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William Harridge saw his first big league baseball game after the age of 30. Despite his inexperience regarding baseball he rose to the position of American League president, a position he held for 27 years. The run is the longest among any league president or commissioner. His work for the Junior Circuit eventually earned him a Cooperstown plaque with the game’s greats.

Born into poverty, Harridge came of age with employment as the foremost of goals. After high school he found work as an office boy for the Wabash Railroad in 1899. Sticking with Wabash, the hard-working Harridge moved up the ranks. By the early 1900s his charge included transporting entertainers and sports figures, most fortuitously American League umpires.

Ban Johnson, the president of the fledgling AL worked closely with Wabash and Harridge. So impressed was Johnson that he hired Harridge as his personal secretary.

With Harridge as his right-hand man, Johnson helped grow the American League. The two dealt with many problems along the way and conquered all comers.

Baseball faced a crisis of integrity because of the 1919 World Series. They hired Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the game’s first commissioner. The move diminished Johnson’s power.

Landis and Johnson publicly feuded with the power struggle coming to a head by 1927. American League owners forced Johnson to resign and hired ES Barnard as the league’s number one man.

Harridge kept his job as secretary to the president until Barnard suddenly passed away in 1931. With institutional knowledge and the know-how that comes from two decades on the job, Harridge was the logical choice for the presidency. He held the office for the next 27 years.

Along the way he helped establish the All Star Game and grew the baseball. Harridge held the position until 1958. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972, the year after his death.

Shown here is a letter dated August 16, 1928 written by Harridge to Yankees Hall of Fame executive Ed Barrow. He writes about nine optional players including Hall of Fame catcher Bill Dickey of the Little Rock club . Harridge was mistaken – Dickey had been promoted to the big club ten days earlier. In fact Dickey made his Yankee debut the day before the letter was written.

Take notice of the handwritten correction next to Dickey’s name. That came after Barrow alerted Harridge of the error. For more on this episode, go to Dickey’s page by clicking here.

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Will Harridge spent more than three decades working in baseball, first as secretary to Ban Johnson then as president of the Junior Circuit for 27 years. Though Harridge never attended a big league game before he worked for the American League, he learned to appreciate the national pastime.

As part the highest officer in the league, Harridge performed his duties the AL at games, banquets, and meetings. He mediated disputes, handed down suspensions, and represented the league in ceremonies.

Shown here is a telegram from Harridge early in his tenure as the American League president. He sends his regrets at being unable to attend to attend Sam Rice Day in Washington DC. Dignitaries from across the baseball attended the day to celebrate the future Hall of Famer on July 19, 1932.

Though he did not attend the gala, Harridge gushes about the Senators outfielder writing, ““Aside from his great ability as an outfielder and baserunner has always been a credit to baseball because of his splendid character and deportment on the field.”

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In 1933 Chicago Tribune sports editor Arch Ward had an idea. Stop the baseball season in July and play a one-time exhibition between the best players in each league.

Ward went to the Chicago offices of the American League and pitched his idea to Junior Circuit chief William Harridge. Only with Harridge’s support could the game take place.

The AL president embraced Ward’s plan and make it happen. The exhibition was so successful that Harridge decided to make the All Star Game an annual event that continues today.

The most important Mid Summer classic came during Harridge’s reign in 1949. Two years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, the ’49 All Star Game was the first that featured African-American players.

The AL’s trailblazer Larry Doby was joined by Dodgers Don Newcombe, Roy Campanella, and Robinson. The momentous occasion saw the Brooklyn faithful cheer for and embrace their local trio as their own.

Shown here is a 14-karat gold wristwatch given to Harridge in Brooklyn on July 12, 1949 when his AL squad bested the Senior Circuit 11-7.

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When Major League Baseball banned the spitball in 1920, seventeen bonafide throwers of the pitch were grandfathered in and allowed to toss the pitch – illegal for all others – until their retirement. Burleigh Grimes was the last big league pitcher to legally throw the pitch. In fact, he was the last one in both the American and National Leagues.

In the collection is Grimes’ 1934 contract with the New York Yankees. With the retirement of Chicago’s Red Faber at the end of the 1933, season, Grimes was the only Major Leaguer left permitted to legally load up a baseball.

Grimes’ ten appearances in a Yankee uniform make this contract with New York historically relevant. This contract is the last in American League history signed by a man legally allowed to throw the spitball.

William Harridge has penned his signature the front of the contract in his position as President of the American League. Click here to read more about the contract and see how much the Yankees paid Grimes to throw the spitball.

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The letter above from William Harridge invites Senators third baseman Ossie Bluege to the 1935 All Star Game. As American League president, Harridge sent similar correspondence to all the league’s all stars from the game’s inception in 1933 until 1959.

Harridge instructs Bluege to, “see that your uniform is in perfect condition as we are anxious that the American League players should make a splendid appearance on the ball field.”

It was Bluege’s only All Star selection. Though he did not get an at bat, he did appear as a defensive replacement in the top of the 9th for Jimmie Foxx at third base.

Each of the Junior Circuit players received a similar letter from Harridge.

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In the collection is this telegram from American League President William Harridge to Tigers owner Walter Briggs. The content surrounds the grand opening of the remodeled Briggs Stadium. Located at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull, the stadium was built by Tiger owner Frank Navin in 1912.

With an original seating capacity of 23,000, Navin Field was home to the likes of Ty Cobb, Charlie Gehringer, and Mickey Cochrane. After Navin died in 1935, his widow sold the team and stadium to Walter Briggs.

Wanting to put his own stamp on the franchise, Briggs expanded and renovated the stadium. When the million dollar remodel was completed in 1938, it was the crown jewel of baseball with a capacity of 53,000.

The first game attracted luminaries from throughout the baseball world including the AL boss. A few hours after the Indians edged the Tigers 4-3 in the opener, Harridge sent this telegram to Briggs gushing about the newly-opened yard.

“It is the latest word in beauty and comfort,” reads Harridge’s telegram. “Everything in perfect order for Opening Day. You are to be congratulated.”

The Tigers would call the stadium home throughout the 20th century, moving to their current Comerica Park for the start of the new millennium.

 

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Baseball fans owe a great debt to Stephen C. Clark, a Cooperstown philanthropist and founder of the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Clark’s grandfather Edward gained enough wealth in the 1850s to take care of his family financially for generations.

A patent lawyer by trade, Edward starting working for Isaac Merritt Singer who invented the sewing machine in 1848. Clark soon abandoned his legal career for a 50% stake in I.M. Singer and Company, then quickly became the company’s top man. Under Clark’s leadership Singer grew to the most recognizable name in sewing.

In 1935 Edward’s grandson Stephen Clark bought the famed “Doubleday Baseball”. A myth of the day proposed that the Doubleday ball was used in the first baseball game in Cooperstown in 1839.

Using the ball as the centerpiece, Clark opened a one-room baseball museum of sorts in Cooperstown and the Hall of Fame was born. Selection of players started in 1936 and the Hall’s doors opened in 1939 for the induction of the first three classes of immortals.

In the collection is this letter written by American League President William Harridge to Stephen Clark dated just three years after the museum’s opening. Himself a 1972 inductee, Harridge writes in part, “The Hall of Fame at Cooperstown is now known nationally and baseball is indebted to you and the city of Cooperstown for its creation.”

The Clark family is still deeply involved in Cooperstown and at the Museum. Stephen Clark’s presence can still be felt today – his granddaughter Jane Forbes Clark has been the chairwoman of the Board of Directors for the Hall since 2000.

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Because of his role as American League President, William Harridge signed countless documents pertaining to the business of baseball. Though his autograph poses little challenge to autograph collectors, finding correspondence with content of interest remains difficult.

This letter signed by Harridge and dated March 29, 1955 is written to Washington Senators owner and Hall of Fame member Clark Griffith. Harridge informs Griffith that the annual passes for President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon have been sent to Washington.

During the 1950s, American League president William Harridge made sure that our nation’s president and vice president each received a season pass to all A.L. games. As was tradition, Griffth personally presented these passes.

Six days after the letter was sent, Griffith would meet would President Eisenhower and give him the pass as shown in the accompanying photo.

It would mark the last time Griffith made such a presentation as he died on October 27, 1955, less than a month after the conclusion of the 1955 World Series.

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A smiling 85-year-old Clark Griffith poses with Ike after giving the president a pass for all American League games for the 1955 season.

Voted into the Hall of Fame in 1946 Griffith posted six consecutive 20-win seasons as a Cubs from 1894-1901. His career as a player, manager, and executive spanned nearly 70 years.

This photo closely matches the content of the letter in the previous image.

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William Harridge faithfully served as American League President for nearly three decades. The longest-tenured league chief in the game’s history, Harridge was in office for 28 years . When he retired, congratulatory letters poured in from all over the baseball world.

In the collection is this letter from Harridge dated January 6, 1959. He writes to Hall of Fame pitcher Ted Lyons, thanking the 21-year AL veteran for his well wishes.

He writes, “I have enjoyed my long association with baseball and many of the nice friends I have made among the players, which, of course, includes Teddy Lyons. In your playing days you always gave a good account of yourself on the ball field, and since your retirement since active duty you have carried on for the good of our National Game.”

Lyons represented the American League well. His 260 wins rank 10th in AL history while his 356 complete games in the Junior Circuit place him third behind only the Senators Walter Johnson, and 326-game winner Gettysburg Eddie Plank.

Lyons was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1955; Harridge joined him there in ’72.

Though Harridge signed many documents in his position of leadership, letters such as this are uncommon. A correspondence from one Hall of Fame member to another is highly desirable.

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Three years after his induction to Cooperstown in 1956, seven-time All Star Joe Cronin was named president of the American League. It was in this capacity that Cronin signed this letter to an autograph hound seeking the signatures of the first and second AL chiefs. The American League began in 1901 with Ban Johnson at the helm of the highest office, a position he held for more than a quarter century until he was ousted by the owners in 1927. Johnson was a titan of the game during his reign.

Indians GM Ernest Barnard was tabbed to replace Johnson. Barnard served the Cleveland club for 24 years first as traveling secretary, general manager, and finally as the team president. Popular as AL president, Barnard was elected to his second three-year term in late 1930 but died suddenly just three months after his vote. A few hours later his predecessor Ban Johnson also succumbed.

William Harridge who held the league’s presidency from 1931 until Cronin took over in 1959 had high regard for Johnson, saying, “He was the most brilliant man the game has ever known. He was more responsible for making baseball the national game than anyone in the history of the sport”.

Harridge himself remains relevant today. Since 2017 the William Harridge Trophy has been presented to the champions of the American League.

In the collection is this letter written by Cronin who held the AL presidency from 1959-1973. Cronin tells the collector, “Mr. Harridge, I know, will gladly send you his autograph and he may have autographs of Ban Johnson and Ernest S. Barnard.” The letter spans the American League presidency from the position’s inception with Johnson (1901-1927), to Barnard (1927-1931), Harridge (1931-1959), and finally to Cronin (1959-1973).