 Instead of relocating, he kept the team in Cincinnati, and survived a challenge from a short-lived American Association competitor, the Cincinnati Kelly's Killers.Brush frequently was at odds with sportswriter Ban Johnson of the city's "Commercial Gazette", and in an attempt to reduce the writer's local influence he helped Johnson become president of the new Western League – a move which eventually backfired when the league achieved major status as the American League in , with Johnson remaining as president.As chairman of the NL's executive committee, Brush took a lead role in combating the AL, joining with Giants majority owner Andrew Freedman to sabotage the AL's Baltimore club by offering the managing jobs of the New York and Cincinnati teams to John McGraw and Joe Kelley respectively; Baltimore was forced to relocate to New York after 1902, eventually becoming the New York Yankees.