Page:America's National Game (1911).djvu/349

. There being no response to the call of the clubs of New York, Boston, Cincinnati and St. Louis, the Chair declared that Albert G. Spalding, having received four votes as President-Secretary-Treasurer—and there being no votes against him—was duly elected to succeed Mr. N. E. Young.

The Convention then took a recess, at 1.30 a. m., to reconvene next day at 2 p. m.

After my rhetorical effort of the preceding day, I had withdrawn from the Convention hall and devoted the afternoon to newspaper interviewers, who were in evidence by the score, until dinner hour, following which, wearied with the trying incidents of the day, I went to bed. About 2 o'clock a. m., Messrs. Reach, Rogers and Hart called me up, asking:

"Have you heard the news?"

"Why, no. What news?"

"You've been unanimously elected President-Secretary-Treasurer of the League."

"Have I?" "What wrought the miracle?"

The case was then fully explained to me, and the humor of the situation was at once borne in upon my mind. Here was I, "unanimously elected" by four votes in an organization that had eight votes, four of which were absent without leave.

Catching the spirit of what now seemed to me a huge joke, I determined, in the interest of Base Ball, to seize the advantage, and play the political game for all there was in it. If I was President-Secretary-Treasurer—the Pooh Bah of the League—certainly I was entitled to the