picked up the tickets at noon.<\/p>\n
Regardless, the Rooters were incensed and weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153take their medicine.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, Fitzgerald called for McRoy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Secy McRoy of Chicago should be retired from all connection with the Boston Baseball Club, and a Boston man who understands conditions here given the place.\u00c2\u00a0 Boston money supports the club, and there is certainly enough baseball brains in Boston to furnish a secretary.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The Rooters abandoned the Red Sox and refused to attend the final game of the Series, won by Boston, 2-1, in dramatic fashion.\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, attendance was only 17,034, half of what it had been in previous games at Fenway Park.\u00c2\u00a0 Some even claimed the days of the Royal Rooters were past and that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d disband forever.<\/p>\n
McAleer refused to comment until he knew more, but issued a public apology at the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s victory celebration held at Faneuil Hall the next day.\u00c2\u00a0 Then he and McRoy headed to Camp Jerome with Charles Comiskey, Ban Johnson, Garry Herrmann, White Sox skipper Nixie Callahan, and more than 30 others for their annual hunting and fishing expedition.\u00c2\u00a0 Despite the apology, Keenan swore he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never set foot in Fenway Park as long as McRoy was still in the front office.\u00c2\u00a0 While the Red Sox magnates were in Wisconsin, Sporting Life<\/em> weighed in on the controversy.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That one or two of the new club officials are unpopular with Boston fans and the newspaper reporters is a fact that would be useless to try to conceal.\u00c2\u00a0 Rank errors of judgment have been made\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6It is a pity that the new management has made itself unpopular with this best and fair-minded base ball community in the country.\u00c2\u00a0 It would not be surprising if there was some kind of a change in officials here before another season rolls around.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\nUpon arriving home from his trip to Camp Jerome, Ban Johnson also issued a statement, in which he expressed regret over the incident and promised to take steps to ensure the Rooters would be better taken care of in the future.\u00c2\u00a0 But he also took Fitzgerald to task for not going to Johnson or McAleer directly, for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unjustly censuring\u00e2\u20ac\u009d McRoy, and for being ungrateful for all that Johnson had done to ensure the Rooters had tickets for Game One in New York.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When Mayor Fitzgerald was turned down after requesting 300 seats for the rooters for the first game of the World\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Series at the Polo Grounds it was through my personal efforts that he was finally accommodated\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6I also sent [National League Secretary John] Heydler to Boston to offer an apology when he delivered the reservation.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Once the dust settled, it was time to get back to business and prepare for the 1913 campaign.\u00c2\u00a0 Sporting Life<\/em> reported in early November that the Red Sox made $450,000 during the 1912 season and that Stahl had cleared $35,000 thanks to his $10,000 salary as manager, his $4,024.69 World Series share, and dividends on his five percent ownership in the team.\u00c2\u00a0 The offseason was mostly uneventful\u00e2\u20ac\u201dMcAleer mailed out contracts to his players then insisted that despite the mayor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s call for a new secretary, McRoy was going nowhere and would not retire under outside threats or demands; he announced that 8,000 seats would go for 25 cents, more than any other park in major league baseball (this was something Fitzgerald practically demanded during the Game Seven ticket fiasco); and Jake Stahl announced he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be coming back as Red Sox manager but would no longer play.<\/p>\nNot long after ringing in the new year, McAleer predicted the upcoming pennant race would come down to the Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, and Washington Senators.\u00c2\u00a0 But after hearing in March that the writers had pegged the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to cop the pennant, McAleer became a bit indignant.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The team that will win the American League pennant this season\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6will be exactly the same club that won the flag and championship last Fall.\u00c2\u00a0 There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing else to it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 The rest of the team felt the same way and broke camp with confidence.\u00c2\u00a0 McAleer swore it was the best training camp with which he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d ever been involved, which was saying a lot considering he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been associated with the game for 27 years.<\/p>\n
But perhaps the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confidence and McAleer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hubris was misplaced.\u00c2\u00a0 During camp, Joe Wood sprained his ankle while reaching for a throw at third base, then severely injured his right thumb when he slipped on wet grass while fielding a grounder.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know whether I tried to pitch too soon after that,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wood told Lawrence Ritter, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153or whether maybe something happened to my shoulder at the same time.\u00c2\u00a0 But whatever it was, I never pitched again without a terrific amount of pain in my right shoulder.\u00c2\u00a0 Never again.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Wood battled through the pain into July and compiled a record of 11-5 and an ERA of 2.29 that ranked 10th<\/sup> in the American League.\u00c2\u00a0 And despite the injury, he fanned more batters per nine innings (7.6) than ever before.\u00c2\u00a0 But in mid-July he slipped during a rundown and broke his already wounded digit, putting him out of action until late September when he made a handful of relief appearances.<\/p>\nEven before Wood fractured his thumb, the team was in turmoil.\u00c2\u00a0 The Sox started out 16-22 and found themselves in fifth place, already 12 games behind the front-running Athletics.\u00c2\u00a0 They were much better in June, going 18-8 to get over the .500 mark, but still managed to lose ground to the surging A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, who extended their lead over Cleveland from only a half-game at the end of May to eight-and-a-half games by June\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s end, and were on pace to win 114 games.\u00c2\u00a0 After Wood\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s last start of the year on July 18, a 5-1 loss to Hooks Dauss and the Detroit Tigers, the Red Sox were already hopelessly out of the race, 18 \u00c2\u00bd games out of first.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/stahl.jpg\" "\\"stahl\\"")
<\/a>Jake Stahl managed the Red Sox to a World Series title in 1912 before being dismissed in 1913 for attempting to unseat McAleer as president of the club<\/p><\/div>\n
Fissures in management began to form and by mid-July, newspapers were reporting that McAleer and Stahl were engaged in a battle for control of the team and one or the other would have to go.\u00c2\u00a0 The New York Times<\/em> reported that McAleer blamed Stahl for the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s poor performance and that Stahl was trying to undermine McAleer.\u00c2\u00a0 The Washington Post<\/em> claimed that Stahl had been trying to unseat McAleer as president of the club since before the season started.\u00c2\u00a0 Sporting Life<\/em> took it a step further and reported that the fissure began almost from the beginning of the partnership, that Stahl and McRoy, already good friends, couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand why McAleer was named president, and that McAleer was jealous of Stahl and McRoy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s friendship.\u00c2\u00a0 McAleer, of course, denied having a rift with Stahl, even though he was on his way to Chicago to meet with Ban Johnson about that very thing.\u00c2\u00a0 Johnson also denied knowing about dissention among the Red Sox and was unaware why McAleer had scheduled a meeting with him.<\/p>\nWhen McAleer arrived in Chicago, he issued a statement to the press.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Early in the season I was told by a New York man that Jake Stahl was planning to get the presidency of the club. I spoke to Stahl about the matter.\u00c2\u00a0 He denied the story and the matter was dropped.\u00c2\u00a0 I am certain there is nothing to it, for Mr. Stahl is well aware that it would be utterly impossible to beat me out for the presidency I hold.\u00c2\u00a0 You can say that Manager Stahl and I are in perfect accord and the best of friends.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Two days later, Stahl was released from his managerial duties.\u00c2\u00a0 According to both men, Stahl had asked where he stood with the club and McAleer told him that if he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t playing and only managing he was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153of little use to the club\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and that he wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be retained as manager after the season.\u00c2\u00a0 McAleer wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fond of Stahl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s managerial abilities and ignored the fact that his manager had a seriously injured foot that required surgery which made him unable to play.\u00c2\u00a0 McAleer felt that Stahl, the non-playing skipper, was too expensive to keep around, so he told the press that he released Stahl \u00e2\u20ac\u0153for the good of the club.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Other reports stated that the shareholders wanted a playing manager and not one who called the shots from the bench.<\/p>\n
Stahl was incensed, although he insisted he was satisfied with the decision, especially since he was going to be paid through the end of the season.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153McAleer didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want me, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t propose to stay with any man that is not in full sympathy with me.\u00c2\u00a0 That is about all there is to it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Seven-year veteran catcher Bill Carrigan was named as Stahl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s successor.<\/p>\n
It didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take long for the backlash to hit the papers.\u00c2\u00a0 Johnson issued a statement in which he called McAleer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hasty, ill-advised, and unsportsmanlike\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and wondered why the Sox magnate couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait until the end of the season to change managers.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As it is, Stahl has been humiliated in his home city, and the American League has been placed in the unenviable position of dropping in mid-season a manager who won the World\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Championship last Fall.\u00c2\u00a0 Stahl was an honorable and competent manager and was highly esteemed in our league.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 McAleer immediately issued a rebuttal stating that Stahl \u00e2\u20ac\u0153practically insisted on quitting then and there\u00e2\u20ac\u009d when he was told a managerial change would be made during the offseason.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When Pres Johnson sees me and gets the story straight he will change his opinion,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d McAleer told Murnane.<\/p>\n
A day later, Johnson was still waiting for an explanation, but McAleer claimed there was none to give.\u00c2\u00a0 Then he quashed rumors about a deal that would have sent Tris Speaker to Detroit for Ty Cobb.\u00c2\u00a0 Apparently McAleer was worried that Speaker would react unfavorably to Stahl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s removal and thought he might have to trade him, but Speaker insisted that Stahls\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 release was none of his business and that he was playing for his salary and was satisfied with Boston.\u00c2\u00a0 Less than a week later, the Los Angeles Times<\/em> reported that John I. and Charles Taylor were \u00e2\u20ac\u0153after\u00e2\u20ac\u009d McAleer and that they wanted to take full control of the team again.<\/p>\nCarrigan proved to be a success at the helm of the club, leading the Red Sox to a 40-30 finish, but criticism continued to land on McAleer.\u00c2\u00a0 Baseball Magazine<\/em> called Stahl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s removal, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a stain of ingratitude and selfishness cast on organized baseball,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153blunder,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and William Phelon called Stahl \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a good fellow, a splendid character, and an honor to the game.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\nIn November, rumors began circulating that the Taylors were looking to sell their shares of stock, although Sporting Life<\/em> wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t buying it and thought the Taylors would sell only if they received $500,000, which was unlikely.\u00c2\u00a0 Then the same magazine reported two weeks later that the Taylors reversed course and offered McAleer and McRoy $220,000 for their<\/em> shares in order to regain complete control of the team.\u00c2\u00a0 A statement by Ban Johnson seemingly corroborated the report although the Taylors refused to confirm or deny the pending purchase.<\/p>\nFinally, the Boston Globe<\/em> reported on December 1 that the shares owned by the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chicago interests\u00e2\u20ac\u009d led by McAleer, McRoy, and Stahl were to be sold to Joseph J. Lannin of the Lannin Realty Company, severing all ties McAleer, McRoy, and Stahl had with the Red Sox.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also interesting to note that the Globe<\/em> reported, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The change in ownership has the sanction of Pres Johnson of the American League, who had a prominent part in the negotiations\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Not only did Johnson have a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153prominent part,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but he instigated them.\u00c2\u00a0 According to various sources, McAleer told Johnson to sell his shares while he was touring the world with Comiskey, but evidence to the contrary suggests otherwise.\u00c2\u00a0 According to Red Sox historian Bill Nowlin, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Joe Cashman told Peter Golenbock that McAleer received a telegram reading, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcYou have just sold the Red Sox to Joseph Lannin.\u00c2\u00a0 Ban Johnson.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 And both McRoy and Stahl were surprised at the news and claimed they knew nothing about the sale.<\/p>\nA Canadian, Lannin was a self-made man who worked as a bell hop at the St. Louis Hotel in Quebec, Canada in the 1880s before immigrating to Boston at only 15 and securing a similar position.\u00c2\u00a0 He worked his way up to head bellboy, head of a watch, assistant head waiter, then steward of the Ocean View Hotel on Block Island, before becoming a real estate magnate after investing in property in a suburb of Boston known as Forest Hills.\u00c2\u00a0 From there, he began leasing hotels in New Jersey and New York and formed the Lannin Real Estate Company.<\/p>\n
His first love was lacrosse, but Lannin eventually fell in love with baseball and figured there was money to be made in America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Pastime.\u00c2\u00a0 He bought stock in the Boston Braves before selling it to become part-owner of the Red Sox.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Warned by pessimists that baseball has reached or past its zenith as a money making proposition, the ex-Canadian\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6thinks enough of baseball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future to invest wealth he has earned in other business in a half interest of a baseball property conservatively estimated at $700,000,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d wrote Harvey T. Woodruff of the Chicago Tribune<\/em>.<\/p>\nAs for the sale of the shares held by the Chicago group, the New York Tribune<\/em> put it most succinctly when it wrote, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As if to show that [Ban Johnson] is the complete master of the organization and that the individual owners are mere puppets in his hands, the banishment of Bob McRoy, James McAleer and Jake Stahl from the councils of the Boston Red Sox has been accomplished.\u00c2\u00a0 So great is the power of Johnson that he can blacklist an owner as easily as he can suspend a player.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Later the same paper reported again what the baseball establishment already knew, that Johnson was the real owner of the stock.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The remarkably peaceable way in which Johnson lopped off the heads of those he had marked, and the fact that neither Stahl not McRoy knew that negotiations were going on, leads to the belief that they were nothing but figureheads, lending their name to the real owner of the stock.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\nBut McRoy wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about to go quietly and refused to sell his 62 shares of stock.\u00c2\u00a0 It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t until Lannin, John I. Taylor, Charles Somers, Johnson, and Yankees president Frank Farrell dispensed advice to McRoy at the Hotel Wolcott in New York that he finally agreed to sign the transfer papers.<\/p>\n
With that, Lannin was the Red Sox\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new president and the triumvirate of McAleer, McRoy, and Stahl were stripped of their power just as quickly as it had been bestowed upon them.<\/p>\n
Epilogue<\/strong><\/p>\nJohnson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to put Lannin in charge of the Red Sox brought immediate success.\u00c2\u00a0 Under Lannin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s watch and the leadership of Bill Carrigan, who was retained as manager, the Sox won nearly 62% of their games and two World Series titles from 1914-1916 before Lannin sold the team to Harry Frazee in November 1916.\u00c2\u00a0 At the time of the sale, Lannin stated that he was getting out of major league baseball because of a heart condition, but evidence suggests that he was simply tired of Ban Johnson meddling in his affairs.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The disgust that rankled in Lannin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mind after several clashes with Johnson, was the potent factor that drove Lannin to look for a way out of the national game,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d reported the Atlanta Constitution<\/em>.<\/p>\nLannin had bought the Taylors out in 1914 and took full control of the team.\u00c2\u00a0 One of his first orders of business was to lock up superstar center fielder Tris Speaker, who spurned the upstart Federal League to sign with Boston for two more years at $18,000 per annum.\u00c2\u00a0 Lanin wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t thrilled with the deal\u00e2\u20ac\u201dhe once accused his players of being \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unreasonable\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153grasping\u00e2\u20ac\u009d during contract negotiations\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have much choice.\u00c2\u00a0 The presence of the Feds and their willingness to entice contract jumpers artificially raised salaries to unprecedented levels, forcing owners to pay more to keep their star players.\u00c2\u00a0 But when the Federal League collapsed following an unsuccessful anti-trust lawsuit against the American and National Leagues in 1915, major league owners couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to restore salaries back to their pre-Federal League levels.<\/p>\n
Lannin offered Speaker a salary of $9,000 for the 1916 season, citing his declining batting average as the reason he was trying to cut Speaker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s salary in half.\u00c2\u00a0 Speaker, of course, declined the offer and held out, although he told the press that he was merely negotiating with Lannin and didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be referred to as a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153holdout.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Then, without warning, Lannin dealt Speaker to the Cleveland Indians on April 8, 1916 for $55,000, pitcher \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sad Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jones and infielder Fred Thomas.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The proverbial pin could have dropped a million times in the hotel corridor and it would have made a noise like the sudden bursting of an automobile,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d wrote the Boston<\/em> Globe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/em> Mel Webb, Jr. upon hearing of the deal.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Everyone was speechless.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\nLannin claimed that he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afford Speaker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s $15,000 asking price, which on the face of it was ridiculous considering the man once bought an entire minor league franchise just to acquire the rights to pitcher Carl Mays, and that the $55,000 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153was so large\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6that he was obliged in fairness to all concerned to accept it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Those familiar with the situation smelled a rat, and his name was Ban Johnson.\u00c2\u00a0 Johnson brokered the deal between Boston and Cleveland and speculation has it that he coerced Lannin into pulling the trigger on the trade, a transaction described by Fred Lieb as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153one of those inside affairs put over by the astute Ban Johnson.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 But Johnson wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the only one trying to steer Speaker towards the Indians.\u00c2\u00a0 Cleveland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s primary negotiator was none other than former American League secretary and Red Sox co-owner, Bob McRoy, who now owned shares in the Indians and was acting as the Tribe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vice-president.<\/p>\n
Less than two months before the Speaker deal, Charles Somers was forced out as Indians owner by creditors to whom he owed almost $2 million.\u00c2\u00a0 Johnson purchased the team and held title for four owners, alleged to be James C. Dunn and P.S. McCarthy, with McRoy also named, although not confirmed.\u00c2\u00a0 Whether or not McRoy was an actual owner, he was definitely placed in charge of the Indians by Johnson and Dunn, who was named team president, but relinquished control to McRoy.\u00c2\u00a0 According to Harold Seymour, Dunn eventually paid Johnson back in order to take control of the team, but Johnson continued to hold $50,000 worth of stock in the club.<\/p>\n
Lannin kept the Sox for one more season, then sold it to Frazee and his business partner Hugh Ward.\u00c2\u00a0 The deal marked the first time in the history of the American League that a team had been sold without Johnson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s knowledge or blessing, perhaps lending further evidence to Lannin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dislike of the A.L. czar, and Frazee instantly became Johnson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chief nemesis.\u00c2\u00a0 After two years of battling back and forth in the board room and the papers, things finally came to a head in 1919 when Frazee sold Carl Mays to the New York Yankees for $40,000 and pitchers Allen Russell and Bob McGraw.\u00c2\u00a0 Mays, tired of pitching in front of teammates who couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stand him and played poorly with him on the mound, left the Red Sox in the middle of a game and swore he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never pitch for them again.\u00c2\u00a0 Johnson waited for Frazee to discipline Mays, but the Red Sox magnate took advantage of the multitude of offers he was receiving for the recalcitrant hurler, and sent him to the Yankees instead.<\/p>\n
Johnson was furious and vetoed the trade, then suspended Mays himself.\u00c2\u00a0 But Yankee owners Jacob Ruppert and Cap Huston filed an injunction against Johnson, claiming that his ruling was injurious to their team, and that his stockholdings in the Indians created a conflict of interest and motivated him to block the Yankees\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 acquisition of Mays.\u00c2\u00a0 A judge ruled in the Yankees\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 favor on August 6 and Mays made his Yankees debut the next day and beat the St. Louis Browns, 8-2.<\/p>\n
Eventually the Mays case went to court.\u00c2\u00a0 During testimony, Johnson admitted that he owned $58,500 worth of stock in the Indians, the original $50,000 and an additional $8,500 that he had recently loaned Dunn.\u00c2\u00a0 Then on September 11, 1919, Johnson confessed what everyone already knew despite multiple denials to the contrary, that he did, in fact, provide the money McAleer and McRoy needed to buy half interest in the Red Sox in 1911.<\/p>\n
After his dismissal from the Red Sox, Jake Stahl went back to banking and became vice-president of Washington Park National Bank in Chicago.\u00c2\u00a0 In 1917, he went off to fight in World War I, serving as a Second Lieutenant in the Army before returning to Washington Park to serve as president.\u00c2\u00a0 He died of tuberculosis in 1922 at the age of 43.<\/p>\n
As for James McAleer, Johnson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unwillingness to support him in the wake of Stahl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s firing caused a rift between the men that was never repaired.\u00c2\u00a0 According to Frank B. Ward, a sports reporter with the Youngstown Daily Vindicator<\/em>, McAleer felt Johnson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions constituted a betrayal of trust and friendship, and that Johnson confided in McAleer that he owed Jake Stahl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s father-in-law money and felt obligated to side with Stahl.<\/p>\nMcAleer left baseball for good after he was forced out by Johnson and went back to his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio.\u00c2\u00a0 He was diagnosed with cancer in 1930 or \u00e2\u20ac\u212231, and on April 28, 1931 he shot himself in the head and died the next day.\u00c2\u00a0 At the time of his death, it was reported that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d died from his illness following an operation, but the New York Times<\/em> reported on May 20, 1931 that Coroner M.E. Hayes concluded that McAleer died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.\u00c2\u00a0 He was 66 years old and, ironically, followed Ban Johnson’s death by only a month.<\/p>\nA version of the above is scheduled to appear in a book about the 1912 Red Sox written by SABR members and edited by Bill Nowlin.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From 1933-1988 there was one constant in the Boston Red Sox organization\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe Yawkey family.\u00c2\u00a0 For 55 years, the team was owned by either Tom or his wife Jean, and three generations of my family lived, breathed, cried, and bled Boston Red Sox baseball under Yawkey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s watch.\u00c2\u00a0 But prior to Yawkey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s purchase of the team, seven […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[813,589,1136,1129,1133,1123,1124,1127,1126,1135,1125,1138,1128,1130,1131,1137,1140,1139,1132,1134],"class_list":["post-2519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-boston-globe","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-charles-henry","tag-coal-mining","tag-henry-taylor","tag-honey-fitz-fitzgerald","tag-john-honey-fitz-fitzgerald","tag-killilea","tag-league-franchise","tag-league-president","tag-milwaukee-lawyer","tag-seven-men","tag-shipping-industries","tag-sox-baseball","tag-sox-organization","tag-state-of-flux","tag-taylor-john","tag-team-president","tag-three-generations","tag-wife-jean"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/taylor21.jpg\" "\\"taylor2\\"")
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