When Charlie Babb jumped from the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association to the Memphis Egyptians in the Southern Association in June of 1902, he was not alone.
Pitcher Jim St. Vrain, recently released by the Chicago Orphans and under contract with the Tacoma Tigers in the Pacific Northwest League, signed with Memphis rather than going to Tacoma.
Another American Association player, Second baseman Bill Evans of the Columbus Senators, also jumped to Memphis. The Cincinnati Enquirer said he jumped being suspended by the Senators for being “too drunk” to take the field on June 18.
Memphis manager Charlie Frank’s three new players would be a source of controversy in the Southern Association for the remainder of the season and a continuation of an ongoing feud over the league’s salary limit which The Sporting Life said: “a majority of the clubs are known to have violated.”
Charlie Frank
Southern Association President John Bailey Nicklin, acting on orders from Patrick T. Powers, president of National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL), ordered Frank not to play any of the three. Frank not only defied the order but according to The Atlanta Constitution, gave Nicklin a “lecture in abuse,” and threatened to “break the league.”
Throughout July, the situation became increasingly absurd.
On July 11 Nicklin ordered umpire Ed Cline (the same Ed Cline who may, or may not, have initially approached Babb about jumping) to not allow St. Vrain to pitch against the Nashville Volunteers, managed by Frank’s biggest ally in the league, Isaac Newton “Ike” Fisher. The Atlanta Constitution said Cline became mysteriously “sick and could not work,” although he “was upon the grounds while the game was being played.” St. Vrain and the Egyptians beat the Volunteers 8 to 5 with “Red” Ehret and Nashville’s Bill Dammann acting as umpires.
After the game Frank was suspended for 10 games and threatened with being blacklisted if he played St. Vrain again. Later that week Frank received a temporary injunction allowing him to continue using St. Vrain. And while Babb and Evans had been suspended by the league and were not covered by the ruling, Frank continued to put both in the lineup. Frank also continued to manage the team despite his own suspension.
On July 25 Frank was again ordered by Nicklin not to play Babb and Evans. This time, he complied, for one day. The two players sat out an 8 to 4 victory over Atlanta (St. Vrain pitched for Memphis). Both were again in the lineup the following day, and on July 27 Frank filed a suit against the league and Nicklin seeking $10,000 in damages. He also sought and received an injunction “restraining President Nicklin from interfering with the playing of Babb and Evans.”
The Constitution began calling the team the “Memphis Injunctionists.”
The Sporting Life said Frank was:
“Demoralizing a successful organization for the sake of a few unimportant, mediocre ball players.”
Nicklin, the league, and the NAPBL blinked first.
Two days after the suit was filed an agreement was reached. Babb and Evans would remain with Memphis and were reinstated from suspension; the fourth place Egyptians agreed to forfeit every game in which Babb and Evans participated in while under suspension—dropping the team to fifth place.
The controversy appeared to be over. It wasn’t.
On August 4 the Egyptians arrived at Athletic Park in New Orleans to play the second place Pelicans. The New Orleans Times-Picayune said:
“Under orders of (Pelicans) manager Abner Powell a big policeman today refused admission to St, Vrain, Evans and Babb, of the Memphis club, when they tried to enter.”
The game was canceled
The following day:
“Manager Frank again took his team to out to the park, but admission was refused to St. Vrain, Evans and Babb.”
The umpire, picked by the Pelicans, “declared the game forfeited to New Orleans,” and Powell shared with the press a telegram from the Little Rock Travelers which read:
“Congratulations upon your firm methods. We will stand with you.”
Despite the earlier agreement, the NAPBL announced that Frank and St. Vrain were still under suspension.
Jim St. Vrain
On August 9 the Shreveport Giants refused to allow St. Vrain into the ballpark for a double-header. Memphis took the field for each game with only eight players and no pitcher. They forfeited both games to the Giants.
Memphis was due to travel to Little Rock for a three-game series from the 11th through the 13th. The Travelers announced that they “would not play with St. Vrain and Frank in the game. Babb and Evans will be allowed to play (but) under protest.”
On August 12 Nicklin resigned at a meeting of league owners in Chattanooga (Memphis and Nashville refused to attend). He said he was “almost helpless to enforce the rules of the league,” because of Frank’s numerous injunctions. He was replaced by vice president William Kavanaugh. A motion was passed to suspend Frank and St. Vrain indefinitely, but Babb and Evans were officially reinstated. Again.
In response, Frank filed another $10,000 lawsuit naming every team in the league except Nashville.
On August 27 in Nashville, St. Vrain started for Memphis. President Kavanaugh fined Nashville $1000 and “suspended that club for the balance of the season,” he threatened “drastic measures’ towards Memphis as well, but for the several injunctions that kept him from acting. Two days later the suspension was lifted.
On August 30 a Little Rock judge enjoined Frank from “playing or attempting to play St. Vrain in any state.”
The Atlanta Constitution headline summed up the opinion of most Southern baseball fans on September 22:
To The Relief of All the Season is Now Over
As an appropriate end, Memphis beat Atlanta on the final day of the season behind the pitching of the still suspended Jim St. Vrain.
The no longer suspended Nashville Volunteers won the pennant.
The Indianapolis Indians, the team Charlie Babb jumped, won the American Association pennant.
Charlie Babb
The Indianapolis papers had predicted that Babb’s career would be doomed when he jumped. In 1903, he was purchased by the New York Giants. He played in the National League with the Giants and Brooklyn Superbas through the 1905 season. In 1906, he became a minor league player/manager; with the Memphis Egyptians. He stayed with Memphis until 1910 and managed to become embroiled in one more controversy.
Jim St. Vrain was only 19-years-old during that 1902 season. He finished 12-4 with Memphis. He went to the West Coast in 1903. His career was over after the 1905 season.
Bill Evans played in the Southern Association until 1906; he eventually became a member of three different teams who refused to play against him in 1902: New Orleans, Shreveport, and Little Rock.
Charlie Frank did just fine in the end. More on that next week.
Baseball History Daily 