Thursday, July 10, 2008

A New Baseball Manager

President Von Der Ahe Will Handle His Own Team

The Teutonic Magnate Thinks that He Has Mastered the Intricacies of the Game and Will Be Able to Hold His End Up with Other Managers-Von der Ahe Was After Hanlon's Interest in the Baltimore Team, but Did Not Get It.

President Von der Ahe of the St. Louis Browns, having failed to secure the services of Harry Wright or P.J. Powers as manager for his team, has announced that he will take charge of the nine himself and try his hand at piloting the St. Louis aggregation. This news will be regarded as a joke, but, nevertheless, Mr. Von der Ahe means what he says, and he has already made overtures for the transfer of desirable players to his club.

It is reported that President Von der Ahe offered President Hanlon $8,000 for his interest in the Baltimore Club. Hanlon asked twenty-four hours to consider the matter, and then declined the offer. Von der Ahe is also said to have offered Hanlon the management of the St. Louis Club, in case he sold out his interest in the Baltimores. Hanlon at first considered the matter a joke, but when he learned that it was a serious offer he promptly declined, as he considered that negotiations might cause a lack of confidence in the team's work in getting into shape for the season. Hanlon stated that Von der Ahe made the offer, but he considered it another one of the Western man's attempts to boom himself.

"Of course I felt disappointed at not getting Harry Wright," said Von der Ahe after he got home, "but the League clubs, through their representatives, came to me and asked me not to interfere with their plans to make him chief of the umpire staff. I saw the way matters stood and did not force my claims."
-The New York Times, March 6, 1894

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