Baseball History

Moose Clabaugh

2004-03-20T12:20:00.000-05:00

In 1926, Moose Clabaugh hit 62 home runs for the Tyler Trojans of the Class D East Texas League. This feat broke the record set the previous year when Tony Lazzeri hit 60 at Salt Lake City. Tony had the advantage of 200 games that year; roughly half of them at an altitude of 4,400 feet. Moose hit hid 62 in 121 games; averaging more than one homer every to games.

This earned Clabaugh a callup to Brooklyn, where he went 1 for 14. It was his only big league experience.

I stumbled across Clabaugh's story while reading the 1995 edition of Baseball Research Journal last year. Wanting to know more about the man, I queried some SABR members about him. As it turns out, there is an essay about him in an upcoming book. Ninety Feet from Fame : Close Calls with Baseball Immortality will be released this spring. According to the books description, Journalist and baseball historian Mike Robbins tells the gripping stories of dozens of players who came this (hold fingers only slightly apart) close to baseball immortality.

Robbins was kind enough to allow me to excerpt his section on Moose Clabaugh here. Enjoy.

Moose Clabaugh

Moose Clabaugh's eyesight was plenty sharp at the plate, but apparently not up to the job in the field. Throughout his career, Clabaugh blamed his eyes for his poor pursuit of fly balls. Glasses failed to solve the problem.

"I'd make easy plays look hard," he'd later admit.

Clabaugh's minor league statistics fit right in with the other players on this list--.339 career average and 346 home runs in 17 minor league seasons. But his taste of the majors was even briefer--just 14 at-bats and one lone hit for the Dodgers at the end of the 1926 season. Those 14 at-bats would be his only chance; Clabaugh never even got an invitation to a major-league spring training.
"Those were disappointing days," he told the Arizona Republic in 1981. "I talked to the major league scouts. They all told me the same thing. They said my fielding was holding me back."

Clabaugh's minor-league home-run total would have been even more impressive,
except his playing career essentially ended at the age of 35. Clabaugh held out for the entire 1938 season in contract dispute with Portland of the PCL. When that didn't work, he held out the entire 1939 season as well, joining the Oregon State Police during his extended hiatus. Clabaugh finally returned to baseball in 1940, but retired midseason.

Bad eyes might have cost Clabaugh a shot at stardom, but they didn't stop him from spending the second half of the 1940 season as an umpire, one of the first in pro ball to wear glasses. Clabaugh might have made a career of it, too, but his wife wanted him at home. He took a job as chief of security at Dalles Dam in Oregon. Clabaugh retired to Arizona in 1965, and died there in 1984 at the age of 82.

Baseball Author Lawrence Ritter, 81, Dies

2004-02-16T20:39:00.000-05:00

Baseball Author Lawrence Ritter, 81, Dies

Reaction from Red Bird Nation and Baseball Primer. Frankly, I'm not surprised that Ritter's death hasn't had much buzz in the baseball blogosphere. Most baseball bloggers seem to be concerned with the here and now as opposed to the rich past of the game. (editorial comment: Of course, news of Ritter's death was overshadowed by a big trade involving the Rangers and Yankees.)

I finally had the opportunity to read The Glory of Their Times last year. It was quite a treat. Plus the book was definitely an inspiration to others who wrote about baseball; both fiction and non-fiction. Ritter was quite the renaissance man. He wrote a very popular money and banking textbook as well as numerous works on baseball.

RIP, professor.

In memory of Ritter here is what he considered the essential baseball library.

Death and Tacks

2004-02-04T22:27:00.000-05:00

Death and Tacks - I've been doing some research lately on a little known player by the name of Tacks Latimer. His story is one of murder and redemption.

Tacks was a journeyman catcher a little over a century ago. Although his major league career was brief (27 games and 86 at bats spread over 5 different seasons) he played professional baseball for over a decade and a half. His playing career to him south to Montgomery, Alabama; north to Montreal, Quebec; and west to Denver, Colorado among many other stops. He even spent some time with the Norwich Connecticut entry of the Connecticut League.

After his playing days, Tacks took a job with the Pennsylvania Railroad police force. Had he lived happily ever after, I wouldn't have much of a tale to write. However, he wound up getting into some sort of feud with his superior; one Lieutenant Charles Mackrodt. Accounts differ over what the dispute was about. Allegedly Latimer and Mackrodt agreed to a duel on November 26th, 1924 while they were near the courthouse in Xenia, Ohio. Mackrodt backed out but Latimer shot him anyways. Latimer was sentenced to life imprisonment a few weeks later even though he pleaded self-defense, "testifying that Mackrodt had many times threatened to kill him."

Latimer's new home was the Ohio Penitentiary. His record in prison must have been good because he was made a trusty less than two years after imprisonment. On November 8th, 1926, there was a big prison break which is described towards the bottom of this page. This was Latimer's chance to shine. The warden, a man named Thomas, had a residence within the prison walls. According to the November 10 Los Angeles Times, "Miss Amanda Thomas, daughter of Warden Thomas....heard the sound of shooting and started downstairs. Lattimer (sic) endeavored to persuade her to stay upstairs in safety. When she refused, he placed himself in front of her, it was said, to shield her from the convicts. It was said that he was in line for a pardon by governor Vic Donahey. It would take four years, but Tacks was finally pardoned by Donahey's successor Myers Cooper.

I think it's an interesting story and I'd like to investigate it more and write something publishable. Fortunately, I have been in contact with a relative of on of Latimer's descendants. Also digitized newspaper archives such as Paper of Record and ProQuest have been a lifesaver so far. I'd like to thank Dick Thompson for bringing this story to light in the 1996 edition of The National Pastime.

Kickball

2004-01-25T17:13:00.000-05:00

Back in grade school, we used to play kickball all the time. Well some folks at the World Adult Kickball Association still play it well past their prepubescent days. As the song "Everybody Loves Kickball" says, "EVERYBODY LOVES KICKBALL
EVERYBODY LOVES KICKBALL
When the sun is out and the sky is blue
There is nothin' else that I would rather do
Than play kickball
EVERYBODY LOVES KICKBALL"

There are other leagues, too. They include The Midwestern Unconventional Sports Association (MUSA)and The Kickball League of Baltimore. Something tells me that beer is involved. :)

New documentary features Bay Area sandlot baseball

2004-01-22T21:14:00.000-05:00

"PlayBall -- Alameda's Sandlot Saga" debuts at 8 p.m. today at Auctions By The Bay movie house, 2700 Saratoga Drive, Alameda Point. You may want to check this out if you are in the Bay Area. Alumni of the Alameda Recreation and Park Department's baseball program include Dontrelle Willis, Willie Stargell, Tommy Harper, Curtell Motton and Chris Speier.

You're Listening to WALK

2004-01-22T21:04:00.000-05:00

"Mediabay Announces Yogi Berra Collection of Old Time Radio Baseball Classics - Marks First in a Series of Personality-Driven Anthologies - - Collection includes Abbott and Costello's World Famous 'Who's On First' - - Stars on the Collection include Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Dizzy Dean, Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio and Casey Stengel - "

I found this story on Yahoo! in the financial news section. It sounds like a pretty interesting gist for the baseball history buff in your life.

Ex-pitcher decries war in Iraq

2004-01-14T21:24:00.000-05:00

There was a Jim Bouton sighting in Texas Monday. Bouton spoke on various subjects including war, Pete Rose, and steroids. For another take on Bouton's appearance at Schreiner University, visit the Kerrville Daily Times. I love reading about Bouton's remarks because he always has an interesting take on things; even if I don't agree with him (which is often.)

He's like Bill "Spaceman" Lee in that respect. Speaking of Lee, he had some remarks in Sunday's Manchester Union Leader about Pete Rose and the recently departed Tug McGraw. McGraw was another guy who made good copy himself. Why are pitchers the most quotable players? My guess is it's because they have more time to sit around and think up stuff than position players.

Sandy Koufax and the 1965 World Series

2004-01-14T20:54:00.000-05:00

I hope that Repoz doesn't mind if I recycle his lead-in from Baseball Primer: A wonderful walk through Game 7 of the 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers-Minnesota Twins World Series, with play by play man Rich Lederer....as seen on ESPN Sports Classic.

Oh..to long for the days of the sweet swinging Don LeJohn ...

MLB Timeline: Best Players by Position

2004-01-14T20:38:00.000-05:00

In his book on the Hall of Fame, Bill James listed criteria to consider a player worthy, including "Was he the best player in baseball at his position?" This chart is an attempt to help answer that question, as well as showing duration. There are also inevitably some tough-luck cases, such as George Brett, whose career happened to coincide with that of another great third baseman, Mike Schmidt. Likewise, Tris Speaker's time in center field was mirrored by Ty Cobb, while Hank Greenberg played opposite Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx at first base.

The chart in question comes from Baseball Reality. I'm not sure if I agree with all the rankings, but the chart makes a good starting point for any discussions (arguments.) My thanks go out to TangoTiger at Primate Studies for tipping me off to this chart's existence.

Total Baseball's Baseball History Page

2004-01-11T20:58:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Internet Archive, dead webpages come to life! Total Baseball hasn't been online for some time. Fortunately many pages were archived. I'd like to thank Greg Spira for pointing this link out to me.

The link in the headline of this entry leads surfers to a history of baseball written by David Q. Voigt. Although it ends in 1996, it is a pretty comprehensive summary of the game's history. Total Baseball also featured biographies of baseball legends.

This internet version of The Wayback Machine is way cooler than the one that Peabody and Sherman used.

A century of Korean baseball

2004-01-06T20:15:00.000-05:00

Found this article today. I thought I'd pass it on.

Major League Sports Almanac

2004-01-05T21:27:00.000-05:00

Someone pointed this site out to me a couple of weeks ago. The Major League Sports Almanac offers franchise history and champions of major sporting leagues from across the world, past and present. The range of this site is broad, if shallow. For baseball fans, it does cover five Negro Leagues and three Japanese Leagues.

Happy Surfing!

Nation's oldest major-leaguer dies at 99

2004-01-04T16:59:00.000-05:00

"Paul Hopkins, who gave up a record-tying home run to Babe Ruth in 1927 and was the oldest former major-league player, died at 99."

In one of my first posts on this blog, I linked to a story about Paul on the eve of his 99th birthday. Here it is again.

Baseball pioneer Mary Baker dead at 84

2003-12-20T13:30:00.000-05:00

She was an All American (whoops, Canadian) Girl. Mary Baker, dead at the age of 84.

A Bittersweet Day For Baseball in The Thread City

2003-12-20T13:21:00.000-05:00

My alma mater, Eastern Connecticut State, is the pre-season #1 in Division III baseball. Not only that, but Trinity in Hartford is ranked 5th. But not all news is good news out of Willimantic. The Thread City Tides of the NECBL will be moving to the Berkshires next year after being purchased by Dan Duquette. Yes, that Dan Duquette. Duquette plans to have the team play at his sports academy in Hinsdale, Massachusetts. Hinsdale is just outside of Pittsfield. Hey, Dan. The Astigmatic Eye just wants to tell you that Wahconah Park should be available.

New Indy League to start in 2005

2003-12-18T21:07:00.000-05:00

The Cub Reporter aka Christian Ruzich interviewed David Kaval recently. Kaval is the founder of The Golden Baseball League. The GBL will be a California-based independent league.They will have an interesting business-plan - "single entity ownership." While this sounds socialistic, alot of these indy leagues have come and gone over the past decade. It may be worth it to try things their way.

Hey, if you dig Japanimation, check out this Kikkoman ad.

Agreement reached to bring baseball to New Haven

2003-12-14T11:35:00.000-05:00

Here is the New Haven Register article on the Black Bear's move from Pittsfield to New Haven.

Some snippets from the article: "In turn, (Rick) Handelman worked out a deal with Berkshire principal owner Jonathan Fleisig to relocate the struggling franchise to New Haven. Fleisig will remain as one of the principal owners of the New Haven franchise along with Handelman."

"'Of course, you don’t want to ever lose Christmas,' Handelman said. 'But the truth of the matter is, we’ve done it before, and we’re going to do it here. We’ll just deal with it and move on.'

Handelman, a minority owner of the Brockton Rox, was referring to the late start when that franchise moved to town. The Rox are now one of the most solid franchises in the Northeast League.

So the Northeast League allows syndicate ownership. Ducky! I guess this makes Rick Handelman the Jeffrey Loria of the league. I smell a pennant in New Haven ;).

Baseball great John a hit in Newington

2003-12-14T11:11:00.000-05:00

Tommy John spoke at a dinner held by the World Series Club of Hartford County Thursday night. The Astigmatic Eye was there to take in the whole scene.

Here's an article in yesterday's New Britain Herald about the event. John is currently pitching coach for the Edmonton Trappers. They are the AAA affiliate of the Montreal (or "Major League" as John calls them) Expos.

John spoke for about an hour or so. Among other things, John dismissed the media's recent obsession with steroids. He pitched during the amphetamine fueled seventies and doesn't think that baseball's problem with performance-enhancing drugs is any worse no than it was then. He also is a fan of what I call the "Earl Weaver Offense." Sentiments like these would put him in good graces with those that Don Malcolm derisively calls "Neo-sabes." But, John's understanding of baseball economics would probably dismay them. Don seems to have bought hook, line, and sinker the company line about small market teams not being able to compete. I guess he considers the Oakland A's (and the Twins) imaginary team(s).

I enjoyed John's stop on the "rubber chicken circuit". Next month, slugging Sam Horn will stop by. So might the Astigmatic Eye.

New Haven Catches Minor League Team

2003-12-10T20:48:00.000-05:00

It's official. The Berkshire Black Bears are moving to New Haven. I said it before, but I'll say it again. I have mixed feelings about this. Yes, I'm happy to see the Elm City get a team again and will probably go see them play. Unfortunately, New Haven's gain is Pittsfield's loss. As Jay Jaffe might say, Jim Bouton is probably somewhere thinking to himself, "I told you so!"

The link was from WVIT, Channel 30. WTNH, Channel 8 also has the story. So far, I haven't seen any newspaper reports on the story.

Minor League Round-up

2003-12-09T20:50:00.000-05:00

As my redneck friend might say, yee haaa!! This week's minor league round-up includes stories from northern Nevada and York, Pennsylvania; two locales that are looking to attract teams. There's also a story about Philadelphia's Clearwater, Florida single A affiliate.

I may make "Minor League Round-up" a regular feature here at Baseball History. I've already been linking to stories about minor league news anyways. Plus, it seems to be a woefully under-covered topic on baseball blogs.

A Brief History of Sabremetric Thought

2003-12-09T20:10:00.000-05:00

A Brief History of Sabremetric Thought

To the best of my knowledge, an up-to-date history of sabremetric thought does not exist. Thorn and Palmer did discuss the subject in their 1985 classic The Hidden Game of Baseball. However, that seems like eons ago for what is a relatively new field. This year, Michael Lewis devoted a chapter of his best-selling Moneyball to discussing some of the forefathers of the movement. He also covered some more recent developments. Unfortunately, Lewis does not give a complete account of the subject either.

What follows is an attempt to bring this history up to today. I borrow heavily from The Hidden Game and Moneyball and other sources. I also add what I have learned over the close to twenty years that I have followed the field. This is a work in progress and there will be errors. But, hopefully my range factor (or, better yet, UZR) will be closer to Ozzie Smith’s than Derek Jeter’s. I encourage feedback; especially corrections of any mistakes that I may have made.

I. The Beginning
Histories of economic thought usually begin with Adam Smith. In a way, it’s rather fitting. Adam is ancient Hebrew for “first man.” Sabremetrics’ answer to Adam (Smith) was English-born Henry Chadwick. Chadwick produced year-end summaries in the New York Clipper, Beadle’s Dime Base-Ball Player and other publications a century before Bill James published his annual Abstracts. Many stats that we use today (e.g. home runs, total bases, and at bats) were introduced by him. Of course, Chadwick was more than a statistician. He was the first important baseball writer and even introduced some rule changes to the infant game.

In 1858 he helped organize the NABBP, which was established to codify the game’s rules. As a member of the NABBP, he helped institute the infield fly rule and devised the box score. He also started the practice of playing extra innings to settle a tie game. He attended a game in Brooklyn in 1859 that ended with a score of 5-5. The home team walked off the field, happy with the tie score, but the visiting team appealed to Chadwick. He decided that the game should be played until there was a winner, setting the precedent for extra innings.

Among other things that Chadwick is known for was his view that swing for the fences was “unscientific” baseball. For a long time, home runs were viewed as a form of Chadwickedness. This belief persisted for many years and didn’t completely disappear until Babe Ruth came on the scene. (Well, that’s not entirely true. I think I’ve seen some atavistic letters to Baseball Digest that cling to that belief.) While Chadwick may have been wrong on this issue, he refused to accept the Mills Commission (baseball’s answer to the Scopes trial) view that Abner Doubleday invented baseball.

Chadwick was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Centennial Commission in 1938.

The next “figure filbert” that Thorn and Palmer wrote about was Clarence Dow. Dow was a sportswriter for the Boston Globe. He was the first to record batter’s walks and strikeouts for the 1891 American Association. I couldn’t find much more information on Dow’s contribution to sabremetrics, but he was able to achieve the dream of many sportswriters. Dow played a game for the Unions Association’s Boston Reds on September 22, 1884 when they were shorthanded. He had a good day with the bat, going 2 for 6; which gave him a lifetime .333 batting average. (He didn’t walk and both his hits were singles, so his OPS was a devilish .666)

The next protostathead of note was Ernest Lanigan. Lanigan’s mother was a Spink (that is the family that started The Sporting News.) Ernest may have been the model for J. Henry Waugh from The Universal Baseball Association. One of his most famous quotes is, “I really don't care much about baseball, or looking at ball games, major or minor. All my interest in baseball is in its statistics."

He is often credited with inventing the RBI. Actually, he merely revived that statistic; which dates back to 1879. Lanigan also popularized slugging percentage and earned run average as measures. These were far from his most important contributions.

Lanigan was among the first to advocate the formation of the BBWAA, currently a bete-noire in the baseball blogosphere. Lanigan also published The Baseball Cyclopedia in 1922, an early model for today 's The Baseball Encyclopedia and Total Baseball. Through the Cyclopedia, as well as other writings, he was among the first to collect career statistics of players. It was through his efforts that fans learned about Babe Ruth’s home run records and Everett Scott’s consecutive game streak (later eclipsed by Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken Jr.)

According to Bill James, Lanigan also “…published sporadic stories detailing what players had hit against left-handed and right-handed pitching…when Lanigan (and others) published figures showing that some hitters did in fact hit dramatically better against one type of pitching that made platooning a credible option, which helped to create the first explosion of platooning, from 1914 to 1925.”

Lanigan was an original character. During his career, he served stints as baseball editor for the Cleveland Leader, business manager of several Cardinals farm teams, and press information director for the International League. His frail health was a factor in his frequent job changes. In 1946, he was named curator of the Hall of Fame and later served as its historian. He also served in a number of positions with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.

Chadwick, Dow, and Lanigan were three men who built the foundation of what would become sabremetrics. While the field has come a long way since then, it probably would not have made it to where it is today without the efforts of these pioneers; especially Chadwick and Lanigan.

Well, this concludes Part I of “A Brief History of Sabremetric Thought.” It has taken me longer to write than I originally thought, so I thought I’d release the first single before the whole album. In the next segment, I plan to write about the “Middle Ages” of sabremetrics. The work of sabremetricians such as Ted Oliver, Allan Roth, George Lindsey, and Earnshaw Cook will be discussed.I hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Addie Joss Day photo

2003-12-08T22:44:00.000-05:00

I haven't been writing here much lately. I've been working on a history of sabremetric thought and it is taking up more of my free time than I thought. But I want to tell you about a photo that I bought at the SABR meeting I attended a couple of weekends ago. Bob Wood, who is the son of Smoky Joe Wood was there and he was selling some photograph's from his father's collection. On that caught my eye (enough for me to part with $20) was a picture that had Ty Cobb in a Cleveland Indian's uniform.

I've been searching on the web for the photo since then and finally found it at Baseball Library. It was from the July 24, 1911 Addie Joss Day game that was played to benefit Joss's widow. On April 14 of that year, the baseball world was stunned by the news that Addie Joss, star pitcher for Cleveland, had succumbed to meningitis. There's alot of star power in that pic.

BTW, in searching for the pic, I discovered that Baseball Library has quite a few excerpts from baseball books.

Enjoy!

BUNTANOMICS: SAME AS IT EVER WAS

2003-12-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

Alex Belth gives a reading from the Book of Maury Wills. When I first saw this, I misread the title as "bluntanomics" and thought that it was about your 2002 New York Mets.

'Fisher Cats' Chosen For Baseball Team Name

2003-12-03T20:57:00.000-05:00

"MANCHESTER, N.H. -- By a narrow margin, baseball fans chose the New Hampshire Fisher Cats as the new name of Manchester's baseball team. "

It looks like the Primaries have been cancelled.

New Hall Of Fame Honors Black Baseball Players

2003-12-03T20:54:00.000-05:00

"WASHINGTON -- A new hall of fame to honor pioneering black baseball players is on its way to Washington.

The Negro League Legends Hall of Fame will document the Colored Baseball League, which began in 1906, as well as Negro Baseball League that got it start in 1920. "

Stickball and Stoopball

2003-12-03T20:39:00.000-05:00

In Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville, paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould discusses these two quintessential street games.

Stickball is the best known of the two. Major leaguers who played stickball include Willie Mays and Joe Pepitone. It's still played. The New York Emperors Stickball League has a website.

Stoopball is another game played with a spaldeen.

Here, a reporter recounts his days playing stickball. There's even been poetry written about the street sport.

Rich's Weekend Baseball BEAT: Bye Bye to a Bygone Era

2003-12-01T22:04:00.000-05:00

Here's Rich Lederer's blog entry about the death of Warren Spahn. Alot of bytes have been consumed in the baseball blogosphere about Spahn's passing. Here's an entry from Mike's Baseball Rants. Mike and Rich wrote the two most comprehensive articles that I saw on Spahn. I have nothing to add to them other than this Dave Kindred piece that was posted at Fox Sports's website this afternoon. Well, that and the fact that he was the greatest player to wear a Hartford Chiefs uniform.

Sunday brunch: Slingin' Sammy like no other

2003-12-01T21:04:00.000-05:00

Kevin Sherrington catches up with Sammy Baugh. From the story: "If not the father of the forward pass, Baugh was a close relation. His coach, Dutch Meyer, said he never saw a better punter, and Baugh once led the NFL in interceptions as a defensive back.

Played minor league baseball. Competed in rodeos as a calf roper, too. 'Made every good rodeo within a hundred miles,' he says." In this article, Baugh reminisces a little about his days in the Saint Louis Cardinals system. He was quite the well-rounded athlete.

Pride gets the best of Butch

2003-12-01T20:44:00.000-05:00

"Four years ago, the Nashua Pride introduced their new manager for the 2000 season by posting his face on a locally famous billboard alongside the Everett Turnpike. The accompanying slogan read: 'Butch is back.'" Well, he's back in the Nashua dugout again.

Former CBL officials planning Western Canadian Baseball League for 2005

2003-12-01T20:27:00.000-05:00

"Former CBL officials planning Western Canadian Baseball League for 2005

SHI DAVIDI

(CP) - Some of the people behind the short-lived Canadian Baseball League are giving it another shot..." story follows

As an aside to this story, over the weekend the assets of the ill-fated Canadian Baseball League were auctioned off.

Southern New England SABR Meeting

2003-11-30T11:25:00.000-05:00

I went to the regional www.sabr.org meeting yesterday. David Pinto has a good writeup of the event at Baseball Musings. In addition to scarfing up some media guides, I had the pleasure of meeting Dick Thompson, the world's foremost authority on Wes Ferrell. I enjoyed the event and may write more about it later this week.

Black Bears won't be back

2003-11-30T11:03:00.000-05:00

A report from the Berkshire Eagle last week about the Black Bears. "Fleisig once again denied that he was leaving Pittsfield to move the Black Bears to New Haven, despite published reports in the New Haven Register to the contrary."

Hamming It Down in Japan

2003-11-30T10:51:00.000-05:00

The Nippon-Ham Fighters are on the move from Tokyo to Sapporo and are revamping their entire image. This piece is an interesting look at sports logos. I wish that the people that run the Montgomery Biscuits had read this article.

Doubleday boosters remembers war exploits, not baseball

2003-11-30T10:29:00.000-05:00

BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. -- Bars, highways and, yes, baseball fields here and in Cooperstown get named for Abner Doubleday, and it's because of something he didn't do.

The village native almost certainly didn't invent baseball. But he certainly fired a cannon ball or two as a career Army artillery officer who rose to a division commander for the Union during the Civil War...

Unfortunately, the Abner Doubleday Society is disbanding. I've been reading Baseball Fever: Early Baseball in Michigan and the author, Peter Morris, has an interesting take on the Doubleday Myth. He contends that it was another Abner Doubleday, younger than than the general, who introduced baseball to the Cooperstown area. This may have led a young and impressionable Abner Graves to believe that this other Doubleday invented the game.

Abner must have been a popular name in those days. The only Abners of recent times that I can think of are Abner Louima and Abner Kravitz.

Amherst crushes Williams, in baseball and chess ... in 1859, Newspaper from historic event to be auctioned

2003-11-30T10:08:00.000-05:00

Anyone have a spare $6,000?

Two of the Three Rs

2003-11-25T21:39:00.000-05:00

Reading and 'Riting:

I've been doing a little of both lately. First off, another one of my reviews was posted at Baseball Primer today. That's how I like to contribute. I'm not as good at 'rithmetic as some of their other authors. One of these days, I'd like to write something that's booklength. So I try to read the writings of others and hopefully glean what works and what doesn't.

One of the topics that I've been reading about lately is the 1975 World Series. 1975 was my introduction to baseball and there were two books that came out about that series and season this year. "The Long Ball" by Tom Adelman and "The Boys of October" by Doug Hornig were both released this spring and were reviewed in the New York Times (registration required.) The NYT even excerpted the first chapter of "The Long Ball." So far, I prefer "The Boys of October." "The Long Ball" just seems too lyrical at the expense of accuracy and a good narrative. Hornig's book was interesting in that it was partly based on watching tapes of the World Series. He gives an almost play-by-play description of all seven games. Also, like "The Boys of Summer," "The Boys of October" catches up with some of the 1975 Bosox many years after their salad days in the big leagues.

Hopefully, I plan to write an article about the two books in the near future. I've read a couple of other baseball books recently and I'll tell you about them when I get a chance. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Democracy in Action

2003-11-25T20:36:00.000-05:00

Team Releases 5 Finalists For Baseball Name

It looks like the New Hampshire Primaries is back in the running. Why don't they just call them the Blue Jays or use some name with historical significance to Manchester baseball? Here's a partial list of names used when Manchester was in the New England League:

Manchester Amskoegs, 1891
Manchester Blue Sox, 1926-1930
Manchester Colts, 1905
Manchester Farmers, 1887
Manchester Giants, 1946-1947
Manchester Indians, 1934
Manchester Maroons, 1888
Manchester Manchesters, 1899
Manchester Reds, 1893
Manchester Textiles, 1906, 1914, 1915
Manchester Yankees, 1948-1949

Personally, I like the Amskoegs. But I forget if that is a politically correct or incorrect choice.

Nobody Will Ever Play Baseball

2003-11-23T12:06:00.000-05:00

"Nobody Will Ever Play Baseball" is an old Bob Newhart routine. I was reading Diamond : Baseball Writings of Mark Harris last night and he mentioned the routine. I was able to find it at Plum Crazy, a blog by a beautiful Yankees fan who seems to be infatuated by Tino Martinez

This blog also includes a link to the Grady Little e-bay auction. Enjoy.

Elm City baseball deal moves into 9th inning

2003-11-23T11:12:00.000-05:00

An update on the Pittsfield-New Haven situation.

"Darkness In The Middle Of Afternoon"

2003-11-22T18:02:00.000-05:00

I don't normally care for Jeff Jacobs's work, but I enjoyed today's column about the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It mentions where Hartford sports heroes Lindy Remigino and Willie Pep where when they heard about the assassination. Sadly, Willie doesn't remember.

Incidentally, the column mentions Ted Kennedy's exploits on the football gridiron. I never thought of Ted as a football player, but he was apparently highly regarded. Could you imagine Ted being coached by Vince Lombardi? Or teaming up with Paul Hornung? The alternative historian in me salivates at the thought.

Billings Gazette: Helena woman's brief trip in pro baseball leads to Hall of Fame

2003-11-22T12:50:00.000-05:00

Story here

Donna Roberts was in "a league of her own;" the A-AGPL.

Out of Africa

2003-11-22T12:36:00.000-05:00

"A Tema-based organisation, KPM Africa Baseball Limited, has initiated a programme to popularise baseball as an alternate game with mass following among the youth of Tema (Ghana)... "more follows

This is a follow up to another story yesterday. Ghana didn't participate in baseball during last month's All-Africa Games. South Africa won the baseball competition and will play Guam or Australia for a chance to make the 2004 Olympics in Athens. They also represented Africa in the 2000 Olympics.

Major league baseball has signed some African players in the past; including Paul Bell from South Africa, Nigerian Augustine Ozorede who died in a car crash earlier this year, and Ntema "Papy" Ndungidi of Zaire.

My spellchecker is working overtime with this entry :).

Baseball Anthropology

2003-11-22T11:27:00.000-05:00

George Gmelch is an anthropology professor at Union College in Schenectady, New York. Prior to his academic career, he played first base in the Detroit Tigers system. Among the books that he has published are "Inside Pitch: Life in Professional Baseball" and the e-book "In the Ballpark: The Working Lives of Baseball People". He has also written several scholarly articles on baseball. King Kaufman did a review a couple of years ago on "Inside Pitch." Does anyone have the book? It sounds interesting.

Hartford Wits

2003-11-20T21:12:00.000-05:00

Someone at Baseball Primer linked the home page of Rutgers professor William C. Dowling. Dowling wrote a book entitled Poetry and Ideology in Revolutionary Connecticut . I was unaware of my home state's place in the history of poetry. Well, I've heard of Wallace Stevens, but that's about it. Thanks, Antigonos!

What is the greatest baseball book ever written?

2003-11-20T20:26:00.000-05:00

That's an unanswerable question, but John Shiffert takes a stab at it in his latest edition of Baseball 19 to 21. I'm partial to The Pitch That Killed myself, but that's like my own opinion, man.

New Haven columnist calls Black Bears deal "air tight"

2003-11-19T20:53:00.000-05:00

More of the continuing saga of the Berkshire Black Bears. If you go back to January, ballparkwatch.com (a valuable resource, in my opinion) describes one of the events that got this whole process rolling; the New Haven Ravens leaving Yale Field. It's too bad that the newspaper stories usually disappear after two weeks or so. I'd like to read some of these stories about these franchise moves in the minors.

Rock Cats target area for increased support

2003-11-19T20:08:00.000-05:00

There's a reference about my friend, author David Arcidiacono, towards the end.

Yogi Berra relives baseball history with Turley, Blyleven

2003-11-19T19:40:00.000-05:00

Catching the earlybird with Yogi Berra.

Nashville City Paper:Downtown baseball deal may not be a home run

2003-11-19T19:23:00.000-05:00

Just ask Milwaukee.

Major League Baseball hires BofA to sell notes

2003-11-19T19:10:00.000-05:00

It looks like Barry won't be the only Bonds in baseball. Public debt requires SEC filings. Does this mean that MLB will have to open it's books?

ESPN: Brett, 55, suffered from brain cancer

2003-11-19T18:55:00.000-05:00

A sad update to one of yesterday's posts.

Degree awarded to ailing coach

2003-11-18T20:55:00.000-05:00

"Whitworth handed out an honorary bachelor of arts degree — its second-ever in the college’s 113-year history — to former Major League Baseball pitcher and former Whitworth baseball coach Ken Brett last month..." more follows

Sad news about Ken Brett

From college or pro baseball to life or death

2003-11-18T20:48:00.000-05:00

"Ex-Armwood star Brandon McArthur, who chose UF, now only hopes to play again after an unprovoked attack..." more follows

Good luck, Brandon!

Where are they now?

2003-11-18T20:36:00.000-05:00

Eric Enders posted this list of Toronto Blue Jays and what they're doing today on Baseball Primer. Inspired by this, I decided to add some original content tonight and catch you up on some random former ballplayers.

Mark McGwire is beating golfers at their own game. Take that Phil Mickelson!

John Stuper, who won Game 6 of the 1982 World Series, has been the head coach at Yale for over a decade. He follows in the footsteps of Ethan Allen and Smokey Joe Wood in this role.

Bernie Carbo's life has taken a long and twisting path since his major league days. He battled alcohol and drugs before getting religion. This year, he won the Southeastern Leagues Manager of the Year award.

From the department of superfluous letters, Dann Howitt was the player who got the last hit off of Nolan Ryan. It was a grand slam, to boot. He now works for a high-tech company and considers himself a computer geek.

Former pitcher John Curtis has been an indy league pitching coach with the Long Beach Breakers and, more recently, with the California League's High Desert Mavericks. He is also a freelance writer. Is it just me, or is it the pitchers that always seem to become writers?

Jeffrey Maier, winner of the 10th man award for the 1996 New York Yankees, plays centerfield down the road from me at Wesleyan University. Incidentally, and in keeping with my recent death and baseball theme, a teammate of Maier's may have committed suicide a couple of weeks ago.

Well, that was fun. Maybe I'll do another "Where are they now?" segment again.

In Praise of Microfilm

2003-11-17T20:31:00.000-05:00

Boyd Nation runs an excellent website devoted to college baseball. He has written a couple of pieces in his (mostly) weekly "Breadcrumbs" column about a passion of mine; microfilm research. The link in the title takes you to an article he did about looking through old microfilms while gathering info on old SEC baseball players. He also dug up an article about the 1929 Morris Brown baseball team. Morris Brown is a small, traditionally-black private college in Atlanta. Good stuff!

Incidentally, there is an ongoing project called Paper Of Record that is building the world's largest searchable archive of historical newspapers. So far, they have quite a few years archives of The Sporting News and are adding more. This is a boon to baseball researchers.

Basic Baseball Documents

2003-11-17T19:56:00.000-05:00

Don Malcolm, who used to work on the late Big Bad Baseball Annual, gives his ringing endorsement of Dean Sullivan's trilogy of baseball books: Early Innings, Middle Innings, and Late Innings. The three books tell the "documentary history" of baseball from 1825 to 1972. They use primary and secondary documents to bring us back to monumental or just plain interesting moments in the national pastimes history.

I echo Malcolm's recommendation. I own the latter two volumes and have borrowed Early Innings from the library. They are great for just picking up and reading one of the brief articles. I used an article found in Early Innings as one of the sources for The Night the Lights Went On , my article on a night game that transpired in Hartford.

SteepleCats name roster of officials

2003-11-17T19:40:00.000-05:00

"NORTH ADAMS--After the North Adams SteepleCats team was bought Thursday by a group of local investors, key management staff and its board of directors were announced at a press conference Monday." more follows

The SteepleCats are a team in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. The NECBL is a wooden-bat league similar to the Cape Cod League. I have attended a couple of Manchester Silkworms games myself. It's not the best level of baseball around, but the games can be enjoyable and are inexpensive to attend. According to the article, "The SteepleCats' past two years have been very successful, drawing out more spectators than Pittsfield's Black Bears baseball team, Barrett said."

Speaking of Manchester, the 67th running of the Manchester Road Race takes place Thanksgiving morning. It is one of the premier middle-distance races run in the world and a great excuse to hang out and part in the morning.

Origin of the Name "World Series"

2003-11-16T21:48:00.000-05:00

I linked Doug Pappas's blog yesterday. Doug has been chairman of SABR's Business of Baseball Committee since its founding in 1994. While he mainly writes about the business of baseball, I found this article about the origin of the term World Series. Doug debunks the myth that it was named after The New York World. I wish that the piece caught my astigmatic eye a month ago, but still felt it was worth putting it up here. Correcting myths is one of the tasks of history in this writer's opinion.

The Name Game: Bids to rename Tacoma Dome are on the table

2003-11-16T21:23:00.000-05:00

This is an article from the Puget Sound Business Journal on the mechanics of facility naming rights. As the article shows, the corporatization of stadium and arena names is not limited to the big leagues.

In ohter minor league news, according to the Jefferson City News Tribune, the Frontier League plans on adding six games to their schedule in 2004.

NetShrine: A Celebration of Baseball

2003-11-16T21:02:00.000-05:00

Last week I told you about the Hall of Merit. New Jersey's Steve Lombardi has his own vision of a web-based baseball shrine. Unlike the Hall of Merit, which has a ways to go before it is completed, NetShrine is up-to-date and includes wings for " APICALS: Players who were among baseball's absolute best, SUPERNALS: Players who performed with greater excellence than that of most others, ICONS : Players who were the object of reverence during their time, and CONTRIBUTORS: Non-players who were a significant part of baseball history."

Check it out! Steve is one of the nicer guys on the web. In addition to info on great players, the site includes ruminations and interviews from Lombardi. It also has guest contributions including this one from David Arcidiacono that turned me on to 19th Century Connecticut baseball history.

Fanfare For The Uncommon Fan

2003-11-16T20:42:00.000-05:00

Doris from Rego Park passed away this week. For those of you who don't know who I'm talking about, she was a diehard (pardon the pun) Mets fan who was a regular caller to WFAN in New York. Bob Raissman of the Daily News wrote about her today, but I like this piece from the Greenwich Times better. It shows more about the woman behind the phone.

RIP, Doris. You deserve it.

Nashua Pride a little late with stadium rent

2003-11-16T20:26:00.000-05:00

Some New England minor league baseball news from the Nashua Telegraph. The baseball team still owes $55,000 in rent from a $100,000 bill that was due June 15, Johnson said. The team pays the city twice a year to play at Holman Stadium...Pride general manager Todd Marlin said Friday he has been in communication with City Hall about the bills. He said the team plans on making the upcoming payment with income from luxury suite rentals at the ballpark.

The Nashua Pride are a team in the independent Atlantic League. It remains to be seen how the Pride will compete against the new franchise up the road in Manchester, New Hampshire. There is already a team in nearby Lowell, Massachusetts, home of the Jack Kerouac bobblehead doll.

He Traded His Catchers Mitt For Two Gloves - Baseball and Boxing Part VIII

2003-11-16T01:10:00.000-05:00

In addition to writing about death lately, I've been writing a bunch about pugilism. Up until today (whoops! make that yesterday,) I was unaware that Rocky Marciano wanted to be a baseball player. Unfortunately his dreams were dashed when he failed a tryout with the Cubs. He only took to the ring to avoid KP duty while he was serving in the Army. I think it would have been cool if he made it to the Show with them. Pitchers would know doubt be leery of brushing back any of his teammates. It would definitely behoove one of you alternative history writers out there to write a story about Marciano in the bigs.

Baseball and Death Part XXI

2003-11-16T00:42:00.000-05:00

I've been writing about baseball and death lately. Perhaps it's because we are in November now and all the leaves are brown, if not fallen.

Anyways, from the pages of Chin Music, a baseball-punk rock fanzine, comes the story of Cesar Cedeno. I can't vouch for the article, but it makes Ty Cobb look like a piker compared to Cedeno. There's a cool New Britain reference in the article, too. It's always good to see the Greater Hartford area mentioned on the web.

Baseball To Return To The Elm City?

2003-11-15T20:06:00.000-05:00

Sometimes this blogging gets addictive, man! One more entry for tonight.

I know this blog is supposed to be about baseball history, but I figure that I can comment on current events; especially ones that fly under the radar of most of the baseball blogosphere. And, when the events are local. It appears that a Northeast League franchise may be moving to New Haven . As I said yesterday at Baseball Primer, I have mixed emotions. On the one hand, it's sad to see Wahconah Park being abandoned. But it's good to see another team come to Yale Field.

New Haven was home of the New Haven Ravens until Toronto relocated their Double A affiliate to Manchester, New Hampshire. (The team was going to be nicknamed the New Hampshire Primaries, but there was backlash against the proposed name.) It appears that the Berkshire Black Bears may be moving to New Haven to fill the void left by the Ravens. That's the good news.

The bad news is New Haven's gain is Pittsfield's loss. In a sense, this was all foretold by Jim Bouton in his book Foul Ball. Time does not permit me time to do this subject justice, but check out the site and/or book. I'll try to update this story in future editions of this blog. Now, I am finally done for the night!

Alex Belth interview with Ken Burns

2003-11-15T19:30:00.000-05:00

It's interesting how things are interconnected. Connectivity (of baseball players) was the subject of my first web article. While updating the links on the right side of this page, I added Jay Jaffe's Futility Infielder. Jay, as far as I can tell, was the first person to link my article on a blog. Bear with me, this will come full circle.

After reading an essay on Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson in The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prizefighting, Literature, and Modern American Culture by Gerald Early, I was searching for him on the web. That's how I came across John Rosengren, who I posted about earlier this afternoon. I also found a blog entry by Jaffe that led me to this interview between Alex Belth and Ken Burns. Thursday's birthday boy, Buck O'Neil, was featured prominently in Burns's documentary. So everything comes full circle, in a sense.

By the by, check out Alex's site if you get a chance. You gotta like a guy who worked on The Big Lebowski (one of the greatest achievements of Western culture, IMO.) Besides, he has some excellent interviews with Pat Jordan, Jim Bouton, and Jane Leavy among others.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Opening Day, 1946

2003-11-15T18:23:00.000-05:00

I stumbled upon this article by John Rosengren this afternoon. He nicely places the Opening Day Senators-Red Sox contest in the context of its time. Rosengren has also written an article about Tori Hunter. There's a little Pat Boonish quality about his writings, but I think that's okay sometimes.

Better Surfin Thru Chemistry

2003-11-15T12:44:00.000-05:00

From the Scorebard (our generations answer to Ernest Lawrence Thayer?) comes his Periodic Table of blogs. If you ever get a chance, do visit his site. It's mainly baseball poetry, but the Random Diamond Note Generator is my favorite part.

Machinist crafting a baseball diamond in the rough

2003-11-15T12:17:00.000-05:00

Machinist crafting a baseball diamond in the rough

Nothing earth-shattering here. It's just a behind the scenes story about the making of a high school baseball stadium.

Former baseball player/prankster: Jay Johnstone

2003-11-14T21:06:00.000-05:00

A Jay Johnstone sighting. Too bad he didn't have the Brockabella.

Musings Of A Rookie Mailman

2003-11-13T22:46:00.000-05:00

I found this nugget today. No, it's not about Karl Malone's 1985-86 season with the Utah Jazz. It's about the experiences of Don Malcolm, who was once called "The Hunter S Thompson" of sabremetrics by one poster. This blog entry contains more information than you ever wanted to know about the inner workings of the postal system.

As Newman once said. "When you control the mail, you control ... information."

Speaking of Newman, check out this battle that he once had with Cliff Clavin in my hometown. It's a "must see webpage!"

Vintage baseball coming to Trenton

2003-11-13T21:43:00.000-05:00

This story comes from Trenton, Illinois, not the capital of New Jersey. If you've never seen it, vintage base ball (yes, it was two words up until the early 20th century) is pretty interesting. I've attended the annual tournament in Hartford a couple of times. If this is the sort of thing that yanks your crank (old-timey word for fan,) then check it out!

Negro Leagues Museum Honors Buck O'Neil On Birthday

2003-11-13T21:22:00.000-05:00

I saw this story tonight while Googling. The Kansas City Star also has a story, but it requires registration. From the first paragraph: In a special effort to honor baseball legend Buck O'Neil, the Kansas City's Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is offering a special on membership.

For those of you who don't know, O'Neil was featured prominently in Baseball by Ken Burns.

Will O' The Wisp

2003-11-11T22:33:00.000-05:00

Writing about "Wildcat" Kim got me thinking about the Sweet Science last night. Here's a slideshow of Hartford's own Willie Pep. Here's another pic of the world's greatest featherweight that I like. More on Pep will follow in future editions of this blog. Yeah, it's not baseball, but it's a slice of sports history from days gone by.

The Hall Of Merit

2003-11-11T21:40:00.000-05:00

From what I understand the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York is a wonderful place. (I've never been there myself, although I do intend to go after the current renovation is complete.)

However, some fans, especially since sabremetrics have become popular, are not always happy with who has been selected to be enshrined. Joe Dimino is one of them.

This blog entry is the first of (hopefully) a series of looks at alternative Hall of Fames. Joe, along with Robert Dudek, has created The Hall of Merit. This Hall's Statement of Purpose reads partly: The Hall of Merit is an internet group of baseball enthusiasts who will create its own Hall of Merit to rival the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Many believe that the National Baseball Hall of Fame has done a less than perfect job of selecting the game's greatest players to honor. We will attempt to rectify mistakes made by Hall of Fame selections by conducting our own series of elections.

As of this writing, the Hall of Merit is in the process of discussing their 1914 Ballot. It's an ongoing project that will take a while but definitely looks worth it.

I'll be profiling some other alterna-halls as time permits.

Wildcat Goes Down For The Count, But His Son Prevailed

2003-11-10T20:25:00.000-05:00

Eric Enders turned me on to this mini-biography about Wendell Kim. Kim, a "baseball lifer," is best known in New England as the former thirdbase coach for the Red Sox. He is often known as "Wave 'Em In Wendell" for his propensity to wave baserunners home with an exaggerated windmill motion. I believe he is still in organized baseball, but I forget where. (Note: Kim was the thirdbase coach for the Chicago Cubs in 2003.)

What I found interesting was that his father, Philip "Wildcat" Kim, was a prizefighter. I couldn't find much info on the web about Wildcat, other than the fact that he defeated Robert "Ripper" Takeshita twice. The elder Kim was murdered when Wendell was a young boy. Apparently it was a professional hit, and the case was unsolved. It all sounds like something out of a James Ellroy book, and might make a good book someday.

An even better book subject might be Wendell Kim himself. Kim somehow managed to overcome the odds and succeeded despite losing a his father, but it wasn't easy. I found the Eagle Tribune piece fascinating and inspirational. How come I didn't know this stuff before?

According to Kim's homepage, he is also a magician. Here's a review that someone did of Wendell's website. I also found an interview that The Diamond Angle did with Kim in 2001.

Almost Amazin', But Not Quite Like He Remembered It

2003-11-10T19:22:00.000-05:00

From today's Miami's Herald comes the story of Bill Graham. Although he was from the 60's, he wasn't the icon that this Bill Graham was. Instead, this righty was a pitcher for the Tigers and the Mets. It looks like he had some pretty good stats, in his brief major league career, but he left the game at the age of 30.

It appers that Graham is an intelligent man, by all accounts. However, he seems to have got the details of his career mixed up. The article mentions that he barely missed playing for the 1969 World Champion Mets, but he last played in 1967. This just goes to show that you shouldn't just rely on the recollections of old players if your doing baseball research; there are also records that can be checked. Otherwise, I did enjoy the article.

Even though his career was less than 40 years ago, it was a wholly different era in baseball. Check out the article for a trip back to those days. Just read it with a grain of NaCl.

Bottom of The Ninth For Meyer Tober

2003-11-09T21:41:00.000-05:00

The recent murder of Dernell Stenson brought to mind another baseball related murder that I was researching. This summer my mother told me of some sort of scandal involving the Tober baseball factory in her hometown of Rockville, Connecticut. According to her, it involved either murder or some Enronesque accounting scandal. After digging around some at local libraries, I was able to piece together some of the story.

Meyer Tober was a Russian immigrant who started a baseball manufacturing company in 1913. Originally located in Hartford, it moved its operations to Manchester and, later on, Rockville. The company also had plants in Puerto Rico and Haiti. As far as I know, they didn’t make baseballs for major or minor league teams. Spalding had that gig. Tober made baseballs and softballs for semi-pro teams and youth leagues. Meyer was a hands-on president of the company. He continued working even at age 82.

On June 16th, 1964, an employee named Carmelo Reyes shot Tober and another employee. Reyes, who had worked for the company for a number of years, was an immigrant from Puerto Rico. He was considered the boss’s pet by some of the other employees. According to newspaper accounts, he met with Tober on Monday afternoon to discuss a personal problem. What the problem was, I am not sure. He was separated from his wife and was also on probation for a breach of peace charge.

Tuesday, the next day, he came to work and shot Meyer Tober and Arlene Rose, a 21 year old inspector at the factory. Rose only received a superficial wound and was treated at the hospital and released the same day. Tober received wounds to the abdomen and chest and died two days later.

I haven’t found out much else about the incident. Reyes was arraigned for murder, but I haven’t been able to track down what happened after that. Next June will mark the 40th anniversary of the murder and I would like to find out before then. Perhaps I’ll write an article about it for a local paper. As for the baseball company, it survived for a while under the leadership of Tober’s son, Richard. It wasn’t officially dissolved until May of 1972.

Hopefully, I’ll have some updates to this sordid story soon.

Roe knows Dodgers baseball

2003-11-08T20:21:00.000-05:00

I'm in kind of a lazy mood this weekend. I decided to link a couple of articles pertaining to baseball history like this one on former Dodger Preacher Roe.

Baseball mementos show eerie optimism of 1920s

2003-11-08T20:09:00.000-05:00

From the Richmond Times Dispatch comes an article about an old World Series program.

Where Have You Gone, Cap Anson?

2003-11-06T23:00:00.000-05:00

If you folks thought I posted about a controversial figure yesterday, wait 'til you get a load of Cap Anson. Read about his adventures in 2002. Or, you can read about Anson in Spanish, if you wish.

Like Walter O'Malley, Anson has his own official website. This proves, once again, that "the internet is littered with dead web sites" as Yahoo! News said last week. Sign up for your FREE CapAnson.com e-mail account today!

The Hartford Whalers

2003-11-06T22:34:00.000-05:00

Hey there, sports fans! As Jonah might have said, I found the blowhole. It's a site devoted to the history of the Hartford Whalers. Sure, it's not baseball, but it is about Connecticut sports history. It looks pretty good, as far as sites like these go.

I was never a huge fan of the Whale, but I always dug their theme song Brass Bonanza. I am starting to miss them now. It's only been recently that I've started to get into hockey. Maybe I'll do some research on the team at a later date.

Walter O'Malley

2003-11-05T22:00:00.000-05:00

O'Malley isn't the most beloved figure in baseball. (What owner is?) However, "The Sporting News recognized him as the 11th Most Powerful Person in Sports over the last century, while ABC Sports ranked him in its Top 10 Most Influential People "off the field" in sports history as voted by the Sports Century panel."

From the grave, close to a quarter century after his death, comes his official website. I guess this means the Information Superhighway stretches to points beyond the physical realms. It appears that this site could be interesting (it's supposed to have some historical documents,) but I had trouble viewing the pages.

I'll try to visit it again sometime soon.

The Birth of Professional Baseball

2003-11-03T20:12:00.000-05:00

After a few posts of a non-historical nature, I figure it's time to go back to basics. Over at the Dickie Thon Fan Club Site, there are ten historical articles by sportswriter, educator, David Letterman wannabe (see previous post), and Primate John Brattain. John tackles the Federal League, the Negro Leagues, and early professional baseball in a light-hearted manner.

Let's start with The Birth of Professional Baseball. That link was for Part One. Parts Two, Three, Four, and Five follow.

Enjoy!

Baseball and Football

2003-11-03T19:47:00.000-05:00

Writing about "Who's On First?" yesterday reminded me of another comedy routine about baseball. I'm talking about "Baseball And Football" by George Carlin. Once again, Baseball Almanac provides both a text and audio version of it. Carlin happens to be one of my favorite comics.

By the way, if you are a David Letterman fan, Baseball Almanac has close to 70 Top Ten Lists of his devoted to the American Pastime.

Go ahead and exercise your funnybone!

Memo from Budig

2003-11-02T21:27:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Sean Forman, I was able to find some interesting correspondence between former AL President Gene Budig and pitcher C. J. Nitkowski.

CJBaseball.com is Nitkoski's website. There really isn't much baseball info on the main site. It is mainly devoted to religuous topics. But he has archived hi old site. It includes a list of teammates. The nicknames were interesting. I never knew that Karim Garcia was called the "Latino Bambino." He also created pages on two subjects near and dear to many player's hearts: restaurants and golf.

Fenway Franks and the American Dream

2003-11-02T20:29:00.000-05:00

Fenway Franks and the American Dream by Pat Sheridan is an interesting story that I felt I'd share. In case you were wondering this Pat Sheridan isn't the ex-Royal and Tiger. He was a student at Boston University. Enjoy!

Who's On First

2003-11-02T19:45:00.000-05:00

Abbott and Costello's "Who's On First" is probably one of the most famous comedy routines in the world. Baseball Almanac has both a text version of it and an audio version.

Since then, there have been many parodies. Here's an apocryphal conversation between President Bush and Condi Rice. There was a similar bit during the Regan Years. I also recall a bit from the early 70's by some comedy troupe (Firesign Theatre?)that riffed on Abbott and Costello's routine and featured The Who, The Guess Who, and Yes. Or was that something that I imagined?

The Cosmic Baseball Association

2003-10-30T23:09:00.000-05:00

Have any of you checked out the Cosmic Baseball Association's Website? It's different to say the least. The CBA was founded on October 9th 1981 in reaction to that year's player's strike.

The Cosmic Baseball Association (was) created in Lost Angeles, California by a group of writers and artists. The collective shares a passion for the game of the quadrature. But the founders of the CBA also share a collective dismay at the condition of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States. Swamped by greed and guile the players and owners of MLB were engulfed in a labor dispute that stopped the playing of major league baseball games. The members of the CBA in an idealistic fit of creation began simulating a more perfect cosmos.

The league includes teams like the Pranktown Busriders(no longer active) and the Dharma Beats. Not every team includes humans, as evidenced by the roster of the Speed City Velocitors. Nor is every team leftward leaning in politics. The Hearthland Capitalists field a squad managed by Ayn Rand! There are also teams of musicians, authors, and even presidents (although one must wonder how much range FDR would have in leftfield.)

I believe that the Cosmic Baseball Association is loosely based on Robert Coover's The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Proprietor, but I'm not 100% positive. In any case,their postseason starts Saturday. If your suffering from baseball withdrawal, you may want to check it out.

This Has Nothing To Do With Baseball, But I Figured I'd Post It Anyways

2003-10-26T10:37:00.000-05:00

If you ever wondered about Connecticut numbered highways, Kurumi is the site for you. One of the more curious roads is the Route 11 "expressway-to-nowhere". For a small state, Connecticut has some pretty interesting roads and bridges. My favorite is the Merrit Parkway.

Fact or Fiction? The Trotsky-Trosky Connection

2003-10-23T21:21:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure what to make of this piece by poli sci prof Robert Elias. The web page makes it difficult to read. It is interesting. I'll give it that.

Musings From Another Dick Allen

2003-10-22T23:22:00.000-04:00

I am not the only one in the blogosphere writing about baseball history. From Ireland comes Dick Allen's Baseball Blog. Follow Dick on his quest for Ted Tappe and other adventures. I dig his take on Eric Byrnes: I don’t like Eric Byrnes. You know how in films in the eighties there’d always be a loser kid who wants the girl, but the girl’s going with the rich, arrogant, blonde jock dude? In time the girl sees sense or something, and the jock is exposed for the fool he is. Well that’s what Eric Byrnes looks like to me, and I don’t like him.

Isn't the internet great?

Bill James and the 1914 World Series

2003-10-22T22:54:00.000-04:00

Since the 99th World Series is in full swing, I decided to do an entry with a Fall Classic theme.

The Bill James in the title isn't the famous writer. Instead, the title refers to Seattle Bill James. Seattle Bill was a pitching hero for the 1914 Miracle Braves. That Braves team was perhaps the unlikeliest of world champions; staging the unlikeliest of second half comebacks.

James's 26-7 won-loss record with an ERA of 1.90 coupled with a scoreless 2-0 record in the World Series were impressive, even in the deadball era which he played in. Although he was only 22 at the time, 1914 was the highlight of his brief major league career.

I have no clue why James was referred to as "Seattle Bill." He was actually from Placer County in California. The Auburn Journal from that county published this article about their favorite son last Sunday. It features a synopsis of the 1914 season and an interview with James's daughter. It also includes a picture of her with some memorabilia from her father's career. I'd like to thank Repoz for pointing this article out.

Early Baseball Cards

2003-10-21T21:17:00.000-04:00

Craig B e-mailed me this link today. It's to a Library Of Congress online exhibition of early baseball cards from 1887 to 1914. From the page: Cigarette card collector Benjamin K. Edwards preserved these baseball cards in albums with more than 12,000 other cards on many subjects. After his death, Edwards' daughter gave the albums to noted poet and Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg, who donated them to the Library's Prints and Photographs Division in 1954.

Not all the cards were from the major leagues, as this set from the Pacific Coast League shows. Some of the cards do have rudimentary stats like this trio of Cubs who have been immortalized in poetry.

Finally, there's something worth using my tax dollars for!

Edmonds Historical Museum Exhibit

2003-10-17T22:07:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine who sometimes goes by the nom de keyboard Frank Cros-set-emstraight sent me this item.

"Old Tyme Base Ball in Snohomish County" is an exhibit that will be on view through February at the Edmonds Historical Museum in downtown Edmonds.

I assume that Snohomish County and Edmonds are in Washington state. If any of you are in the area, check it out and let me know how it is.

Now that the Red Sox have been eliminated from postseason play (despite what the New York Post says,) I plan to make this blog more active.

Hopefully I'll get back to you later this weekend.

National Baseball Hall of Fame - Dressed to the Nines - Uniform Database

2003-10-12T18:03:00.000-04:00

Did you ever wonder what your favorite team's uniform looked like in a particular year? Then check out the Uniform Database at the Hall of Fame's website. Thanks mainly to the efforts of baseball historian Marc Okkonen, this database has images of every teams home and road uni from 1900 to the present. It even includes the Federal League.

By the way, this database was inspired by Marc Okkonen’s book titled Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century, published by Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. I'm not sure if the book is still available, but a local library near me had a copy and I enjoyed it. It's sort of a coffee table book.

If you get a chance, check this page out. It has a few other goodies that I haven't mentioned.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Red Sox at Athletics - 10/06/2003

2003-10-06T23:52:00.000-04:00

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Red Sox at Athletics - 10/06/2003

Baseball Family Tree

2003-10-05T22:35:00.000-04:00

One thing I get a kick out of in baseball is the family connections. The owner of the company I work for is an ex-minor leaguer in the Braves system. His dad was in the Dodgers system in the late 40's and early 50's. And he has two nephews currently playing minor league ball.

Baseball Almanac has a few pages on baseball family trees. It has sections on fathers/sons, brothers and (great)grandfathers/(great)grandsons.

But those aren't the only players who had relatives that played baseball. "Spaceman" Lee had an aunt who played in the AAGBL. Dwight Gooden is Gary Sheffield's uncle. Larry Bowa is Nick Johnson's uncle, as well. Luis Tiant's father was a Negro League star. Carlton Fisk and Rick Miller are brothers-in-law.

We discussed a few of these on this thread at Baseball Primer. One day, if I get the chance, I'd like to do research on what the biggest extended baseball family is. I wonder if one of the early players from the National Association days or even the Knickerbocker days has a lineal descendants who continued in baseball and are still involved in the game. (How many generations would that cover?)

See you soon. In the meantime, Cowboy Up!!!

Final Resting Places of Hall of Famers

2003-10-02T21:29:00.000-04:00

Hey, all. I'm pretty tired after two Red Sox losses in the space of about 20 hours. But I do want to point out Stew Thornley's Hall of Fame Gravesites page. I like the sites for Jackie Robinson and Babe Ruth myself. No, there aren't any pics of the lab where Ted William's remains are held.

Peace

Notes From a Couple of Events That I Attended Recently

2003-09-30T21:31:00.000-04:00

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a presentation by David Arcidiacono at a local library. David is the author of two books including Middletown's Season In The Sun. The book covers the story of the Middletown Mansfields who played one summer in the National Association. David did a slide presentation that covered the Mansfields, the Hartford Dark Blues, and the New Haven Elm Citys. He also had replicas of vintage base ball (as it was called those days) equipment. If you are interested, the book is available at the Vintage Base Ball Factory.

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend a local SABR meeting in Springfield, Massachusetts. This event featured a couple of authors, but the highlight of the meeting for me was meeting a fellow Primate. We joked about some of the characters on the site including Ross CW, the omnipresent Admiral Ackbar, and Shredder. (BTW, I shouldn't lump Shredder in with these two. I *like* the transplanted Angels fan.)

Mike Shalin was one of the authors there. A long time Boston sportswriter, he collaborated with his brother Neil to write Out by a Step: The 100 Best Players Not in the Baseball Hall of Fame
. Although the brothers Shalin admit that there list is purely personal and they don't crunch the stats a la Bill James, the players on their list look pretty impressive at first glance. I'll have to read the book in depth to form a clearer opinion, but it looks good so far. BTW, they rank Dick Allen and Tony Oliva as the best players eligible for the Hall who aren't in.

The other author was history professor David Kaiser. His book is Epic Season: The 1948 American League Pennant Race. For those who were two young to remember, like me, the 1948 pennant race was a down to the wire affair between the Yankees, Red Sox, Indians, and A's . One great feature about going to events like this is that you get the opportunity to have the author sign the book if you purchase it there.

I apologize for the brief hiatus. I was kind of busy over the past few days and also contracted a case of "blogger's block." I hope to be back sooner next time.

Jon