As if ordained by the heavens, the dream nearly occurred. The 1926 edition of the Indians fought tooth and nail for the pennant. The Yankees, with Ruth, Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, and the rest of the wrecking crew figured to run away with the pennant. Still, the Indians caught fire in midseason and made it interesting until the very end of September. In May they fell off the map, losing seventeen of twenty-nine games. Heading into June it looked like the season was over. Yet, the Indians were far from done. For the remainder of the year, they reeled off sixty-six wins against forty-four losses.
In mid-September the Yankees came to town to begin a six-game series at League Park. The Indians dropped the opener but then won four straight games to pull within two of the leaders. The final game drew an enthusiastic sellout crowd to League Park. The nearly 30,000 attending cheered like it was 1920. In spite of the home-field advantage, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig blasted home runs for an easy Yankee victory. The Indians still had a chance for the pennant but dropped three out of four games to Philadelphia to end their most improbable run.
The unexpected pennant chase lifted attendance by more than 200,000 fans. The huge spike upwards gave the team operating money and perhaps funds to throw around for the acquisition of key players in the off-season. Unfortunately, events were about to be revealed that would cast a shadow over all the accomplishments of the past season. The Indians were about to suffer a national embarrassment of epic proportions.
Tris Speaker had been a fixture in the Indians lineup for eleven years. As player-manager he had led the franchise to many successful seasons. For the 1926 season Tris had batted .304 with seven home runs and eighty-six RBIs. That was subpar for Spoke, but for most players a quite acceptable campaign. When Speaker announced his retirement in early December 1926, the Cleveland fans were rightfully shocked. He was no longer a young man but still quite capable of playing good baseball. Tris told his fans he was entering the steel business to work with his good friend, Dave Jones. The business was great and Tris had the opportunity to make a lot of money. In spite of the reason given, both fans and sportswriters were not quite buying the explanation. Their suspicions were confirmed when Commissioner Landis announced an investigation into an alleged game-fixing incident involving Speaker, Ty Cobb, Joe Wood, and former Detroit pitcher Hubert “Dutch” Leonard. The game in question was played in 1919 near the end of the regular season. The Tigers had a chance to finish in third place and Leonard claimed the four players met before the game and agreed to let the Tigers win. According to Leonard, the accused players bet money on the outcome as well. The fact that Leonard waited seven years to bring this to Judge Landis is strange indeed. He did have a letter from Joe Wood that on the surface was rather incriminating. It read in part, “The only bet West [the Tigers clubhouse man] could get up was $600 against $420. . . . We won the $420. I gave West $30, leaving $390, or $130 for each of us.” This evidence was fairly solid, but made no mention of Speaker at all.
Judge Landis summoned Leonard to Chicago for testimony on the affair. For some unknown reason Leonard declined to appear. Without his testimony the allegations against Speaker were unproven. In January 1927 Landis dismissed the charges against Cobb and Speaker. They could resume their baseball careers, but not with Cleveland or Detroit.
When Speaker first announced his retirement, Mrs. Dunn and team president Barnard remained silent. On the first day of the new year, Mrs. Dunn released a statement to the newspapers. She mentioned that, back in November, Speaker had visited her in Chicago to tell his side of the story. According to Mrs. Dunn, Speaker expressed a great concern that the allegations against him would injure the Cleveland baseball club. For that reason alone, he decided to retire quietly. Mrs. Dunn telegraphed Henry Edwards at the Cleveland Plain Dealer to let the fans know she did not ask Spoke to resign. She said, “When I left Chicago on November 26th, I did not know whether Mr. Speaker would go through with his idea of retiring or would change his mind and fight for vindication. I am sure that he would have had the support of the Cleveland club in his efforts to vindicate himself.” Mrs. Dunn added, “Since Mr. Speaker was not asked to retire by the Cleveland club, I feel sure that he must have had what he considered very good personal reasons for taking such action.”
It is interesting to reflect on whether Mrs. Dunn was giving the company line to the press or was truly supportive of Speaker. She could not know how the proceedings in Chicago would turn out. A guilty verdict might do the franchise some irreparable damage, particularly with the stockholders. What about the player in question? Did he truly retire to save the Cleveland organization some real embarrassment or was he simply trying to save his own reputation? The assumption can be made that all this negative attention may have been too much for Jim Dunn’s widow to deal with. For many years she had had great faith in Speaker, in his ability both as a player and as leader of her team. The allegations no doubt shook her belief and may have led her to a pivotal decision. Within a year she would sell the team.
Besides the Speaker-Cobb investigation there were other matters being dealt with by the Cleveland front office. Ban Johnson’s lengthy reign as American League president was indeed about to come to an end. For various reasons at least half of the American League owners now wanted him out. Commissioner Landis had never seen eye to eye with Johnson and completely welcomed the uprising. The two men had had hard feelings ever since the Black Sox scandal of 1919. Johnson’s recent handling of Speaker and Cobb infuriated Landis to the point of no return. The judge had spent too many years presiding over cases of ballplayers gambling and fixing games. Just when he thought all that had passed, Johnson brought forth the 1926 allegations, forcing Landis to convene hearings again.
When the anti-Johnson owners were ready to make a change, Johnson became seriously ill, causing the militants to put him on indefinite leave. Rumors started circulating on who could possibly replace the only president the American League had ever had. Among the names floated was in fact Cleveland Indians president Ernest Barnard. The only thing holding him back was his commitment to Mrs. Dunn. But he could also presume that, for Mrs. Dunn, selling the team was the only prudent thing to do. She could bow out of the picture with a large return on her late husband’s investment. She would not have to go through the difficult process of hiring a new team president and support staff. It was reasonable to assume that Mrs. Dunn would not stand in the way of Barnard’s rise to power. The time to walk away had arrived.
In May 1927, a possible sale of the Cleveland Indians was reported throughout the country. The man stepping forward was, surprisingly, former player-manager and current Washington Senator Tris Speaker. It had been four months since he had been cleared of any wrongdoing by Commissioner Landis. Apparently, Tris felt it was time to step back into the spotlight once again. He revealed his plans at a fancy banquet dinner in Cleveland. He told curious reporters that, if necessary, he could raise $500,000 within twenty-four hours. Speaker’s partner would be his close friend Dave Jones, the president of Geometric Stamping. There might be a third party ready to invest, but the name was kept out of the story. Speaker believed Mrs. Dunn had no objections to selling him the team. Even if that was so, the majority of American League owners had to approve the transfer. He had more than a few hurdles to overcome.
A short time later an article appeared in the Plain Dealer claiming that Speaker’s syndicate included Alva Bradley, a local man with vast real estate holdings in the downtown area. Almost immediately, Bradley denied any intention to buy the Indians, stating that his other interests would prevent him from getting involved in purchasing the team. He told the newspaper, “Last night Speaker mentioned to me that Mrs. Dunn was willing to sell but he, Speaker, could not swing the deal alone. He did not ask me to go in with him and I did not volunteer.” There was not any fire yet, but the smoke was beginning to gather.
In less than a month another group surfaced via a secret conference in Cleveland. As is usually the case, local reporters quickly found out the details. Some very big names were mentioned in the proposed syndicate. Harry Frazee, the former owner of the Boston Red Sox, was supposedly involved. Phil Ball, the current president of the St. Louis Browns, had an interest in the group, along with Tom Walsh, the Indians vice president. Walsh had been a close friend of Jim Dunn and an original stockholder of the Cleveland team since 1916. Evidently, Walsh was acting under orders from Mrs. Dunn to find a suitable buyer for the team. The papers speculated that the deal would take place in July.