At the close of the Southern Association’s tumultuous 1902 season league president William Kavanaugh, and the majority of the team owners, led by the New Orleans Pelicans’ Abner Powell, set out to oust Charlie Frank of the Memphis Egyptians.
Charlie Frank
After a decade as a player, including two seasons with the St. Louis Browns in the National League, Frank was one of the founding members of the new Southern Association in 1901 and became the president and manager of the Memphis Egyptians.
The Atlanta Constitution said that right from the beginning Frank became “the storm center for southern baseball politics… (He) was constantly engaged in some sort of furious baseball litigation.”
After signing three players–Jim St. Vrain, Charlie Babb, and Bill Evans—who were under contract with other teams during the 1902 season, Frank became embroiled in a months-long legal battle with the league and the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL).
In October of 1902, Frank lost his legal battle, and it was thought that the time was right to force him out. The New Orleans Times-Picayune said Powell and Kavanaugh were “confident that a new party” would take over the Memphis franchise and “do much better than the old.”
Powell, Kavanaugh, and the other league owners overestimated their influence in Southern baseball and underestimated Frank’s.
While Powell and company were trying to find a replacement for Frank, he was creating a new league. The Constitution said:
“(Frank) determined to organize an outlaw league, got financial backing in Memphis and actually formed a circuit.”
The problem for the Powell group was that Frank’s proposed league, and its investors, were more financially sound than the existing league. Charlie Frank challenged the Southern Association again, and again the Southern Association blinked.
Rather than losing the league, the other team owners accepted every one of Frank’s demands and welcomed him back.
The Associated Press called it “an almost complete surrender,” by the Powell-Kavanaugh contingent:
“Charles Frank retains the Memphis franchise; Memphis club and Frank restored to good standing; Memphis will be paid for all losses sustained during last season, on account of unplayed games, legal costs, etc…”
Additionally, Frank saw to it that every investor in his “new league” was reimbursed for their costs; the Association covered “all obligations made by the promoters,” including honoring the contracts of all players who had been signed, most of whom were absorbed into Southern Association teams. Additionally, Chattanooga, Tennessee was dropped from the league and a franchise in Montgomery, Alabama was “awarded to the promoters” of Frank’s “new league.”
It was estimated that Frank received $5,000 in the settlement. He put some of that money towards building a solid team for 1903, winning his first pennant. Memphis won again in 1904; early in the season, Frank handed over the managerial reins to Lew Whistler.
Lew Whistler
In 1905, Frank became president, principal owner, and manager of the New Orleans Pelicans, and promptly led them to a pennant— in spite of a Yellow Fever epidemic in New Orleans which required the team to relocate to Atlanta for part of the season. Frank’s Pelicans also won pennants in 1910 and ’11. He sold his interest in the team after the 1911 season but remained manager for two more years.
Charlie Frank’s 1910 New Orleans Pelicans
In 1916 Frank returned to the Southern association again, organizing a stock company to purchase the Atlanta Crackers. He managed Atlanta to a fifth place finish in 1916, and then won pennants in 1917 and ’19.
Frank sold his majority interest in the Crackers in May of 1921 but continued to manage the team. In May of 1922, he resigned citing poor health—he died in Memphis three weeks later.
Baseball History Daily 
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