Francis Xavier McQuade (August 11, 1878 - April 6, 1955) was a New York City judge. In 1917 he advocated for allowing Sunday baseball games in New York in defiance of existing New York state

blue laws Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons ...

. In 1919 he became one of the owners of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

with Charles Abraham Stoneham.

Biography

He was born on

Staten Island, New York Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

, on August 11, 1878, to Arthur J. McQuade and Ellen E. Tuite. In 1917 the

and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

played their first Sunday game at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. After the game both managers,

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...

and

Christy Mathewson Christopher Mathewson (August 12, 1880 – October 7, 1925), nicknamed "Big Six", "the Christian Gentleman", "Matty", and "the Gentleman's Hurler", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher, who played 17 seasons with the New York Giant ...

, were arrested for violating New York state

. McQuade presided over the case and found them not guilty and wrote: "In my opinion there was no infraction of any statute." In 1919 he became part-owner of the

when

Charles Stoneham Charles Abraham Stoneham (July 5, 1876 – January 6, 1936) was the owner of the New York Giants baseball team, New York Nationals soccer team, the center of numerous corruption scandals and the instigator of the "Soccer Wars" which destroyed ...

bought the team. As part of the deal, Stoneham took on McQuade and longtime manager

as partners, with McQuade becoming treasurer. According to some sources, McQuade was responsible for introducing McGraw to Stoneham after McGraw got wind that the heirs of late owner

John T. Brush John Tomlinson Brush (June 15, 1845 – November 26, 1912) was an American sports executive who is primarily remembered as the principal owner of the New York Giants franchise in Major League Baseball from late in the 1902 season until his death ...

wanted out of baseball. McQuade was abruptly fired in 1928, ostensibly to resolve strife between the business and baseball sides of the Giants franchise. In 1930, McQuade sued Stoneham, seeking reinstatement to his post and damages for an ouster he claimed was unlawful. A court awarded McQuade $43,000 in damages. While the court refused to reinstate him as club treasurer, it cleared the way for McQuade to take the Giants back to court if he wasn't reinstated voluntarily. However, the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

overturned the judgment, pointing out that McQuade could not legally serve as treasurer due to a state law forbidding municipal judges from holding ''any'' other paying job. He died on April 6, 1955, in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, at the age of 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McQuade, Francis Xavier 1878 births 1955 deaths Municipal judges in the United States New York Giants (NL) owners People from Staten Island 20th-century American judges