{"id":2193,"date":"2020-01-14T12:53:05","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T19:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/?p=2193"},"modified":"2020-01-14T13:48:42","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T20:48:42","slug":"strains-of-1908-cubs-owners-watching-their-bottom-lines-is-nothing-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/commentary\/2193\/strains-of-1908-cubs-owners-watching-their-bottom-lines-is-nothing-new","title":{"rendered":"In 1908, same as today, Cubs owner kept close eye on bottom line"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"chas-w-murphy-holding-cigar\"<\/a>With all the consternation about the Ricketts family, which owns the Cubs, not spending money on players, I was reminded of this excerpt from my 1908 Cubs novel, <\/em>The Run Don\u2019t Count, and the Cubs\u2019 notorious owner of that era, “Chubby\u2019\u2019 Charlie Murphy.<\/em><\/p>\n

What I really was reminded of: Although 1908 was a long time ago, things weren\u2019t as different then as you might think. There are just more zeroes involved today in the salaries and ticket prices. While Murphy was brilliant and diligent in many ways, ticket prices for the \u201908 World Series were jacked up so high that people stayed away. (Well, I guess that\u2019s different.)<\/em><\/p>\n

And in 1909, star catcher Johnny Kling held out, a big reason why the Cubs failed to win the National League pennant, missing the opportunity to win five in a row in 1906-10. For the money a family of four would spend on one game and dinner today, Kling might have been persuaded to play in 1909.<\/em><\/p>\n

While I wrote this as a novel, the research was done with the idea of writing it as non-fiction. I just decided it would be more fun to write and read as a novel\u2014to provide drama and humor. I hope you agree. While it\u2019s very much a period piece, I didn\u2019t overplay that with an abundance of period-piece language.<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the drawbacks is that publishers don\u2019t know what to do with a historical novel like mine. It\u2019s a good book\u2014a more interesting read, my writer-friends tell me, than many books about that era. If you are interested, check out my reviews at Amazon. <\/a>And if you are interested in a signed copy, please contact me at Facebook or herbgould85@gmail. I am honored to do signed copies<\/em><\/p>\n

This scene opens at a funeral in 1909, where Cubs owner Murphy chats with Brooklyn owner Charles Ebbets. Murphy then boards a train back to Chicago with a young Cubs employee, who is the narrator of the book.<\/em><\/p>\n

And here\u2019s to an interesting 2020 season for the Cubs.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"RDC,<\/a>@@@@<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Charlie Murphy,\u201d Ebbets said. \u201cI hope you\u2019ve come to tell me you\u2019ll sell Kling to me. He\u2019d look so good in a Trolley Dodger uniform. And all my Hebrew friends in New York would love to watch such a fine player.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot happening,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t come up with $30,000 any more than you could acquire the deed to the Brooklyn Bridge, anyway. Kling plays for the Cubs or nobody. He\u2019ll be back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you change your mind \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t buy that Jewish stuff, either,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cHis wife\u2019s a Jew, no doubt. Kling? I don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said. If you change your mind \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n

After the funeral, the National League\u2019s Board of Directors, including Murphy and Ebbets, met briefly and named Mr. Heydler the new president of the National League. That night, we boarded a train back to Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know you think I\u2019m a jerk,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cIt\u2019s OK. Everyone thinks I\u2019m a jerk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what I\u2019ve seen, baseball owners are not popular unless their team wins,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd even then, they\u2019re not popular,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cActually, they\u2019re despised. Because they charge too much for tickets. Or because they won\u2019t pay their baseball heroes more money. Or because the hot dogs are cold. Or because the weather is hot.\u201d<\/p>\n

I let that go. Murphy was an odd man. He was energetic. In some ways, he did a good job of being an owner. He had a good team. He worked hard at his business. But he often left fans feeling hustled or at least uneasy. He was an ungracious whirlwind.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you like being the owner of a baseball team?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, I do. But it\u2019s an impossible task,\u201d he said. \u201cSomeday, I\u2019d like to do something else. Something where you have a chance to be successful without constantly chasing after the next thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With all the consternation about the Ricketts family, which owns the Cubs, not spending money on players, I was reminded… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[334,308154,1011338],"tags":[1011350,1011320,1011321,1011322,1011339],"class_list":["post-2193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-chicago-cubs","category-baseball-history","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-frank-chance","tag-joe-tinker","tag-johnny-evers","tag-national-league-baseball-history"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2193"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2198,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193\/revisions\/2198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}