Books and articles about John T. Brush

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One of the organizers of the original NL franchise in Indianapolis, where he owned a large clothing store, Brush became president of the club in 1887 and decided to become a leader in the game. The next year he pushed through the salary-limit rule, which helped spark the Players' League revolt in 1890. When his club dropped from the NL in 1889, Brush invested in the Giants, and in 1891 he was awarded the Cincinnati franchise in the reorganized, 12-team NL. He continued to own Indianapolis in the Western League. Ban Johnson, president of the league, accused him of using Cincinnati to draft players to send to Indianapolis. In 1902 he sold the Reds and bought control of the Giants. He tried to push through the idea of a trust holding all NL teams. The idea didn't get anywhere, and Brush made many enemies in the game. A diehard opponent of Ban Johnson, he fought the AL's attempts to put a team in New York and opposed the peace treaty between the AL and NL. Brush and his manager John McGraw refused to let the Giants play a WS in 1904. He won his fourth pennant with the Giants in 1912, then left for California to recuperate from ill health after losing the WS to the Red Sox in seven games. He died on the train as it was passing through Missouri. (NLM)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » February 2, 1889: A new Indianapolis group, headed by John T. Brush, is granted an National League franchise. » March 16, 1895: John Brush, owner of the Cincinnati Reds and the Indianapolis team of the Western League, transfers six Reds to his minor league team. This sort of exchange becomes increasingly common in the 1890s as owners of more than one team shuttle their players between their teams throughout each season in an attempt to stock their most profitable team of the moment. This strategy causes much distrust among fans, who feel that their loyalties are being trampled. » May 1, 1898: The Board of Discipline of the National Baseball League adopts a set of rules to suppress rowdy ball playing. John T. Brush said the resolution, which he proposed, "has worked like a charm." » December 15, 1900: Amos Rusie, out for the past two years with arm problems, is traded to the Reds by the Giants for young Christy Mathewson. Though only 30, Rusie, a future Hall of Fame pitcher, will not have the ability that brought him eight straight 20-game seasons, and he will not add to the 245 wins he collected in nine seasons. Appearing in just three games in 1901, he will finish with an 0-1 record. Mathewson, 0-3 with the Giants but 20-2 with Norfolk (Virginia League), is much coveted by Cincinnati owner John T. Brush, who is currently negotiating to buy control of the Giants from the unscrupulous Andrew Freedman. Before he takes over, Brush wants Mathewson in place as a Giants starter, rather than the "pitched out" Amos Rusie. » April 3, 1902: The NL names club owners Arthur Soden, John T. Brush, and James Hart as an interim committee to run the league. » September 9, 1902: John T. Brush sells the Cincinnati Reds to Julius and Max Fleischmann, George B. Cox, and August "Garry" Herrmann for $150,000. Brush then buys control of the Giants from Andrew Freedman. » January 10, 1903: Despite attempts by John Brush and Andrew Freedman to use their political influence to prevent the AL from finding suitable grounds in New York, Ban Johnson, aided by baseball writer Joe Vila, finds backers. He also finds a ballpark site at 165th Street and Broadway. Frank Farrell and Bill Devery pay $18,000 for the Baltimore franchise and will build a wooden grandstand seating 15,000 on the highest point of Manhattan. The team, logically, will be called the Highlanders. » July 27, 1904: John McGraw and John T. Brush say they have no intention of playing a post-season series with the American League champions. "The Giants will not play a post season series with the American League champions. Ban Johnson has not been on the level with me personally, and the American League management has been crooked more than once." says McGraw. "When we clinch the National League pennant, we'll be champions of the only real major league," Ban Johnson fires back, "No thoughtful patron of baseball can weigh seriously the wild vaporings of this discredited player who was canned from the American League." As the New York Highlanders battle for the AL pennant, local pressure mounts, but Brush, still angry over the inter-league peace treaty, and McGraw, who despises Ban Johnson, are adamant. » October 10, 1904: John McGraw issues a statement saying that he, not president John Brush, was responsible for refusing to play the AL winner in a post season series. The Sporting News will declare the Pilgrims champions by default. » January 14, 1905: Giants owner John T. Brush, who refused to play the American League pennant winners in 1904, proposes rules governing future World Series. » May 19, 1905: Banished yesterday for brawling with Pittsburgh manager Fred Clarke, John McGraw roams the Polo Grounds before today's game with the Pirates, shouting insults at Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss. McGraw accuses him of controlling the NL umpires through league president Harry Pulliam and welching on gambling debts. McGraw is again ejected during the game. Dreyfuss will files a formal protest with the league about McGraw's behavior, his swearing, and his shouting "Hey, Barney" at Dreyfuss from the field. He also contends that the Giants manager offered to wager $10,000 that the Giants would win the game. McGraw responds to Dreyfuss' complaint by stating that NL President Pulliam could not "forget his former role as the secretary to Dreyfuss." A meeting of the Leagues directors results in a $150 fine and 15-day suspension for McGraw, but John Brush immediately gets a Superior Court injunction blocking the suspension and further hearings exonerate McGraw. » August 8, 1906: NL President Harry Pulliam upholds the forfeit to the Cubs of yesterday's Giants game, stating: "I uphold the action of the umpires absolutely, and if I am not sustained by the NL Board of Directors I will not only resign my position as President of the NL, but I will quit professional baseball forever." Giants owner John Brush then allows James Johnstone to officiate, and the Cubs win 3-2 behind Three Finger Brown and Ed Reulbach. At the month's end, the Cubs will have a 15-game lead. » November 26, 1912: John T. Brush dies while en route to California by train for his health. His son-in-law, Harry Hempstead, will succeed him as president of the Giants.