McGraw Of The Giants - An Informal Biography An Informal Biography

OF THE GIANTS AN INFORMAL BIOGRAPHY BY FRANK GRAHAM G-P-PUTNAMS SONS NEW YORK BY FRANK GRAHAM All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, must Jtbljbe reproduced in any form without permission. This complete copyright edition is produced in full compliance with the Governments regulations for conserving paper and other essential materials. MA2TCJFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OP AMEBICA Van Rees Press, New York YOUNG JOHN AT OLEAN CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Boy from Truxton 3 II. Baltimore and the Orioles 10 III. Arrival in New York 2 1 IV. The Greatest Team 28 V. The Pace Is Slower 35 VI. The Merkle Play 41 VII. Bresnahan for Bugs Raymond 49 VIII. In Rags and Tatters 55 IX. In Defense of Snodgrass 64 X. Around the World 70 XI. The Federal League 72 XII. A Most Remarkable Year 79 XIII. A Kid Named Youngs 92 XIV. The Great Repudiation 99 XV. A Halt Is Called 108 XVI. Part Owner of the Giants 113 XVII. The Name of Muggsy 120 XVIII. The Race Track in Havana 129 XIX. Year of Trouble I 3 I XX. The Brightest Era Opens 139 J Lfl, XXI. A Crowded Year J 150 XXII. Three Pennants in a Row 165 PAGE Jl plan-a J Connell Case 175 XXlV t ft Ariives nd Matty Dies 191, XX Follow Me in Real Estate 198 XXVI. New Captain of the Giants 2 14 XXVII. A Guy Named Hubbell 224 XXVIII. Hogan at the Table 235 XXIX. A Visit to the Doctor 240 XXX. Justice McCook Hears a Case 244 XXXI. Bright Days in California 247 XXXII. A Revolt Is Checked 255 XXXIII. A Reporter Gets a Beat 257 XXXIV. End of the Long Road 262 VI ILLUSTRATIONS Young John at Olean Frontispiece Facing Page McGraw as the New Manager of the Giants 24 Christy Mathewson 25 Fred Merkle 44 George Burns 45 McGraw in 1912 58 Rube Marquard 59 FerdieSchupp 88 Benny Kauff 89 Ross Young 94 Frank Frisch 95 McGraw with Charles A. Stoneham 128 McGraw and Wilbert Robinson 129 An Opening Day at the Polo Grounds 160 McGraw with Dave Bancroft and Hugh Jennings 161 Bill Terry 170 Jimmy OConnell 171 Mel Ott 196 Art Nehf and Roger Bresnahan 197 Carl Hubbell - fc 228 Rogers Hornsby 229 McGraw in Havana 250 John and Mrs. McGraw at Home in Pelham 251 THE BOY FROM TRUXTON JOSEPH MCGRAW, who was born in Truxton, New York, on April 7, 1873, and died in New Rochelle on February 25, 1934, was a small-town boy who parlayed a love of baseball and a dy namic personality into world-wide fame and hundreds of thousands of dollars. A professional player at the age of seventeen, he became, successively, third baseman of the immortal Baltimore Orioles, man ager and later part owner of the New York Giants, the dominant figure in the sport, and, by reason of the far-flung expeditions he headed in 1913 and again in 1924, its ambassador to the world at large. From the wooden sidewalks of Truxton, his feet led him along the broad highways of the world. New York knew him best, of course but they knew him, too, in London, Paris, Dublin, Havana, Berlin, Cairo, Melbourne, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hongkong. No man had a wider acquaintance, from kings to the riffraff of all the con tinents. Few have had more glamorous, more exciting lives. He was, distinctly, a robust temperament. He was generous and loyal to his friends, implacable toward his foes. He was vain about some things, extremely modest about others. He irritated persons in the mass and charmed them as individuals. His charities were numerous, and he genuinely resented any attempt to publicize them. He forgave manyinjuries done him but forgot none of them. He enjoyed many fine friendships and had many quarrels. It has been said of him that he would have been as successful in any other field as he was in baseball because he possessed the quali ties that would have made him a leader wherever his choice had rested. Perhaps. Yet there is nothing in the record to bear this out. The record is that whenever he ventured beyond baseball he failed dismally, and that he lost tremendous sums playing the races, dab bling in oil and speculating in Florida real estate...