» May 17, 1945: The Giants score six runs in the 8th to vanquish the Cubs, 8–5. For New York, it is their 12th win in 13 games. Rookie Al Gardella starts at 1B for New York, and his brother Danny Gardella is announced as a pinch hitter in the 8th, but is switched for Billy Jurges.
» May 24, 1945: The visiting Giants beat the Reds 7–6 on a pinch homer by colorful Danny Gardella. Gardella had started the day by leaving a suicide note in his hotel room for his roommate Nat Reyes. When Reyes returned to the room a few minutes later, he noticed the open window and read the note. Horrified, he rushed to window only to see the grinning face of Gardella, who had been hanging from the window ledge several stories over the street.
» August 12, 1945: Mel Ott leads the Giants to a pair of wins over the Reds, 3–2 and 6–5. Ott hits a pinch 3-run homer in the 8th of the nitecap after his homer and another by Danny Gardella leads the way in opener. The Reds Bill McKechnie, desperate for hitting, selects P Joe Bowman to pinch-hit for Vern Kennedy in game 1. Bowman is 0-for-42. He will hit .088 for the season.
» February 19, 1946: Giants OF Danny Gardella becomes the first major leaguer to announce he is jumping to the "outlaw" Mexican League, the first shot in the series of events that will dominate baseball even more than the return of all the war veterans. His attempt to return to the ML a few years later will initiate a major court battle.
» October 2, 1947:
Ex-Giant Danny Gardella, suspended for 5 years
for jumping to the Mexican League, files suit
for $300,000 in damages. He charges that the reserve
clause is "monopolistic and restrains trade." It will
be dismissed.
» February 9, 1949: A federal appeals court orders the $300,000 suit against baseball by Mexican League jumper Danny Gardella back to a lower court for trial.
» October 7, 1949:
Danny Gardella drops his suit against baseball,
settling out of court for a reported $80,000. All
other suits by players who had jumped to Mexico have
been dropped.
» June 21, 1950:
Renegade ball player Danny Gardella admits accepting a pay-off to drop his suit against baseball. After a month long tryout with the Cardinals, Gardella had been sent to their Houston farm club where, shortly afterward, he was released. Gardella argues that he should be paid for the entire year, and he blames his release on his suit against the ML.
» April 25, 1951: Former Braves P 33-year-old Jim Prendergast contests the reserve clause. His lawyer, Frederic Johnson, who was the attorney for Danny Gardella, files a $150,000 suit, alleging that his client's trade from Syracuse to Beaumont in the Texas League constitutes a breach of the nation's antitrust laws.
» May 4, 1951: NY Representative Emanuel Celler, citing the case of Danny Gardella, plans a probe of ML baseball for antitrust violations.
» February 20, 1953:
The U.S. Court of Appeals rules that organized baseball is a sport and not a business, affirming the 25-year-old Supreme Court ruling. This effectively dismisses the antitrust suits of Jack Corbett and former Dodger farm hand Walter Kowalski. The $300,000 suit of Corbett, the owner of the Texas League El Paso club, is based on his belief that he lost money when ML baseball prohibited him from signing several players suspended for participation in the Mexican League. Kowalski's $150,000 suit is based on the general principles of the antitrust and restraint-of-trade laws. Their lawyer in these cases is Frederic Johnson, who also represents Danny Gardella in his suit against ML baseball.
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