1989 Happy Chandler Interview

[Brian McKenna]

In a March 22, 1989 interview Happy Chandler confirmed the existence of a secret report urging African-Americans to be excluded from the bigs. Supposedly, it was penned by the following:

Ford Frick National League president
William Harridge American League president
Sam Breadon St. Louis Cardinals owner
Phillip Wrigley Chicago Cubs owner
Larry MacPhail New York Yankees executive
Tom Yawkey Boston Red Sox owner

I am looking for any information about this interview. Is it legit? Where was the interview?

[Chisox]

I can't help you, but I am thoroughly interested. What year was this? Post or pre-integration.

[Brian McKenna]

i would have to say 1946 or early 1947

[shlevine42]

In Maury Allen's book about Robinson, Chandler tells of a meeting he called some time in '46, after Robinson's successful season in Montreal. He had called all the owners together at the Waldorf Hotel in New York to vote on Rickey's plan to bring Jackie up to the Dodgers for the '47 season.

The vote was 15-1 against the idea.

[Barnstormer]

I don't know about the interview, but the report exists and is called the Macphail Report.

http://roadsidephotos.com/baseball/MACPHAILREPT.htm

[Captain Cold Nose]

I don't know about the interview, but the report exists and is called the Macphail Report.

http://roadsidephotos.com/baseball/MACPHAILREPT.htm

While racism can certainly be cited based on the report, I think this is more of an example of extreme short-sightedness and lack of willingness to move from a firmly established staus quo. essentially, we've gone this long without black players, so, what good would it do? Kind of like out of sight, out of mind, don't worry about actually seeing or thinking.

[Brian McKenna]

While racism can certainly be cited based on the report, I think this is more of an example of extreme short-sightedness and lack of willingness to move from a firmly established staus quo. essentially, we've gone this long without black players, so, what good would it do? Kind of like out of sight, out of mind, don't worry about actually seeing or thinking.

Wasn't that the politically correct excuse for maintaining all segregation?

[Captain Cold Nose]

Wasn't that the politically correct excuse for maintaining all segregation?

Pretty much. While they may not necessarily have been real racists (a hatred of another race due to an incorrect assessment of superiority), it's not any better.

[Brian McKenna]

Rickey first exposed this report in February 1948:

[Brian McKenna]

A follow up to the Rickey speech:

[Brian McKenna]

MacPhail's reply:

[Brian McKenna]

From my reading of the three articles plus the 1989 interview:

The following admit the existence of the document and the discussion:
Branch Rickey
Larry MacPhail
Happy Chandler

The following deny it:
Alva Bradley
Wrigley
Ray Mack
Warren Giles
Joe Cronin

The ever-quiet toady Ford Frick failed to respond to inquiries.

MacPhail says that he had a copy in 1948 and was willing to produce it; however, I can't find that he ever did.

Bradley went so far as to say, "As a matter of fact, I was chairman of that meeting and we never discussed the subject."

[shlevine42]

I don't know what role Frick played in the McPhail meeting, but I do know that in 1947, with the Cardinals in town for a series with Brooklyn and threatening to strike to protest the presence of Jackie Robinson, Frick spoke to the Cardinals players at the Hotel New Yorker and said the following:

"If you do this you will be suspended from the league. You will find that the friends you think you have in the press box will not support you, that you will be outcasts. I do not care if half the league strikes. Those who do it will encounter quick retribution. All will be suspended and I don't care if it wrecks the National League for five years. This is the United States of America and one citizen has as much right to play as another. The National League will go down the line with Robinson whatever the consequences. You will find if you go through with your intention that you have been guilty of complete madness."

That doesn't sound like an "ever-quiet toady" to me.

[EdTarbusz]

According to William Marshall, the Major Leagues voted almost unimously to approve a version of MacPhail's report on August 27, 1946. Rickey always maintained the vote was 15-1, with himself being the lone dissenter. Alledgely the race issue was dropped from the report. macPhail is supposed to have argued that integration would doom the Negro Leagues, which was a source of income for some owners, that few, if any, Negor players were good enough for the Majors and that attratcting Black fans to the ballpark would discourage white fans from attending games. Koppett said this was baseball's version of saying that Blacks in the crows would decrease thew values of the teams. MacPhail also is supposed to have said that if any one team integrated (this was probably directed squarley at Rickey) the entire League might be Pressured to follow suit.

Marhall's footnotes say that the MacPhail report is located in the following collections: the Chandler Papers. He also says the original and final version are included in the Celler Report.

Rickey appears to gone public with the report on February 17, 1948 during a speech at Wilberforce University.

[EdTarbusz]

I can't help you, but I am thoroughly interested. What year was this? Post or pre-integration.

It depends on your definition of integration. It was after Jackie Robinson integrated the International League, but before he integrated the National League.