Charles Webb Murphy (born January, 1868[1], Wilmington, Ohio - died October 16, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois) began his career as a writer at the Cincinnati Enquirer and then Cincinnati Times-Star. From there, he took a job in the New York Giants front office as a publicist. Within a year he quit and took on full ownership of the Chicago Cubs. His tenure there was short, but financially and competitively successful[2]. After selling the team, Murphy continued his legacy through numerous ventures including the funding of the Murphy Theater in his hometown, Wilmington, Ohio.
Early Life
editCharles Webb Murphy was born to a pair of Irish immigrants in Wilmington, Ohio, a small town with a population of just under 2,000 people. After childhood, he traveled 60 miles south to Cincinnati to study pharmacology. Soon, he enrolled in pharmacy school, graduated, and was employed at Keenan's drugstore.
Career
editWriter
editMurphy was quickly hired to the Cincinnati Enquirer where he met Charles Phelps Taft[3] , a friend and man he greatly admired[4]. Since he was a hard worker, Murphy climbed his way up the ladder and was quickly promoted to sporting editor. Because of this postition, Murphy had to cover Cincinnati Reds games, naturally creating his relationship with then owner John T. Brush.
The position of assistant city editor offered at the Cincinnati Times-Star, so Murphy accepted and swithed buildings.
Soon, Murphy was changing jobs again. After Brush assumed ownership of the New York Giants he offered Murphy a job as the teams press agent in 1905. At this time, Murphy became concerned with his popularity and became more a more sociable person. Through this desire, Murphy overheard a conversation about the Chicago Cubs and their recent availability for ownership.
Team Owner
editMurphy took the first train to Chicago, negotiated a price of $105,000, received a loan from Taft, and signed the papers on July 31, 1905. Moves were made right when the off-season started. Him and the manager, Frank Chance, signed Harry Steinfeldt, Orval Overall, Jimmy Sheckard, Jack Pfiester, and Pat Moran. In his first season as owner, Murphy won the world series by defeating the New York Giants. It is rumored that Murphy made upwards of $165,000 in profit during this season.
1907 resulted in a National League pennant, but a loss in the World Series. Soon, however, Murphys image was souring. If refusing to build an away team clubhouse wasn't enough, then the negative publicity resulting from Merkle's Boner was. Because of the controversy, Murphy reached out to the press making obscene comments, making him many enemies.
The trouble did not stop there. Murphy was judged and accosted not only for scalping 1908 World Series tickets, but also placing his brother in the nosebleed section at Chicago Cubs home games. In 1912 The press also lashed out on him for wrongfully accusing Roger Bresnahan and the rest of the National League of conspiring to hand the New York Giants the World Series. Again in 1912, Murphy was chastised for his public feud with his manager, Chance. Murphy accused the players of not trying and drinking the season away. Once Chance was asked not to return for the 1913 season, he confided with the press about Murphy's reluctance to spend money to improve the park.
For Murphy, the end came in 1913 after a situation concerning Johnny Evers. Because Murphy quickly fired the new manager, Evers and a few other players threatened to jump to the newly formed Federal League. The league new that something had to be done so money was collected and Murphy's stock in the Chicago Cubs was bought out.
Life After Ownership
editAt the end of all the controversy, Murphy ended up with profits upwards of $500,000. The press continued to bash him, so Murphy subsided a lot of the negativity by responding in the newspaper. He told the world that he was happy to walk away with a half million dollars of the organization's money.
With baseball out of his life, Murphy moved back to Wilmington with one goal in mind. He wanted to build the "best small theater in this section of the country." The theater was lush and extravagant with foreign craftsmen and the best materials money could buy. The Murphy theater opened on July 24, 1918 after $250,000 was spent on the structure. Inconsistent with his greedy lifestyle of earlier years, Murphy donated all of the earning from opening night to the Clinton County Red Cross.
Again, Murphy left Wilmington in 1920. He moved from to Chicago where he he died on October 16, 1931 of a paralytic stroke at the age of 63.
Legacy
editMurphy's Estate, which included the National League Baseball Park in Philadelphia (the Baker Bowl, was worth $2.25 Million at the end of his lifetime and given to his family.
Still today, the Murphy Theater is a landmark in Ohio. It was recently used in a movie called "Lost in Yonkers."[3]
Unfortunately, many people were not upset because of Murphy's death. There was even an editorial that wished Murphy dead in the later years of his life[5]
References
edit- ^ Bill Burgess. "BaseballGuru". Retrieved December 1st, 2011.
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"Charles W Murphy". The Idea Logical Company, Inc. 2006. Retrieved November 20th, 2011.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ a b Lenny Jacobsen. "Charles Murphy". Retrieved November 20,2011.
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Rankin, C.T. (June, 1912). "Charles Murphy: A Growing Power in Organized Baseball" (PDF). Baseball Magazine, Volume 9. pp. 43–44. Retrieved November 30th, 2011.
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Runyon, Damon. "As to Charles Webb Murphy" (PDF). Sporting Life. p. 2. Retrieved November 30th, 2011.
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