Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaronmankey. When we think
Speaker 1: of famous gangsters of the nineteen twenties and thirties, we
Speaker 1: think of New York's Lucky Luciano or Chicago's Al Capone.
Speaker 1: Of course, mobsters laid claim to other cities as well.
Speaker 1: In Boston, Charles King Solomon ran the city's underworld. He
Speaker 1: was born in eighty four to Jewish parents living in Russia,
Speaker 1: but the family fled to the United States and settled
Speaker 1: in Massachusetts. It's not clear whether they lived in Salem
Speaker 1: or Boston's West End, but Solomon fell in with a
Speaker 1: bad crowd in the area at some point during his youth.
Speaker 1: His first trip through the justice stom happened in nineteen
Speaker 1: eleven for running a brothel. It would hardly be his last.
Speaker 1: Arrests for breaking and entering, burglary, gambling, perjury, and even
Speaker 1: being idle and disorderly soon followed. All told, he was
Speaker 1: arrested twenty one times over the course of twenty one years.
Speaker 1: The only time he spent in prison came after he
Speaker 1: committed perjury during a narcotics trial. Though he was sentenced
Speaker 1: to five years. He spent a mere thirteen months behind bars.
Speaker 1: His drive to make the most of gang life catapulted
Speaker 1: him through the ranks. He established himself in fencing, bonding, gambling, drugs,
Speaker 1: and brothels, all typical fair for mobsters. A police captain
Speaker 1: once asked him why he didn't give up the business.
Speaker 1: He had already made a fortune after all. Solomon laughed
Speaker 1: and said he enjoyed the nightlife far too much to retire.
Speaker 1: Like most underworld criminals of his time, Solomon's true wealth
Speaker 1: came during the Prohibition era. While he could make thousands
Speaker 1: in racketeering, there were millions to be made in a
Speaker 1: legal liquor, and Solomon understood that the old rule of
Speaker 1: real estate applied to speakeasies and clubs. Location, location, location.
Speaker 1: He purchased a large amount of property around Boston, from
Speaker 1: hotels and theaters to a beauty parlor and several restaurants,
Speaker 1: But his shining stars were the nightclubs. He purchased the
Speaker 1: Cotton Club, and in nineteen thirty one he bought his
Speaker 1: personal favorite, the Coconut Grove, where he hung out with
Speaker 1: celebrities and beautiful women. Solomon owned a fleet of boats
Speaker 1: that brought in liquor from Central America. His liquor empire
Speaker 1: earned him the nickname rum Lord with the local authorities.
Speaker 1: While he didn't exactly flaunt his empire, he didn't do
Speaker 1: much to conceal it either. His money afforded him enough
Speaker 1: connections to keep him in power, though his lifestyle eventually
Speaker 1: caught up with him. Federal indictments named Solomon is the
Speaker 1: Brains and a multimillion dollar liquors smuggling ring on January
Speaker 1: eighth nine. He wasn't worried, though, he told one reporter
Speaker 1: his friends in high places would ensure that he would
Speaker 1: beat the rap just as he had all the others.
Speaker 1: Solomon spent the evening of January twenty three at the
Speaker 1: Coconut Grove while his wife stayed home. As the knight
Speaker 1: turned into the early hours, he took the party and
Speaker 1: two dancers he fancied to the Cotton Club. At three
Speaker 1: thirty in the morning, clubgoers heard him arguing with someone
Speaker 1: in the men's room. They reported hearing someone tell Solomon
Speaker 1: he had it coming. Then the shots rang out. His
Speaker 1: attackers fled the club. Solomon staggered out of the bathroom
Speaker 1: was rushed to the hospital and died upon arrival. While
Speaker 1: the attack looked like a robbery, fellow mobsters were worried
Speaker 1: he might turn state's evidence against them. Soon afterwards, Solomon's lawyer,
Speaker 1: one Barney Willanski, took control of the coconut grove and
Speaker 1: began to make plans. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to American Shadows.
Speaker 1: In Boston, history is part of the culture. The city
Speaker 1: has kept key pieces of itself through centuries of growth
Speaker 1: and expansion, a few fires, and a molasses flood. It's
Speaker 1: home to several renowned music, art, and dance venues and
Speaker 1: to die hard sports fans. Red Sox fans are passionate
Speaker 1: about Fenway Park, America's oldest Major League baseball stadium, and
Speaker 1: though the park is famous for baseball, Fenway has hosted
Speaker 1: everything from soccer to snowboarding to concerts. During World War Two,
Speaker 1: baseball teams took a hit when many players were either
Speaker 1: drafted or joined the military on their own, be they
Speaker 1: Major League players, coaches, or referees. Men aged eighteen thirty five,
Speaker 1: we're heading off to war. The attack on Pearl Harbor
Speaker 1: brought the war close to home. Memories and realities from
Speaker 1: the First World War still haunted America every day. Headlines
Speaker 1: across the country told of the horrors that were happening.
Speaker 1: Having a distraction and keeping a sense of normalcy felt
Speaker 1: less terrifying. A few hours to cheer on a favorite
Speaker 1: team made the war seem farther away, even for a
Speaker 1: little while. Sports gave Americans away to escape the war.
Speaker 1: It took their minds off of rationing and tough economic times.
Speaker 1: Family and friends gathered to cheer on a favorite team
Speaker 1: or discuss stats and players. But with so many players
Speaker 1: having swapped a sports uniform for a military one, fans
Speaker 1: wondered if there were enough to keep a season going.
Speaker 1: The Rose Bowl, typically held in Pasadena, California, had nearly
Speaker 1: been canceled after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Officials felt
Speaker 1: the large crowds typically in attendance were too risky, and
Speaker 1: no one knew whether the West Coast would be the
Speaker 1: next target. Officials had already suspended auto racing due to
Speaker 1: the rationing of tires and gas for the military. Several
Speaker 1: colleges had canceled their football season. This beloved championship game
Speaker 1: seemed doomed as well. Fortunately, Duke University offered its stadium
Speaker 1: the tournament of Rosa's committee scrambled, adding additional bleachers from
Speaker 1: other nearby universities. Tickets sold out in just three days.
Speaker 1: For baseball, President Roosevelt suggested that the country not canceled
Speaker 1: the season due to drafts, and through the first pitch
Speaker 1: himself on opening day. The papers often called Roosevelt baseball's
Speaker 1: number one fan, and women not only took to production plants,
Speaker 1: they also took to the ball field. They played in
Speaker 1: the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, meant as a
Speaker 1: temporary fix until the men returned from war. The Red
Speaker 1: Sox finished the ninety two season second in the American League,
Speaker 1: winning their last game of the season against the New
Speaker 1: York Yankees seven to six. Aside from the women's and
Speaker 1: remaining pro leagues, college games became another favorite, and on
Speaker 1: one cold November Saturday, a college football game brought Hilda
Speaker 1: and Houston Gray, along with Hilda's sister Josephine and her
Speaker 1: husband Francis Driscoll, to Fenway. The stands were packed. The
Speaker 1: wind and temperature had done little to dissuade fans from
Speaker 1: attending this highly anticipated game between Boston College and holy Cross.
Speaker 1: The undefeated Boston College Eagles were favored six to one
Speaker 1: over holy Cross. Fans speculated about the expected outcome. It
Speaker 1: wasn't a matter of if Boston would win, they told
Speaker 1: each other, it was by how much. Boston College fans
Speaker 1: never anticipated the stunning upset. Not only did holy Cross win,
Speaker 1: they annihilated Boston College fifty to twelve. Players had been
Speaker 1: so confident they'd win that they had already made plans
Speaker 1: to celebrate their victory at the trendy Coconut Grove nightclub,
Speaker 1: but the defeat had been too humiliating and they canceled.
Speaker 1: Many fans likewise left Fenway to head back home, but
Speaker 1: the Grays and the drift Golls had planned an evening
Speaker 1: of fun. Instead of calling it quits, they decided to continue.
Speaker 1: The couples chose to Club hob through Boston's Back Bay
Speaker 1: and the South End. From there they'd go to the
Speaker 1: Coconut Grove. They had already made obligations with two more couples,
Speaker 1: and canceling would be difficult. They took the approach that
Speaker 1: even though their team had lost, they wouldn't let it
Speaker 1: ruin a perfectly good evening with a reframed attitude. The
Speaker 1: couples left Fenway and looked forward to a great time
Speaker 1: dining and taking in a show with friends. It would
Speaker 1: turn out to be the worst evening of their lives.
Speaker 1: The Coconut Grove was built in during the height of
Speaker 1: the Prohibition era. Boston law, still under Puritan constraints, didn't
Speaker 1: permit nightclubs. However, supper clubs clubs that offered didn't are
Speaker 1: in a show were all the rage. Originally owned and
Speaker 1: operated by orchestra leaders Mickey Albert and Jacques Renard, the
Speaker 1: Grove opened on Piedmont Street in Bay Village. The area
Speaker 1: was prime real estate, located between trendy Back Bay and
Speaker 1: the fashionable Theater District, the future home to the Boston Opera.
Speaker 1: The club's tropical paradise ambiance catered to patrons seeking good food,
Speaker 1: exceptional service, and plenty of entertainment. Musicians and movie stars
Speaker 1: occasionally dined at the club, making it even more popular.
Speaker 1: Nightclubs made it easy to move Bootleg liquor, and the
Speaker 1: Coconut Grove changed hands from Albert and Renard to mobster
Speaker 1: Charles King Solomon. After Solomon's death, Barney Will Landscape took
Speaker 1: over the club. When the nineteen twenties lifestyle of excess
Speaker 1: and dirty money turned to destitution and depression for many,
Speaker 1: the Coconut Grove continued to profit. Blansky gave people what
Speaker 1: they wanted, a luxury, booze and an escape from their
Speaker 1: daily lives. Patrons entered through a revolving door on Piedmont.
Speaker 1: Those wanting to spend time in the recently added and
Speaker 1: aptly named New Lounge had a separate entrance on Broadway.
Speaker 1: A narrow corridor connected the main room and the lounge.
Speaker 1: Stairs off the main entrance and dining room led to
Speaker 1: the basement and the more intimate Melody Lounge. Luxurious fabric
Speaker 1: wallpaper covered the walls, blue satin draped from the ceilings,
Speaker 1: and paper and tinsel palm trees treated patrons to a
Speaker 1: tropical esque setting. The Boston College players may have decided
Speaker 1: to cancel their plans, but the club had little trouble
Speaker 1: attracting customers. Aside from the game. It was Thanksgiving weekend,
Speaker 1: the servicemen from the first Naval District were on leave,
Speaker 1: many of whom had converged on the club with their dates.
Speaker 1: The club was packed when the Grays and their party
Speaker 1: arrived at nine o'clock. They checked their hats and coats
Speaker 1: of the cloak room and made their way into the lobby.
Speaker 1: People had to turn sideways, shuffle, and wiggle their way
Speaker 1: past others to get to the dining room. The Grays
Speaker 1: learned that the club had overbooked, though that had reservations,
Speaker 1: their table had been given to another party. The only
Speaker 1: table available was across the dining room at the far
Speaker 1: end of the stage. The seating wasn't optimal, but the
Speaker 1: party of eight accepted the spot and settled in. Music
Speaker 1: played and people took to the dance floor. The Grays
Speaker 1: and their party watched the dancers and the crowd. The
Speaker 1: grove was the place to see and be seen. Among
Speaker 1: the crowd was Buck Jones, a famous Hollywood actor who
Speaker 1: starred in cowboy movies. Jones had also attended the football game.
Speaker 1: He was tired from traveling, had been part of a
Speaker 1: war bond campaign, and he wasn't feeling well, but Jones's
Speaker 1: agent convinced him to have dinner at the club before
Speaker 1: returning to his hotel. Around ten that night, Hilda, who
Speaker 1: had been sitting with her back to the wall, complained
Speaker 1: that the room was too hot. She even noted that
Speaker 1: the wall was hot to the touch. At first, she
Speaker 1: wondered if she had imagined the heat with all the
Speaker 1: people and hot food around. Curious, Houston touched the wall too,
Speaker 1: and upon agreeing with his wife, the others got up
Speaker 1: to investigate. They didn't know the series of events that
Speaker 1: had unfolded. Seconds earlier, a bus boy had found a
Speaker 1: ball about near the Melody Lounge and lit a match.
Speaker 1: A nearby paper palm tree instantly ignited, bursting into flames.
Speaker 1: A staff used water in seltzer in an attempt to
Speaker 1: douse the fire. People rushed for the four foot wide
Speaker 1: stairs towards the emergency exit as the flames jumped to
Speaker 1: the fabric, wallpaper and the draped ceiling, but the exit
Speaker 1: had been blocked. A few people made it to the
Speaker 1: main dining room, shouting fire, fire. The dancing stopped and
Speaker 1: everyone bolted for the exits. At the same time, the
Speaker 1: fire raced up the walls and into the dining room,
Speaker 1: plunging the coconut grove into chaos. Fire Commissioner William author
Speaker 1: Riley said the fire took less than five minutes to
Speaker 1: spread forty feet across the Melody lounge and up the
Speaker 1: only stairwell, trapping people inside. Seconds later, it tore through
Speaker 1: the lobby and into the club's main dining room, but
Speaker 1: when the first people arrived from the basement, Houston thought
Speaker 1: that someone had yelled fight. Reality sunk in. Seconds later,
Speaker 1: as people scrambled for the door, a well passed a
Speaker 1: safe occupancy. The thousand plus people inside the club rushed
Speaker 1: for the few exits. Those in the Melody Club had
Speaker 1: no way to escape. Once the blaze overtook the narrow staircase.
Speaker 1: All the paper, fabric, asbestos, and wooden furniture in the
Speaker 1: dining room fueled the fire. The black smoke filled the air,
Speaker 1: making breathing difficult and seeing nearly impossible. People fell over
Speaker 1: chairs in each other. In their frantic search for an escape,
Speaker 1: They piled into the revolving door, jamming it shut. Others
Speaker 1: still trying to push their way into the door were
Speaker 1: crushed against it. A wall of people pushed against another exit,
Speaker 1: not realizing it only opened inward. Those who figured out
Speaker 1: the doors couldn't open them due to the panic and
Speaker 1: the sheer amount of people pushing against them, crushing some
Speaker 1: against the door to death. A waiter near the grazed
Speaker 1: table rushed past, pulling drapes away from the wall to
Speaker 1: reveal a hidden door. As the group followed him to
Speaker 1: the exit, the lights went out. Hilda and Houston clung
Speaker 1: to each other in the dark. Screams and smoke filled
Speaker 1: the air. They stumbled through a tunnel, careful not to
Speaker 1: lose their footing for fear of being trampled. Finally, they
Speaker 1: reached the door and found it locked. Not far from
Speaker 1: the club, fire bells rang, not for the club, though
Speaker 1: someone had pulled the lever at a nearby firebox at
Speaker 1: ten fifteen due to a car fire three streets from
Speaker 1: the grove. Firefighters had no sooner dousted the flames. When
Speaker 1: people ran up to them, alerting them to the fire
Speaker 1: at the club, The responders were bent with heavy, dark
Speaker 1: smoke pouring from the building. A passer by watched people
Speaker 1: jammed themselves into the revolving doors. No amount of effort
Speaker 1: budged them. Meanwhile, inside, Houston and the other men desperately
Speaker 1: attempted to bust down the locked door as more people
Speaker 1: piled in behind them, coughing and choking on the smoke.
Speaker 1: The heat from the encroaching flames was growing unbearable. Like
Speaker 1: the people trapped at the other exits, the group found
Speaker 1: that no amount of effort budged the door. Before the
Speaker 1: flames reached the wall of people, there was a loud crash,
Speaker 1: then a sudden woosh of cold air. Firefighters with axes
Speaker 1: began to pull everyone out of the building. One firefighter
Speaker 1: noted that the fire burned so hot that those victims
Speaker 1: who managed to escape fell like stones once they took
Speaker 1: a breath of cold air. The fire chief called for
Speaker 1: the nearby naval yards help, along with the Army, the
Speaker 1: Coast Guard, anyone capable of lending a hand. The taxi
Speaker 1: drivers responded, taking victims to the hospital. There were so
Speaker 1: many victims with injuries and imaged lungs that newspaper delivery
Speaker 1: tracks soon joined is makeshift ambulances. The nearby hospitals received
Speaker 1: a hundred and fourteen victims in just two hours. A
Speaker 1: film distribution company's garage near the club served as a
Speaker 1: temporary more. The garage filled up quickly, though the worst
Speaker 1: was still inside the club. Once the firefighters extinguished the blaze,
Speaker 1: what they found there was nothing short of slaughter. The
Speaker 1: fire had spread so fast that anyone who didn't escape
Speaker 1: within the first few minutes, died from smoken hallation or burns.
Speaker 1: Only four hundred and nine two people survived. That number
Speaker 1: exceeded the club's occupation limit. Over a thousand people had
Speaker 1: been inside. The number of fatalities made it the deadliest
Speaker 1: nightclub fire in history. Twenty employees perished. A movie star
Speaker 1: Buck Jones also died. One employee who survived told reporters
Speaker 1: that his brother had waited on the Star while he
Speaker 1: had waited on a family of ten. Only one of
Speaker 1: those family members survived, Hilda Houston, the Discals, and the
Speaker 1: two other couples they were with escaped. They credited the
Speaker 1: move to the new table closer to an exit as
Speaker 1: what saved their lives. Investigators learned that the Coconut Grove
Speaker 1: hadn't had an operational license for years. The club didn't
Speaker 1: have a liquor license, food license, or food handling permit.
Speaker 1: A further digging revealed that owner Barney Wilansky had hired
Speaker 1: underage bussers, neglected to apply for permits during remodeling, and
Speaker 1: had used unlicensed contractors or worse, Boston's fire captain had
Speaker 1: inspected the nightclub ten days before the fire and determined
Speaker 1: that the club was safe. In a strange twist, in
Speaker 1: the night, the Coconut Grove caught fire. Wilansky was in
Speaker 1: a private room at Massachusetts General Hospital recovering from a
Speaker 1: heart attack. Investigators asked Lansky how the fire could have
Speaker 1: happened and why so many exits had been blocked off.
Speaker 1: Wolanski boldly responded that his connection to the mob and
Speaker 1: favors from the mayor meant that licenses and permits didn't
Speaker 1: concern him. Mayor Vincent Tobin repeatedly denied any such affiliation
Speaker 1: with Blansky. On top of the violations and corruption, no
Speaker 1: one could agree on the body count. Investigators had their
Speaker 1: work cut out for them. The hospitals and morgues faced
Speaker 1: their own challenges. Recovered bodies had been so severely burned
Speaker 1: that identification was nearly impossible. The fire had destroyed wallets
Speaker 1: and purses, further complicating the process. For several days, the
Speaker 1: fire dominated the headlines in Boston, shifting attention away from
Speaker 1: war stories. The fire made the front page of the
Speaker 1: New York Times and the Washington Post, and movie star
Speaker 1: Buck Jones's death made news and papers across the country
Speaker 1: over the days following the tragedy, the stories moved from
Speaker 1: what caused the blade is to the victims, witnesses, and survivors.
Speaker 1: A sixteen year old buss boy, Stanley Thomaschewsky, was under
Speaker 1: intense scrutiny for starting the fire, though the public saw
Speaker 1: Wilansky as the real villain. The mob lawyer turned nightclub
Speaker 1: owner had locked some exits, hid others behind drapes, and
Speaker 1: bricked over another to prevent customers from dining and dashing.
Speaker 1: He had maximized his own profits while underpaying his staff
Speaker 1: and ignoring health and safety issues. During the trial, the
Speaker 1: fire commissioner testified that Stanley hadn't done anything wrong in
Speaker 1: lighting the match in the darkened hall way. In fact,
Speaker 1: the final report declared that the fire had started from
Speaker 1: an unknown origin. They found two contenders for what might
Speaker 1: have caused the flame to ignite, methyl chloride used instead
Speaker 1: of free on, or toxic fumes from the leatherette sofas.
Speaker 1: Without a clear cut cause, many people chose to continue
Speaker 1: blaming Stanley. For a while, he lived in a police
Speaker 1: guarded hotel room. Later, he told a reporter that he
Speaker 1: prayed for the lives lost every day. Eventually, he went
Speaker 1: to college married and had a family, though he continued
Speaker 1: visiting the victim's graves, Willansky's entitlement and negligence caught up
Speaker 1: with him. Neither his political ties nor mob connections could
Speaker 1: save him from a manslaughter charge. The court sentenced him
Speaker 1: to twelve to fifteen years. Mayor Tobin escaped the indictment
Speaker 1: and went on to become the governor. Once in office,
Speaker 1: he pardoned Wilansky and his freedom was short lived, though
Speaker 1: nine weeks later Wilansky died from cancer. Tragedies often spur changes.
Speaker 1: New laws emerged. Stationary doors had to be installed next
Speaker 1: to revolving doors, Inflammable materials were banned, and exits had
Speaker 1: to be well marked. Life went on for the survivors.
Speaker 1: The last left the hospital six weeks after the fire,
Speaker 1: and in time and seven couples who lived to tell
Speaker 1: the tale exchanged wedding vows. There's more to this story.
Speaker 1: Stick around after this brief sponsor break to hear all
Speaker 1: about it. Rodney Dangerfield used to say that he went
Speaker 1: to watch a fight and a hockey game broke out.
Speaker 1: There's no shortage of stories about professional sports players ending
Speaker 1: up in public fights, though few ever caught the attention
Speaker 1: that the Yankees did in the late nineteen fifties. In
Speaker 1: nineteen fifty six, the team celebrated the end of the
Speaker 1: season with the World Series win against their long time rivals,
Speaker 1: the Brooklyn Dodgers. The following year, they were back playing
Speaker 1: better than ever. With grates like Yogi Barra and Mickey Mantle,
Speaker 1: fans thought that they had found an unstoppable dream team
Speaker 1: in Major League Baseball. On May sixteen, the celebrations resumed
Speaker 1: with Billy Martin's twenty nine A teammates Whitey Ford, Hank Bauer,
Speaker 1: Mickey Mantle, Yogi Barra, Martin, and their wives headed to
Speaker 1: the Copa Cabana and The club had opened in nineteen
Speaker 1: forty with ties to mobster Frank Costello. Decorated in Latin
Speaker 1: American furnishing and style, the Copa Cabana offered musical talents
Speaker 1: and food to match. Patrons enjoyed the famous chorus girls
Speaker 1: and celebrity sidings. The club had two rules, a proper
Speaker 1: dress code and no black patrons. The club even refused
Speaker 1: to host celebrities like Harry Belafonte while the dress code remained.
Speaker 1: The club eventually allowed black performers in the nineteen fifties,
Speaker 1: and on the night of Martin's birthday, Sammy Davis Jr.
Speaker 1: Was playing one of his last shows at the Club Mantle.
Speaker 1: Martin and the rest had made the rounds at two
Speaker 1: other clubs before they walked into the Copacabana and took
Speaker 1: their seats at a table next to a group of
Speaker 1: bowlers from Washington Heights. However much the Yankees and their
Speaker 1: wives drank before arriving, the bowlers were twice as strong,
Speaker 1: and normally staff ushered improperly attired or rowdy clientele to
Speaker 1: the cheap seats in the Burma Road section. The bowlers
Speaker 1: had managed to sneak past the bouncer at the door
Speaker 1: and take a table near the stage. The bowlers became
Speaker 1: louder and louder of voicing their opinions to anyone within earshot,
Speaker 1: especially negative and racially charged comments regarding Sammy Davis Jr.
Speaker 1: Each new insult made Billy Martin angrier, and his reputation
Speaker 1: for a bad temper preceded him. He told the bowlers
Speaker 1: to stop heckling Davis or else. One of the bowlers
Speaker 1: looked over at the table and said, don't trust your luck.
Speaker 1: Yankee Hank Bauer was quick to respond and telling the
Speaker 1: bowler to go perform a physically impossible act on himself. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: one of the bowlers, who had been hurling insults at Davis,
Speaker 1: went to the restroom. Martin and Whitey followed. Ford's wife
Speaker 1: leaned over and asked Bower to go see what was happening.
Speaker 1: He had been a marine before landing a spot on
Speaker 1: the Yankees, so he went to ensure that there wasn't
Speaker 1: any trouble. He later told reporters that he was too late.
Speaker 1: Bouncers had already arrived, Barrap or Whitey, he couldn't recall
Speaker 1: which one grabbed him and told him to get out
Speaker 1: of there. He claimed. He left and went back to
Speaker 1: his hotel. Around four thirty in the morning, Bower said
Speaker 1: the phone rang. A writer for the paper told him
Speaker 1: that one of the bowlers was accusing him of assault,
Speaker 1: and the next day Dan Topping, the Yankees president and
Speaker 1: part owner, called the team in. Topping told the players,
Speaker 1: that'll cost you each a grand One of the bowlers,
Speaker 1: Edward Jones, disagreed. He had been sent to the hospital
Speaker 1: with a broken nose, a broken jaw, and a concussion,
Speaker 1: though Bauer insisted he never laid a hand on him.
Speaker 1: Jones pressed charges and filed a lawsuit. The team was
Speaker 1: closely knit and came to his defense in court. Abara
Speaker 1: told one of the reporters nobody did nothing to nobody.
Speaker 1: Mantle was asked if he had seen an unconscious man
Speaker 1: lying on the club's floor. He replied that he had,
Speaker 1: but had no idea how he had come to be
Speaker 1: there unless Roy Rogers rode through and trigger kicked him.
Speaker 1: The jury broke into laughter. Without sufficient evidence to prove
Speaker 1: Bower had been in a fight or had hit Jones,
Speaker 1: the judge dismissed the case. The Yankees manager traded Martin
Speaker 1: to Kansas City, a Bower's position in the lineup dropped. However,
Speaker 1: Mantle wasn't punished. The manager insisted he was mad, but
Speaker 1: not mad enough to potentially lose a pennant. American Shadows
Speaker 1: is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was written by
Speaker 1: Michelle Muto, researched by Ali Steed, and produced by Miranda
Speaker 1: Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams,
Speaker 1: and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, visit
Speaker 1: Grim and mild dot com. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Sho