One night he ran into an old girlfriend at a bar the players frequented. They began to argue and she got so mad at him that she bit off the tip of his nose. It was still hanging there, but he had to have it stitched back together. The next day he had to sneak into the clubhouse, but he couldn't hide his face forever. It was all bandaged up and he had two black eyes. The woman claimed she was retaliating for being bitten on the nose herself, and filed suit. It was quietly settled out of court near the end of the 1947 season. Shortly after that he was traded to Philadelphia (1948).
Mad Monk frequently angered his teammates, opponents, and the umpires, often to his own detriment. He would lose his cool on the mound after a base hit or an infielder's error. Once, with the Phillies, after being knocked out of a game, he took off his spikes and hurled them into the shower ceiling, where they stuck. He won 17 games for the Phillies in 1949, and helped the Braves win the pennant in 1953. He returned to the Cubs only after he was washed up. While he was away from the Cubs he went 24-3 against them. Those 24 wins were almost one third of this 79 overall wins.
