Days of Reckoning

Since the dawn of baseball disputes between players and management have always existed. A glorious period of diamond success and pennant glory occurred when Barney Dreyfuss owned the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1900 through 1932. During that time, the Pirates claimed six National League flags, appeared in four World Series, and won championship titles twice-in 1909 and 1925. After gaining full control of Pittsburgh's baseball organization in 1901, Dreyfuss acted as the supreme authority regarding all the club's affairs. Many talented players pulled on a Pirates uniform throughout the Barney Dreyfuss ownership period. Some of these all-star diamond performers fell out of favor with management through two baseball eras and soon found themselves packing their bags and moving on to another city. The list of stalwart players shown the door when Dreyfuss ruled his diamond empire included Rube Waddell, Jesse Tannehill, Jack Chesbro, Vic Willis, Al Mamaux, Rabbit Maranville, Babe Adams, Max Carey, Kiki Cuyler, Glenn Wright, and Dick Bartell. An ugly group of gamblers, stationing themselves at Exposition Park and Forbes Field, subjected certain players to their vile comments and disgusting verbal abuse. The actions of these unsavory individuals had a hand in the organization ridding itself of Kitty Bransfield, Claude Ritchey, and Bill Abstein because the constant taunting and heckling affected their performance. From Waddell to Bartell, Ronald T. Waldo shares why many of the greatest players in Pittsburgh Pirates history were traded or released during Barney Dreyfuss's tenure owning the team.