by Joseph Ceraolo
Professor Taft was correct to advise me
to choose baseball as my career:
I spent the rest of my life in the game
as a player, player-manager, and manager,
and had success in all three positions
I only wish that Lady Bee had followed through
on allowing me first chance to buy the Cardinals,
instead of selling it to a cast of thousands of locals
(I was a silent partner in a minor-league team later,
but that’s not comparable to owning a big-league team)
While every position in baseball is stressful,
I think that being an owner would have been less so
than being a manager and dealing with the Babe and others
(the Babe did come around eventually,
to the extent possible for him)
One final note:
I understand Mr. Mays professes not to know
why I hated him, almost alone among all my players
You know I was a lawyer,
so I’m not about to make any allegations
that certainly can’t be proved at this late date,
and maybe couldn’t have been proved even back then
Suffice it say
Mr. Mays knows full well the reason for my feelings,
and he knows he will one day have to answer for what he did
