You Did What__ Mad Plans and Great Historical Disasters - Bill Fawcett [67]
You Traded Whom?
Sport and theater are both areas where there are actually columnists and critics to make sure nobody misses a single mistake. Which is why this may qualify to be one of the classic sports mistakes of all times.
FRAZEE AND THE BOSTON RED SOX
BOSTON, 1920
Brian M. Thomsen
Harrison Frazee had two passions in his life, baseball and the theater — not as a player or actor, mind you, or even as a fan or theatergoer.
Frazee wanted to be a world-champion baseball team owner, and a successful Broadway producer, and second best would not suffice for either.
So in 1917, Frazee bought the pennant-winning powerhouse of the American League, the Boston Red Sox, who continued their run for glory with their fourth World Series title in 1918.
Frazee knew he was buying a winner and was overjoyed when his expectations were immediately met, but unfortunately his enthusiasm did not last for long.
The following year the team began to slump and barely failed to achieve a .500 record, and the overall cost of running the team exceeded Frazee’s expectations. One of the biggest expenses for the Red Sox was a former record-breaking pitcher who had entered a slump and wound up being transferred to the outfield in order to keep his still-strong (and record-breaking) bat in the lineup. The slugger slammed in twenty-nine homers that year, a new world’s record at the time (partially due to his additional appearances in the lineup, since fielders could play every day, unlike pitchers).
But Frazee was not pleased. His highest-paid player was no longer making the same dominating contribution to the team in terms of defense, or more specifically pitching, as in offense, and even his slugging was suspect.
Sure he could hit the ball, but he wasn’t much of a runner due to his unathletic bulk and tiny ankles.
Indeed he had to hit it out of the park in order to guarantee a home run and allow himself enough time to make it around the bases.
Sure he was a slugging superstar now, but who could guarantee he’d be able to keep it up? After all, he had been a pitching star too, and everyone had seen what had happened there!
And he ate more than the other two outfielders and the shortstop put together, with an appetite that showed no signs of waning, a fact that further dampened Frazee’s enthusiasm with every road-trip food bill.
But Frazee’s slackening in enthusiasm for the game was more than made up for by the growth of his enthusiasm for the stage.
He was sure that he could hear Broadway calling his name, and when a certain script came across his desk, he knew he had a hit.
It had everything — a love story, snazzy flapperesque dance numbers, and toe-tapping songs that were guaranteed to make audiences “happy” and crying for more. All it needed was a producer, and Frazee was more than happy to oblige.
There was just one small problem….
Frazee’s bank account.
How could he possibly continue to bankroll his team and produce his surefire hit show at the same time?
The answer was simple — he couldn’t…until a certain gentleman from New York by the name of Colonel Jacob Ruppert, a New York brewer and entrepreneur who also just happened to own a team by the name of the New York Yankees, made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
In exchange for $125,000 cash and a promise of a $300,000 personal loan to finance the show, Ruppert was willing to take the overweight soon-to-be has-been hitter off his hands.
What a deal!
How could Frazee say no? He even stood to make a few dollars on the deal to pay off the feed-bag losses. And most important, he could finance the show that would make him a mint.
How could he refuse?
Such opportunities didn’t grow on trees and unless he produced the show soon, someone else might step in, and then where would he be?
A handshake and several lawyers’ conversations later, the deal was done, and all of Frazee’s enthusiastic expectations about the show he wanted