Sport: Surprise!

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The major leagues elected Happy Chandler commissioner of baseball 5½ years ago when the game thought it needed friends in Washington to survive the manpower drafts of World War II. Albert Benjamin Chandler, junior Senator from Kentucky, had more than a toothpaste smile and a pump-handle handshake; he had good connections. Last week, with manpower drafts threatening baseball once again, the club owners could still use friends in Washington, but they had had enough of Happy Chandler.

Nobody was more surprised at this discovery than Happy himself. The main business of the club owners' meeting in St. Petersburg, Fla. last week was supposed to be 1) abolition of the impractical "bonus rule," which had loaded some clubs with overpriced players,* and 2) the re-election of Commissioner Chandler to his $65,000-a-year job. Under the rules, Happy needed twelve votes out of a total 16, and with no candidate running against him he didn't see how he could lose.

To the Telephone. Happy was at dinner in St. Petersburg when he got the bad news: the club owners, splitting 8-8, had failed to re-elect him. Happy charged to a telephone and demanded another ballot, but when it was taken he still stood three votes short of reelection.

Chandler blamed one man above all others for his undoing: St. Louis Lawyer Fred Saigh (rhymes with high), owner since 1949 of the St. Louis Cardinals. "I understand Saigh is going around telling people he put it over," an unhappy Happy told reporters. Owner Saigh had indeed led the fight against Happy ("vindictive" and "hypocritical" were among Saigh's words for him), but Saigh had obviously had allies among the other clubs.* Moreover, the anti-Chandler owners had had an unintentional ally in Happy himself. Four days before the voting, Happy had blabbed to reporters that he thought a total U.S. mobilization would very likely wipe out professional baseball. Club owners are allergic to that kind of talk.

To the Last Second. Other allergies had built up over 5½ years. Club owners could stomach Happy's sonorous ("Ah love baseball") speeches and his bourbon baritone renditions of My Old Kentucky Home, but they found Happy unpalatable whenever he tried to be baseball's "czar" in more than name. The most famous example was Chandler's year-long suspension of Leo Durocher just before opening day, 1947. Other ranklers: the 1949 suspension of Durocher for hitting a fan (later lamely withdrawn when investigation cleared Leo), an order this year to Owner Saigh to cancel a scheduled Sunday night game (as offensive to "religious people"), and the Chandler project (disowned by the owners) to hire Public Relations Expert Steve Hannagan for $50,000, plus $150,000 in expense money, to "publicize" baseball's golden jubilee next year.

This week, though Happy had announced his intention to "serve until the last second of my tenure of office" (April 30, 1952), the club owners were looking for a new commissioner.