Sid Mercer from the Chronology

Jun 8, 1917 - After a game in Cincinnati‚ John McGraw takes a swing at umpire Bill "Lord" Byron as they are leaving the field‚ splitting Byron's lip. NL President John Tener fines McGraw $500 and suspends him for 16 days. McGraw sounds off to writer Sid Mercer about the general shortcomings of Tener and his umpires. When McGraw's quotes are published‚ he signs a statement denying he'd said what was printed. The Baseball Writers Association protests‚ forcing another NL meeting at which Tener finds McGraw guilty and fines him another $1‚000. Mercer‚ a friend of McGraw's‚ quits the beat and never speaks to McGraw again.