William A. Shea and His Impact on New York - Research Paper Example

William A. Shea and His Impact on New York Introduction William A. Shea was a renowned American attorney who partnered ina famous law firm, Shea & Gould. William Shea is attributed with the establishment of the Continental League that was fundamental in restoring the National League baseball to the New York City with the help of the New York Mets. He was honored by naming the stadium after him, and the team New York Mets played in the stadium for approximately 45 years (Wade 150). Shea had immense political connections as well as money in New York City, he weathered the pressure from the major league owners to come up with the third league after the Giants and Dodgers moved on. William Shea made significant contributions on the New York through making the Continental league a reality in the City. Moreover, Shea was revered for introducing a junior league that promoted the growth of talent in Baseball. Besides his career as a lawyer and huge interests in Baseball. Shea was involved in philanthropic activities. This paper discusses William A. Shea and his contributions toward New York. Discussion William A. Shea was born in Washington Heights in Manhattan on June 21, 1907. Shea attended various public schools after which he studied at New York University on a sports scholarship for basketball. Later, he transferred on another sports scholarship to Georgetown University. In 1931, Shea was admitted to the bar at District of Columbia after which he joined the New York bar (Margolick). While in New York University, Georgetown University and Harvard Law School, Shea had a huge interest in Basketball and was a team member in these institutions. Shea graduated from the Harvard law school and worked for insurance bureaucracies after which he entered into private practice. As a lawyer, Shea garnered political influence by working voluntarily on influential boards in Brooklyn. In his legal career, Shea was a lawyer who was trusted by powerful men due to his efficiency (Margolick). Career as a Lawyer Shea held close ties with political bigwigs although he never held an elective office (Margolick). Moreover, Shea was on numerous occasions cited bragging that he had never practiced his profession in a conventional sense. Nevertheless, his career, which spanned for a period of five decades, was a period when Shea became a confidant of mayors, governors and corporate chieftains. These ties enabled him to build Shea & Gould, which is New York’s most influential and largest law firm. Shea and Gould clients included the Apple, The Mets and The Yankees among others. For a large part of his career, Shea maneuvered around banquet halls and boardrooms and was only brought to a public role when the New York Mayor enlisted his help to return the league to its glory (Margolick). Shea obtained New York’s baseball franchise via a combination of street smarts, threats, bluffs and charm that he was particularly suited in given his career as a lawyer, and not as a zealous sports fan. Moreover, his credentials may have been ridden with official appointments, encomiums, affiliations and awards but they omitted his important attribute of bringing people’s interests together (Margolick). Caliendo(2010, 18) highlights that Shea was a power broker with huge experience and spent 40 years turning situations facing bankers, realtors, underwriters corporate heads, cement barons, sports impresarios and politicians into profitable cases. Moreover, Shea was labeled as the unofficial chairperson of the unofficial government, who had spent a significant part of his career laboring quietly in political twilight between the public good and private interest. Shea had survived many regimes at the Shea Stadium from the reign of Casey Stengel to the reign of Bud Harrelson and during the opening days of the leagues, he presented a flowery horseshoe to the manager as Mets. Similarly, he survived many political vicissitudes during his career at the City Hall. He became a close confidant of Mayors John Lindsay, Abraham Beame and Wagner. He also became a trusted advisor of Hugh L. Carey, who was a governor. At the start of his legal career, Shea was closely associated with George McLaughlin who headed Brooklyn’s Democratic Party and had other posts in the regulatory apparatus of the state’s insurance. In 1941, Shea entered private practice and later in 1950’s became the director of Central Intelligence Agency. After meeting Gould, the two formed a lawyer firm in 1964. This firm changed its name severally until in 1979 when it came to be known as Shea & Gould. The firm experienced an exponential growth and by 1990, it boasted of around 300 lawyers, who were not only litigators and corporate lawyers but also scholars who were politically connected. Caliendo (2010, 136) reveals that although the two were a strange combination, Shea & Gloud was the only law firm in New York that had the most political connections and clout. In order to hide his unconventional practice, Shea based his pride on the fact that alongside his partners, he played hardball the same way that his boys played at Shea Stadium. Caliendo (2010, 317) indicates that Shea & Gloud was a legal graft factory, whose specialty was to help its clients to get around the law without having to break it. Before his death, Shea and Gloud pass the responsibility for the management of the firm to much younger lawyers. Moreover, during the period before his death, the Shea & Gloud firm was experiencing difficulties, which were largely due to expensive leases from the owners and the poor real- estate market. Furthermore, the firm lost 51 lawyers in 1991 due to layoffs, departures and dismissals. Shea’s Interest in Baseball Shea’s had an enduring interest in sports which was partly influenced by his high school teacher. This interest drove him to engage in some legal issues for Brooklyn dodgers and own a professional football team in the minor league on Long Island. In 1957, the New Yorkers were smarting over the loss of Dodgers and the Giants and the Mayor was facing a re-election. The mayor saw Shea as an effective member who would head a committee that comprised of prominent citizens in order to rescues the National League. Shea did not disappoint and was highly effective in compelling the major league owners to move clubs such as Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh to New York (Margolick). Shea retained his huge interests in sports for many years and was deemed fit to succeed Ford Frick as a baseball commissioner in 1965. Moreover, Shea helped the New York City to keep the Jets team in the Shea stadium. In addition, Shea was able to maintain interest in Mets, making his one of his appearances in a wheelchair during the induction of Cleon Jones into the Hall of Fame. Shea played a huge role in the Major League Baseball during a period when the league at New York was experiencing problems. These problems were due to the exodus of teams such as the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, which left for San Francisco and Los Angeles respectively. As a result, the New York mayor asked Shea to head a committee that would ensure the return of National League to its original location in New York. However, his efforts did not bear fruits as teams such as Pittsburg Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds failed to return to New York. Consequently, Shea and other committee members came with the Continental League idea in 1959 and incase this leagues would have been established, it would have become the third major league (Margolick). The threat of formulation of another major league made Major League Baseball (MLB) to come into consensus with the committee on matters pertaining expansion. MLB Agreed to add two teams to American League and two teams to National League. After New York was assured of new teams, Shea withheld the Continental League idea. His relentless campaign to ensure that New York hosted major leagues saw New York Mets, his home team, play their debut game in 1962. This game was played in Queens Stadium, which was became Shea stadium, in honor of Shea for his huge role in the league (Margolick). Apart from law sports and politics, Shea was active in many charities, which included Georgetown, Yeshiva and Fordham Universities, and numerous philanthropic activities. In every year, Shea provided free tickets to the Mets games alongside a $5 for snacks and hot dogs to many New York children. His wife, a son, two daughters, a sister, and eight grandchildren survived Shea following his death in 1991 (Margolick). Among the many honors, Received by Shea was the Establishment of Bill Shea Graduate Award in 1987, which was meant to serve two purposes. The first and the most important purpose is that the award is presented to a little leaguer in Major League Baseball who best exemplifies the spirit of Baseball in the League. Considerations for selections for the award include the status of the individual as a role model and the individual’s accomplishments and ability. Second, the award was established to honor the many contributions made to Baseball by Shea. Shea is famous for returning Baseball to New York in 1960’s at the same time when he was working diligently for advancement of League Baseball for little kids (Margolick). The Impacts of William A. Shea on New York William Shea was the brain behind bringing back the National League baseball to New York. He helped power broke during the bygone era after the departure of New York baseball teams. Shea believed that the baseball game was an important component of the social foundation, which united New York City. New York Mets was created from Giant Orange and Dodger Blue. Moreover, Shea contributed to New York City by soliciting for funds and resources to finance the new stadium for New York Mets in Queens. Additionally, Shea is credited for assisting the new team, Mets, to getting the first owner, Joan Payson (Baxter). William Shea helped New York by restoring the baseball league in the city. The baseball league in America was under threat in the early 1900s because of several reasons among them the formation of the Mexican League. The American major leaguers had an alternative place to ply their trade. The players jumped leagues, and a ban was imposed on the behavior for five years. The blacklist was dropped because of Danny Gardella of the Giants suing the Commissioner. As a result, there was an idea of creating a minor league system led by the Pacific Coast League. The baseball map was realigned after the antitrust immunity was lifted. The Dodgers and the Giants moved to California, leading to a struggle in existence by the rival league to prompt the realignment. The rival league, the Continental League, struggled to take shape after the departure of the Giants and Dodgers. The initial two teams proposed to take part in the New York baseball league, Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburg Pirates, were declined and the third major league led by William Shea succeeded to take effect in New York (Gorman and Calhoun 218). Shea had initially thought of attempting to persuade three existing teams to relocate but later realized that the strategy was not possible because the teams could not pull out of their own towns to New York. He shelved the initial plan after getting support from the New Yorkers against moving any clubs. He contemplated the idea of adding more teams to the baseball league but realized that the National League was not in support of the idea. Eventually, he settled on establishing a new league in which the New York would be the flagship franchise (Silverman 10). Under the leadership and efforts of Shea, the concept of the third league troubled organized baseball into action to protect its monopoly. The idea was to bring more teams in the existing baseball league in New York either through expansion of the two existing leagues or establishing a third league. The knowledge of Shea was very instrumental in this process as he pressurized the league owners to give into the idea because the owners did not welcome competition in the league (Gorman and Calhoun 219). In efforts to realize the dream of introducing more teams in the baseball league in New York, through creation of the third league, Shea hired Branch Rickey to spearhead the plans of accomplishing the establishment of the third league, the Continental League. In the process of pushing for the third league, the major league owners in New York City delayed the efforts by Shea and his team, hoping that the concept of the Continental League would wither. The league owners were unenthusiastic to approve the expansion of the existing leagues. Further, the major league owners were indisposed to permit any person to manage the process (Gorman and Calhoun 219). Shea was a significant contributor to the Baseball Committee established by the New York Mayor, Robert Wagner, to develop a plan to attract additional major league teams to the New York City. William Shea headed the baseball committee that was tasked with this responsibility. Shea with the help of his committee sought to entice a National League club to relocate to New York. Nevertheless, the committee also pursued an alternative strategy to realize their objective through assembling a team of affluent investors in several cities, including Toronto, Minneapolis, Houston and Denver to support his course. The idea of the third major league was conceived at this stage. The meeting, led by Shea, agreed on the conditions as well as the regulations that the Continental League and the major league would meet to be recognized by the majors (Sullivan xix). Despite the tacit pledge from the major leagues in New York City not to hinder the establishment of the Continental League, conflict arose, which made the attorneys and lobbyists from the major leagues to thwart the efforts of the Congress to amend the antitrust exemption to permit the Continental League to recruit major league players in their teams. William Shea with the help of the Continental League president Branch Rickey dissolved the Continental League after a promise that each of t he major leagues would offer franchises to two Continental League cities. The efforts by Shea culminated in the National League placing expansion franchises in New York that played in a stadium named for Shea and Houston (Sullivan xix). Consequently, Shea pressed on and sought additional support from Kefauver. The support from Kefauver culminated in drafting of a bill ending the major league control of the minor leagues within the New York City. The order permitted the third league to compete with the two existing leagues on an equal playfield in recruiting talent (Gorman and Calhoun 219). The continued efforts of William Shea pushed the Major League Baseball to shelve the constraints in expansion because of the possible effects, such as risking antitrust exemption. The National League agreed to expand the league to accommodate 10 teams, a commitment shared with the American League. Subsequently, Joan Payson purchased the Mets, a New York entry team that initially played in the Polo Grounds before shifting to the Shea stadium (Gorman and Calhoun 219). Without the efforts of William Shea to conceive and help establish the Continental League, New York would never have had other baseball teams. In addition, the Shea stadium for the Mets would never have been in existence (Baxter). The efforts by share to establish the Continental League and seek a sponsor for the team resulted in increased the baseball season attendance by almost double the previous season’s population. The New Yorkers were also provided with the chance of choosing the best team to support from the enhanced competition within the league. Shea also assisted the New York Knicks to realize their first tax exemption besides other New York Teams (Baxter). The contributions on New York also included his efforts in persuading the National Hockey League to accept a team into the newly established Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, leading to the inclusion of the New York Islanders. He also owned the National Football League’s Boston Yanks during some period. Generally, William Shea is a distinguished legendary in New York because of his contributions as the most experienced power broker, a premier matchmaker who had spent approximately four decades in the city turning the orgies of the politicians and businessmen and women into profitable marriages. At some point, Shea was the most powerful political influence manipulator in New York. He headed the consortium of businesspersons who controlled New York for several years (Pileggi 45). Conclusion William Shea was a prominent attorney in New York with vast political connections. He significantly succeeded in power brokering and contributed severally to the New York City. The most outstanding contribution that Shea made to New York was restoring the baseball league after the departure of two teams, the Giants and the Dodgers to California. He led the committee that succeeded in establishing the third league, Continental League, to keep the sport alive in New York because he believed it was a social fabric uniting the New Yorkers. The return of the baseball leagues together with the new stadium led to an increase in the population of fans attending the baseball games in New York. Additionally, he sourced for the sponsors who agreed to be the owners of the Mets and funded the building of the Shea stadium named after him as a sign of his contribution to the Team as well as the game. Moreover, he had vast business connections and associates within New York, and this helped control the economy and developments in the city. This paper has discussed the huge contributions made by Shea in New York City. Apart from the role that Shea played in restoring Baseball to New York and his achievements as a lawyer, Shea was also famous for his philanthropic activities in New York. These activities included charity work in Yeshiva Georgetown and Fordham Universities. Moreover, Shea provided free tickets to the New York Mets games as well as offering five dollars to many children for snacks and hot dogs. Following his death in 1991, his wife, a son, two daughters, a sister, and eight grandchildren survived him. Works Cited Baxter, Brian. "'Shea' It Ain't So: Final Season for Stadium Named After N.Y. Lawyer." The American Lawyer 9 April 2008. Gorman, Jerry and Kirk Calhoun. The Name of the Game: The Business of Sports. New York: Wiley & Sons, 1994. Pileggi, Nicholas. "No Matter Who Loses the Elections Bill Shea Wins." New York Magazine 11 November 1974. Silverman, Matthew. New York Mets: The Complete Illustrated History. Minneapolis, MN : MVP Books, 2011. Sullivan, Dean A., ed. Late Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1945-1972. Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 2002. Wade, Ophelia R. Thirty Baseball Parks and Seventy Home Runs. Princeton, NJ : Xlibris Corporation, 1998. Caliendo, Ralph J. New York City Mayors, Part 2. Bloomington: Xlibris Corporation, 2010. Margolick, David. "William A. Shea, 84, Dies; The Lawyer Behind the Mets." The New York Times 04 October 1991. Read More