October 23rd, 1904
Madigan Hall, Manhattan, NY
In a shocking Dark Horse victory sweeping the baseball world, journalist Jacob M. Parker of Saint Louis defeated frontrunner Winfield S. Garrison for control of the Legacy Baseball League, collecting a late-hour majority in the final hours of voting at Madigan Hall.
Parker, 48, is a cinderella candidate with heavily left-leaning principles, promising throughout his campaign to “root out corruption” across the league, increase funding to the Negro Leagues, nationalize ownership of ballclubs, formally recognizing the Players Union, and opening the door for collective bargaining and the termination of the Reserve Clause. Unlike his opponents, Parker has little affiliation with the East Coast elite of baseball politics, living most of his life in Saint Louis, Missouri. Throughout his tenure as Editor of the Sporting Times (this newspaper), Parker has been critical of the Legacy Baseball League’s anti-labor, pro-trust positions and complacency in the Sinister Seven Scandal. It is likely that the concurrently-timed release of the Congressional Inquiry into the Sinister Seven and Alexander Madigan’s subsequent death was enough to turn several moderate General Managers toward the left wing of baseball politics.
Unlike the dissolved National League, Commisioners in the Legacy Baseball League are voted in by majority vote among General Managers, who may be appointed but cannot be fired by ownership without Commissioner approval. This process, designed to protect management and players against the corruption and infighting that dismantled the National League, severely limits the power of ownership and grants General Managers wider autonomy in the execution of their duties. Commissioners serve for life in the LBL and are replaced by majority vote among General Managers.
Wasting no time, Parker offered a very short acceptance speech in Memorial Garden of Madigan Hall this afternoon.
In his first act as leader of the baseball world, Commissioner Parker formally banned General Manager Landon Kerr and Owner William Barclay of the Brooklyn Whales from baseball for life.
“We shall take up the mantle of righteous purveyors of America’s purest game,” Parker told reporters this morning, “beginning with the filth and grime that threatened her demise.”
The Brooklyn Whales were at the center of a massive cheating scandal dating back to 1902, wherein players and umpires were bribed by a combination of Chicago and New York City gambling rings to fix baseball games for profit. A Congressional Inquiry found the Whales, the League, and several unnamed individuals as viable for prosecution under federal law—however, no formal charges have been presented. However, many politicians, particularly in the Eastern United States, are using this widespread scandal as a catalyst for reform against corruption, monopolies, crime, alcoholism, and gambling, particularly in urban areas. The result is a mass exodus of fans from the ballparks across the league, and subsequently crashing profits.
Parker told General Managers to expect “immediate and thorough” ethics reviews of each franchise to determine if any lingering malpractices are left over from the “Sinister Seven” scandal of Brooklyn. He warned that any player or manager found guilty of unethical practices within the league would be “suspended and/or banned with extreme prejudice.”
Parker also announced several Board Proposals he expects to be ready for the 1906 Summer Meetings, to include the formal recognition of the Players Union, a massive funding increase to the LNBL, a large increase to the player-salary arbitration standard, and the nationalization of each franchise—to be established in trust under democratic committees within the cities they occupy.
“This is an unmitigated disaster for the game of baseball,” right-wing candidate Henry Watson told reporters from his hotel in Manhattan this morning. “We shall see how cheerful the General Management of this league feels when this radical rascabout’s secret police are benching their star players with little balance or jurisprudence.”
Winfield S. Garrison, the expected winner of the race as deceased Alexander Madigan’s chosen successor, congratulated Mr. Parker in a brief statement this morning and resigned from his position of Undersecretary of the LBL, announcing his candidacy for the New York Senate.
The monumental election of the 48-year old, left-wing candidate signals a steep pivot and new direction for the Legacy Baseball League. Parker will face ownership, likely in court, over his nationalization proposals, should they pass assembly. He is unlikely to garnish the votes required for the more liberal of his proposals without support from the moderate wing, and moderates currently own the ability to override his vetoes.