Prince Hal
Bygone baseball by C. Philip Francis – March 1, 2005
There are over 15 first basemen in the baseball Hall of fame, names like Lou Gehrig, Hank Greenberg and Jimmie Foxx, but one of the best players ever to play first base never made it to Cooperstown. His name is Harold “Hal” Homer Chase, or sometimes - “Prince Hal”, and although he was one of the great fielding first basemen ever, Hal Chase was completely corrupt as he did NOT always play to win. Hal Chase became baseball’s all-time cheat.
Hal Chase was born in Los Gatos, California on Friday, February 13, 1883. Being born on Friday the Thirteenth might be one important reason as to Chase’s personality. He starred for the Santa Clara University, and after graduating he went on to play for Los Angeles of the Pacific Coast League in 1904. An Angels official had seen Chase playing for the college as an outfielder, and signed the handsome six-footer on the spot as a first baseman.
The New York Highlanders, later the Yankees, purchased Chase’s contract for a reported $2,700, and he made his big league debut on April 14, 1905 appearing in 128 games batting .249. Hal immediately became a hit with the New York fans and the most popular player on the team. In 1907 the Sporting Life called him “perhaps the biggest drawing card in baseball.”
The next year Chase hit .323, and was obviously the best defensive ballplayer in baseball. He was so fast Chase could pick up the ball on the third base side of a bunt, and still throw the runner out at first. Chase would charge in on a bunt, scoop up the ball, and with his magical hands would throw out the runner going into second or third.
Not only did he become an instant sensation, Hal Chase was a first class pain to the team. He developed a reputation of being a petty theft, cheating at cards, and fighting. While the Californian could be charming and appealing, he could also be mean and cruel. A utility infielder named Jack Knight with the Highlanders was given a bat that became his favorite. Hal who had dozens of bats asked if he could use Jack’s wood, but Knight said, “Hal, this is my only bat. I would prefer you didn’t.” Chase just then took Knight’s slugger and slammed it against the dugout wall as hard as he could.
In 1908 Chase had his first problem with management when he was not named the new manager. Chase had been publicly accused of throwing games and “laying down” so as to lose games and force the new manager, George Stallings, to be fired. Chase left the team, and went back to California to join the outlaw California League. After paying $200 the red-headed Chase was allowed back on the New York team where he began to undermine manager Stallings.
While most people consider Chase “the most brilliant player to wear a uniform”, the Yankee player became a master in the art of throwing games without being caught. As he once said, “Look the best while doing the worst.”
After Chase continued to bad-mouth his manager, Stallings was fired and Chase was named as the new manager who finished the last 14 games of the 1910 season with 10 wins and 4 losses. The New Yorkers ended the season in second place 14 ½ games behind the Philadelphia A’s. The next year with Chase at the helm the uninspired Highlanders finished in sixth place, 25 ½ games behind. Chase resigned as manager, but stayed on as player.
Harry Wolverton replaced Chase as manager, but lasted only one year. Frank Chance came in as manager in 1913, the same year when the New York team nickname was changed to the Yankees. When Chance became the second skipper to claim Chase had bet on games, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox, and then the next year he jumped to Buffalo of the new Federal League that lasted only two years. Chase won his only home run title in 1915 with 17.
When the league folded after the 1915 season, American League president Ban Johnson promised that Chase would will never again play in that circuit. Charges of game fixing were never proven, so the Cincinnati Reds signed Chase for the 1916 season, his first year in the National League. After Prince Hal hit his career batting high of .339 with 184 hits that year, people wondered if the bad boy of baseball actually reformed.
The answer was no! The scrupulous and honest Christy Mathewson was now the Reds manager, and kept a close eye on Chase. Late in August of 1917 Cincinnati rookie pitcher Jimmy Ring was called in from the bullpen. As soon as Ring reached the pitcher’s slab, Chase walked over and allegedly said, “I’ve got some money bet on this game, kid. There’s something for you if you lose.” Ring overlooked the conversation, but lost anyway. The following day Chase gave $25 to Ring who quickly told manager Mathewson. Chase was suspended for the season for “indifferent play”, but continued to deny the accusation.
On January 30, 1919 a hearing was held before National League president John Heydler. Although he believed Chase to be guilty, the league president acquitted the ballplayer, and ordered Cincinnati to pay Chase what he lost during the suspension. The disgusted Mathewson traded his unremorseful player to the New York Giants where manager John McGraw planned to change Chase into an honest man.
McGraw’s honesty project never worked as the talented Chase lasted until August when the Giants told him to return to California and never come back. Heinie Zimmerman and Jean Dubuc of the New York team had joined up with Chase in fixing games, and all three were banned from baseball forever. While his name is not in the “eight men out” of the Chicago White Sox who fixed the 1919 World Series, it later revealed that Chase was aware of the conspiracy, and won $40,000 betting in the Series.
Prince Hal finished his 15 years of major league baseball with the batting average of .291, played ball with outlaw and independent teams often for lodging and a drink until well after 50, was sued by his wife for “dissipation and gambling, and died of beriberi on May 18, 1947 in Colusa, California. Until the day he died Hal Chase never admitted to the betting on ballgames.
The fix of the 1919 World Series by some players of the Chicago White Sox, and the throwing of games by Hal Chase and a number of other ballplayers forced the major league owners to quickly restore integrity in major league baseball. They hired Kenesaw Mountain Landis as baseball’s first commissioner who ruled with absolute power until his death in 1944.