Despite the steady improvement each year during Armour's tenure with Cleveland, friction had developed between Armour and the team's star and captain, Nap Lajoie. By the last half of the 1904 season, the two were reportedly "not on speaking terms." On September 8, 1904, Armour announced his resignation as manager of the Cleveland club, effective at the end of the season. The "Cleveland Plain Dealer" praised Armour's efforts in that city: "No better judge of a ball player's ability than Bill Armour lives, and not a small point necessary to win games escapes him. But the ability of the players to carry out his plans has, oftimes, been lacking."