Baseball Researcher

Where the Bullpen Meets the Pigpen

2012-01-14T23:16:00.010-05:00

A few days ago, Matt Rothenberg, an "alum" of the Steele Internship Program at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, kindly alerted me to an interesting map available at the Library of Congress's web site. Take a look:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-pga-03942

The map was a promotion of H.W. Hill & Company of Decatur, Illinois, "sole manufacturers of Hill's Hog Ringers, Hill's Triangular Rings, Calf and Cow Weaners, Stock Markers, etc." What's a hog ring, you ask? Well, in the good ol' days, one would affix a metal ring to a hog's snout to help deter the animal from its natural instinct of rooting in the ground. Apparently, Hugh W. Hill was the inventor of the startling practice. According to the Centennial History of Decatur and Macon County:

H. W. Hill was so disgusted with the rooting done by one of his hogs one day that he picked up a piece of wire and jabbed it through the nose of the big porker. It worked. With that wire in his nose the hog had to retire from the rooting business. Mr. Hill put the idea to work. He made the hog ringer and rings which born his name, and the manufacture of which was a leading industry in Decatur for years and built him a fortune.

Indeed, Hill held quite a few hog-ringing patents, including ones for hog-ringing implements, hog ring pinchers, hog tongs, and improvements in snout-rings. Here's U.S. patent number 130,853, Mr. Hill's improvement in instruments for ringing hogs, granted on August 27, 1872:

Of course, all of this has absolutely nothing to do with baseball … until you take a look at the promotional map above and focus in on Maryland. Here's a detail from the map:

Just above North Carolina's hog stirring a pot of tar and to the left of New Jersey's clam-catching hog, there is Maryland's hog, with a bat in hand and a baseball heading his way. The nickname given for Maryland on the map is "Craw Thumper," a somewhat obscure and derogatory term for a Roman Catholic. As early Maryland was predominantly Catholic, the term was used to refer to anyone hailing from the state.

Just what Catholics or craw-thumping have to do with baseball is a mystery. Quite frankly, I have no idea why the illustrator chose a baseball motif for Maryland at all. Sure, baseball was a popular sport in the state in 1884, but not any more so than in numerous other locales around the country. The Baltimore entry in the short-lived Union Association of 1884 was an average contingent that finished with a 58-47 record, miles behind the class of the league, the St. Louis Maroons at 94-19. And the American Association Baltimore Orioles of 1884 finished in sixth place and would not rise to their peak until in the mid-1890s, by which time they were in the National League. The Orioles of the following season were nothing to write home about, either, but at least a nice photo of the club has survived:

Anyone have a thought as to why Maryland was singled out as the state to feature a ball-playing hog?

Who is Ray Lankford Mourning?

2011-12-26T20:30:00.001-05:00

I recently bumped into this picture of the Cardinals' Ray Lankford as published in The Sporting News of August 4, 1997:

The caption reads: "Homecoming dance: For most of his career, Cardinals center fielder Ray Lankford appeared to be on a collision course with greatness. Now that potential finally is translating into success."

I was interested in the image because Lankford is clearly wearing a mourning band on his left arm and I have long kept track of such memorial markings. But this armband had me stumped.

Ray Lankford played with the Cards from 1990 to 2001, but only once during his tenure with St. Louis did the club wear black armbands. That was during Spring Training of 1990 when the club mourned the passing of owner August A. Busch Jr., who died during the last road trip of the 1989 season. But as far as I am aware, those armbands were worn only on the special all-red Spring Training shirts. This 1990 Bowman baseball card of Bryn Smith shows that armband/jersey combo:

Clearly the Lankford photo does not show the Busch armband, so I was left wondering: Who was Ray Lankford (and presumably the rest of the Cardinals) mourning?

My first step in answering this question was to determine as much about the photo as possible. Beyond identifying Ray Lankford with the Cardinals, we can quickly see that St. Louis is wearing road grays, while the catcher is wearing home pinstripes.

A closer look at the picture reveals that the catcher's mask is one of the hockey-style variety. Here's a closer look:

Toronto Blue Jays catcher Charlie O'Brien was the first to wear the innovative mask, introducing it to the big leagues on September 13, 1996. Given this earliest limit for the date and combining it with the fact that the photo was published in the August 4, 1997, issue of The Sporting News, I was able to whittle down the possible dates of action to sometime between late September of 1996 and early August of '97. But, since no big league catcher other than O'Brien wore the new mask until 1997 and the catcher depicted is not wearing a Blue Jays uniform, I felt comfortable eliminating 1996 and focusing on a pre-August 4 date in the 1997 baseball season.

At this point, however, my research started to fall apart. Further examination of Lankford's uniform shows that it doesn't match the duds worn by the Cardinals in 1997 (or 1996, for that matter). For example, in 1997 St. Louis donned dark blue helmets on the road, but despite the black-and-white version of the Lankford photo, it is clear that Ray's helmet is red. Furthermore, the Cardinals had dropped the red, white and blue stripes at the ends of their sleeves after the 1991 season, but there they are on Ray's jersey. Finally, Lankford is seen wearing the "sansabelt" pants that the Cardinals had worn from 1971 to 1991, but how could this be if there's clearly a hockey-style mask in the picture?

Hitting a bit of a dead-end with this line of research, I turned my attention to the catcher's uniform to determine ]what club he played for. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of clues provided in the picture. The catcher is clearly wearing pinstripes, but we cannot see his stockings, nor much else that might help identify his club. However, examining this detail from the picture, one can see what appears to be the letter "s" peaking just behind the catcher's chest protector:

The font of the "S" appears to be sans-serif and somewhat block-lettered, which eliminates numerous clubs that otherwise have "S"-ending nicknames or locales that adorn their jerseys. So, for example, the Braves and Expos, both clubs that wore pinstripes at home, can be eliminated as their shirt-front "S"-style does not match that seen in the Lankford picture. Alas, as I ran through all the clubs that wore pinstripes in 1997, none of their shirt-front lettering matched with that seen in the Lankford picture. Once again, I had hit a dead-end.

It seemed to me that the only way the photo made sense was if a time machine was somehow involved. As ridiculous as that sounds, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that perhaps that was a distinct possibility.

On July 11, 1990, the Chicago White Sox staged the first-ever "Turn Back the Clock" game, in which the club wore "retro" uniforms similar to those worn by the club back in 1917. I wondered if perhaps the Lankford picture came from a just such a "time machine" game.

A quick look at the list of memorial markings that is part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame's online exhibit titled Dressed to the Nines: A History of the Baseball Uniform revealed that in 1982, St. Louis wore armbands in memory of former player, coach and manager Ken Boyer, who had died on September 7 of that year. And 1982 wasn't just any old year. It was the season in which the Cardinals had last won a World Championship, topping the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games.

Is it possible that the Brewers hosted a "Turn Back the Clock" game against the Cardinals, celebrating the 15th anniversary of the '82 World Series? If so, the Brewers and Cardinals would be wearing uniforms similar to those worn by Lonnie Smith and Robin Yount on the cover of this October 25, 1982, issue of Sports Illustrated:

The uniforms seen above match those in the Lankford photo perfectly. Lonnie Smith's uniform features the armband, the red, white and blue stripes on the sleeves, and the "sansabelt" pants worn by Lankford. And Robin Yount's uniform is pinstriped, with the same "S" of the "BREWERS" across the jersey front, just like the catcher in the Lankford image.

In 1997, the Cardinals and Brewers were still in different leagues (the Brewers would move to the National League the following year), so if this was a "Turn Back the Clock" game, it was an interleague contest. I checked the 1997 Brewers Media Guide and found the confirmation for which I was looking. On June 17, Milwaukee hosted the Cardinals on Pick 'n Save Turn Back the Clock Night, celebrating the 15th anniversary of the clubs playing one another in the 1982 World Series.

With an exact date to work with, I was able to track down the Lankford photo with its original caption. Here's how the Associated Press image looked, for example, in the Huntington (PA) Daily News of June 18, 1997:

The caption reads:

BLOCKED OUT

Ray Lankford of the St. Louis Cardinals collides with Milwaukee Brewers' catcher Mike Matheny at home plate in the third inning Tuesday night. Lankford tried to score on a ball hit in the infield by Gary Gaetti, but was out on the play. The teams wore 1982 replica uniforms as part of a "turn back the clock" promotion.

Talk about "Turn Back the Clock!" The Brewers' catcher was Mike Matheny, who would later gain fame as a member of the Cardinals, winning three Gold Gloves in five seasons with St. Louis. Additionally, the Cardinals' starting pitcher that night was Fernando Valenzuela, making his first appearance with St. Louis after being acquired from the Padres just days earlier. Fernando made just five starts with the club, posting a record of 0-4 before being released in mid-July, never to play in the big leagues again.

Coincidentally, by the way, the uniform that Ray Lankford wore that night is apparently in the hands of a collector. Here's an image of the jersey as posted at the Game Used Universe Forum:

So, to answer the original question: On June 17, 1997, Ray Lankford may not have realized it, but he was mourning the passing of Ken Boyer ... almost 15 years after the Cardinals great had passed away.

A Photo from the 1914 World Series

2011-11-19T21:25:00.001-05:00

My friend Mark Stang periodically contacts me with a baseball photo mystery. The search for answers to his questions is almost always fun and challenging, because Mark is a top-notch baseball researcher and he really knows his baseball pictures. His groundbreaking book Baseball By the Numbers (written with Linda Harkness) is the encyclopedia of baseball uniform numbers and is an indispensable tool for the baseball photo researcher. And his numerous books of baseball photographs should be on every baseball fan's bookshelf. You can find out more about Mark's wonderful books at his web site.

Mark is currently working on an illustrated history of the Braves and one of the latest mysteries he sent along has to do with the "Miracle" Boston Braves of 1914. (For another post about this club, check out my earlier blog entry titled "Rabbit Maranville is not a Nazi.") Mark emailed the following image that can be found at the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog at the Library of Congress …

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-17528

… accompanied by a note in which he stated that …

This [George Grantham] Bain photo of the 5 Braves players from 1914 has the ID's of Joe Connolly and Lefty Tyler reversed on the original neg. But Tyler is clearly the 4th from the left and Connolly 3rd …. Any idea what ballpark this is?

As for the mix-up of identifications, Mark was absolutely correct. The noted positions of Joe Connolly and Lefty Tyler are swapped. Here's a detail from the mystery photo:

Here's an image of Lefty Tyler:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-17334

And here is what Joe Connolly looks like:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, detail from LC-DIG-ggbain-16903

The correct identifications of Mark's photo are (left to right): Hank Gowdy, Dick Rudolph, Joe Connolly, Lefty Tyler, Oscar Dugey. The "no name" in the bunch is Oscar Dugey, a journeyman infielder who spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues. His biggest claim to fame was that he played for two straight pennant winners: the 1914 Braves and 1915 Phillies.

The photograph that Mark sent along is similar to a number of others from the Bain Collection at the Library of Congress:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Detail from LC-DIG-ggbain-17527

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Detail from LC-DIG-ggbain-17529

Clearly all three of these photographs were taken on the same day, at the same location, and essentially at the same time.

The uniforms of the Braves in the photograph are consistent with those worn by the club on the road from 1913 to 1915. Compare Hank Gowdy's uniform to the drawing found at the National Baseball Hall of Fame's online exhibit, Dressed to the Nines:

Each of the five players pictured played with the 1913 and 1914 Braves, but Oscar Dugey was traded to the Phillies in February of 1915, so we know the photo was taken in either 1913 or 1914.

And while we're looking at photos of Hank Gowdy, take a close look at his right hand as seen in the photo sent along by Mark as well as in each of the above photographs:

This comparison also suggests that the photographs were taken the same day, as the last two fingers on his right hand are taped together the same way in each picture.

As for Mark's original question, a review of grandstands of National League parks of the era fails to reveal a match to the various features seen in the background of any of the three similar photographs above. What about American League parks?

Take a look at the following photograph taken at Philadelphia's Shibe Park during the 1914 World Series:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, detail from LC-DIG-ggbain-17540

Note how the pillars and roof line in this photo match well with those as seen in Mark's photo and the others taken that same day. Additionally, take a close look at this detail from the police photo:

The openings in the back of the grandstand are windows with shades that can be raised or lowered, depending on the angle of the sun. This also matches well with the openings seen in Mark's mystery photo.

(By the way, take a look at this other detail from the police photo:

Not only are there numerous fans perched atop the advertisements beyond the left field wall, but one fan has even clambered up the side of a telephone pole in an effort to catch a glimpse of World Series action. You have to applaud that guy's passion, though not necessarily his "good" sense.)

So we now have an answer to Mark's question: "Any idea what ballpark this is?" It's Shibe Park in Philadelphia. But can we learn anything more?

Take a look at yet another photograph from the Bain Collection at the Library of Congress:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Detail from LC-DIG-ggbain-17540

That's future Hall of Famer Eddie Plank warming up before his start in Game Two of the 1914 Series on October 10. Recognize the grandstand in the background with the distinctive windows and shades? Not only is it Shibe Park, but the levels of the various shades in the windows match those seen in Mark's photo exactly! Here's a comparison with Mark's photo aligned directly underneath the corresponding windows in the Plank photo. Take a careful look.

There's little doubt that the photos were taken on the same day: October 10, 1914. But just to make sure, let's take a look at some other evidence.

First, there is this note found in a column titled "National League Notes" in The Sporting Life of July 25, 1914: "Hank Gowdy, the Boston Braves' catcher, is out of the game with a broken finger, and [Bert] Whaling is doing most of the backstop duty." Though Mark's mystery photo was taken some two-and-a-half months later, it seems likely that Gowdy was taping his fingers together for added support for the recently broken digit.

Next, take a look at yet another photo from the Bain Collection:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Detail from LC-DIG-ggbain-17538

Here Braves catcher Hank Gowdy is seen shaking hands with John F. Fitzgerald, the former mayor of Boston (and future grandfather of John F. Kennedy) who was known as "Honey Fitz." What is such a dignitary doing at the ball game? Well, Fitzgerald was a prominent member of Boston's Royal Rooters, a fan club that generally cheered for the Red Sox. However, with Boston's other ball club in the series, the Rooters passionately pulled for the Braves in their 1914 clash with the Philadelphia Athletics. Fitzgerald's attendance at Game Two was noted in an article from The New York Tribune of October 11, 1914:

Tyler and James warmed up for the Braves, but Plank was the one an d only choice for Mack. Before anything could be started a fair lady with a bunch of red roses came over to the Boston bench and gave Hank Gowdy a traveling bag. Hank took the bag, but looked unhappy. Honey Fitz came out and took a rose. He looked happy and did not blush as Gowdy had done, even when the camera men snapped his picture.

Notice the traveling bag on the ground at far left in the photo? And take a look at the "Royal Rooters" pin affixed to Fitzgerald's lapel. Note how it compares with an actual pin that was sold at auction in 2008:

And notice the press pass attached to the unidentified individual at far right. Here's a comparison of that pass and a Shibe Park press pass from the 1914 Series that was sold at auction in 2009:

And take a look at Gowdy's taped fingers as he shakes the former mayor's hands:

Clearly, the photo of Gowdy with Fitzgerald was taken at the same time and location as Mark's mystery photo.

Now let's take a look at one more piece of evidence. Notice that Fitzgerald is holding a newspaper in his left hand. Here's a closer look:

The paper is none other than The Philadelphia Ledger. A logical assumption is that the paper is a morning edition of the Ledger from the day of the game: October 10, 1914. The Library of Congress has digitized numerous newspapers and made them available to the public at their Chronicling America web site. Thankfully, they've digitized a number of issues of The Philadelphia Evening Ledger, a later edition of the same paper. Here's what the October 10 edition of that paper looked like:

Here's a detail of the baseball-oriented political cartoon on the front page:

Now compare the newspaper in Fitzgerald's hand to the same section of the evening edition:

While the morning and evening editions differ in some ways (e.g., the morning edition has a story at far right previewing Game Two of the Braves-Athletics matchup; the evening edition reports on the progress of the game), both editions feature the political cartoon at the top center of the front page. This is the final "nail in the coffin" proving that the Gowdy-Fitzgerald photo, as well as Mark's original mystery photo, were both taken at Shibe Park prior to Game Two of the 1914 World Series on October 10.

World Series Sheet Music

2011-10-23T23:30:00.003-04:00

When this year's World Series is over, the championship club will be celebrated with a seemingly endless array of products. You'll find official (and unofficial) caps, shirts, baseballs, DVDs, books, medallions, key rings, stuffed animals, photographs, felt pennants, etc. The list goes on and on (and on), but one thing you're not likely to come across is sheet music of a commemorative tune dedicated to the World Champs. But, this wasn't always the case.

Prior to the radio boom of the 1930s, the primary marketing tool of popular music was sheet music. Like the tune? Just buy the sheet music and you can play it at home.

The songwriters of the day covered a myriad of topics, including baseball, and songs that honored World Championship clubs were no exception. Just over a month after the Cubs topped the Tigers to capture the 1907 World Championship, Tomaz F. Deuther published "Cubs on Parade," a march two-step composed by one H.R. Hempel.

Following the Philadelphia Athletics' 1929 World Series victory over the Cubs, Pennant Music Company published "The Galloping A's" with music by Wallace LeGrande Henderson and words by Billy James.

And who could forget Al Moquin's "The Cardinals and Mister Hornsby" that commemorated clubs' first World Championship?

The first sheet music to honor a modern World Series champion was the "Boston Americans March," published by the Cecilian Music Company of Hyde Park, Massachusetts in 1903. While the club bested the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1903 Series, the first post-season matchup between the rival leagues, it was not until 1908 that Boston earned the "Red Sox" nickname.

The two-step was composed by 19-year-old John Ignatius Coveney, a freshman at New York's Fordham University who lettered in football, not baseball. A talented musician (he played the piano, cornet, violin, guitar and numerous other instruments), Coveney gained immortality a few years later by composing the "Fordham Ram," the official college song. (Listen to the "Fordham Ram.")

While the "Boston Americans March" is largely forgotten, the "Fordham Ram" has lived on for over a century. In 1931, some 20 years after Coveney's untimely death at the age of 26, the composer was honored by his classmates of 1906 at their 25th reunion. On June 13, a tablet in memory of Coveney was unveiled.

Photo courtesy of Scott Kwiatkowski, Fordham University

The bronze plaque, in many ways similar to those honoring baseball's greatest players in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, can be seen today inside Fordham's Rose Hill Gym.

When Wall Street Occupied the Ball Park

2011-10-09T23:00:00.009-04:00

With the "Occupy Wall Street" movement sweeping the country, it may surprise the reader that there was a time when the stock brokers of Wall Street (and those of State Street in Boston) occupied the ball park.

On May 26, 1904, the Boston Globe announced that "a baseball nine composed of members of the New York stock exchange has challenged a nine of the Boston stock exchange and the challenge has been accepted. The game is to be played on the American league grounds, Huntington av, Thursday, June 2, at 3:30."

The New Yorkers won the contest, 1-0, behind the stellar pitching of Gil Greenway, the former Yale pitcher who had purchased his seat on the New York Stock Exchange just months before. New York's lone run was tallied by none other than Bob Wrenn (seen below). Wrenn was the captain of Harvard's football team in the 1890s and was also the first left-hander to win the U.S. Open Singles Championships in tennis, capturing titles in 1893, '94, '96 and '97. He was President of the United States Tennis Association from 1912 to 1915 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1955.

The following year, the clubs met again, this time at Hilltop Park in New York City on May 13. A slugfest ensued, with New York emerging victorious, 14-8.

The Boston brokers finally won their first contest in 1906, when they topped New York, 11-4 at Boston's South End Grounds on May 19. According to the New York Times, "the attendance upon the floor of the Stock Exchange was greatly reduced by the pleasanter prospect of a baseball game with members of the Boston Stock Exchange, and those brokers who remained upon duty found ample time to wonder why."

No game was played in 1907, but on May 23, 1908 the brokers renewed their challenge at the Polo Grounds in New York City. The Boston brokers topped the NYSE 11-4 to knot the series at two games apiece. Stock broker and former major league pitcher Huyler Westervelt unpired the game.

Two photos from the event are found at the Library of Congress's web site. The first shows three members of the New York contingent that attended the game (left to right): Jay Carlisle, Clark Runyon (who had participated in some of the earlier contests) and Ira Richards Jr. (misidentified on the photograph as Ira Richardson). The date of the game was also erroneously noted on the photograph as "5/22/08."

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-00480

Just days after the game, Carlisle, Runyon, Richards and four others organized Carlisle, Mellick & Company, a new Stock Exchange house. Here's an advertisement from the New York Times published just a few weeks after the game:

The following action shot also comes from the New York vs. Boston Stock Exchange game of 1908:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-00475

Catching is one W. Clark of the Boston Stock Exchange nine, and at bat is the New York Stock Exchange's Gil Greenway, Jr., a former pitcher at Yale.

These photos were taken just a few weeks after those taken as lantern slides for the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

The rival stock exchanges met just twice more before ultimately abandoning the series. On May 22, 1909, Boston defeated New York at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, 8-4. Three years later, on May 25, 1912, the final contest took place at the Westchester Country Club and resulted in a second-straight 8-4 victory for Boston. Boston thus took the six-game series, four games to two.

Woodrow Wilson's Opening Pitch

2011-10-03T20:42:00.016-04:00

In October of 1917, less than half a year after the United States entered World War I, the White Sox faced the Giants in the World Series. Chicago topped New York in six games. The cover of the Giants' World Series program featured an image of President Woodrow Wilson, ball in hand, accompanied by the caption:

PRESIDENT WILSON THROWING OUT BALL AT THE OPENING OF THE
AMERICAN LEAGUE SEASON AT WASHINGTON.

A BIG ENOUGH BOY TO ENJOY THE NATIONAL
GAME - AND - A MAN BIG ENOUGH TO GUIDE
OUR COUNTRY THROUGH ITS GREATEST CRISIS.

Here's an image of that World Series program:

Yes, that's President Wilson throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in Washington, D.C. … but not in 1917, as implied. Actually, as noted in The Washington Post of April 21, 1917, "Vice President Marshall took President Wilson's place in the Throw-out-League. With the President unable to be present on opening day, for the first time since he has been lead-off man for Uncle Sam, because of the pressure of state affairs, his understudy threw out the ball at 3 o'clock …." It is understandable that President Wilson was unavailable for the ceremonial pitch, as it was just two weeks since the country had declared war on Germany.

Accompanying the article was this image of the Vice President taking part in the honors on opening day at Griffith Stadium, April 20, 1917:

The photo upon which the 1917 program was based was actually taken exactly one year earlier. Here's an image of President Wilson at opening day of 1916 as reproduced in The Washington Post of April 21:

Note how the flag draped over the wall is identical to that seen in the World Series program cover, and the position (and hat) of his wife Edith (just to the left of Wilson) also match up well.. Additionally, here's the exact image used for the 1917 World Series program as found at the Library of Congress, with the caption "Opening game 1916":

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-18475

The cover of the program is a classic … even if it was a year out of date.

Bobby Thomson's Uniform from "The Shot Heard 'Round the World"

2011-09-22T17:15:00.000-04:00

It is arguably the most celebrated moment in baseball history.
The set-up:

October 3, 1951
Final game of a three-game, regular-season play-off between the Giants and Dodgers
Bottom of the ninth
New York trails Brooklyn 4-2
Two Giants on the bases
Ralph Branca on the mound
Bobby Thomson at bat

The pay-off:

Thomson homers to left
The Giants win 5-4
The Giants win the pennant. (The Giants win the pennant.)

As New York Times sportswriting legend John Drebinger summed it up in his lead the next day:

In an electrifying finish to what long will be remembered as the most thrilling pennant campaign in history, Leo Durocher and his astounding never-say-die Giants wrenched victory from the jaws of defeat at the Polo Grounds today, vanquishing the Dodgers, 5 to 4, with a four-run splurge in the last half of the ninth. A three-run homer by Bobby Thomson that accounted for the final three tallies blasted the Dodgers right out of the World Series picture, and tomorrow afternoon at the Stadium it will be the Giants against Casey Stengel's American League champion Yankees in the opening clash of the world series.

The bat from that famed home run is in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Now, 60 years after "The Shot Heard 'Round the World," the uniform worn by Thomson on that historic day has apparently been located. The home jersey and pants are part of a large private collection owned by Dan Scheinman, a member of the San Francisco Giants ownership group and a former executive with Cisco Media Solutions Group. The uniform, acquired by Scheinman from Bobby Thomson himself, has undergone extensive research by both the collector and Elise Yvonne Rousseau, an accredited textile conservator. In short, here's the scoop:

In 1951, all National League clubs adorned their jerseys with special patches commemorating the 75th anniversary of the league. Here's a picture of Pirates outfielder Brandy Davis wearing a 1951 jersey with the patch:

The patches were worn throughout the regular season, including the special three-game playoff between the Dodgers and Giants that would decide the pennant-winner. (That same season, the American League celebrated their 50th anniversary in similar fashion, with all eight Junior Circuit clubs wearing special patches.)

Scheinman's Thomson jersey is marked as "Set 2 - 1951" and is consistent with those worn by the Giants in 1951 with one major exception. There is no patch on the left sleeve. What gives?

Well, it turns out that both the Giants and Yankees did not wear these patches during the '51 World Series. Just why this was the case is not known, but, as an example, check out this photo taken of the starting pitchers of Game Two, the Yankees' Eddie Lopat and the Giants' Larry Jansen:

Is it possible that new uniforms were used for World Series? If so, perhaps Scheinman's jersey is from the Fall Classic, not the "Shot Heard 'Round the World." Or, perhaps the patches were simply removed from the regular season jerseys. But if so, how does one prove that the patchless jersey is the same as that worn by Thomson on October 3, 1951?

Among other key points forwarded by the textile conservator, of critical importance is the analysis of unique features around the number "23" on the back of the jersey. Throughout the season, the Giants had their uniforms regularly steam pressed. In so doing, the wool of the jerseys shrank slightly, though the large uniform numbers made of felt did not. This caused distortions on the back of the jersey: puckerings that formed unique patterns surrounding the "23," akin to a fingerprint. Through photo research, the puckerings of the jersey from Thomson's October 3 jersey are shown to match those found on the jersey in the possession of Dan Scheinman.

To learn more, here's the PDF document that details the analysis.

And there's more about the story at Paul Lukas's Uni Watch column.

Jon Huntsman Doesn't Know Baseball

2011-09-07T16:48:00.010-04:00

Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, a potential Republican nominee for the 2012 presidential election, recently released this campaign advertisement:

Initially, the ad left me quite confused. Why was the obvious reference to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney accompanied by a sad rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and B-roll of a baseball glove on the ground? What does Romney's record of job creation have to do with baseball? Did I miss something?

Then I found a few web sites that provided what appears to be the most plausible explanation.

From National Review Online, Jim Geraghty states:

A sad looking baseball mitt — get it? — is used to depict the former Massachusetts governor.

And at Business Insider, Jon Terbush explains:

The ad never mentions Romney by name, though the implication is clear — the ad refers to a former governor of Massachusetts and, whenever mentioned, the camera cuts to images of a dirty, discarded baseball mitt lying in the dust.

Oh, I get it. Mitt Romney = Baseball Mitt. See? They're both Mitts.

There's only one problem. The images in the advertisement don't show a baseball mitt. They show a baseball glove. And that's not nit-picking. That's a cold, hard fact.

The word mitt comes from "mitten," which, according to Webster's Dictionary is "a covering for the hand and wrist having a separate section for the thumb only." Webster's tells us that a glove is "a covering for the hand having separate sections for each of the fingers and the thumb and often extending part way up the arm."

In baseball, the distinction is quite critical, as only catcher's and first baseman are allowed to wear mitts. Yes. It is illegal for any player other than a catcher or first baseman to wear a mitt. Here are the relevant rules:

Rule 1.12: "The catcher may wear a leather mitt …"
Rule 1.13: "The first baseman may wear a leather glove or mitt …"
Rule 1.14: "Each fielder, other than the first baseman or catcher, may use or wear a leather glove."

To recap. This is a mitt:

And this is a mitt:

This is a glove:

If the advertisement had shown a catcher's mitt or first baseman's mitt, there would be no problem. But no. The ad showed a glove … which isn't a mitt.

Jon Huntsman. Want to be our President? Learn about our National Pastime.

Nice Hitting Streak for an Uggla Season

2011-08-10T06:00:00.002-04:00

Dan Uggla extended his consecutive-game hitting streak to 30 games last night, joining a rather exclusive group. According to a list at baseball-reference.com, there have been 53 hitting streaks of 30 or more games prior to Uggla's current run.

As one might expect, when a player fashions such a streak, he generally ends the season with an excellent batting average. Joe DiMaggio batted .357 in 1941 when he recorded his astounding 56-game hitting streak. And in 1897, Willie Keeler batted .424, beginning the season with hits in 44 straight games, the record prior to Joltin' Joe's 56.

Looking from the other end of the telescope, the player with the lowest batting average in a season in which he posted a 30-game hitting streak is Willy Taveras (top right), who batted just .278 in 2006 despite hitting in 30 straight games for Houston. But through August 9 (the date of his 30th straight game with a hit), Dan Uggla (top left) is batting just .220. In short, Uggla has an excellent chance of setting the mark for the lowest batting average in a season with a 30-game hitting streak. How excellent is that chance? Let's see:

In 116 games played this season, the Braves' second baseman has had 437 at bats, for an average of 3.78 at bats per game. Assuming Uggla plays in each of the remaining 45 games in Atlanta's schedule (so far he's only missed one game this year), he'll have nearly 170 at bats (more precisely 169.52) in which to get really hot. How hot? Some quick math provides the answer. He'll need 73 hits in those 170 at bats to pass Taveras's mark. If he does, his average would be .2784, just barely topping Taveras's .2779.

Can he do it? You decide. So far during his 30-game streak (from July 5 through August 9), Dan Uggla has batted .345. (He began his streak batting just .173!) But to get past Taveras's mark, Uggla would need to bat at a .429 clip … for seven weeks. Welcome to the record books, Mr. Uggla!

Nix Flicks Sticks in Box for Sox in Rox

2011-08-09T08:00:00.014-04:00

What's up with my Seussian blog title "Nix Flicks Sticks in Box for Sox in Rox?" To understand, first check out this great photograph from the extensive collection of panoramic images at the Library of Congress's web site.

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZC2-6131 DLC

There are two main ways to create panoramic photographs. The first is the most obvious method, in which multiple images are placed side by side to create a wide shot. Here's an excellent example showing a game at Chicago's South Side Park in 1904. This panorama is comprised of three separate prints (from three separate negatives) placed side by side forming one magnificent photograph:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-24414A,B,C DLC

The other method of creating a panoramic photograph utilizes a special camera that rotates on a tripod while its aperture remains open, creating a single, long image. There are excellent descriptions of both methods at the Library of Congress's web site.

The panoramic photo that is the topic of this blog entry can also be found on page 83 of Baseball Americana, a book featuring a number of wonderful images from the collection of the Library of Congress. Here's the caption accompanying the photo in that book:

Boston, American League baseball grounds, E. Chickering & Co., photograph, 9½ x 9½ in., 1903. This image illustrates a fictitious moment as the pitcher, at left, is seen making his throw, but the batter, catcher, and umpire at right are not the least bit engaged in the play. Not only that, but the ball that should be in flight is missing. In the thirty seconds or so that it took for the camera to pan from one end of the scene to the next, the pitcher made his throw and what followed is anybody's guess: the batter hit a foul ball, swung and missed, or took a strike or a ball. By the time the camera had home plate in its sight, the play was over, and the threesome on the right were all standing up straight again.

Alas, there's not a lot of information provided in that caption, or in the data accompanying the image at the Library of Congress's web site. Additionally, I disagree with the statement that the "image illustrates a fictitious moment."

First of all, a panoramic photograph doesn't depict a "moment" in time. Indeed, as the caption goes on to note, it takes many seconds for a panoramic camera to capture the full scene. What is seen on the left side of the photo was not taken at the same time as what is seen on the right. While normal photographs are essentially taken at a single moment, true panoramic photos capture a scene over a stretch of time lasting many seconds.

Additionally, the word "fictitious" is overstating the situation. In fact, a bit of research reveals the exact date, inning and at bat during which the photograph was taken. A quick look at the photo establishes some basic information.

The photo is clearly of the Huntington Avenue Grounds in the Roxbury district of Boston, where the Boston Americans (now known a the Red Sox) played their home games from 1901 to 1911. In 1912 they moved into Fenway Park. Compare our panoramic photo with the numerous photos of the Huntington Avenue Grounds at the Boston Public Library's Sports Temples web site. For example, in the detail below from a 1912 photo of the park, note the grand stand at far right and the long buildings behind the bleachers on the first base side. They are identical to those seen in the panoramic photo.

Boston Public Library Image 05_02_011008

Written at the bottom right-hand corner of our panoramic photo is the following information: "Copyright by E. Chickering & Co. 1903." Elmer E. Chickering was one of Boston's leading photographers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His studio at 21 West Street was just a block east of Boston Common and about two miles northeast of the Huntington Avenue Grounds. While not definitive, the date suggests that the year is 1903. Certainly the photo was taken no later that that.

A close examination of the players' uniforms in our panoramic image not only confirms that the club in the field is Boston, but that the man at bat, the coach at first, and the players on the bench are members of the visiting Chicago White Sox. In fact, both clubs are wearing uniforms worn exclusively in 1903. For Boston, this was the only season in which they donned caps featuring a single horizontal stripe. (In 1901, '02 and '04 the club went with a pair of stripes.) And for Chicago, 1903 was the only year the club wore dark-colored stockings with a wide, white stripe.

The teams and year identifications are substantiated by reviewing close-ups of two of the players in the panoramic photo alongside corresponding uniform drawings from the National Baseball Hall of Fame's online exhibit, Dressed to the Nines:

We've established that the photo is an American League Boston vs. Chicago game at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in 1903. In order to determine the exact day of the contest we need to know the various dates the White Sox played in Boston that season. According to the game log for the 1903 White Sox at retrosheet.org, Chicago visited the Roxbury park on three separate road trips that year: June 4, 5 and 6; July 8, 9, 10 and 11; and September 19, 21 and 22.

After checking various game accounts from these ten contests, I happened across a note on page 6 of the September 23 Chicago Tribune. Following their recounting of the final game of Chicago's September visit to Boston, the paper stated:

The game was stopped twice to allow a photographer to get panoramic views of the men in action on the field.

Bingo! There's little question that the game depicted in our panoramic photo was the one played between Chicago and Boston on Tuesday, September 22, 1903. A different article mentioned that it was Ladies' Day at the Huntington Avenue Grounds that afternoon, so each woman who was accompanied by a male escort gained admission to the park free of charge. Indeed, a close look at the fans in the grandstand reveals an unusually large number of women in attendance.

The box score of the September 22, 1903, game is readily available, this one coming from page 6 of the October 3, 1903, issue of The Sporting Life found at the LA84 Foundation web site.

From this information, we can quickly identify a number of Boston fielders in the panoramic photograph, as there were no substitutions and the players remained at the same positions throughout the game.

The Boston pitcher was Long Tom Hughes, who logged his only 20-win season in 1903, finishing the campaign with a 20-7 record.
The player seen at far left was second baseman Hobe Ferris, who three weeks after this photo was taken drove in all three of Boston's runs in the eighth and final game of the 1903 World Series to give the club its first world title.
The outfielder positioned in front of the "C.C.A. 10¢ Cigar" advertisement in right field was Buck Freeman, a slugger who twice led his league in home runs.
The individual seen just under the "Red Fox Ale" advertisement was Candy LaChance, one of the top fielding first basemen of his day.
Catching for Boston was Duke Farrell, who, at 36 years of age, was the elder statesman on the club.

Additionally, the umpire behind home plate was Frank "Silk" O'Loughlin in his second season as a big league arbiter. He eventually fashioned a 17-year big league umpiring career in which he called a record-seven no-hitters.

Determining the identity of the White Sox batter is a bit more difficult, requiring more than just the box score. First, take a look at the scoreboard in right field:

Unfortunately, it is a bit out of focus. Still, careful examination of the line score numbers already hanging on the board reveals that the last completed inning was the fourth. Thus, the photo was taken in the top of the fifth inning.

In order to determine which White Sox players batted in the fifth inning, the game's play-by-play is needed. Thankfully, the incomparable David Smith of retrosheet.org was able to supply me with just that. Here's a close-up of the fifth inning play-by-play as reported in the Chicago Daily News of September 23, 1903:

And here's a transcription of Chicago's top of the fifth (with additional notes in brackets):

[Nixey] Callahan singled to center.
[Pep] Clarke lifted a high one to [shortstop Fred] Parent. [One out.]
[Danny] Green out, [undecipherable] to [first baseman Candy] LaChance. [Two outs.]
[Lee] Tannehill singled to right, scoring Callahan.
Tannehill out stealing second, [Duke] Farrell to [Hobe] Ferris. [Three outs.]

[Note: Thanks to Lenny DiFranza who was able to decipher the name of the player who threw out Danny Green at first base. It was pitcher Hughes.]

We've now whittled down the possibilities to one of four White Sox players who batted in the top of the fifth inning: left fielder (and White Sox manager) Nixey Callahan, third baseman Pep Clarke, right fielder Danny Green or shortstop Lee Tannehill. However, as Green batted left-handed and our batter is clearly right-handed, we can quickly eliminate Green. Additionally, since Callahan was on first base when Clarke came to bat and the photo clearly shows that first base is unoccupied, Clarke cannot be our batter. This leaves two possible batters: Nixey Callahan or Lee Tannehill.

Let's compare photographs of these two players with the batter in our photo. Here's our unidentified batter:

Here are two photos of Nixey Callahan:

SDN-004735, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum

SDN-003587, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum

And here are two photos of Lee Tannehill:

SDN-002967, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum

SDN-004248, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum

Check out Nixey Callahan's ear and jawline. They are an excellent match to those of the White Sox batter in our panoramic photo. Tannehill features don't match up. Additionally, while I wouldn't solely rely on this for identification purposes, every photo I find in Lee Tannehill from this time period shows him wearing his collar up (as seen in the above images). Apparently, this was his preference. Our White Sox batter, however, does not wear his collar in that fashion. So we've now identified our batter as Nixey Callahan.

Here's my theory as to just what is going on in the photograph:

After the bottom of the fourth inning, a photographer for Chickering & Company set up his camera to take a picture of action in the top of the fifth. The cameraman aimed his special panoramic camera at pitcher Tom Hughes and started the long, rotating exposure as Hughes delivered a pitch. The camera's aperture was open and pointing at Hughes when he threw the ball home. This is why Hughes' arm is blurred.

But what about the baseball? Why is it not seen at all? There is no blurred image of the baseball because it traveled much faster than the rotating camera and quickly moved out of the camera's field of view. If the photo had been taken with a standard camera, there would be a blur. That is because the shutter would be open for just a split second, during which the ball would travel a short distance, leaving a blur on the film.

What about the batter, who is clearly not ready to receive the pitch? How is that possible when Hughes is shown in mid-throw? Well, by the time the rotating camera reached the right side of the scene, many seconds later after the pitch was delivered, the baseball had already been caught by the catcher and thrown back to the pitcher. We are seeing the batter, catcher and umpire well after the pitch was delivered, about to get ready for the next pitch.

And what about that Seussian title? Well, let's recap the situation: That's Nixey Callahan of the White Sox wielding his bat in the batter's box, leading off the top of the fifth inning in a game against Boston at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Roxbury on September 22, 1903. Or, as Dr. Seuss might say: Nix Flicks Sticks in Box for Sox in Rox.

Research Update: August 21, 2011

On August 18, 2011, blog reader "Jere" wrote in and stated (in part):

I only have one issue with your analysis. Look at the shadows. They differ pretty significantly between the left and right halves of the photo. So there was a lot of time between photos, meaning it's the fifth inning in the left half, but the batter is not batting in the fifth, but a later inning.

These true panoramic photos are wonderful things, but they can often be a bit confusing. It's important to remember that a panoramic photo is a flat representation of a curved scene. For this reason, straight lines can appear to be curved and parallel lines (in this case, shadows) appear not to be parallel. For example, here's a photo of Hilltop Park in New York from the same collection of panoramic photos at the Library of Congress:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-117224 DLC

Note how the first base line, which we all know should be straight, appears anything but straight in this photo. But if one were to print out the photo and curve it around the arc of a circle (perhaps about 180 degrees), the line would straighten out just perfectly.

I've borrowed an excellent image of the Huntington Avenue Grounds created by artist Juff Suntala. You can find the original at Jeff's web site. In the version below, I've added red-arrow overlays showing the direction of the shadows for the pitcher, batter, and first base coach. In the panoramic photo, the shadows do not appear parallel. But take a look in this image. They are quite parallel indeed:

I hope that clears things up.

A Wrinkle for Umpire Charles Daniels

2011-07-06T20:38:00.028-04:00

The first use of shin guards in baseball is not as "cut and dried" as one would think (or hope). Catcher Roger Bresnahan is generally credited with being the first to introduce the protective equipment to the game, but this is simply not the case. The best account of the history of shin guards in baseball's early days is found in Peter Morris's invaluable book A Game of Inches, a must-read for anyone interested in baseball history. But, here I'd like to present what I believe is a new discovery: the earliest definitive use of shin guards in baseball.

Tucked away in their weekly "Notes and Comments" column, The Sporting Life of May 30, 1888, published the following observation:

International [League] umpire Jerry Sullivan wears leg-pads like a cricketer. Daniels originated the wrinkle.

This innovator named Daniels was none other than Charles F. Daniels, a veteran arbiter who first umpired in the major leagues in 1874. On July 15, 1876, when St. Louis pitcher George Bradley tossed the second no-hitter in major league history (and the first in the annals of the National League), Daniels was the man who called the balls and strikes ... and everything else. Remember, these were the days of just one umpire per game. He also umpired Johnny Ward's perfect game of June 17, 1880: the second such masterpiece ever tossed in the big leagues. Additionally, in 1886 Daniels was the manager of Hartford of the Eastern League when that club sold a young catcher named Cornelius McGillicuddy to Washington of the National League. Perhaps you've heard of this future Hall of Famer, more commonly known as "Connie Mack?" When Daniels passed away in 1932, his New York Times obituary led with the following statement:

The man who introduced Connie Mack to major league baseball died today.

Now, nearly 80 years since his passing, here's a new claim to fame for Charles Daniels. On April 25, 1888, the New York Giants held their home opener at the Polo Grounds, hosting the Philadelphia Phillies. The umpire for the game was our man Daniels. Photographer Joseph Hall captured the festive scene just prior to the start of the game. The wonderful photograph, showing the two clubs, their managers, and umpire Daniels, is part of the collection at the National Baseball Library. Here is a detail:

Collection of the National Baseball Library

Look closely at Daniels at far left:

Note that his right hand holds his umpire mask while his right leg is adorned with the above noted "leg guard." Why Daniels is wearing just one shin guard is a mystery. Maybe he had yet to affix the other one when it came time to take the photograph? Or perhaps for reasons unknown he only used one while umpiring? Who knows?

Still, the photo is clear evidence of the first definitive use of a shin guard in baseball, over 120 years ago. Who'd have guessed its debut was on the leg of an umpire?

Uncorking the Truth

2011-02-19T22:00:00.005-05:00

Recently, I was interviewed for a blog entry at fangraphs.com and, in passing, interviewer Alex Remington mentioned something intriguing: Babe Ruth had once been caught using a corked bat. This was news to me, so I asked Remington where he found out about this claim and he alerted me to an article by baseball researcher Bill James at slate.com.

The article titled “Life, Liberty, and Breaking the Rules” details James’s opinion that “had steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs existed during Babe Ruth's career, Babe Ruth would not only have used them, he would have used more of them than Barry Bonds.” We’ll leave that opinion alone, though I am a bit surprised that James has knowledge of the quantity of PEDs that Bonds took during his career. With this kind of information, I assume we can look forward to James testifying in Bonds’s upcoming perjury trial.

As for performance-enhancing bats, here’s what James had to say:

[Ruth] was caught using a corked bat, which was not a big deal to the league authorities because they didn't understand what you could do with a corked bat, and he very probably continued to use corked bats for much of his career.

Pretty heady stuff. Alas, while James’s assertion that Ruth corked his bat is no doubt eye-catching, it is false and, quite frankly, inflammatory. However, Ruth did use a special bat that, while legal at the time, was soon barred from use by a league authority who felt that it was indeed a “big deal.” Here’s the real scoop:

According to a July 17, 1923, article in The Sandusky (OH) Star Journal (as well as a number of other papers around the country), “on July 2, [Babe] Ruth started to use a bat, the like of which has never been seen in the baseball world. Since that date Ruth has been on a swat spree that has greatly increased his home-run record.”

What Ruth was using was called the “Quadrebuilt bat,” and was manufactured at a company in Whittier, California. Apparently, former big leaguer Sam Crawford, who was living in Southern California at the time, had an interest in the company.

Available at Getty Images is the following photograph of Ruth, taken by famed photographer Louis Van Oeyen at Cleveland on July 16, 1923:

Getty Images preview image #73392611

The caption reads: “Babe Ruth standing before game in visitor's dugout. The Yankees split a doubleheader with the Indians at League Park, losing the first 6-0 and taking the second game 11-7. Ruth scored four runs in game two.” Is it possible that the bat Ruth is holding is none other than the “Quadrebuilt?”

On July 19, The New York Times reported that …

Babe Ruth is using a new bat, which he has named “Old Sam.” It is the gift of Sam Crawford, former star outfielder of the Detroit Tigers, himself a home-run hitter before the days of the lively ball. “Old Sam” came to Ruth on July 1. Since then he has made twenty-seven hits, including six home runs, in sixty-five at bat [sic]. The bat is one inch shorter and four ounces lighter than the club Babe formerly used. It is fashioned of green wood with a grain running inversely to that of the ordinary bat, and is made of four pieces, cleverly dovetailed.

It is not clear whether or not this four-piece “Quadrebuilt” bat is related to another laminated bat that was patented just a few months earlier, on April 3, 1923, by one Frank Sadenwater of Michigan City, Indiana. Sadenwater's patent (#1,450,646) was for “a ball bat comprising flat, parallel laminations of wood having the grain extending longitudinally of the bat and alternating laminations of wood having the grain extending crosswise of the bat, such laminations being joined by a bonding agent.” Here's the patent image:

After about six weeks using the special bat, the Bambino and the Yankees were informed by American League president Ban Johnson that the bat was illegal. An article that ran in numerous papers across the country as early as August 14, 1923, quoted Johnson as stating that the “special bat George Ruth is now using does not conform to the regulations prescribed by the rules and must be discarded at once.”

Ruth and the Yankees were stunned. Manager Miller Huggins correctly noted that “the rules simply state that the bat must be round, made entirely of hard wood and conform to certain dimensions. The new bat used by Ruth is made of hard wood and is perfectly round. The rules do not state that the bat must be made out of one piece of wood.”

A week later, however, Johnson’s decision was clarified. Apparently, it was not the multiple pieces of wood that were of concern, but the glue that held the pieces together. As quoted in The New York Times of August 21, Johnson believed that …

the glue … increases the velocity of the ball and makes the bat just as illegal as the emery or the shine ball. If its use were permitted … the batmakers would try to introduce the use of rubber and other foreign substances which are now forbidden by the rules.”

Interestingly, it was not until 1940 that the relevant rule (Rule 15) was amended to require that the bat be made of one piece of hard wood.

Incidentally, following his initial decision, Johnson cracked down on other illegal bats, as well. The Chicago Tribune ran the following article by Irving Vaughan on August 22:

BAN JOHNSON WARS ON 'TRICK' BATS

The boys who have been sneaking along with trick bats will have to mend their ways, at least in the American League. Following notice that Ken Williams, the Browns' slugger, had been using a doctored bludgeon, Ban Johnson, junior major league president, yesterday promulgated a bulletin to umpires that all trick bats, employed with the idea of getting greater length in drives, were taboo.

So far Williams and Babe Ruth are the only batters whose illegal practices have been brought to light. Ruth, until about ten days ago, was using a bat consisting of four pieces of wood glued together. Williams has been knocking 'em out with a bat in which a plug of wood had been inserted. According to Johnson, there are about a dozen men in the league who will have to discard their old flails, but he preferred not to make public their names.

In his bulletin on the subject, Johnson stated that any athlete caught using a bat that does not conform to regulations will be automatically subject to five days' suspension without pay. No protests of games in which an illegal bat was discovered will be recognized.

So, how much did the special bat really help Ruth? A quick check of Babe Ruth’s day-by-day statistics at retrosheet.org reveals that over the stretch of 40 games in which Ruth used the special bat (July 2 to August 11, 1923), the Bambino batted .448 with a slugging average of .860, collecting 64 hits, 14 HR and 41 RBI. Pretty impressive. Then again, in the 47 games after he was barred from using bat, Ruth batted .404 with a slugging average of .820, with 65 hits, 13 homers and 43 RBIs. I suppose that’s a drop from his “quadrebuilt” pace, but give me that kind of drop any day.

A Nineteenth Century Performance-Enhancing Drug?

2010-12-01T20:30:00.011-05:00

Keith Olbermann recently posted a fine blog entry in which he unveiled some wonderful photos from the 1894 Temple Cup Series, a post-season match-up between the National League pennant-winning Baltimore Orioles and the second place New York Giants. In this early incarnation of the World Series, New York won the best-of-seven series in four straight games to become World Champions.

Like Keith, I was unfamiliar with the photos, so I thought I'd research them. While I didn't make much headway on that front, I did uncover another new facet to the Series: accusations of the use of performance-enhancing drugs!

The November 26, 1894 issue of The Medicine Age: A Semi-Monthly Review of Medicine published an article titled Facilis Est Descensus Averni (Latin for "the descent to hell is easy"). The article, available at Google Books, quoted heavily from the St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat of November 12th. I don't have access to the original Globe-Democrat article, but here is how it was quoted in The Medicine Age:

A BASE-BALL ROW.

… A man who traveled with the Giants during the last half of their present season, … equally a friend of the star pitcher of the Giants and … the Orioles, is responsible for the current row. A few days after the final Temple Cup game had been won by the Giants, a party made up of ball-players and actors were seated around a table at a New York club discussing the recent event, when the man above referred to said: "Boys, you are all wrong. I know how these games were won. Two of the Giants made the telling plays in the Temple Cup games, just as they did two weeks ago in Chicago. … The first game that day was won by a terrific hit over the left-field fence in the seventh inning. In the second game a long hit to right in the fourth inning won out. I could follow every game played and show you how at a critical point one or the other of these two men rose to the occasion. You wish to know why these two particular men, and how they did it? This is the solution." The speaker held between his finger and thumb a diminutive three-cornered blue phial. He continued: "May be, you all do not know that R—— … is a pretty good doctor. … When we got to Washington he asked W—— and myself to go with him one morning to call on a doctor who is supposed to be thoroughly up in Isopathy. The visit was most interesting, and when we left, R—— and W—— had promised to test the virtue of the elixir contained in these little bottles. The opportunity occurred in Chicago September 18th. The score was 1 to 1, each team having tallied in the sixth. R—— was now up, but before taking the bat I saw him pass something to his mouth and then look up for quite two minutes. His eyes brightened and the veins across his temples and the arteries down his neck knotted like cords as he stood at the plate. … R—— met the ball … and he put his 230 pounds in the lunge he made; … the ball was bound for the outer world, and would not have stopped if the fence had been twice as high. Three runs were tallied, and, as it proved, they were just about the number needed.

"As R—— dropped down on the players' bench beside me all breathless from the home run, he managed to pant, 'Charlie, the elixir is a "Jimdandy."' R—— did not play in the second game that day, but just before W—— went to the bat in that critical fourth inning he gave him a dose from the blue phial. The effect was marvelous. W——'s strength seemed to be doubled and he whacked out that hot liner to right which saved the game to the Giants. … Those two boys have used it ever since, except in Pittsburg, when a new supply of the stuff failed to arrive. The Giants lost that game, but won the next day when the package arrived. They used the Washington physician's elixir in every Temple Cup game, and I tell you that is the secret of the Giants holding that trophy to-day. R—— and W—— will both tell you so."

… Anson of Chicago, hearing it, claimed that the effect of ——'s Cerebrine, the extract of the brain of ox, is to add immediate strength to the player, and thus place his opponent at a great disadvantage. … He sent copies of the protest to every club in the league.

From a small beginning a tempest has arisen, which bids fair to end only when the question shall have been decided as to the rights of players in regard to utilizing scientific methods for adding to their dynamic value during the progress of ball games.

This final paragraph is astonishingly prescient, foreshadowing issues facing Major League Baseball over a century later.

The article disguises three names: those of two Giants players (R—— and W——) and the doctor (——), but a quick bit of digging reveals these individuals' identities.

As described in the article, the Giants did indeed face Chicago in a doubleheader on September 18, winning both games. The Washington Post of September 19 corroborated the Globe-Democrat story:

Rusie won the first [game] by a home run hit over the left field fence in the seventh inning with two outs and two men on bases.

Clearly, R—— is none other than famed pitcher Amos Rusie. Indeed, he is the only player on the 1894 Giants roster whose last name begins with "R." Here is an 1895 Mayo Cut Plug (N300) tobacco card of Rusie (misspelled "Russie"):

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-bbc-0597f

While three players on the club had a last name starting with "W" (John Ward, Parke Wilson and Huyler Westervelt), only Ward participated in the doubleheader. It was Ward whose "strength seemed to be doubled" and who "whacked out that hot liner to right" in the second game against Chicago. Here's Ward's baseball card from the same set as above:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-bbc-0598f

As for the Washington doctor, I suspect it was one William Alexander Hammond, pictured below. Hammond had been Surgeon General of the U.S. Army during much of the Civil War and a co-founder of the American Neurological Association. More to the point, by the 1890s the doctor was a major player in the world of isopathy, researching and writing extensively on the subject.

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-cwpb-05202

Hammond was very familiar with the animal extract research undertaken years earlier by Dr. Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard. Apparently, one of these Brown-Séquard elixirs was used in the late 1880s by pitching great Pud Galvin. (More on that story can be found here.)

Under Hammond's supervision, the Columbia Chemical Company manufactured animal extracts such as Cerebrine, which the doctor both advocated and advertised. An ad published in the May 8, 1894 issue of The Washington Post was typical, stating that

… the physiological effects produced by a single dose of CEREBRINE are acceleration of the pulse with feeling of fullness and distention in the head, exhilaration of spirits, … [and] increase in muscular strength and endurance.

In the March 10, 1894 issue of The Medicine Age, a letter to the editor described that "the preparation employed was put up in a triangular bottle holding two drachms, and obtained directly from the Columbia Chemical Company." And, in the September 26, 1893 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) an article by Dr. John Harper Long of Northwestern University examined two of Hammond's extracts (Cerebrine and Medulline), noting that

… each small blue bottle was in a dark red pasteboard carton, labeled "Sterilized Solution of Cerebrine" and "Sterilized Solution of Medulline," with the name "William A. Hammond" in facsimile printed diagonally across it in red ink.

Both of these quotes match up well with the "three-cornered blue phial" described in the Globe-Democrat article.

Baseball Researcher blog reader Matthew Namee sent along a wonderful article in which Hammond is extensively interviewed about his products. The reporter was favorably impressed:

Five drops, with an equal quantity of distilled water, injected under the skin in the ordinary way is the dose. In five or ten minutes the pulse begins to beat much stronger and fuller, and increases ten to twenty beats a minute. The face becomes slightly flushed and there is a feeling of distension in the head, sometimes accompanied by a headache.

… Still more remarkable is the effect upon muscular strength. In the experiment which the writer had the pleasure of witnessing, a large and strong man was asked to put up a dumb bell weighing forty-five pounds. He did it fourteen times with his right hand and eleven times with his left. … After an injection of the fluid he "put up" the dumb-bell forty-two times with his right arm and thirty-five times with his left, and did it easier than before.

As it turns out, the whole thing was quackery at its finest. Not only were the effects of Cerebrine called into question by the medical community, but it appears that what Hammond was selling to the public was not animal extract at all. In the JAMA article, Dr. Long ultimately concluded that "the preparations 'Cerebrine' and 'Medulline' contain nitroglycerin as their active ingredients."

And in the June 1894 issue of The National Medical Review, Professor Albert B. Prescott of the University of Michigan described tests he made of Cerebrine purchased from Hegeman and Company, a drugstore at 196 Broadway in New York. Like Dr. Long, Professor Prescott found that the bottles contained nothing more than nitroglycerin.

The professor then prepared his own batch of Cerebrine, following the procedure published by Dr. Hammond. A warning: Prescott's description of the experiment may be a bit disturbing to the faint of heart.

I have macerated the brain of the ox and the contained blood in a mixture of equal parts of absolute alcohol, glycerin, and a saturated solution of boric acid in water, with frequent agitation and strong pressure, five months and twenty days, and have then made chemical examination of a portion of the product. The product, at this period of maceration, perfectly agrees in appearance every way with the ' cerebrine' which I obtained from Messrs. Hegeman & Co. last September. But the ' cerebrine ' of my preparation, under the directions published by Dr. Hammond, with the time of maceration just stated, does not contain a trace of nitro-glycerin.

Were Rusie and Ward ingesting the "real" Cerebrine, as disturbingly described above? Or did they take the nitroglycerin substitute? In either case, was the potion they swallowed responsible for an increase in their on-field strength and ability?

An article titled "The Latest Medical Fad," published in the February 1894 issue of The American Journal of Politics, summarized the apparent contradiction between Hammond as a respected physician and Hammond the "snake oil" salesman:

Dr. Hammond claims that cerebrine can strengthen the energy of the prize fighter, and the college crews, as well as cure disease, restore lost vigor, stimulate decaying intellect, renew the departing life. … If he is sincere he should be able to furnish some evidence of the truth of his claim.

Dr. Hammond is a scientist second to no physician in the United States. He offers us no clinical evidence. He shows us no cures. He points out no cases of old men made young again. He shows us only this farce of an athlete putting up a dumbbell, and a patent for his remedy.

… It is a pitiful —most pitiful exhibition of designing therapeutical insincerity. Dr. Hammond is a great man in the profession. He is a tower of professional grandeur and example. He is no man's intellectual inferior in the medical profession. In his specialty he has stood for years as the most imposing Colossus of them all. His cerebrine marks his fall.

To summarize: Assuming that the Globe-Democrat article is factual (which is by no means a certainty), over a number weeks near the end of the season and into the post-season of 1894, John Ward and Amos Rusie ingested an elixir that they thought would enhance their performance on the field. Whether it did or not, from actual physiological changes or a placebo effect, is not clear.

It should be noted that the use of Cerebrine was neither illegal nor was it banned by Organized Baseball. Indeed, the Globe-Democrat article implies there was nothing to hide: "They used the Washington physician's elixir in every Temple Cup game. … R—— and W—— will both tell you so."

Still, should Ward and Rusie's use of Hammond's elixir constitute an early dalliance in the use of a performance-enhancing drug?

Perfection?

2010-10-27T21:33:00.003-04:00

One of the most famous baseball quotes of all time is attributed to famed sportswriter Red Smith. There have been various versions used by Smith, but it essentially goes like this:

Ninety feet between bases is perhaps as close as man has ever come to perfection.

The problem is that the distance between the bases isn't 90 feet at all. What is the 90-foot distance all about? Well, the key is that a 90-foot square (generally called a "diamond") is used to help lay out the bases on the infield. But the bases aren't all the same size (home is a very special shape) and they are not all placed in similar locations relative to the corners of the 90-foot diamond.

In a prior blog entry (which I encourage the reader to review), I discuss the little-known fact that the rules of baseball require that home, first, and third bases each nestle neatly in their respective corners of the 90-foot diamond, but second base is centered on its corner of the diamond.

Here's a diagram (not drawn to scale) from the official rule book that shows the situation:

So, while the infield is laid out on a 90-foot diamond, the shortest distance between consecutive bases is clearly less than 90 feet.

So what are the distances between bases? To answer this question we first need to first define these distances as the shortest length between one base and the next.

It seems that we have four distances to determine: home to first, first to second, second to third, and third to home. However, the layout of the bases is reflectively symmetrical. That is, one can draw a line running through the center of home base and through the center of second base such that the left side and right side of the infield are mirror images of one another. Thus, the distance between home and first is identical to the distance between third and home. And the distance between first and second is the same as the distance between second and third. So, there are actually only two distances to calculate, not four.

Let's calculate two distances that are often covered by base stealers: first to second and third to home. Obviously the dynamics of stealing second base are quite different from those of stealing home, but still it should be interesting to compare the actual distances covered.

The easiest distance to calculate is that between first and second base. The shortest distance between first and second is represented by the double-headed red arrow in the diagram below, while the double-headed blue arrow is identical in length to one side of the 90-foot diamond:

All one needs to know to determine the length of the double-headed red arrow is the size of first and second base (which, of course, is also the size of third base). Each base is a square, 15 inches on a side. So, we need to subtract the full length of first base and half the length of second base (remember it is centered on its corner of the diamond) from the 90 foot double-headed blue arrow to determine the length of the double-headed red arrow:

distance between first and second = 90 feet - 15 inches - 7.5 inches
distance between first and second = 90 feet - 22.5 inches
distance between first and second = 90 feet - 1.875 feet
distance between first and second = 88.125 feet or 88 feet 1.5 inches

Now we are left with the more difficult calculation: the distance between third and home. The problem is the rather strange shape of home base. First, a bit of an aside to explain why it is that we have such an awkward-looking, five-sided home base.

For a number of years prior to the turn of the century, home base was a square, 12 inches to a side. Like first and third, home was nestled snugly in its corner of the diamond. However, in 1900 home plate was changed to its modern shape. Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide of 1900 explained the reasons behind the change:

With the plate placed in accordance with the form of the diamond field, that is, with its corner facing the pitcher instead of one of its sides, a width of 17 inches was presented for the pitcher to throw the ball over instead of 12 inches, the width of each side of the base. But this left the pitcher handicapped by having to "cut the corners" as it is called, besides which the umpire, in judging called balls and strikes, found it difficult to judge the "cut the corner" balls. To obviate this difficulty, the Committee [of Rules], while keeping the square plate in its old place—touching the lines of the diamond on two of its sides—gave it a new form in its fronting the pitcher, by making the front square with its width of 17 inches, the same as from corner to corner, from foul line to foul line. The change made is undoubtedly an advantage alike to the pitcher and umpire, as it enables the pitcher to see the width of base he has to throw the ball over better than before, and the umpire can judge called balls and strikes with less difficulty.

Now back to the calculation. In the diagram below, the shortest distance between third and home is represented by the double-headed red arrow. Note that this double-headed arrow runs from the home-base side of third to the closest corner of home plate. As in the above diagram, the length of the double-headed blue arrow is 90 feet.

Now for the hard part. What is the distance represented be the double-headed green arrow? The following diagram should help us determine that important information:

Distance C is what we are trying to determine. But C is the sum of distance A and B. To calculate A and B, we simply need to apply the Pythagorean Theorem. Remember that? Here's a refresher: In a right-angled triangle, the square of the hypotenuse (the longest side of the triangle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

By the way, have you ever noticed that near the end of The Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow, in an effort to show off his new honorary degree of Th.D. (Dr. of Thinkology), incorrectly states the Theorem? His butchered version is "The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side." Check it out:

But we've stalled long enough. Back to the math. First let's calculate distance A:

A² + A2 = (17 inches)²
2A² = 289 inches²
A² = 144.5 inches²
A = 12.02 inches

Now distance B:

B² + B² = (8.5 inches)²
2B² = 72.25 inches²
B² = 36.125 inches²
B = 6.01 inches

And so the double-headed green arrow (C) can now be calculated:

C = A + B
C = 12.02 inches + 6.01 inches
C = 18.03 inches

All that is left to do is to subtract the full length of third base (15 inches) and distance C (18.03 inches) from the 90 foot double-headed blue arrow to determine the length of the double-headed red arrow:

distance between third and home = 90 feet - 15 inches - 18.03 inches
distance between third and home = 90 feet - 33.03 inches
distance between third and home = 90 feet - 2.7525 feet
distance between third and home = 87.2475 feet or 87 feet 2.97 inches

Finally, let's compare the two distances between bases:

distance between first and second = 88.125 feet or 88 feet 1.5 inches
distance between third and home = 87.2475 feet or 87 feet 2.97 inches
difference = 0.8775 feet or 10.53 inches

And so we have our answer. Indeed, the distance between bases is very different. In fact, the distance between third and home is over 10½ inches shorter than the distance between first and second.

Sorry, Mr. Smith.

George Bignell

2010-10-12T22:00:00.005-04:00

Ever heard of George Bignell?

No? Maybe this will help: Bignell played four games for the old Milwaukee Brewers of the Union Association in 1884.

Still doesn't ring a bell? On October 3, 1884, Bignell set the record for most chances accepted in a game by a catcher with 23. The record has never been equaled.

Now got him?

No? Well, me either. Before I started researching him, I had never heard of the man. Of course, this raises the question: Why research him?

The answer: Because I recently ran across this photo at the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery web site:

New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Image ID: 55702

The photograph is identified as "George Brynan" and is listed under the subject of "baseball." But a quick check of any baseball encyclopedia will reveal that just one person named Brynan ever played in the big leagues: Charles Ruley "Tod" Brynan. Indeed, there doesn't appear to have been a "George Brynan" who played at any level of professional baseball.

Like Bignell, Tod Brynan played just four games in his major league career, pitching in the National League for Chicago (three games in 1888) and Boston (one game in 1891). Coincidentally, an image of Tod Brynan is also available at the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery web site. Alas, the NYPL has misidentified Tod Brynan as George Brynan. Here is that image:

New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Image ID: 55700

Note that at the bottom of the photograph is written "C. BRYNAN. P, CHICAGO." The image is actually of an Old Judge tobacco card of Brynan issued in 1888, part of what is referred to in the card collecting hobby as the N173 set. A similar card was sold at Legendary Auctions in August of 2010 for a whopping $1,777.50.

While there is some similarity between Tod Brynan in the N173 photo and the player in the head-and-shoulders photograph, a more obvious clue caused me to question the identification of the latter image. Take a look at the reverse of that photo portrait:

New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Image ID: 55702

Below and to the right of the New York Public Library stamp is a handwritten name: George Bignall. Below that name is a notation that appears to be an attempt to decipher the handwritten last name ... a rather poor attempt: Brynan. While the latter name was added to the NYPL database, it was the former name that I thought was more likely to be correct. I failed to find a big leaguer named Bignall, but big leaguer George Bignell was pretty close.

The next step was to contact the Pictorial History Committee (PHC) of the Society for American Baseball Research. The Committee's Player Image Index project is an attempt to catalog at least one image of every major league ballplayer. The entry for George Bignell was supplied by ace baseball researcher and New England baseball expert Bob Richardson, who found the following woodcut in the October 10, 1885 issue of the Brockton Gazette of Brockton, Massachusetts:

The image above was clearly based on the photo found at the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery web site. Additionally, the Bignell photo was taken at Bass Photo Studio in Brockton, while the woodcut was published in the Brockton Gazette.

There's really no question: the NYPL photo identified as George Brynan is actually one of former major league catcher George Bignell.

The Wild West at West Side Park

2010-10-01T21:09:00.006-04:00

From the mid-1890s to 1915, the Chicago Cubs (known as the White Stockings during much of the 19th century) played their home games at West Side Park, located at the corner of Polk and Lincoln (now Wolcott) Streets. This was the park of the famed Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance Cubs; the park of the dominant Cubs squad that won an astonishing 116 games in 1906 (they lost just 36); the park that hosted three out of four straight World Series (1906-1908 and 1910), with the Cubbies winning two of those championships.

But beginning in 1916, the Cubs moved to a different home: Weeghman Field (now known as Wrigley Field). With the departure of the Cubs, West Side Park dropped from the major league scene, becoming a venue for semi-pro baseball, amateur games, and (as we shall see) other events.

Thankfully for the baseball researcher, the park is well-documented online, with many hundreds of photos available at the Library of Congress's Photographs from the Chicago Daily News web site. A few of these images follow.

Here's a shot of the park in 1908:

SDN-007231, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum

And here is a photograph taken in 1907 at West Side Park showing Giants catcher Roger Bresnahan donning the innovative shinguards he first introduced at the beginning of the season:

SDN-053191, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum

And check out this great photo of Pirates legend Honus Wagner at West Side Park. Note that Honus is wearing his cap backwards, a common practice today, but very rarely done a century ago.

SDN-054782, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum

As a brief aside, for what it's worth, the earliest example I've found of a baseball player wearing his cap backwards is this 1879 photo of the University of Pennsylvania baseball team:

University of Pennsylvania Photograph Collection Record ID 20050308013

Check out the player standing third from right, one Gustavus Remak:

But let us return to West Side Park in the 20th century.

One of the most intriguing Chicago Daily News photographs taken at the park is this image:

DN-0066934, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum

Sure, some great games were played at West Side Park over the years. But none could match the game seen here. Horses, cows and bulls are all over the field and in front of the outfield walls are enormous pieces of scenery, painted to look like mountains. What's the story?

An easy clue is found at the top of the photo: a date stamp seen in reverse. That date is August 23, 1916. What happened that day at West Side Park? Well, take a look at this advertisement from the Chicago Daily Tribune of August 19, 1916:

From August 19 to 27, 1916, West Side Park was the site of a round-up and "Shan-Kive" (purportedly an Indian word for "good time") with "88,000 square feet of scenery": the giant murals in the outfield.

The advertisement noted that there will be "2 complete exhibitions daily at 2:00 and 8:00 p.m." with "15,000,000 candle power illumination." Take another look at the photo above. Could those be small light standards mounted atop the grandstand roof down what once was the left field line?

Additionally, the advertisement states that "all contests [will be] supervised by Col. W.F. Cody (Buffalo Bill)." The 70-year-old Cody was a fixture at the event, one of the last appearances of his illustrious career, as he passed away less than half a year later. Indeed, two other photos from the Chicago Daily News captured the colorful showman seated on the field at West Side Park. Take a look at this wonderful pair of portraits of the famed "Buffalo Bill" taken on August 23, 1916 (and be sure to take note of the stunning mountain scenes in the background):

DN-0066931, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum

DN-0066930, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum

A promotional description of the event was published in the Chicago Daily Tribune of August 14, 1916. It reads:

OLD CUBS PARK CHANGED INTO "WILD WEST" SCENE.

Arena Being Transformed Into Miniature Wyoming Ranch with Background of Mountains

The cowboys, the cowgirls, and all the other ranch people who are coming to Chicago to contribute to the strenuous incitements of the big Shan-Kive and Roundup, which opens next Saturday afternoon, will find themselves in a familiar scenic atmosphere at the old Cubs' west side ball park.

The work of transforming the arena into a miniature Wyoming ranch, with its panoramic background of hills and mountains, has been rapidly progressing. The scenic effects at the ball park are expected to prove a revelation.

The money prizes, which will be awarded by a board of judges led by Col. William F.Cody, the famous scout and Indian fighter, will range from $1,000 in gold for the "best all round cowboy or cowgirl" to $500 for the winner in a wild horse race. Every day will have its own special contests. Interspersed will be arenic performances by Indians, Siberian Cossacks, Bedouin Arabs, Japanese, and Mexican Vaqueros.

The Cubs may have left months before, but in August of 1916, Buffalo Bill and the Wild West came to West Side Park.

The Play at the Plate

2010-09-20T21:55:00.006-04:00

In 1999, the Detroit News published Home Sweet Home: Memories of Tiger Stadium, a book containing some wonderful photos from the newspaper's archives. Check out this one of Detroit's Recreation Park on page 15 (more about that park here):

... and this nice action shot on page 19:

Another great photo is found on page 25:

Its caption reads:

Ty Cobb was safe at home in this close play at the plate, sliding deftly under the tag of Boston catcher Lou Criger in a game at Bennett Park.

It's a marvelous photo, but I've got a problem with the caption. I agree that the catcher is Lou Criger, a fairly distinctive looking fellow with light brown (or red?) hair, a thin build, and a somewhat gaunt face. Here are a few other photos of the longtime American League catcher:

Chicago Daily News negatives collection, SDN-001462. Courtesy of Chicago History Museum

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, [LOT 13163-17, no. 43]

There's really no question that the catcher is Criger, but he's certainly not wearing a Boston uniform. Take a good look at this detail:

There is clearly a patch on Criger's left shoulder. In fact, it's a Fleur-de-lis. The same marking adorns Criger's cap, which he tossed behind him and is seen on the ground just beyond the umpire's left leg. The decorative symbol has long been associated with the city of St. Louis and was used at various times on St. Louis Browns uniforms. Indeed, Criger's uniform and cap are consistent with the club's outfit of 19o8 and 1909. Since Criger's only season with the club was 1909, we can be pretty certain that was the year the photo was shot.

So while the caption states that the photo is of Criger with Boston in 1904, it's actually of Criger with the Browns, five years later.

As for the location, it is most certainly Bennett Park in Detroit. Not only are the Tigers wearing their home whites, but the roof of the stands in the background matches that seen in this large panoramic photo from the Library of Congress:

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-123165 DLC]

Note also that the two light "patches" on the roof match those seen in the panoramic photo. Here's a detail from the above panoramic photo:

In 1909, the Browns played a dozen games against the Tigers in Detroit: April 30, May 1, June 22, June 23, June 24, June 25, June 26, September 5, a doubleheader on September 6, September 13 and September 14.

According to The Sporting Life of May 8, 1909, the April 30 game between Detroit and St. Louis was "played on a damp field in very cold weather." Not only does the field not look particularly damp, many of the fans have removed their jackets. This date is highly unlikely.

The next day's game can also be eliminated, as the same paper stated:

It was bitterly cold, a high wind blew and the umpires stopped the game in the fourth and again in the sixth because of blinding snowstorms that interrupted play.

The next series of games took place in June and these five dates are all much more likely.

The early September series is a possibility, though Criger did not play in the field during the first game of the doubleheader on September 6, so we can eliminate that game from the running.

Finally, the mid-September pair of contests are out, as Criger did not play in either game.

We are left with the following possible dates: June 22, June 23, June 24, June 25, June 26, September 5, and the second game between the Browns and Tigers played on September 6.

The photo is wonderful, not just because it captures a great bit of action at the plate, but it encapsulates the turbulent history between Criger and Cobb. According to The Sporting Life of March 27, 1909:

Catcher Criger, of the Browns, [was] quoted as saying that Ty Cobb is a bone-headed base-runner, and that he can outguess Tyrus.

Two months later, in the May 22 issue of The Sporting Life, Cobb was reported as saying:

I never knock a ball player. Yes, Criger is a good catcher, but I don't believe he's playing the game he put up last year. I'll say this much, though, that I think he and Cy Morgan tried to put me out of business last year over in Boston. You know Morgan throws a vicious ball. He aimed one at my head and if I hadn't fallen it would have killed me.

In the biography titled Ty Cobb, Charles Alexander summarized the Cobb-Criger rivalry of 1909:

Just as the Browns left Dallas (their spring training site) and the Tigers came in, the local newspapers quoted Criger as bragging that Cobb had never given him much trouble and that "I've got his 'goat,' and I've got the rest of that Tiger bunch, too." Criger went on to say that in past seasons, when Cobb got up after dodging close pitches called by Criger, "the fight was all out of him."

Before Criger could get out of Dallas, Cobb hunted him up to promise that he would steal on Criger the first time he got on base against the Browns that year. That he did, when the Browns came into Bennett Park on April 30. It would make a good story if Cobb had actually run wild on Criger everytime Detroit and St. Louis met for the rest of the season, as Cobb later claimed in his autobiography. Yet besides Cobb's confusion in chronology, so that he had Criger in 1909 still catching Cy Young for Boston, the fact is that Criger generally held his own against Cobb and the rest of the Tigers on the few occasions when he played against Detroit that year. Cobb never successively stole second, third, and home on Criger, as he maintained. On May 1 he did clearly show up the veteran catcher by taking second after hitting into a fielder's choice, as Criger held the ball at homeplate; and toward the end of the season he stole second and third in succession on Criger. But on June 24, Criger pegged him out twice in a row, and later that day Criger took Cobb's spikes on his unguarded shins to tag out the Georgian as he tried to score from third on a grounder to shortstop Bobby Wallace. Criger stamped the pain off, stuck a gauze pad on his wound, and stayed in.

I tried to track down microfilm of The Detroit News Tribune on inter-library loan, but unfortunately I struck out. So I contacted my good friend, Peter Morris, who lives in Michigan, in hopes that he might be able to do some quick sleuthing. It also doesn't hurt that Peter is simply unsurpassed when it comes to baseball research. I encourage one and all to check out his web site.

Indeed, Peter came through with flying colors, tracking down the photo in the Sunday, June 27, 1909 edition of The Detroit News Tribune. The photo, taken the previous day, was preceded by the following title:

COBB SPRINTED HARD TO MAKE FOUR BASES ON
HIS DRIVE, BUT THE BALL BEAT HIM TO THE PLATE

... and below the photo was a caption that read:

The Camera Shutter Snapped as the Georgian Slid to the Plate and the Veteran, Lou Criger, Tagged Him. The Ball Hit the Right Field Bleachers, But Bounded Back Into Hartzell's Hands, and a Quick Relay Resulted in the Georgian's Retirement at Home.

Umpiring behind the plate that day was Billy Evans, seen running in on the play at right.

The story of the game was a mistake by Criger (likely caused by Cobb's tactics) that cost the Browns the game. Here's the synopsis of the play as reported by The Washington Post on June 27:

Catcher Lou Criger made the champion bonehead play of major league history today, and through it lost a chance for an almost sure triple play and the cutting off of four Detroit runs. Incidentally, Detroit for a moment practically had four men on bases, paradoxical as the statement may seem. Crawford, Cobb, and Rossman had got on in order, with none out and O'Leary next up. He hit rather weakly to Jones, who pegged to Criger to force Crawford.

The play was so easy that Crawford only trotted in, expecting a sure out. But Cobb upset things. He commences to yell to Rossman and O'Leary to come on, and apparently got to Criger's goat, for Criger, without touching the plate, pegged back to Jones. Jones kept his head and shot the ball back to Criger, O'Leary being safe at first in the meantime.

Crawford stopped stockstill and nobody was out and four on, while Criger just stood and looked. Finally, Crawford made a dash for the plate and Criger touched him. On the original toss home, if he had stepped on the plate and thrown to third he surely would have got Cobb and probably Rossman too, and there would have been three out and no runs.

Still, Criger managed to retire Cobb on his attempt for an inside-the-park home run, as captured in this beautiful photo of the play at the plate of June 26, 1909.

The Man Who Wasn't Mike Tiernan

2010-09-10T14:04:00.019-04:00

Mike Tiernan was a very good ballplayer. He patrolled the outfield for the New York Giants for over a dozen years (1887-1899), piling up 1,838 hits, 428 stolen bases, a .311 batting average and 106 home runs. The latter mark seems underwhelming, but one must remember that the long ball was an uncommon occurrence at the time. Indeed, Tiernan was one of just seven players to sock 100 or more home runs in the 19th century.

According to his obituary in The New York Times of November 9, 1918:

In the early days of the Giants the name of Mike Tiernan was on the lips of every baseball fan, and to this day the old-timers talk about the long drives which Silent Mike used to make in Harlem.

All-in-all, Tiernan put together quite a career on the diamond.

A number of photos of Tiernan can be found on the web. Here are a few from the Library of Congress's American Memory web site:

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LOT 13163-05, no. 214

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LOT 13163-05, no. 212

And in this photo found at the Baseball Fever web site, Tiernan can be seen sitting with his 1888 Giants teammates (he's two players to the right of Jim Mutrie, who sits at center in street clothes):

http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?41332-19th-Century-Historic-Photographic-Archive/page3

And this stunning image of Tiernan is found at the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery web site:

New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Image ID: 1227068

However, one image in particular intrigued me. It is the following photo found also from the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery web site:

New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Image ID: 55889

The individual in this latter image looks nothing like the other photographs of Mike Tiernan, yet under "Subjects and Names" the web site lists: "Baseball," "New York Giants" and "Tiernan, Mike."

The name of the photo studio and its location can be clearly seen on the reverse of the photograph: , J. Gurney & Son, 707 Broadway, N.Y. Here's an image of the reverse:

New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Image ID: 55889

But according to Craig's Daguerreian Registry, Gurney & Son was only in business at 707 Broadway from 1857 to 1869. Mike Tiernan wasn't even born until 1867, so clearly this cannot be our baseball star. Additionally, close examination of the photo shows that the individual's name as hand-written on the front appears to be Tieman, not Tiernan.

So who is this "Tieman?"

The photo of the mystery individual is actually one of a set of seven at the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery web site, each produced at the same photo studio and each listed as a baseball subject. Here are the other six photos:

New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Image ID: 55912

New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Image ID: 55903

New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Image ID: 55875

New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Image ID: 55893

New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Image ID: 55863

New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Image ID: 55861

So who are Fox, Kavanagh, Estephe, Foley, Goldthwait, Deery, and Tieman? Happily, the answer is revealed in a New York Times article of January 12, 1863, headlined:

CONCLUSION OF THE BILLIARD TOURNAMENT.
Dudley Kavanagh the Champion of America
Grand Match of the East Against the West

The article reads, in part:

Last evening the grand billiard tournament that has been held for the last eight or ten days at Irving Hall, came to a most brilliant conclusion by a grand match, entitled the East against the West, and played by the following gentlemen:

THE EAST.
Michael Phelan
Dudley Kavanagh
Wm. Goldthwait
Victor Estephe
Chris. Bird

THE WEST.
Philip Tieman
John Seereiter
Michael Foley
Louis Fox
John Deery

This match caused the greatest amount of enthusiasm, the hall being filled by both ladies and gentlemen, who manifested the liveliest interest in the game. After playing two hours and thirty-three minutes, the Eastern players were declared the victors by 162 points; the East had 70 innings; the West 69. The largest score was made by GOLDTHWAIT who counted 222; the smallest by FOX, who only made 54 for his side. PHELAN for the East strung 139, being beaten in point of numbers, both by KAVANAGH and GOLDTHWAITH [sic].

At the conclusion of the match the prizes were awarded to the conquerors by Mr. JAMES KELLY, who in a few, but most appropriate words, presented the winner of the greatest number of games during the tournament, DUDLEY KAVANAGH, with the richly inlaid billiard-table and the beautiful gold mounted cue, at the same time installing him as the Champion Billiard-player of America.

Mr. KAVANAGH, in returning thanks, hoped he should be enabled, and he would do his best, to keep the cue against all comers.

LOUIS FOX, as the second best player in America, was presented with a check for $250, which prize was suitably acknowledged by that gentleman.

Just how these photographs of top billiards players were misidentified as baseball players, including the specific err of Mike Tiernan, is a bit of a mystery. However, as the photos apparently originated from the collection of A.G. Spalding, the former baseball player, executive and sporting goods mogul, perhaps the assumption was that all of his images were baseball-related.

I Love a Parade

2010-04-25T14:56:00.029-04:00

Well, Andy Strasberg has done it again. Last year he sent along a few photos from his Fantography web site that provided great fodder for baseball research. Now he's sent along another beauty that, I must say, has been incredibly fun to research. Check out this photo:

Andy had no information about the image at all. What you see is what you get. So what do we see?

First, a quick perusal of the picture reveals the following information:

some sort of parade is going on
a baseball float dominates the scene
given the size of the street and buildings, the location is likely a good-sized city

The float is adorned with autographs of numerous baseball players. Here are the names that can be discerned and the years they played in the big leagues:

Babe Dahlgren (1935-46)
Eddie Lake (1939-41, 1943-50)
Pee Wee Reese (1940-42, 1946-58)
Bob Feller (1936-41, 1945-56)
Dizzy Trout (1939-52, 1957)
Birdie Tebbets (1936-42, 1946-52)
Pat Mullin (1940-41, 1946-53)

All seven men played for different clubs, so apparently the float isn't meant to honor a specific team. And the years the players have in common are 1940, 1941 and 1946. Given the predominance of military uniforms worn by men and women both on the float and lining the streets, it's a good guess that the photo was taken either during or after World War II. This would point to 1946 as the most likely year, but at this point that's just an educated guess ... nothing more.

Not much more can be gleaned from the float. Some of the kids on top are wearing uniforms with words or letters across the chest, but nothing definitive can be discerned. And the words on the side of the float are extremely difficult to read, though I suspect the upper words read "JUNIOR BASEBALL."

Let's move to the street. An address, street sign, or business sign would be helpful, but very little jumps out. Indeed, I could find only three clues in this vein.

The first clue is the advertising on the side of the building behind the float. Here is a close-up:

We are seeing just the left half of the advertising on the wall, so it is a challenge to determine exactly what is written. At the top are the letters 'CUNNI." Below that is a circle with just a few letters visible: "DOW" and "D" and "ST." (I wonder if this might not read something like "DOWN THE D--- STREET?") Below the circle are the words "BUSH & LANE" displayed vertically and "PIA" and "AND" and further down "SAL" and "5" displayed horizontally.

Thanks goodness for the unobstructed vertical "BUSH & LANE." This was the name of a piano company, which means that the "CUNNI" is likely "CUNNINGHAM" (also a piano manufacturer) and the "PIA" is assuredly "PIANO." In short, the wall is probably an advertisement for a store that sells pianos. Alas, this information does no help determine a date, location or explanation for the photo.

A second clue is the presence of two strange towers, one at the right side of the photo and the other behind the float. Here's a close-up of one:

The image on each tower appears to be a movie reel floating above an automobile. Could this be a sign for movie parking? If so, why are there two signs? And why such an elaborate sign for such a mundane purpose.

The final clue is tough to see. It is hidden far down the street and sits atop a building on the left side. Here's a detail from the photo:

Above the roof of a building, a sign with three letters reads, from top to bottom, "FOX." It's not a unique word, but it is one that is often associated with theaters. Could this be a Fox Theater?

Following this hunch, the next move is to search for theaters named "Fox." As one might guess, there are quite a few. In fact, the folks at Cinema Treasures, a web site devoted to classic movie theaters, has cataloged nearly 200 theaters with the word "Fox" in their name, half of which were known simply as "Fox Theater." From the Fox in Spokane, Washington to the Fox in Hollywood, California to the Fox in Hackensack, New Jersey to the Fox in Pensacola, Florida: it seems that the four corners of the country and everyplace in between has had (or still has) a Fox Theater.

Continuing with the hunch and putting everything together, our Fox Theater was located in a decent-sized city during the 1940s. While that should help eliminate a number of theaters, it still lays before us a daunting task: which Fox is our Fox?

After hours of "Fox hunting," I managed to track down this image of the Fox Theater at 2211 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan.

Photo courtesy of http://www.scottymoore.net/detroit56.html

The vertical "FOX" sign on this building is slightly different than that seen on our mystery image, but the above photo was taken in recent times, not back in the 1940s. It is reasonable that the FOX sign may have changed a bit over the years, so I decided to dig a little further and found another image of the Fox Theater in Detroit:

Photo courtesy of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Fox_Theatre_(Detroit,_Michigan)

What is interesting about this modern photo of the theater is that across Woodward Avenue and down a block or so there is a church with a steeple. Referring to our baseball float photo, we see a similar church and steeple on the other side of the street from the building topped by the "FOX" sign. A quick look at a map of the area reveals that the church is the Central United Methodist Church at 23 East Adams (the corner of Woodward Avenue and Adams).

So both the Central United Methodist Church and the Fox Theater are still standing on Woodward Avenue. If only we could go to Detroit, walk down Woodward Avenue and see if any of the buildings we see match those in our mystery photo. Well, thanks to Google Street View, we can virtually take a walk down Woodward Avenue, so I did just that.

I started at the Fox Theater in Detroit and "walked" southeast on Woodward. Here's the view southeast with the Fox Theater on the right:

After "walking" few blocks southeast, I got to the Central United Methodist Church. Here's the view looking back (northwest) at the Fox Theater (on he left) from the church (on the right):

And, after "walking" a number of blocks further southeast, I turned around and looked back (northwest) at this scene:

We're just about half a block south of John R Street, looking northwest up Woodward Avenue, and voila! It's a perfect match with our baseball float photo. (Click here to enter Google Street View at the above location).

Revisiting the float photo, let's explore some of the distinctive buildings seen here on Woodward Avenue in Detroit.

A) Fox Theater, 2211 Woodward Avenue.

B) Central United Methodist Church, 23 East Adams Avenue (corner of Woodward and Adams)

C) Fyfe Building, 10 West Adams (corner of Woodward and Adams). Here's a great photo:

Photo courtesy of Detroit Publishing Company Photograph Collection, LC-D41-40

D) David Broderick Tower, 10 Witherell Street (corner of Woodward and Witherell). Here's a picture of the Broderick Tower (on the left):

Photo courtesy of http://brodericktower.com

E) Wright-Kay Building (also known as the Schwankovsky Temple of Music), 1500 Woodward Avenue. This is an absolutely gorgeous building and, apparently, the first in Detroit to have an electric elevator. Here is a photo:

Photo courtesy of http://detroit1701.org/Schwankovsky.htm

F) St. John’s Episcopal Church, 50 East Fisher Freeway. Hard to see in the baseball float photo as it is pretty far away. Here's a photo:

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/71288712@N00/2383972369

So there's no doubt exactly where the photo was taken. But when was it taken? When was there a World War II-era parade on Woodward Avenue? Here's the answer:

Back in 1946, Detroit held the Automotive Golden Jubilee, a two-week celebration of the end of the war and war-time related manufacturing and a return to doing what Detroit did best: making cars. On June 1, 1946, the World's Fair-like celebration reached a climax with the Motor City Cavalcade, a parade down Woodward Avenue.

The Detroit Public Library has an excellent online exhibit about the Jubilee. The site features the following image of the cover of the Jubilee program:

Recognize the logo? It's the same "movie reel" floating above a car seen on the towers in the baseball float photo. But that's not a movie reel, it's a wheel orbited by electrons, a symbol of the automobile industry moving into the atomic age.

The following image of the parade is from Life magazine in 1946:

Note the numerous towers topped by the Jubilee logo, identical to those seen in our float photo. There's no question that our mystery photo was taken at this parade.

Amazingly, there is even footage of the parade on YouTube.

So, the baseball float photo was taken during the Motor City Cavalcade parade on June 1, 1946, from a location just about half a block south of John R Street, looking northwest up Woodward Avenue in Detroit.

But what of the baseball float? What is its story? Alas, I have been unable to find any information about that particular float. Perhaps one of my readers can help solve that final mystery.

That Famous Yankees Logo

2010-04-12T22:08:00.001-04:00

For a number of years now, the New York Yankees (and numerous others) have repeated a story about the origin of their famous interlocking "NY" logo. Here's what they said in their 2009 media guide:

It wasn’t until 1909 that the most recognizable insignia in sports—the interlocking “NY”—made its first appearance on the caps and left sleeves of Highlanders uniforms. The design was created in 1877 by Louis B. Tiffany for a medal to be given by the New York City Police Department to Officer John McDowell, the first NYC policeman shot in the line of duty. Perhaps because one of the club’s owners, Bill Devery, was a former NYC police chief, the design was adopted by the organization.

We've just passed the centennial of the famous logo and the story intrigued me, so I thought I'd take a further look.

First, I wondered, where did the story (true or false) come from? My search for the origina of the story was surprisingly difficult and, to date, the earliest version I could find was in an April 11, 1992 article in the New York Times by Douglas Martin titled "For 14 Bronx Workers, A Small, Small Token." It reads, in part:

For the 16th straight year, New York City employees who work in the Bronx and who demonstrated valor will receive gold-plated medals. They are based on a medal of valor designed for the Police Department by Tiffany's in 1877. The stylish "NY" on that medal later became the symbol of the Yankees.

Surely the story must predate that Times article, but I can't seem to track it down.

By the way, the nickname "Yankees" would not truly take hold with the New York American League ball club until the 1910s. In the first decade of the club's existence it was more often referred to as the New York Highlanders or New York Americans. However, for purposes of this blog entry, I'll be calling them the Yankees.

Having come up short on the history of the story, I next decided to delve into the story of Officer McDowell. After reading a number of contemporary newspaper accounts, I was able to piece together what happened:

At 3 o'clock in the morning on January 8, 1877, Officer John McDowell was walking down Seventh Avenue when he noticed something amiss at Courtney's Liquor Store. A light was on and the door had been forced open, so the officer entered. There he found three burglars with their loot: $120 worth of cigars. One of the burglars, a 19-year-old named James Farrell (sometimes referred to as George Flint), attempted to escape. As he rushes past McDowell, the policeman struck him with his club. The burglar drew a revolver and fired, the bullet hitting McDowell behind his left ear and passing out his right temple. While the other burglars escaped, the seriously wounded officer managed to wrestle Farrell to the ground, at which point a number of other officers came upon the scene and arrested the burglar. The heroic police officer eventually recovered from his wounds and was given $1,000 for his bravery by the Trustees of the Riot Relief Fund. Additionally, McDowell was awarded the New York City Police Department Medal of Valor.

In short, Officer John McDowell was indeed shot in the line of duty and did receive the Medal of Valor.

Now what about the claim that McDowell was "the first NYC policeman shot in the line of duty?" As it turns out, that statement is most certainly incorrect, as that ignominious distinction belongs to one James Cahill, shot and killed on September 29, 1854. This is made clear in this otherwise somewhat confusing article that appeared in the New York Daily Tribune of September 30, 1854:

CONFLICT WITH BURGLARS
POLICEMAN SHOT BY THEM, AND ALMOST INSTANTLY KILLED
Yesterday morning, shortly before 3 o'clock, two burglars, who had broken into Mr. Logan's bakery in Ninth st., near Avenue C, were discovered by one of the inmates of the premises, and made a hasty retreat, pursued, however, by the individual who first saw them. He called for help, which attracted the attention of policeman James Cahill, of the Eleventh Ward, who, seeing the rascals running off, gave chase and came up with them on the corner of Tenth st. and Avenue B. He immediately closed in with them and a struggle ensued, and during its continuance of a few minutes several pistol shots were discharged, when the two men, who had been struggling with the officer by a female from the upper window of Mr. Simpson's residence near by ran off. The reports of the pistol being heard by officers Lake and Vermilyea, of the same district, they hastened to the spot, and saw their associate holding on to a small tree and staggering as if about to fall. They asked him if he was shot, in response to which he gave a groan, sank to the pavement, and expired in a few seconds afterward. His dead body was immediately conveyed to the Police station by the officers, where it awaits the holding of the Coroner's inquisition.

Now what of that medal? Not many were awarded (the particular medal design lasted just about a dozen years before being revamped), and still fewer are extant. But by good fortune, I was able to track down not only a contemporary New York City Police Department Medal of Valor, but the very one that had been awarded to Officer McDowell back in 1877. The little treasure resides at the New York City Police Museum in Lower Manhattan, and the good folks at the museum graciously allowed me to share these images of its front and back:

Photo courtesy of the New York City Police Museum

Photo courtesy of the New York City Police Museum

The reverse reads:

Presented to Patrolman
John McDowell
For Bravery.
In pursuance of resolution
of the Board of Police of
New York.
Dated January 12th 1877.
Commissioners
Wm. F. Smith D.W.C. Wheeler
J.B. Erhardt S.P. Nichols

As a side note, one of the Police Commissioners listed is a gentleman named DeWitt C. Wheeler. I have been unable determine the relationship between this DeWitt C. Wheeler and the DeWitt C. Wheeler who produced the song slides for Take Me Out to the Ball Game in 1908 (see my blog entry on the subject). I suspect that the two were indeed related.

A close examination of the lower left edge of the medal reveals the words "TIFFANY & CO., N.Y.," so it seems a safe bet the medal was designed and produced by the famous company, though it was almost assuredly not designed by Louis B. Tiffany himself.

Now let's take a closer look at the portion of the medal that we are interested in the most:

Photo courtesy of the New York City Police Museum

Certainly the letters are centered and interlocking, like the Yankees logo. But is this unique? Actually, no. In fact, the Yankees dabbled in an interlocking, though not centered, "NY" logo back in 1905. Here's a photo showing the interesting design on the shoulder of Yankees first baseman Hal Chase (who you can read more about at my blog entry):

Chicago Daily News negatives collection, SDN-003882. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society.

So, interlocking letters were nothing new in baseball. What about interlocking letters that are also centered atop one another? Actually, that wasn't new either. In fact, a year before the Yankees took the field with their new logo, the New York Giants introduced an interlocking and centered "NY" logo. Here's an image of Giants catcher Roger Bresnahan in 1908 showing the design on his left shoulder:

The next year, the Giants altered the look of their interlocking NY, with a fancier version that was the Giants logo for decades to come. Here's the 1909 design as worn by Giants coach Arlie Latham (by the way, that's Wilbert Robinson in the background with a mustache):

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-03271

So, in 1909 there was really nothing new about interlocking and centered letters as logos in baseball. Both New York teams were using them, as were the 1909 Cardinals and even the 1909 Pirates ("PBC" standing for "Pirates Baseball Club"), as seen at the National Baseball Hall of Fame's online exhibit, Dressed to the Nines.

Now let's take a look at the "NY" as worn by these early Yankees. Here's a picture showing Willie Keeler wearing the Yankees logo on his sleeve in 1909:

Getty Images preview image #82985601

And, while this next photo of infielder Bill Stumpf (misspelled Stump on the image) is from 1912, when the Yankees "supersized" their logo on their left chest, it shows essentially the same "NY" as adopted in 1909:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-11311

Here's a detail from the above photograph clearly showing the logo:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-11311

Here's a side-by-side comparison of the medal and the Yankees logo:

So the question is: Does the look of the "N" and "Y" on the medal match (or come close to matching) that of this early Yankees "NY" logo? That question is, to some extent, a matter of opinion. However, it seems to me that there are a number of distinct similarities:

In both the medal and the Yankees logo, the "N" has concave vertical "bars"
In both the medal and the Yankees logo, the point where the two separate elements (the "V") at the top of the "Y" join occurs just above the angled cross-member of the "N"
In both the medal and the Yankees logo, the bottom of the "Y" features a distinct concavity, as do the bottoms and tops of the "N"

Interestingly, the modern Yankees "NY" logos (they actually have a few that differ slightly) have lost the last of the above distinctive characteristics: the concavities at the ends of the letters. Here are those logos:

Finally, what of the supposed link between the medal, the logo and Yankees co-owner Bill Devery? Most sources state that Devery joined the New York City police force in 1878, the year after McDowell earned the Medal of Valor. Twenty years later the man known as "Big Bill" had worked his way up to Chief of Police. Along with Frank Farrell, Devery was co-owner of the Yankees starting in 1903 and ending with the sale of the club to Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston in 1915.

So, Devery was indeed with the Yankees at the time the logo was adopted for the 1909 season. But why would Devery (or anyone else for that matter) harken back to a somewhat obscure police medal as an inspiration? That question remains unanswered.

I've found no "smoking gun" to help solve the mystery. Indeed, there doesn't appear to be a single reference to the Yankees adopting a new "NY" design in newspaper coverage in 1909, let alone a reason for the introduction of the logo. Perhaps one of my readers can shed additional light on the story?

A "New" Role for Mike Donlin

2010-04-02T13:52:00.013-04:00

I was watching a Buster Keaton movie the other day when I was somewhat startled to see a former major leaguer make a cameo appearance. The baseball-player-turned-actor was none other than Mike Donlin.

Donlin spent 12 year in the big leagues with six different clubs, but is best known for his time with the New York Giants. For the World Champion 1905 Giants, Donlin was the starting center fielder, pacing the club with a .356 batting average and a league-leading 124 runs scored. Here's a photograph of Donlin at Chicago's West Side Grounds, home of the Cubs prior to their move to Wrigley Field:

Chicago Daily News negatives collection, SDN-003778. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society.

In five seasons during his career, Donlin finished with one of the top three batting averages in his league, and when he finally hung up his spikes following the 1914 season, his lifetime .334 average was in the top 20 all-time.

But back to the movie ...

What startled me was not that Donlin showed up in a movie. Indeed, most baseball historians are familiar with Donlin's Hollywood career. Following his days as a big leaguer, Donlin appeared in numerous motion pictures, most notably in a role as a Union general in Buster Keaton's beloved 1926 film The General. He also made appearances in films such as Raffles, The Amateur Cracksman (1917) featuring Donlin's friend John Barrymore, She Done Him Wrong (1933) starring a very young Cary Grant, and a pair of movies starring Walter Huston scheduled to air on Turner Classic Movies on April 6, 2010: The Star Witness (1931) and The Beast of the City (1932). With roles in over 60 movies, Donlin was no stranger to the silver screen.

What startled me was that Donlin was in this particular movie: Spite Marriage (1929). IMDB (the Internet Movie Database) doesn't make note of Donlin's role and neither do any other sources I could track down. Yet, about 50 minutes into the film, there is Donlin, manning a ship's engine room along with Keaton. Here are a few stills from the film showing Donlin:

And here's a close-up of Donlin from this last still:

I've submitted this new information to the folks at IMDB. Here's hoping they add Spite Marriage to Donlin's list of acting "accomplishments."

Update of December 11, 2010:

I just checked and found that IMDB has indeed made the update that Mike Donlin had an uncredited role in "Spite Marriage."

Also, blog reader Meho Midjich commented that Mike Donlin appears in John Ford's "Up the River." Indeed, Meho is correct. Here's a screen shot of Donlin from the movie:

Once again, I've submitted this new information to IMDB.

An Earthquake in Charleston

2010-02-28T11:10:00.018-05:00

With the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, I thought I'd pass along the following brief story:

Nearly 125 years ago, on August 31, 1886, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake rocked Charleston, South Carolina. The devastation was widespread and though the loss of life was surprisingly low (some 60 people perished, though various accounts report a slightly greater total), a great many structures in the city were heavily damaged.

The U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library has a collection of photos related to the disaster. Here's just one:

Earthquake damage to in Charleston, S.C., 1886
Photograph by John K. Hillers courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

(For those interested, the above photo was taken at the corner of East Bay and Cumberland in Charleston, looking west along Cumberland Street. The corner store at 205 East Bay was Wm. M. Bird & Co., a dealer in general building supplies.)

One structure that apparently escaped the effects of the temblor was a local ballpark. The following story appeared in the Chicago Herald soon after the disaster:

"I was down in South Carolina during all of the earthquake troubles," said a commercial traveler, "and I never again want to be a witness of such scenes as I saw there. I'll not attempt to describe the incidents to you—they have already been sufficiently touched upon in the daily papers. But there is one little phase of the thing which the newspapers have not even mentioned. You know business was suspended in Charleston. All of the stores excepting grocery and provision stores were closed. The banks were not open. The theaters closed their doors. Even the newspapers suspended publication for an issue or two. But the day after the first terrible quake I happened out by the baseball grounds, and I'll be durned [sic] if there wasn't two clubs in there a playing, and quite a crowd sitting on the benches cheering the players. I looked through a crack in the fence , and just then another earthquake shock came. The umpire motioned to the players to go right along, but the pitcher, who was then in the box, asked to have the game called for a few minutes because the home plate was wobbling so he couldn't put the ball in straight. The umpire acceded to this reasonable request, and after a delay of ten minutes I heard the umpire call out, 'play ball—batter up.' Then I left, satisfied that baseball is the one American institution which even an earthquake can't knock out.

Rabbit Maranville Is Not a Nazi

2010-02-10T23:06:00.031-05:00

In September of 2009, Paul Lukas, keeper of all-things uniform and editor of the invaluable and entertaining Uni Watch column and blog, alerted his readers to a photograph forwarded along by Bruce Menard:

The player is quite clearly Boston Braves shortstop Rabbit Maranville in a posed action shot in foul territory near third base. A quick check of the Dressed to the Nines uniform database confirms that Maranville is wearing a Boston Braves road uniform from either 1913, 1914 or 1915. The uniforms match perfectly save for one detail: a swastika on the front of the baseball cap.

Was Rabbit Maranville a Nazi? Should he be referred to as Herr Maranville, or better yet, "Hare" Maranville? What's the story?

Here's what Paul related in his blog entry:

That’s Rabbit Maranville, circa 1915, and Bruce says the cap was worn to commemorate the sinking of the Lusitania. I know the swastika has a lengthy pre-Nazi history, so let’s not rehash all of that, but I didn’t know about this Lusitania connection. Anyone know more?

Let's see if we can shed a bit more light on the photograph.

We've already established a window of possible years: 1913, 1914 or 1915. The latter season works well with the Lusitania theory, since the ship sank on May 7 of that year. Alas, beyond the possible year match, there are numerous problems with the theory:

At the time of the disaster, the Braves were in the midst of a nearly month-long homestand that stretched from May 6 to June 3. Assuming the club wore the special caps soon after the ship's sinking, why would they don road uniforms at home?
Alternatively, if the photo was taken after the Braves' homestand, why bother? The incident was a month in the past.
And why wear the "swasti-cap?" What does a swastika have to do with calling attention to the tragedy? Why not wear an armband or special pin?

No. The Lusitania theory just doesn't seem to add up. Rather than focusing on this theory, the best angle to research the photo is to see what other clues present themselves.

We have a date range. What about the location? Look at the area directly behind Maranville. Though it is a bit out of focus, the word "FATIMA" can be seen on the outfield wall, with light-colored lettering over a dark-colored background. This is an advertisement for Fatima cigarettes, a popular brand that was advertised at many big league parks. To the right of the cigarette ad there appears to be an outfield scoreboard, and above both the ad and the scoreboard it appears that the wall is generally white. These clues should help determine at what ballpark the photo was taken.

Examining numerous photos of ballparks found at the Library of Congress' Prints & Photographs Online Catalog, I came across a few that helped identify the park.

Here's a photo of Brooklyn pitcher Duster Mails wearing Brooklyn's special cross-hatch uniforms worn only in 1916:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-22441

The style of the outfield wall and the position of the scoreboard match the Maranville photo perfectly. However, the "Fatima" advertisement has the wrong color scheme (dark lettering on a light background, rather than light lettering on a dark background) and the area above the ad and the scoreboard is not white, but rather has an advertisement for "Uneeda Biscuit" by the "National Biscuit Company."

Here's a photo showing more of center field at the same park in 1916. This time the picture features Otto Miller, the Brooklyn catcher who was tagged out by Cleveland's Bill Wambsganss for the final out of Wamby's famous unassisted triple play during the 1920 World Series:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-22473

Though the quality of the image is poor, one can readily see the dark "batter's eye" in center field and a flag atop a flagpole.

Finally, the right field portion of the park is seen in this photo of Zack Wheat, also from 1916:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-22484

So what park is this? It's a very "young" Ebbets Field! The signature "concave" wall in right field can be seen in the photo of Zack Wheat. What few people realize is that prior to the extension of the third base-side grandstand in the early 1930s, the wall in left field was similarly concave.

Now that the ballpark has been identified, we need to find an exact match for the "Fatima" advertisement with the light-colored wall above it.

A word of warning. Matching outfield wall advertisements is a great way to help date photos, but it is not an exact science. While ad space was generally sold in the off-season and new ads painted prior to the opening of the season, sometimes (though rarely) ads or other outfield wall features changed during the season. (A good example is discussed in my Take Me Out to the ~~Ball Game~~ Polo Grounds entry.) Additionaly, not all ad space changed from one season to the next, so an ad could last for multiple seasons without apparent change. In short, outfield wall ad matching is like a chainsaw. Both are great tools when you know how to use them, but without proper training, they can both be rather dangerous. (Of course, the chainsaw is slightly more dangerous, but you get the idea.)

Here's a photo of Braves second baseman Johnny Evers that matches the outfield wall in the Maranville photo perfectly:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-15794

This photo also helps narrow down the possible years of the Maranville shot, because Evers didn't play with Boston until 1914, so 1913 can be eliminated as a possible year.

But wait. Take a closer look at Evers' cap:

He's wearing a "swasti-cap," too! The photo was almost assuredly taken the same day as the Maranville shot. After searching for other photos of Braves players at Brooklyn, I came across this one of Maranville:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-15793

Amazingly, though it was taken from a slightly different angle, this photo was made at exactly the same time as the other Maranville image.

Using similar research methods as described above, I spent quite a few hours researching other photos from the Library of Congress, and was able to create "maps" of the outfield walls for Ebbets Field for quite a few years, specifically 1913, 1914 and 1915. From this work, I was able to conclude that the photo of Maranville (and Evers) could only have been taken in 1914.

Additionally, the latter photo of Maranville as well as the Evers photo have handwritten dates on the emulsion. Both read "4/16/14."

It's tempting to think that this is the date of the photograph, but I've researched quite a few photos from the George Grantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress (where all of the above photos originate) and found that the handwritten dates do not necessarily correspond to the date the photo was taken. More likely, they represent the date that the photograph was developed. Nevertheless, they do approximate the correct date, which in this case points to mid-April of 1914. In fact, Brooklyn hosted the Boston Braves on Opening Day at Ebbets Field on April 14, 1914. It is my belief that this is the date of the Maranville photograph.

Still, we are left wondering why the Braves wore caps with swastikas. At this point, a little history of the controversial symbol helps.

The swastika has been around for thousands of years, the word coming from the Sanskrit "svastika" meaning "all is well." Up until its adoption by Nazi Germany, the swastika was known as a symbol of luck, and was often worn as a good-luck charm. Of course, the symbol's association with the Nazis has overshadowed this earlier meaning.

But in 1914, there was no stigma associated with the swastika. Well, at least very little. On January 26, 1912, the New York Times ran an article with the headline "'Jinxes' Have No Place With Yankees: Manager Wolverton Will Drive Superstitious Ideas Out of His Ball Team." The article goes on as follows:

Manager Harry Wolverton of the Yankees says that the day of the superstitious ballplayer is over. He doesn't believe in jinxes, good or bad omens, rabbits' feet, swastika signs, or all that ancient baseball lore.

Despite the best efforts of Harry Wolverton, the lucky swastika was and continued to be embraced by people around the world, including ballplayers. In fact, it is my belief that the Braves wore the special "swasti-caps" on Opening Day of 1914 as a good-luck charm ... or at least as an end-the-bad-luck charm.

The Boston Braves entered the 1914 season having finished in the National League's second division 11 straight years — dead last in four of the previous five campaigns. Opening the season in Brooklyn, it's not hard to believe that the exasperated club might choose to adopt a good luck symbol to help turn things around.

At first it appeared that the superstitious move was a failure. The club lost both games in Brooklyn and continued to slide downhill for nearly three months. After dropping both ends of a doubleheader to Brooklyn on July 4, the Braves found themselves with a record of 26-40, in last place and 16 games out of first. Then, things turned around.

The Braves won their next four games and, ultimately, 68 of their final 87. The turnaround was nothing short of incredible, as the club took sole possession of first place by early September and ultimately grabbed the pennant by 10.5 games over the second place Giants. In the World Series, Boston dismissed the powerful Philadelphia Athletics in four straight games.

Today known as the "Miracle Braves," Boston's celebrated comeback remains unparalleled in big league history. Who would have guessed that it all began with a superstition and a symbol that has long since become taboo?

Buyer Beware!

2009-12-09T11:07:00.026-05:00

I subscribe to an eNewsletter published by the folks at Old Cardboard: Vintage Baseball Cards. In their December 2009 issue they made note of an interesting item that was recently auctioned off at Lelands.com. Here's what the eNewsletter stated:

A piece of baseball memorabilia that caught our attention in last week's Leland's Sports auction was Lot #232: a walking stick presented to J. Ward, Jr. in 1886 by the "Star B.B. Club."
At first glance, the walking stick in the auction might be attributed to Hall of Famer John Ward, who was 36 years old at the time the piece was engraved. In fact, the title and description of the lot in the auction catalog state that the piece did indeed belong to HOFer Ward.
However, it was later determined that the subject piece did not belong to HOFer John Ward and that there is no known connection between Ward (the Hall of Famer) and the "Star B.B. Club." An "update" statement to that effect was added to the online lot description before the auction closed.
Old Cardboard's initial research revealed several baseball teams that were active in the mid-1880's and named themselves "Star's." None that we have found so far, however, included a J. Ward (or J. Ward, Jr.) on their roster. Perhaps one of our readers from the Society for Baseball Research (SABR) might be in a better position to link player J. Ward, Jr. to the Star B.B. Club. Please let us know if you can provide any additional info.

It sounded like a good challenge, so I thought I'd dive in.

I took a look at the description of the lot (#323)at the Lelands web site. The lot is titled "1886 John Ward Walking Stick Presented by the Star Base Ball Club" and, indeed, below the title is a note stating "UPDATE: This is a baseball player J. Ward Jr. not John Ward the Hall Of Famer."

The lot description reads as follows:

Who developed the first curve ball? Who also put together the very first labor union for baseball players? The same guy: John Montgomery Ward. He was an American Major League Baseball star pitcher, shortstop, and manager. Multi-talented John Ward, Hall of Famer, is also credited with developing The Players' League and even graduated Columbia Law School (in 1885) -- a highly educated man and highly accomplished athlete. After retiring from playing baseball at 34, he practiced as an attorney who represented baseball players. This 14K gold-topped smooth wooden walking stick is gorgeously engraved with small sunbursts and ornate swirls on the gold section. A few tiny scratches to the color of the wood. It was presented to John Ward by the Star Base Ball Club in 1886, and stands at 35" tall. It is in excellent condition with minor wear. The top is engraved with "Star B.B. Club to J. Ward Jr. 1886." It is in near mint condition with slight wear affecting the first "J." Also on one side of the gold top, stamped down the length of the gold are "2", just below it a script "S", and then a "49." The complete opposite of pedestrian.

The very first words of the description raised a red flag. John Ward "developed the first curve ball?" Ridiculous. What's going on here?

Reading further, other tidbits about the famous player are listed: his involvement with the Players' League, his graduation from Columbia Law School, etc. It is not until nearly halfway through the lot description that the walking stick itself is actually mentioned, at which point it is stated that it "was presented to John Ward by the Star Base Ball Club in 1886." This is the statement that Lelands later retracted with the blurb just below the title of the lot. In short, the first half of the description is worthless. Indeed, it could be argued that it is a subterfuge.

That Lelands would state that the cane had anything whatsoever to do with John M. Ward is appalling. Very simple, straightforward research clearly reveals that John Ward was not a "junior" (his father's name was James). Additionally, he was not associated with any "Star Base Ball Club" in or around 1886. With a common name such as "Ward," it is nothing short of reckless to jump to the conclusion that the J. Ward on the cane was John M. Ward, the Hall of Famer.

So who is "J. Ward, Jr." and what is the story behind the cane?

First, let's take a look at the images provided by Lelands:

The last image shows that "STAR B.B. CLUB / TO / J. WARD, JR. / 1886" has been inscribed on the knob handle.

Unfortunately, as noted in the Old Cardboard eNewsletter, numerous baseball clubs of the era adopted the "Star" nickname. This, in combination with the common name of "Ward," didn't give me much hope of making any progress. Nevertheless, I remained diligent and eventually came across an article in the Boston Daily Globe of July 14, 1886, which noted:

The Star club of Lawrence has several open dates in July and August, and would like to arrange games with strong amateur teams having enclosed grounds. Address J. Ward, Jr., manager, Lawrence, Mass.

This seemed quite promising. Here was a "J. Ward, Jr." affiliated with a Star club, not as a player, but as their manager. During this era of the game, by the way, a club manager was more akin to a business manager rather than a field manager. Indeed, in tracking down a precious few box scores of the club, no "Ward" showed up on the field.

A second note in the Globe of the following year also provided a helpful clue. In the April 18, 1887, issue it stated that:

The Stars of Lawrence, champion amateurs of Essex county, have reorganized for the season of '87, and would like to arrange games with clubs having enclosed grounds. McCreadle, c.; Clucher, p.; Judd, s.s.; Sullivan, 1b.; Maxwell, 2b.; Woodhall, 3b.; McGibbon, l.f.; Toohey, c.f.; Rowan , r.f. Average age, 23 years. J. Ward, Jr., manager, Lawrence.

Evidently the Stars were no run-of-the-mill club, but the amateur champions of Essex County for 1886!

Though I don't have complete access to City Directories from Lawrence, Massachusetts, it appears that at this time the only J. Ward, Jr. in Lawrence was one "James Ward, Jr." This may or may not be the same James Ward, Jr. who in the 1890s frequently advertised in The Phillipian, the longstanding newspaper of Phillips Academy (aka Phillips Andover) in Andover, Massachusetts, just down the road from Lawrence. Here's an example from the January 10, 1894, issue of The Phillipian:

So, though the research is far from complete, all signs point to a J. (James?) Ward, Jr. of the Star Base Ball Club of Lawrence as being our man. Indeed, I think it is not unlikely that after the club won that 1886 championship they awarded their manager this engraved walking stick. Most importantly: Buyer Beware! Hall of Famer John Ward had nothing to do with this cane.

Bowl Games

2009-11-23T21:16:00.042-05:00

My friend Andy Strasberg is working on an interesting project he's titled "Fantography." His idea is to collect photos taken by fans that reflect personal moments in professional baseball. The ultimate goal is to produce a book of the candid photos and the stories behind them. You can learn more about the project at the Fantography web site.

Andy's already collected thousands of photos and he recently passed along a trio of snapshots from the project that begged for research. Here are the pictures:

While player identifications were included with the submission, Andy was looking for help in identifying where and when the photos were taken. But first I wanted to confirm exactly who's who.

In the uppermost photo, two Dodgers are featured with a young boy: Cal Abrams faces the camera, while Duke Snider walks by in the background. No need to corroborate Duke. He's a "gimme." But here's a photo of Abrams for comparison:

Photo courtesy of bestsportsphotos.com

The second photo, though a bit out of focus, features Braves pitching great Johnny Sain. Here's a photo of Johnny for those who are unfamiliar with the Braves star:

Photo courtesy of mlb.com

And the bottom action photo shows the Dodgers' Tommy Brown rounding third base. Here's a detail of the image:

The identification of Brown was a bit tougher to corroborate, but the lanky infielder-turned-outfielder whose strong but wild throws earned him the nickname "Buckshot" can be seen at the far left in this photo from 1951:

Photo courtesy of Corbis Images

I'm confident the identification of Brown is correct. By the way, thanks to Mark Stang's invaluable encyclopedia of uniform numbers, Rosters, we can identify the Dodgers coach wearing number 27: it's former Brooklyn infielder Milt Stock.

Tommy Brown was signed by the Dodgers as a 16-year-old in 1944 and made his big league debut in August that season. Just over a year later, on August 20, 1945, Brown homered off Pirates southpaw Preacher Roe, setting the record for the youngest major leaguer to hit a home run at 17 years, 8 months, and 14 days of age. Brooklyn traded Brown to the Phillies in June of 1951, so we know the photo must have been taken sometime between 1944 and 1951.

Johnny Sain's uniform helps to further narrow the possible dates of the photos, as the Braves did not debut their famous tomahawk-logo jerseys until 1946. So we're down to six years: 1946 through 1951.

A quick look at the images makes it clear that the park at which the photos were taken is not a major league stadium, though obviously there is a significant stadium off in the background. But for now, the more important feature of the photos is the presence of palm trees, suggesting a spring training game. Going with the theory that the snapshots were taken at a preseason game, we can eliminate 1946 as a possible year, as ball clubs generally wore their previous season's uniforms in spring training, waiting for Opening Day before unveiling their new duds.

So, when between 1947 and 1951, did the Braves and Dodgers meet in spring training? Let's start by taking a look, year by year.

In 1947, the only time the Dodgers and Braves met in spring training was in Havana, Cuba. But in the background of the Johnny Sain photo one can see the word "GATE" underneath a large "10." If the photo were taken in Havana, the English word "GATE" would not be used.

In 1948, the Dodgers held pre-season camp in the Dominican Republic and did not face the Braves or any other major league club until Opening Day of the regular season.

In 1949, the Dodgers settled on Vero Beach, Florida, as their spring training home. But photographs of their home field during the late 1940s and early 1950s don't show a large stadium beyond the outfield wall. Additionally, the Braves' spring digs in Bradenton also does not match up. So where was this photo taken?

Well, in 1949, the Braves and Dodgers faced one another in spring training on two occasions: March 12 and March 13. Both contests were held at a neutral location in Miami, Florida. Indeed, on March 12, the Braves were designated as the "home" team, while the Dodgers played host as the "home" squad for the next day's game.

So what large stadium would be looming over a baseball diamond in Miami during this era? Well, I'm a baseball researcher, not a football researcher, but I had a hunch that perhaps this was Miami's famous Orange Bowl.

Thankfully, the State Archives and Library of Florida has a wonderful collection of digitized materials available at their Florida Memory Project. I searched for images of the Orange Bowl from the era and hit pay dirt. Here's an image of the celebrated football stadium in 1950:

Photo courtesy of Florida Memory Project

Note the baseball park in the upper left corner of the photo. Its position relative to the Orange Bowl matches that seen in the Fantography images. Also note the distinctive curved ramp ways on the outside of the stadium (just barely visible at the bottom right corner). They are identical to those seen in our baseball photos above.

There's no question that the ballpark we're seeing is the one right next to the Orange Bowl. Its name: Miami Field. So is this one of the games from 1949, or perhaps a different year?

Corroborating our dismissal of prior years as possible dates for the baseball photos is the fact that the second deck of the Orange Bowl (which necessitated the addition of the external curved ramp ways) was not completed until early in 1948. But what of the later years: 1950 and 1951?

Well, on March 11 and 12 of 1950, the Dodgers and Braves did indeed play one another in a pair of spring training games in Miami. They repeated the pre-season get-togethers on March 10 and 11 of 1951, as well. But each of those games took place at Miami Stadium (later known as Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium), a park that opened in August of 1949, a little over a mile from the Orange Bowl. We are left with but one conclusion: The only possible dates for our three photos are March 12 and March 13, 1949.

So which of the two 1949 dates is the most likely?

One helpful clue can be found in the photo of Cal Abrams. Note that the collar and the button-down placket on his Dodgers uniforms is highlighted with colored piping. Only the Dodgers' road jerseys featured this styling, a tradition they adopted in the late 1930s. Here's a close-up showing the detail:

This would imply that the Dodgers were the road club, thus dating the game to March 12. But sometimes in spring training, clubs were less-than-rigorous about their selection of uniforms. It would be best to confirm the date using other methods, as well. So, let's take a look at some newspaper coverage of the games.

In the March 13, 1949, issue of the New York Times, sportswriter Roscoe McGowen wrote:

With a record crowd of 7,518 cash customers filling all available seating and standing room, the Dodgers opened the citrus circuit season here today by trouncing the champion Boston Braves, 5-2, at Miami Field.

And the following day McGowen stated:

Today, before an all-time record Miami crowd of 9,675 cash clients, the battling Brooks made it two straight over the National League champions, beating them, 6-0. ... Ground rules were invoked because of the great outpouring of Negro fans, who had to be spread out on part of the playing field from the Dodger dugout all the way around center field.

Amazingly, the record crowd of March 12th was exceeded by another 2,000 fans on the 13th. But looking at the photo featuring Tommy Brown rounding third, it is clear there are just a couple of people in the outfield ... nothing like the crowd reported by McGowan as being "spread out on part of the playing field ... all the way to center field." The lack of a crowd in the outfield suggests the March 12 game as the best bet for our three photographs.

Finally, what about that image of Tommy Brown? What's going on? The Braves shortstop seems to be looking straight ahead, not at Brown. The umpire is wandering off toward the left field foul line, paying no attention to the action at third. And, the third base coach is apparently approaching Brown, congratulating him. All evidence points to Brown having just hit a home run. Checking the game accounts, it turns out that Brown homered in the March 12 contest, but not that of March 13.

Thanks to some baseball research and (dare I say it?) a little football research, it looks as though the photos sent to Andy were taken at Miami Field on March 12, 1949, when the Dodgers topped the Braves, 5-2.

May Day at the Polo Grounds

2009-11-14T10:33:00.019-05:00

My sister-in-law recently sent me an image of her grandfather, Lazar Weiner, conducting a chorus at a ballpark. She asked me if I could track down when and where the photo was taken. Here's the picture:

The "where" was simple. The facade of the ballpark makes it clear that it is the Polo Grounds. It was the "when" that was a challenge.

The critical clue was some information we knew about Weiner: that he conducted the ILGWU chorus and was the national director of the Workmen's Circle chorus for many decades. Given this information, the banners on the facade at the park took on special meaning. Here's a detail showing the banners:

These were hung especially for the event that was being hosted at the park, as they were certainly not a regular feature at the Polo Grounds. Note that the banner at far right promotes the ILGWU, the very union whose chorus was headed by Weiner.

Everything pointed to some sort of union-related event being held at the Polo Grounds. After some brief searching, I came across an article in the New York Times from May 2, 1936, that read in part:

A group of labor unions and the Old Guard of the Socialist party celebrated May Day yesterday with a rally and open-air festival at the Polo Grounds that attracted a crowd estimated by the police at 45,000.

From noon to almost 6 o'clock there was a program featuring athletic games, pageants, a chorus of 500 mixed voices, concert and radio singers and addresses by labor leaders.

This seemed to be a perfect match for the event in the photo. But I still felt I needed something more to corroborate this, so I browsed through the same edition of the paper and came across a photo of the event at the park:

Though the photograph is taken from a slightly different angle, it is clear that the speaker system seen in both images match perfectly. Here are details from both photos that show the match:

So the image of Lazar Weiner and his chorus was taken on May 1, 1936, during a May Day rally at the Polo Grounds.

Cut to the Chase

2009-11-03T21:06:00.018-05:00

The famous, rare and much sought-after Honus Wagner baseball card is just one of well-over 500 cards that are part of what is known as the T206 White Border set. The cards were issued as premiums in tobacco packs from 1909 through 1911 and feature colorful images of both major and minor league baseball players. While the Wagner card garners most of the press, it is a different card in the set that has me intrigued: that of legendary first baseman Hal Chase.

Actually, there are a few different Hal Chase cards in the set:

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-bbc-0969f

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-bbc-0968f

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-bbc-0970f

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-bbc-0971f

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-bbc-0972f

It is this last card, often noted on T206 checklists as "Hal Chase (Holding Trophy)," that has me wondering. The image on the card is clearly based on a photograph, though the background is just as clearly the result of artistic license. Does a copy of that photo still exist? And just what is that trophy?

While I haven't been able to track down the photo upon which the image was based, I did manage to determine the story behind Chase's hefty hardware.

Back in spring training of 1909, the New York American League club (often called the Highlanders, but rarely known as the Yankees) was barnstorming their way back home for the opening of the American League season. In Augusta, Georgia, Chase fell ill and it was initially reported that he had malaria. Actually, he had varioloid, a relatively mild form of smallpox.

It was reported that Chase had contracted the disease from some bellboys at a hotel in Macon, Georgia, where the team had previously stayed. So, while Chase was quarantined in a hospital in Augusta, his teammates were vaccinated and their belongings "fumigated." The hope was that this would protect the Highlanders against infection and, perhaps more importantly, reassure the various host cities, opposing players, and fans that it was safe to play against and attend exhibition games as the big leaguers worked their way north.

The club met with some resistance along the way and there even were fears that the opening of the season might be delayed. However, no games were canceled and the club played its Opening Day game on April 12 as originally scheduled.

Chase was released from the hospital near the end of April and made his season debut on May 3. As he approached the plate for his first at bat of the game, former manager Kid Elberfeld interrupted the proceedings with a short speech, followed by the presentation of a silver "loving cup," the very one depicted in the T206 card.

That's the story behind the picture. Now all that is left is to track down the original photo of Chase holding the cup.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game Polo Grounds

2009-10-23T16:06:00.006-04:00

Just over 100 years ago, the duo of Albert Von Tilzer and Jack Norworth wrote was has become baseball's unofficial anthem: "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Within days of its release, the tune became a popular sing-along at movie theaters, with magic lantern (or "song") slides advancing the story and displaying the lyrics. While the projectionist was busy switching reels, the audience was entertained with singers performing the song and encouraging a sort of "group-karaoke" form of entertainment.

While most everyone is familiar with the song's famous chorus, very few know the full lyrics. Here's how the song goes:

Katie Casey was base ball mad.
Had the fever and had it bad;
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev'ry sou Katie blew.
On a Saturday, her young beau
Called to see if she'd like to go,
To see a show but Miss Kate said, "No,
I'll tell you what you can do."

"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."

Katie Casey saw all the games,
Knew the players by their first names;
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Katie Casey knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song:

"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."

Happily, original "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" lantern slides still exist. The slides are hand-colored glass positives and measure about 3¼"×4" in size. The beautiful images preserved on these slides are interesting fodder for the baseball researcher.

On May 2, 1908, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was submitted to the United States Copyright Office. The song quickly took hold. As early as mid-May, the song and perhaps the accompanying slides were featured at The Nelson Theater in Springfield, Massachusetts. Note of this comes from the Springfield Republican of May 18, 1908:

The musical features of the week will include a "Kid song festival," in which Lillian Payette will be heard in three costume songs, with electrical effects and illustrated songs by Charles L. Taylor of New York, who on Wednesday and Thursday will sing "Take me out to the ball game."

Unquestionably, the song and accompanying slides were playing in theaters by the end of the month, as evidenced by a note in the Boston Globe of May 31, 1908:

The moving pictures at the Star theater this week will include new films in comedy and drama. The patriotic program yesterday drew a crowd at every performance and a similar show will be given this evening. The songs "Nobody's Little Girl" and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" will be sung by able singers and illustrated by colored slides.

The song proved so successful that, within a month, a rip-off titled "Take Your Girl to the Ball Game" was already available and was most definitely being confused with Von Tilzer and Norworth's gem, no doubt cutting into sales. The composer was none other than George M. Cohan.

Lester Levy Sheet Music Collection

The first slide for "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is an image of the cover of the original sheet music for the song, but with one important difference. The sheet music cover can be seen here:

Lester Levy Sheet Music Collection

And here is the first lantern slide:

Collection of the National Baseball Library

There were numerous sheet music covers printed, each featuring an inset photograph of a vaudeville star. Some covers show lyricist Jack Norworth, others feature Henry Fink, Susie Fisher, Sadie Jansell, or the popular Nora Bayes, who married Norworth in 1908. But the inset on this lantern slide simply contains information about the producer and manufacturer of the song set: DeWitt C. Wheeler.

Wheeler was a major manufacturer of lantern slides, producing sets for songs such as "Pansies Mean Thoughts and Thoughts Mean You," "You Have Always Been the Same Old Pal," and "Brother Noah Gave Out Checks For Rain." The latter is a somewhat obscure baseball tune with the unforgettable (or utterly forgettable?) chorus:

Eve stole first and Adam second;
St. Peter umpired the game.
Rebecca went to the well with a pitcher
And Ruth in the field won fame.
Goliath was struck out by David;
A base hit on Abel by Cain.
The Prodigal Son made one home run
Brother Noah gave out checks for rain.

Lester Levy Sheet Music Collection

In 1912, Robert Grau wrote in The Stage in the Twentieth Century (Vol. 3):

The name of Dewitt C. Wheeler is, and has been for a generation, something to conjure with. Mr. Wheeler made song slides long before the advent of cinematography, and he has maintained his position to this day as a leader. It is interesting to note that through Mr. Wheeler alone hundreds of singers without reputation with the public, have found a lucrative field. It is estimated that there are three thousand singers of illustrated songs in this country—and the demand is increasing every day.

In the spring of 1907, the Manhattan-based Wheeler moved his offices from 1215 Broadway to new digs just a few blocks away, at 120-122 West 31st Street. It is this latter address that is found on the first slide. What I find intriguing about Wheeler's newer location is that it may point to the location where some of the "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" slides were shot.

Collection of the National Baseball Library

Collection of the National Baseball Library

In the two slides above, Katie Casey is seen with "her young beau" outside what appears to be a home. We'll assume that Wheeler intended this to be a shot of where Katie lives. Note that the address above the doorway is 121. It is slightly clearer in this detail:

Collection of the National Baseball Library

When I first saw the address, I didn't think much of it. Assuming the photos were taken somewhere in the New York City area, I figured there had to be literally hundreds (if not thousands) of locations with an address of 121. But as the address of Wheeler's headquarters is 120-122 West 31st, it dawned on me that perhaps the photographs were taken right across the street, at 121 West 31st.

I was able to track down a New York City Atlas from 1899, published nearly a decade before the photographs were shot, that shows that the building at 121 West 31st was a stable. Clearly that is not the building where Katie and her beau are standing. An atlas from 1911 shows the lot to be empty, also not the case in our lantern slide. By 1912, the brand new, 16-story Cuyler Building was erected in the same spot. But exactly what the situation was in 1908 I have not been able to determine, as I have not yet had a chance to review a New York City atlas from that year. Anybody have access to a 1908 New York City Atlas?

Another slide in the set is a photograph showing Katie Casey reading the "Baseball Extra" edition of the paper:

Collection of the National Baseball Library

Here we see that "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" lantern slides must have been a low-budget affair, as they simply took an existing newspaper and crudely painted "BASEBALL EXTRA" across the top. Thankfully, the quality of the slide was much better than that of the prop. Here's a detail from the slide:

Collection of the National Baseball Library

I set out to determine the date and make of the newspaper. The page Katie holds provides a number of clues, but the most obvious are the multiple advertisements for automobiles. Stearns, Lozier, and (partially obscured by Katie's hand) Northern are fairly easily discerned. Additionaly, given the fact that the actress portraying Katie appears at the Polo Grounds in other slides in the set, there's little doubt she's holding a newspaper from New York City. Armed with this information, I searched for a newspaper page that matched the one held by Katie.

Happily, I managed to track down the exact newspaper: The New York Times of Monday, May 11, 1908:

Not only do the various advertisements match perfectly, but it turns out that the page really did contain baseball content. In fact, Katie happens to be pointing to coverage of a Cardinals vs. Reds doubleheader played on May 1o. Just under Katie's hand is the following note:

GIANTS LEAVE FOR WEST.
National League Eastern Clubs Invade the West---Yankees Home To-morrow

The Giants started for Pittsburg last night, where they will begin the first of the Western series. Four games will be played in that city, and then Cincinnati will be visited. ... The trip will last a trifle over two weeks, the team returning to the Polo Grounds on June 4, when they will play St. Louis.

At the very least, we now know that this studio shot of Katie holding the newspaper took place no earlier than the date of the paper: May 11, 1908. But what of the slides that show Katie at the Polo Grounds? Here's one:

Collection of the National Baseball Library

Compare this photo with that of boxer Terry McGovern seen below. McGovern, the former bantamweight and featherweight world champion, was also a gifted baseball player who often practiced with the Giants.

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, photograph by Harris & Ewing, [LC-DIG-ggbain-02294]

Note the dark colored doors in the picket fence, similar to those seen in the lantern slide. Clearly, Katie and her beau are rooting for the home team at the Polo Grounds, on the third base side of the grandstand. It is worth noting that both Katie and her beau are wearing the same outfits seen in the earlier discussed slides. This suggests (though does not prove) that the photo sessions at Katie's place and at the Polo Grounds took place at or around the same time.

A few other slides in the set show baseball being played at the Polo Grounds and provide useful information. The following slide helps determine who was playing the Giants the day of the photo shoot:

Collection of the National Baseball Library

Note the uniforms of the players in this detail:

Collection of the National Baseball Library

The third baseman (and other players in the field) are wearing dark caps, light-colored uniforms, and stockings that are light with a single, dark stripe. This matches perfectly to what the Giants wore at home in 1908.

The third base coach is seen with a gray uniform and jacket, dark stockings, and a dark-colored cap. Note, however, that the cap has light colored piping on the seams that separate the panels of the cap crown. This uniform matches that worn on the road by just two clubs in 1908: Boston (NL) and Cincinnati (NL).

Since the lantern slides were available by the end of May, we are left with the following question: When in 1908 did either Boston or Cincinnati visit the Polo Grounds prior to the end of May? A check of the daily results of the Giants in 1908 at the handy and indispensible Retrosheet web site quickly reveals only one possible date: Boston's visit to the Polo Grounds on Saturday, May 9.

Boston was to play a four-game set at New York starting on Wednesday, May 6, but the inclement weather washed out the first three games, leaving just Saturday's contest between the clubs. Indeed, the game of the 9th was started in the rain, but the sun soon came out and, despite a shaky start by the Giants' ace pitcher Christy Mathewson, New York ultimately earned a 7-3 win. Here's the box score from the New York Times of May 10:

Taking a look at the Giants line-up, we get the following identifications for the players in the field: running in from left field is Spike Shannon; at shortstop is Al Bridwell; the third baseman is Art Devlin. Assuming that is the right fielder seen just to the right of the third base coach, that would be Mike Donlin. And assuming the rightmost Giant in the photo is the second baseman, it would be Larry Doyle. The umpire on the bases that day, seen at far right, was future Hall of Famer Bill Klem. Just who the third base coach for Boston was remains a mystery.

Another slide from the set shows the fans on the field after the ball game, as they head toward the exit in the outfield:

Collection of the National Baseball Library

An important clue that helps corroborate the early May date is found in a detail from the image:

Collection of the National Baseball Library

Note that the advertisement for Luna Park states that the popular amusement park at Coney Island would open on May 16. Though billboards at ballparks rarely were altered in mid-season, one would guess that after May 16, this particular ad would change. Indeed, that is exactly what occurred. The following image taken on September 26, 1908, reveals that very change:

Collection of the National Baseball Library

This photo was taken at the Polo Grounds late in the season, on September 26, 1908. In between games of a doubleheader, the Giants presented Mike Donlin with the gift of a loving cup, in honor of his winning a popularity contest. Of interest to us, however, is the Luna Park ad in the background. This enhanced detail clearly shows how it has changed since the early May photo:

Collection of the National Baseball Library

Though the angle is somewhat different from the lantern slide, it is clear that the O.F.C. Rye and Clysmic ads remain unchanged, while the Luna Park ad no longer declares that the park is opening on May 16. It now says:

THOMPSON AND DUNDY'S
LUNA PARK
A WORLD OF FUN

As guessed, they did indeed change the sign after the park opened and thus we've further corroborated that the slide was shot on May 9th.

So, the slides shot at the Polo Grounds were shot on Saturday, May 9. Then, perhaps as early as Monday, May 11, the slide of Katie holding the newspaper was shot. Just when Katie and her young beau were photographed outside "her house" (quite possibly across the street from DeWitt Wheeler's offices) is unknown, though it's likely it was around the same time.

One more slide from the "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" set is of interest. It depicts Katie and her young beau arriving at the Polo Grounds.

Collection of the National Baseball Library

A close examination of the image reveals that this is none other than the Polo Grounds entrance along the 155th Street entrance to the park. Note the signs above the doors at the far left in the slide read "GRAND STAND":

Collection of the National Baseball Library

And the flag seen at the right of the slide is the very same one that is seen hanging from the flagpole in dead center field in the other lantern slides. Note also the Tudor style building, the opposite side of which can be seen in the slide showing the fans.

Finally, what to make of this next slide?

Collection of the National Baseball Library

I can only assume that Katie is about to bite into some Cracker Jack. Is this what the candy looked like back in 1908? Any Cracker Jack experts out there to confirm this?

Each of the lantern slides seen in this blog is from the photo collection at the National Baseball Library (NBL) and I encourage anyone interested in purchasing quality reproductions to contact the NBL in Cooperstown, New York.

Musings on Images of Detroit's Recreation Park

2009-10-21T11:55:00.019-04:00

The University of Michigan has digitized many thousands of images at their "Early Detroit Images from the Burton Historical Collection" web site, including these wonderful photographs of Recreation Park in Detroit, the home of the Detroit Wolverines of the National League from 1881 to 1888.

(Clicking on an image below will open a new window and allow you to view larger versions).

The following image is a detail from the first photo, showing an intriguing poster:

Though it is difficult to decipher, some of the text on the poster reads as follows:

RECREATION PARK
?? 16 17 18 19
CAPT. PAUL
BOYTON
?? ENTERTAINMENT
2,342 MILES

Captain Paul Boyton was an adventurer who specialized in long-distance swimming with the aid of a special rubber suit and paddles. He would propel himself while on his back, something like a cross between kayaking and luging. In 1879, Boyton made his way from Oil City, Pennsylvania to the Gulf of Mexico in just 80 days, a distance of 2,342 miles. No doubt this latter number is the same as seen in the poster. This suggests that Boyton was making an appearance at Recreation Park sometime after his remarkable accomplishment, in mid-to-late 1879 or perhaps 1880.

These fantastic images of Recreation Park spurred my interest in looking for other photos of the ballpark, and in so doing I found that the last of the four photos above was the basis for this woodcut by Charles W. Sumner found in Silas Farmer's The History of Detroit and Michigan: or, the Metropolis Illustrated (1884):

The caption for the drawing reads "Recreation Park Entrance and Reception Building" and an accompanying paragraph describes the park as follows:

As a place for out-door entertainments, Recreation Park affords all facilities that can be desired. It is located on the Brush Farm, the entrance being a few blocks east of Woodward Avenue, on Brady Street. The grounds, embracing eighteen acres, are fitted up to accommodate exhibitions of various kinds. The Reception Building has every needful appliance for comfort and convenience. The Park was opened on May 10, 1879.

Since the book was published in 1884, this corroborates my guess that the photo was taken in 1879 or soon thereafter.

In tracking down still more images of the park, I stumbled on a bit of a mystery. The following photo of Recreation Park comes from page 81 of David Lee Poremba's Detroit: 1860-1899:

The note written near the top of the photograph reads:

BASE BALL GAME
PLAYED AT
RECREATION PARK DETROIT, MICH
ON
JUNE 19, 1886
BETWEEN DETROIT & CHICAGO
13 INNINGS WERE PLAYED ENDING IN A SCORE OF 1 TO 0
IN FAVOR OF THE HOME TEAM. RECREATION PARK
WAS LOCATED WHERE BRUSH ST. IS NOW BETWEEN
BRADY ST. AND ALEXANDERINE AVE. EAST

From the phrase "... where Brush St. is now between ...," we know that the note was not written contemporaneously. So how much do we trust this caption? Well, as it turns out, not much. A quick check of numerous sources reveals that Detroit and Chicago did not play a 13-inning, 1-0 game on that date. Is that date wrong? Or the score? Or the number of innings? Or some combination of any of the above?

At first, I thought the date had to be wrong, as I found the same photo (sans the notation) on page 53 of Picturesque Detroit and Environs, a book available at Google Books and purportedly published in 1883:

Since the publication date for the book was 1883, this would eliminate 1886 as a possible year. But after browsing through the book, I found that the author made mention of facts that took place after 1883. Indeed, various statistics for years up to and including 1892 are cited. It appears that the book was actually published in 1893, not 1883.

So I'm still left with the question: When was the photo taken? Alas, I don't have a definite answer, but my suspicion is that the date of June 19, 1886, is correct. The key is the enormous crowd, clearly evident in the photograph, and definitely on hand for the mid-June game.

That day, Detroit did indeed face Chicago in a much-anticipated game. The Wolverines had not lost a game at home all season: 18-straight victories at Recreation Park! As Chicago came to town, Detroit stood in first place with a record of 30 wins and just six losses (along with a tie game). Meanwhile, the Chicago White Stockings were in second place, just 2.5 games behind, with a 26-7 record (with one tie). A large contingent from the Windy City traveled to Detroit in anticipation of not just a single victory, but a series sweep, moving Chicago into first place. It was an audacious goal given the Wolverines unblemished record at home, but one that was embraced.

Fans of the White Stockings brought brooms with them to the park, each marked with the motto "Record Breakers," predicting the demise of Detroit's impressive victory skein. But Detroit fans had their own retort: a giant broom painted with the phrase "The Big Four and Five More." "The Big Four" was the nickname of the Wolverines' infield (Dan Brouthers, Jack Rowe, Hardy Richardson, and Deacon White), acquired in a controversial deal late in the season of 1885. "And Five More" referred, of course, to the rest of the starting nine.

The crowd was estimated at well over 10,000 and described as the most ever seen at the park. Coverage in The Washington Post of June 20 corroborates what we see in the photo:

The down-town ticket offices were thronged all the early part of the afternoon with people buying baseball tickets. The Woodward Avenue and Brush Street car lines tried in vain by putting on extra cars to accommodate the crowds going to see the first Chicago-Detroit ball game at Recreation Park. It was worse than any Fourth of July. The Chicago procession of carriages was noticeable for the brooms in the ship-socket of each. At 3 o'clock it was estimated that there were 10,000 people on the grounds. Rows of chairs were placed in front of the stand ten deep, and were all occupied by 3 o'clock. It was found necessary to stretch a rope about half way between the diamond at the back fence to keep the crowd back. This necessitated making special rules barring all home runs and three-base hits.

... as does this from The Chicago Tribune:

Ample accommodation had been made at the grounds to seat the immense crowd by placing 5,000 seats upon the lawn in front of the grand stand and open. Extending northward from both ends of the open and circling across the field was a line of spectators ten deep, and at 3:30 the diamond was literally enclosed by a living hedge of 13,000 people.

Chicago topped Detroit 5-4 (not 1-0) in nine innings, though Detroit came back to win the last two games of the series to remain in first.

Though I cannot say for certain that the photo is from this particular game, I think it highly likely.

Research Update: November 5, 2009

Baseball researcher Peter Morris made great progress on the handbill posted outside Recreation Park. He found that a note in the Detroit Free Press from June 15, 1879, confirmed that Boyton was scheduled to appear at Recreation Park from June 16 to 19.

I followed up on Peter's invaluable lead and found that starting in the June 13 issue of the Free Press there were a number of articles and advertisements about Boyton's visit. Apparently, his exhibitions were such a success that additional shows were scheduled for June 20 and 21. Here's the final advertisement from the June 21 issue of the Free Press:

Earlier ads heralded "CAPT. PAUL BOYTON, The World-famed Navigator, in his Rubber Life-saving Dress, in a New Original & Unique Entertainment. This is the first appearance in Michigan waters and his Nautical Exhibition, as given by him in all the leading cities in Europe and America, will be presented in its entirety. A splendid sheet of water, 7 feet in depth, adjacent to the Grand Stand, has been prepared especially for the occasion."

The article on June 15 stated that "Capt. Boyton has been engaged by the Recreation Park Company to give a series of exhibitions at the park next Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, at 5 o'clock each afternoon. A miniature lake seven feet in depth and 200x100 feet in area has been provided in full view of the grand stand and good music will be furnished during the exhibition."

This explains the water that is seen in front of the grand stand in the second of the four photographs above. Originally I thought this water was a feature of the park, but in light of the Free Press article it is clear that this "miniature lake" was created especially for Boyton's exhibition. Here's another look:

I thinkwe can now state with certainty that the four photos of Recreation Park that were digitized at the University of Michigan were taken in mid-June of 1879.

I've tracked down a few other Boyton-related links, for those who wish to learn more about "The World-famed Navigator":

The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

2009-10-15T17:12:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite films is The Maltese Falcon. I must have seen the film noir classic at least 50 times, and each time it's a thoroughly enjoyable experience. And, like going to a ballgame, I see something new, something I haven't seen before, each time I watch.

So why am I discussing The Maltese Falcon on the Baseball Researcher Blog? What does The Maltese Falcon have to do with baseball?

Well, nothing much ... except for one scene that poses an interesting challenge to the baseball picture researcher. The scene occurs nearly halfway through the film and goes like this:

Sam Spade (played by Humphrey Bogart) enters the Hotel Belvedere in order to talk with Joel Cairo. He stops at the lobby desk and attempts to ring Cairo.

While on the phone, Spade notices Wilmer Cook (played by Elisha Cook, Jr.), the "gunsel" that has been tailing him, sitting in the lobby and reading (or pretending to read) a newspaper.

Spade walks over, stares at Cook, sits in a chair next to the young thug and coolly partakes in a bit of verbal sparring:

Spade: Where is he?
Cook: What?
Spade: Where is he?
Cook: Who?
Spade: Cairo.

[Where are Abbott and Costello when you need them?]

Cook: What do you think you're doing, Jack? Kidding me?
Spade: I'll tell you when I am. New York, aren't you?
Cook: Shove off.
Spade: You're gonna have to talk to me before you're through, sonny. Some of you will. And you can tell the fat man I said so.
Cook: Keep askin' for it and you're gonna get it ... plenty. I told you to shove off. Shove off.
Spade: People lose teeth talkin' like that. If you wanna hang around, you'll be polite.

At this point, Spade gets the attention of Luke, the house detective. After exchanging hellos, Spade calls Luke's attention to Cook.

Spade: What do you let these cheap gunmen hang around the lobby for, with their heaters bulging in their clothes?
Luke [to Cook]: What do you want here? Well, if you don't want anything, beat it and don't come back!
Cook: I won't forget you guys.

And with that, Cook exits.

So, where's the baseball? Well, take another look at the newspaper held by Wilmer:

And here's a close-up of the paper:

There's the baseball ... smack dab in the middle of the paper is a picture of a catcher making a play at home.

And the mystery? Who's the catcher? What's the situation? Where and when was the photo taken? It's a great challenge that was originally posed back in 2001 by baseball historian Jules Tygiel on SABR-L , the listserve for the Society for American Baseball Research:

A friend has posed a somewhat esoteric but intriguing question. Most of you will want to pass on this one, but I know that there are a few movie buffs out there. In the Maltese Falcon, Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) walks into a San Francisco hotel. Wilmer the gunsel (Elisha Cook, Jr.) is sitting there, face obscured by an open newspaper. On the back page of the newspaper is a picture of a catcher. Who is the catcher?

No guesses please. Has anyone ever freeze framed the movie and figured this out?

I thought I'd give it a try.

Unfortunately, the quality of the images I have been able to track down (capturing frames off DVD and reviewing publicity stills) is not good enough to make out the catcher, the sliding runner, or much else about the photo. The research will have to focus on other clues and I figured the best angle of attack would be to identify the exact issue of the newspaper, track down a copy and simply read the caption for the photo. But before proceeding further, we first need address the possibility that the paper is a manufactured prop.

Actually, fake newspapers show up here and there throughout the film. For example, early in the movie, when Spade gets the late night call telling him that his partner Miles Archer has been killed, the camera lingers not on the sleepy detective, but on the night table where his tobacco pouch and ashtray lay atop a newspaper.

Careful examination of the paper reveals it is a racing form, with the words "Yankee Do—" in a prominent headline, the last word cut off at the fold. I suspect this is supposed to be the name of a horse, likely "Yankee Doodle," a rather uninspired name for a fictional mount. (While it is not stated directly in the movie, Spade is a bit of a racing aficionado, as he has pictures of thoroughbreds scattered about his apartment.) The paper was almost assuredly created for the movie.

Another newspaper figures prominently in a later scene, with the front page taking over the full screen:

As one might guess, there never was a "San Francisco Post-Dispatch." The paper and its important headlines were obviously manufactured in order to further the plot.

In the scene in which Spade awakens after being drugged, he pulls himself together and proceeds to turn Casper Gutman's hotel room upside down, looking for clues. He happens upon a newspaper in which the name of a ship (the La Paloma) has been circled.

Bogart is likely holding a real newspaper (above), but the paper used in the close-up (below) showing the shipping news is a fake:

And when Captain Jacobi (played by director John Huston's father, Walter) stumbles into Spade's office with the Falcon, it is bundled in yet another newspaper ... this one in Chinese (the La Paloma had just arrived from Hong Kong).

Whether or not this is a real paper (or papers?) is unknown. (Bonus points if anyone can decipher anything about this paper.)

But, what of Wilmer Cook's paper? Is it, like the others, a manufactured prop? Well, it's not easy, but the careful eye can make out a few headlines.

Most prominent, at the top left is a headline that reads "SEALS OPEN SERIES WITH STARS TONIGHT" with an impossible to read byline. Below the photo of the catcher are headlines for two separate stories. The one at far right reads "OAKS OPEN L.A. SERIES TONIGHT" and the other "PEARSON AND BALASKI TOP HOLLYPARK RIDERS." Another headline that runs over the fold at the bottom-right reads, in part, "DiMag—" and near the very bottom there appears to be a headline starting with the words "FIGURE SKATING." Finally, at the upper right of the folded paper there appears to be a headline that reads (in part) "NICK WILLIAMS," with an accompanying photo.

Obviously we're seeing the sports section, but the headlines are so specific that it simply cannot be a manufactured piece. So, can we determine the date and name of the paper?

The Maltese Falcon was released in October of 1941, but shooting took place in Hollywood during the summer of '41. In fact, the entire film was shot in just about six weeks, starting in early June and ending in mid-July. Thus, the paper must have been printed no later than mid-July of 1941.

I decided to run through the headlines as clues, seeing if any could help nail the date of the paper.

There are two headlines referring to openings of series. Both refer to clubs in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), the top one referring to the San Francisco Seals and Hollywood Stars, while the lower headline calls out the Oakland Oaks and Los Angeles Angels. Conveniently, both stories feature Bay Area clubs, which is important for continuity as the movie is set in San Francisco. But if we assume that the paper is from 1941, when did those teams meet?

I tracked down a 1941 PCL schedule and quickly two dates emerged as the only possibilities. The Oaks and Angels faced each other in series openers on Tuesday, June 3 (at L.A.) and Tuesday, July 1 (at Oakland). Those dates also match when the Stars played the Seals: June 3 (at Hollywood) and July 1 (at San Francisco). The same pairs of clubs also met for two series in August, but those occurred after shooting was completed, so they are not possibilities for the date of the paper.

So, quickly I was able to narrow down the date of the paper to either June 3 or July 1, 1941.

What of the clue that both series opened at night? Perhaps that would isolate one of the two remaining dates. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, series openers at that time in the PCL always started on Tuesday nights, so we make no headway there.

The headline that reads "PEARSON AND BALASKI TOP HOLLYPARK RIDERS" seems promising. Billy Pearson and Lester Balaski were both jockeys at Hollywood Park (often shortened to "Hollypark" to save headline space). Pearson was an apprentice jockey at the time, while Balaski had been riding since the mid-1930s. Perhaps their positions atop the jockey standings would determine the correct date for the newspaper.

The Los Angeles Times generally published the jockey standings on Mondays, so I checked both the June 2 and June 30 issues to see who were the top riders. Alas, both Pearson and Balaski were one-two on both occasions! This nicely corroborated the two dates I had already determined, but (once again) failed to eliminate either.

Thankfully, the "NICK WILLIAMS" headline managed to do the trick. Richard Lloyd "Nick" Williams was a former minor league ballplayer and scout. But he was best known as manager of the San Francisco Seals in the late 1920s and early '30s. His clubs featured future Hall of Famers such as Paul Waner, Earl Averill and Lefty Gomez, along with star players like Frankie Crosetti, Dolph Camilli, and Lefty O'Doul. But more importantly for my research, Williams passed away on June 2, 1941. The headline was for his obituary that ran the next day, June 3, 1941: the date of the paper held by Wilmer!

Now that the date of the paper was settled, I needed to determine what paper it was. My first guess was that it was a Los Angeles-based paper, since it seemed more likely that a real paper used as a simple prop would most likely be obtained near the studio. Furthermore, the headline related to Hollypark seemed to point in the direction of a paper from the Hollywood area. I contacted SABR member Bob Timmerman, Senior Librarian at the Los Angeles Library, and briefed him on the project. He graciously checked numerous Hollywood and LA-based papers from June 3, 1941, but couldn't find a match.

Then I noticed a subtle clue that had earlier eluded me. Above the headline that reads "SEALS OPEN SERIES WITH STARS TONIGHT" there is a smaller lead headline. It is difficult to discern, but it reads: "IN THE LAND OF MAKE BELIEVE." Since the date of the paper is June 3, we know that the Seals are playing the Stars in Hollywood (not in San Francisco, which would have been the case if the paper had been from July 1). Hollywood is "the land of make believe." But it didn't seem likely that an LA-based paper would refer to Hollywood as "the land of make believe." That would be a title that a paper from a different locale would use. Perhaps this paper wasn't from LA after all? My thoughts turned north ... to San Francisco.

Like Los Angeles, San Francisco boasted numerous newspapers in 1941, but I hoped that a match would surface in one of the two biggest: The Chronicle or The Examiner. I managed to obtain a copy of the sports page from a June 3, 1941 issue of the San Francisco Examiner by way of a kind librarian at York College, but it definitely did not look like Wilmer's paper.

Now my hopes were pinned on The Chronicle. While microfilm of the newspaper can be found at many libraries, I managed to make a connection with Ted Smith, librarian at the University of Oregon, and he agreed to take a look. Initially, the report wasn't good. The page didn't match that seen in the movie still. But upon further review, something interesting was revealed. A pair of headlines in The Chronicle of June 3 were identical to those in our mystery paper: "SEALS OPEN SERIES WITH STARS TONIGHT" and "OAKS OPEN L.A. SERIES TONIGHT." Furthermore, the Stars story had a byline: "by BOB STEVENS."

Bob Stevens had covered baseball in the Bay Area since the mid-1930s and was The Chronicle's beat writer for the Seals for 17 years. He then covered the Giants from their first year following their move out from New York until 1978. While the byline under the Seals headline in the mystery paper is impossible to read, it matches the length of the words "By BOB STEVENS." The matchup of headlines and bylines couldn't be a coincidence ... it had to be The San Francisco Chronicle. But the rest of the page didn't jibe. How could this be?

In fact, there was another problem with the June 3, 1941 date altogether. Basically every paper I could track down from that day featured columns upon columns of coverage of a major sports story: the death of Lou Gehrig. How could it be that Wilmer was holding a sports page from June 3, yet there is apparently not a word of Gehrig's demise?

It seems to me there is only one possible resolution. As was generally the case at the time, The Chronicle published numerous issues of their paper throughout the day. Perhaps the early morning edition had already gone to press before news of Gehrig's death had made it to the paper's offices. After the big news hit The Chronicle, they rearranged the paper, cut various stories (Balaski and Pearson, figure skating, and our mystery catcher), and added in the news about Gehrig. The edition that Wilmer is holding had to be that early morning edition, while the edition on microfilm at the University of Oregon, was from later in the day.

And so, I am left searching for an early morning, June 3, 1941 edition of The San Francisco Chronicle, in hopes that my theory is correct and the mysterious catcher can be identified. Ironically, I'm left in much the same position as Casper Gutman and Joel Cairo at the end of The Maltese Falcon, having come so close to finding the Falcon, yet so far. Like them, I'll not give up. I'll track that paper down someday, somehow. But, until then, the mystery will remain "the stuff that dreams are made of."

Early Cubs Footage

2009-05-09T13:27:00.026-04:00

Back in 2006, Paul Lukas, the guru of sports uniforms whose UniWatch column can be found at ESPN Page 2, alerted me to an interesting video on YouTube. The video can be seen here.

Originally billed as footage from the 1929 World Series at Wrigley Field, research reveals that almost half of the footage is actually from 1930.

The park is definitely Wrigley Field from the era. Here is the scoreboard in center field seen at 1:44 of the YouTube video:

Compare this with a photo showing the scoreboard in center field at Wrigley Field during the 1929 World Series from the Chicago Daily News collection at the Library of Congress's American Memory web site.

Chicago Daily News negatives collection, SDN-069131. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society.

The first clue that the footage is not all from 1929 comes from 00:30 to 00:43 of the video, which shows the Cubs wearing their 1930 uniforms. Here's a still from 00:31 of the video:

In 1929, the Cubs wore uniforms that featured a wishbone "C" with an image of a bear-cub inside it. In 1930, however, the club featured the letters "UBS" inside the wishbone "C," combining to make the word "CUBS." Compare the photo above to the drawings of the 1929 (top) and 1930 (bottom) Cubs uniforms at the Dressed to the Nines online exhibit at the National Baseball Hall of Fame's web site:

By the way, the Cub at far right (with the noticeably white hair) is coach and former major league player Jimmy Burke. Though the Library of Congress lists the photo below as "unidentified," it is clearly of Burke:

Chicago Daily News negatives collection, SDN-068569. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society.

From about 1:05 to 1:42 or so, the Cubs are seen carrying a large flag and, directly behind them, members of another club are seen with uniforms that clearly have some sort of markings on the backs of their jerseys. Here's a still from 01:13 of the video:

And here's another from 1:29 that shows the unusual markings on the back of the visiting club's uniforms (at far right):

From 1:43 to 2:05 it becomes clear that what the players were carrying was a pennant and it is being raised on the flagpole next to the scoreboard in center field. The pennant says: "CHAMPIONS / NATIONAL LEAGUE / 1929". Here are stills from 1:56 to 2:05:

During the flag raising, the scoreboard is visible. Here's a still from 01:44 of the video:

Note that at the top of the scoreboard it shows that the "CUBS" are playing "BOSTON." New York is at Pittsburgh (the game is in progress around the sixth inning or so), Brooklyn is at Cincinnati, and Philadelphia is at St. Louis.

According to the Retrosheet web site, these clubs played one another on June 21, 1930. Indeed, the partial line score from the Giants vs. Pirates game on the scoreboard matches Retrosheet's line score for the game.

These clues pinpoint the date of the footage as Flag Day, June 21, 1930, an appropriate holiday to raise the National League pennant. The Cubs paraded toward center field with the pennant, followed by the visiting club, the Boston Braves, who in 1929 and 1930 wore an Indian head logo on the back of their jerseys, as seen at the Dressed to the Nines online exhibit:

The same indian head can be seen on the back of the third baseman in this photo of Kiki Cuyler running to third as the Cubs host the Braves at Wrigley Field in 1929:

Chicago Daily News negatives collection, SDN-068978. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society.

The Chicago Daily Tribune of June 22, 1930, published the following photo of the Cubs with the pennant that is clearly from the same event:

Chicago Daily Tribune, June 20, 1930

The caption, in part, reads: "Champion Cubs celebrate the formal raising of the National league pennant with a double victory over the Boston Braves. ... The entire Bruin personnel parades before the crowd of 42,000 with the 1929 bunting, which was later unfurled in the stiff northeast breeze."

From 2:06 to 2:37, the two teams parade back to the infield, with the Cubs on the third base side, and the Braves on the first base side. And from 2:38 to 3:14, action is seen from the doubleheader played that day. From 3:11 to 3:14 one can even see Cubs southpaw pitcher Bud Teachout deliver a pitch.

Note that at 3:01 there is clearly no bunting visible on the façade of the second deck:

But soon afterward the footage switches from Flag Day 1930 to pre-game and game-action from the 1929 World Series. Note that at 3:29 the bunting one would expect to see at the World Series is now visible:

The rest of the film does indeed appear to be from the 1929 World Series at Wrigley Field, though it is not clear if the action is from Game One (October 8) or Game Two (October 9).