The 1906 San Francisco earthquake left the city in ruins; it also put the future of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) in serious jeopardy.
Years later PCL veteran Bobby Eager wrote about the league in the aftermath of the quake in The San Jose Evening News:
“Did you ever hear of a bunch of ballplayers owning their club in a league? I never did, but I came within an ace of being a part owner at one time.”
Bobby Eager
Eager, then with the Los Angeles Angels, said the league was “pretty much on the bum,” and while leagues in the East had agreed to help the PCL financially, there was no sense of how the league would operate.
Jim Morley, the owner of a large pool hall in Los Angeles, owned and managed the Angels, but said Eager:
“(H)e got cold feet early. He practically dismissed the team and said he was through.”
San Francisco Seals owner James Calvin (J. Cal) Ewing, whose deep pockets kept the league afloat, was “furious at Morley, quitting like a hound.”
Local boxing promoter “Uncle” Tom McCarey was asked by Ewing and league president Eugene Bert to take control of the club, but when that failed they reached out to a local businessman.
“They got a fellow by the name of Gil Meade to take over…It was decided to play the San Francisco games at Oakland, and go on with the league and give the fans some ball. Of course it was an uphill fight all around with no grounds at Frisco.
“Meade shot his $5,000, which was his bankroll, in a couple months and he was done and out.”
At the time, The Los Angeles Examiner said Meade left as a result of the league failing to award him a large block of stock in the team that was promised.
Eager said after Meade departed the team was called together by field manager and Captain Frank “Pop” Dillon:
Frank “Pop” Dillon
“He first wanted to know how much money we all had and we told him. Then he laid before us his plans. He showed us how we could take over the club by putting up three or four hundred dollars apiece. He said we would not get any salaries that year but the next year he thought the club would pay big. A few of the players (Eager included) were willing to take a chance but most wanted their salaries. They were not gamblers.”
Dillon could not convince enough of the Angles and Eager’s dream to own a club died.
“The result was the league dug up (William Henry) “Hen” Berry who was running a little poolroom. Hen’s brother (Clarence, who made a fortune in the oil and horse businesses) let him have enough to back the club the rest of the season which was about $8,000, but next year we won the pennant and Berry cleaned up big. I know every stockholder who had a $100 share got a $40 dividend the next year. If we players had taken the club we would have made just as much and might have started something new in baseball in the way of profit-sharing.”
Clarence, left, and William Henry Berry played for the amateur Selma (CA) Tigers in the 1890s
Another “Hen” Berry story on Wednesday.
Baseball History Daily 