[3] Ruch retired on the advice of his doctor in 1932, and Nugent was elected team president with the support of Baker's widow.

Baker's widow died in 1932, leaving her shares to Mae Nugent and her son, Gerald Jr.

While Nugent's keen eye for talent allowed him to discover a number of fine young players, he was often forced to sell or trade them out of town in order to balance the books.

[2] Nugent agreed to pay the Murphy estate to "suspend" the lease for five years, clearing the way for the Phillies to move five blocks west as tenants of the American League Athletics at Shibe Park.

A year after posting a 43–111 record, the worst in franchise history, the Phillies needed an advance from the league just to be able to go to spring training.

He was also feeling pressure from his fellow National League owners; even after the move to Shibe Park, the Phils' attendance figures were too meager for visiting teams to meet their expenses.

However, when Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, an intractable opponent of integration, got wind of it, he pressured National League President Ford Frick to quash the deal and take over the team.

This story was initially refuted by a 1998 article in the Society for American Baseball Research's The National Pastime, which argued that Philadelphia's black press made no mention of a sale to Veeck.