Fr. Gerald Beirne of the Boston Braves Historical Society examines the evidence.
“Who was Gaffney?” everyone asked. Harold Kaese wrote that he was the New York foot patrolman who turned to Tammany politics and contracting to become a millionaire several times over. He was Tammany’s Man of Mystery, a big, red-faced, healthy looking specimen, modest, quiet and retiring. Even while owner of the Braves, he was the subject of an inquiry into the awarding of lucrative construction contracts in New York. Gaffney renamed his team, the Braves, the same nickname coincidentally as Tammany Hall with the same Indian head in resplendent head dress logo.
Photo: Manager John McGraw of the Giants and Manager Mitchell of the Boston Braves greet each other before the game at the Polo Grounds opening the 1923 National League Championship season, 4/26/23. NYPL Digital Gallery
