In an interview with "The Sporting News" in August 1951, Chandler cited his decision to void a trade between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox for outfielder Dick Wakefield as a major factor in his inability to secure a new contract. The Yankees traded Wakefield to the White Sox for cash, but Wakefield refused to report to the White Sox after a salary dispute, which led to a disagreement between the teams over who was responsible for his salary. Chandler voided the trade, making Wakefield's contract the Yankees' responsibility and angering their owner, Del Webb. It was not until the 1970s that Chandler began to cite his involvement in the integration of baseball as a reason for his contract not being renewed. Historian John Paul Hill considers that to be unlikely, however, because two of Chandler's strongest allies, Connie Mack and Walter Briggs, Sr., were ardently opposed to integration, and Bill DeWitt, the second owner in the American League to integrate, voted against him. Hill points to the Dick Wakefield dispute and Chandler's investigations of Del Webb and Cardinals owner Fred Saigh involving their rumored connections to gambling interests to be more compelling reasons for Chandler's dismissal.