This Is A Good Question

During 1877 many charges of crooked umpiring were made, and it is worth while asking why it was, in view of these wholesale charges of fraudulent work in connection with umpiring in St. Louis and Louisville, especially in regard to mutual charges of corruption made by Umpire Devinney of Louisville and Manager McManus of St. Louis, in which, too, Umpire Burtis of St. Louis was mixed up, that the League Board of Directors made no effort to get at the truth, and failed to investigate a matter having such an important bearing on the future of the League Association.

-Mears Baseball Scrapbook, Volume 4, 1856-1907

The Appended Honorable Release

What do the St. Louis papers mean by announcing that Force, Blong, etc., have been or are to be expelled from the St. Louis Club, in the face of a fact like the one we give below, which has been sent to us by the Buffalo Club manager?  The fact we refer to is the appended "honorable release" from the St. Louis Club.  If no charges have been found true against Force, then the St. Louis journals and other Western papers have done him injustice.  Either the players who have been charged with crookedness are guilty or not guilty.  If they are guilty, put them out of the fraternity, as has been done in Louisville.  If not, then come out openly and say so, not through one member of the club, but over the signature of all of the directors.  The release in question is signed only by the club manager, who himself has been charged with crooked work by Devinney, and no satisfactory examination has been made of the case that we have heard of.  Will Messrs. Fowle and Bishop post us up on the facts?

Copy Of Release

Headquarters Brown Stockings B.B. Club,

St. Louis, Nov. 21, 1877.

Mr. E.R. Spaulding, Buffalo B.B. Association. - I take the pleasure of notifying you that Mr. D.W. Force has been honorably released by the St. Louis B.B. Association.  G. McManus, Manager.

-Mears Baseball Scrapbook, 1856-1907

I really don't want to get back into all of the culture of corruption stuff surrounding the Brown Stockings but this was too good to pass up.  My favorite part is when Chadwick (I assume) throws the whole McManus/Devinney thing back in their face.  That was a nice touch.   

Graduating From A Circus Wagon

[McManus] was connected with the St. Louis Club as ticket-seller under Graffen, having graduated into that position from a circus-wagon, and was made "manager" because some one must have that title. He is, however, only business agent, and what "managing" is done is by McGeary or some Director who goes along. McManus is shrewd, sharp, cunning and has never shown any indications of being over-scrupulous. He would learn that either in Dan Rice's Show or in the St. Louis Ball Club.

-Chicago Tribune, August 5, 1877

I think that this article from the Tribune gives us some insight into the way the Brown Stockings ran their club. We don't have a lot of information about the way club management was organized so almost any information we find adds to our knowledge.

I don't think that it's particularly shocking to find out that the manager was essentially a business agent for the club nor is particularly shocking that the captain was really running the club on the field. The idea that one of the directors is traveling with the club and possibly running the show is interesting but I don't know how much stock to put into it. We have examples of club directors travelling with the club and we have examples of a club director making decisions that affected who was able to play. Specifically, I'm thinking about Orrick Bishop and the McGeary situation and the Tribune seems to confirm the influence that Bishop had on the day to day operations of the club.

On thing that I discovered while digging around was that J.B.C. Lucas, the president of the board of directors, was out of the country for most of the 1876 season. He was in Europe doing the Grand Tour so it's possible that Bishop was really the guy running the club.

All of this is relevant to yesterday's post about the resignation of Mase Graffen. While it's likely that the impetus for the resignation was the birth of his child, all the machinations behind the scene probably had a great deal to do with Graffen stepping down. The Tribune article, written almost a year after the fact, shows the influence of McGeary and certain directors compared to the club manager. We have speculated before that the directors and McGeary were working together to undermine Graffen's authority. The Tribune seems to confirm this in a roundabout manner.

And I'm not even going to make fun of McManus for going from the circus to ticket-seller to manager because I actually believe that business experience with a traveling circus would have been excellent training for someone who wanted to run a baseball club in the 1870s. As to Brown Stockings management in general, that was a bit of a clown show.

Mase Graffen Resigns

Manager M.S. Graffen [sic], of the St. Louis Browns, has severed his connection with that club, and arrived here day before yesterday, having left the club in charge of McManus, the Treasurer.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 14, 1876

The "day before yesterday" would have been September 12 and therefore Graffen "severed his connection" with the Brown Stockings prior to the club playing their first game in Boston. No explanation was given in the Globe for the change in management and other than the above blurb, nothing was mentioned of it.

It is curious how differently people look at things. The St. Louis papers announce with fervor that Graffen-S. Mason Graffen-has resigned the managership of the St. Louis Club, when as a matter of record he never did anything of the kind; but received what rude boys on the street call the "G.B." On the other hand, the Courier-Journal, noticing the discharge, adds: "S. Mason was emphatically n.g..."

The St. Louis Republican says that there is very little doubt that Harry Wright will manage the Browns next season. It has long been known that Harry would like to come West again, but it is by no means sure that he will select St. Louis...

-Chicago Tribune, September 17, 1876

So I was in the middle of writing this grand, epic post on Graffen, detailing the mysteries of why he left the Brown Stockings (or why he was fired, if you believe the Tribune). It was a fantastic piece of writing and may very well have been the best thing I would have ever posted at this site. It's a shame that you'll never get to read it.

But I was doing a little more digging when I discovered this:

Sarah Matilda Barnes, married Samuel Mason Graffen, and had:-Charles H. Graffen, born at Philadelphia October, 1871; Paul Barnes Graffen, born at Philadelphia, 21 April, 1873; George Stevenson Graffen, born at Philadelphia, 20 August, 1876.

-Mayflower Pilgrim descendants in Cape May County, New Jersey

And I think that really explains the great mystery of Graffen's resignation. Graffen's wife has a baby on August 20, 1876. The Brown Stockings are in Philadelphia to play games on September 8 and 9. He has a young wife, a new baby and two other young children who, it appears, are still living in Philadlephia while Graffen is in St. Louis, managing the Brown Stockings. He gets back home to Philadelphia early in September, just after the baby is born, and decides to resign and stay with his family. It's a simple explanation that makes sense. This is why nobody made a big deal about it. Graffen didn't resign in disgust and he wasn't fired to make room for George McManus or Harry Wright.

It simply wasn't that big of a story. Graffen was needed at home and so he went home. The reason for the resignation wasn't mentioned by the Globe because this was the 19th century and it was a private family matter.

Now the grand, epic post that I had written involved a convoluted explanation that involved Harry Wright, Orrick Bishop, Mike McGeary and my usual take on a corrupt organization, a divided team and directors that were undercutting their manager to the point that he resigned in disgust. I also worked in the possibility that Graffen was fired.

It's likely that some of that may have played a part in Graffen deciding to step aside but the simplest explanation is that he had a young family and resigned so that he could spend more time at home with them. It's not nearly as good a story as my grand epic but I think it's closer to the truth. The corruption and craziness that surrounded the Brown Stockings probably made it easier for Graffen to make his decision but, in the end, I think he went home to be with the wife and kids.

I'm bitterly disappointed that you didn't get to read "The Curious Case of Mase Graffen" but I'm going to talk a bit tomorrow about some craziness regarding Brown Stocking management that I hope, in some small part, will make up for it. And I might post some biographical information about Graffen before I get to the last few games of the 1876 season, since it doesn't appear that I've ever mentioned him on the blog before.

An Interview With George McManus

The following interesting interview took place between Mr. George McManus, Manager of the St. Louis Base Ball Club, and a reporter of the Indianapolis Sentinel on Thursday inst. Mr. McManus is expected home on Tuesday when the facts gleaned in relation to his accuser by the gentlemen who are investigating his career here will be laid before him. What course Manager McManus intends to pursue will probably soon be made public:

The Interview

Reporter. Is there any truth in the charges made by the Louisville papers against you?
Mr. McManus. They are without foundation, and there is not a word of truth in them.
Rep. Did Mr. Devinney meet you at the depot and accompany you in a hack to the hotel?
Mr. McM. Mr. Devinney met me at the depot and told me he could get me a hack very cheap. The price he named that would be asked being very reasonable, I accepted his offer. After three of my men had got into the hacks I asked Devinney if he was going up town. He said he was. I then told him the hack was crowded, but I would try and make room for him. He answered he would rather walk up. We then drove off, and he walked up town.
Rep. Did you see Devinney at the hotel?
Mr. McM. When I was going up to my room at the hotel, I saw Devinney on the elevator, and he followed me to my room. After I got to my room I proceeded to take a bath, and Devinney, after talking for a while, said that these two games would decide who carried off the pennant, and that he (Devinney) would like to see them go to St. Louis. I replied: "That is what we came here for." He then said:

"I Can Fix Them For You."

I replied: "You have not nerve enough to give a visiting club a square deal." He said: "I had nerve enough to give the two Boston games to Louisville." I then told him I had him where I wanted him, and if there was an unfair decision made, I would fix him so he would never umpire another game. He answered: "You will, will you?" and left the room.
Rep. While in your room did you offer Devinney $250 to give the games to St. Louis?
Mr. McM. I did not offer him a cent, and could not have offered that amount, as I did not have more than $30 with me.
Rep. Then his statement that you showed him a $100 bill as an inducement is false?
Mr. McM. It is in every regard.

Mr. McManus also stated that in the first game played at Louisville this season, Devinney told Arthur Croft that Chapman told him, before the game commenced, that Louisville must have the two games, and must be given every close decision.

Mr. McManus stated that he thought Chapman was at the bottom of the whole matter. He thought he had a grudge against him because he had engaged Devlin and Snyder.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 5, 1877


For more background on the charges that Dan Devinney was making against McManus, Mike McGeary, and Joe Blong, see this post.

A McManus Denial

Manager George McManus, of the St. Louis Base-ball Club, denies under oath that he attempted to bribe Umpire D.H. Devinney in Louisville. Devinney makes affidavit that he did attempt to bribe him, and the Louisville Courier-Journal says that the people of that city are inclined to believe that the latter has truth on his side.

-The New York Times, August 8, 1877

Devinney's Testimony

The St. Louis Times gives the following as the statement of Devinney, the umpire at Louisville, concerning an attempt made by McManus, the manger of the St. Louis Browns, to bribe him: "When I lived in St. Louis two years ago I was employed by the St. Louis management to take the Browns through a course of gymnasium practice. I am intimately acquainted with most all of the Brown Stocking players, and went to the Fourteenth Street Depot to meet them on the 10:50 train Tuesday morning. McManus came to me and said: 'I want to see you at the hotel' and wished me to ride up with him in his hack. I declined and walked up to the Louisville Hotel where I met him in the lobby. He asked me to his room, where he first treated me to a nice cigar. He then told me that if I would do the square thing for the Browns and wanted to make anything he would give me $250. If I would throw the two games to be played with the Louisville in their (the Browns) favor and if I would do the same thing in the two games to be played by the Browns in Louisville later in the season, he would give me $400, or $100 for each game. He said: 'I will give you $50 on the grounds after the first game and the rest at the hotel at night.' To accomplish all this he stated that all strikes must be called off Blong that were possible; that Devlin should be dealt with very strictly as regards called balls, so as to work him and the rest of the nine up so as to throw all the points in the Browns favor. McGeary, so McManus stated, was afraid of me, and so left him to do all the talking. McManus then took out a $100 bill and showed it to me, asking if it was not a big pile. I said, 'Yes, about as big as I've seen for some time.' He said: 'You might as well make it and come back to St. Louis well fixed; you can come there next year; I'll get you in as League Umpire and see that you are well taken care of.' I did not commit myself either one way or the other and after some further talk he said, 'Well, I expect you had better leave me now, Champman may catch you here, and it would not be safe for him to see you.' I did not come to any understanding with him. As I left he remarked, 'You do as I tell you and everything will be all right. All it requires is a little cheek.' After coming from McManus' room I meet Blong in the hotel rotunda, who said to me, 'Burtis is quite a sport and bets his money on the Browns. He told me to tell you that he had his money up on them in the Louisville games, and for you to do the fair thing by St. Louis' which simply amounted to my doing the unfair thing toward Louisville. I am willing to make a sworn affidavit to anything I have stated. The Louisville people have treated me so kindly that I did not have the heart to give them away, although to a poor man the temptation in the shape of so much money was very great."

-The New York Times, August 6, 1877


Devinney, one would assume, is P.H. Devinney, who David Nemec lists in The Great Encyclopedia of 19th Century Major League Baseball as a National League umpire in 1877. Of course, Joe Blong and Mike McGeary would get into a great deal of trouble over allegations of throwing games against the White Stockings later in the month. The irony of this situation is that the alleged victims of the fix was the Louisville club who were rather familiar with the culture of gambling and game-fixing.