Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 197

#14- They Played Even Before That?

 

Yes, sir. Even Mark Twain may have even seen a game or two.

In fact it is virtually certain that he did. It is also certain

that he expressed a certain degree of displeasure with what may

have been his first experience. On May 20, 1875 this open letter

appeared in the Hartford Courant newspaper:

“To the Public

TWO HUNDRED & FIVE DOLLARS REWARD--At the great baseball match

on Tuesday, while I was engaged in hurrahing, a small boy walked

off with an English-made brown silk UMBRELLA belonging to me, &

forgot to bring it back. I will pay $5 for the return of that

umbrella in good condition to my house on Farmington avenue. I

do not want the boy (in an active state) but will pay two

hundred dollars for his remains.”

Samuel L. Clemens

 

Apparently on the eighteenth day of May, 1875 the man

called “the greatest American writer” attended a locally played

game and unfamiliar with the turf, was sufficiently enraptured

by the play on the field that he lost awareness of his

surroundings. This mind consuming fascination specifically

resulted in inadequate attention being paid to his well-loved,

imported umbrella. Its five dollar 1875 return reward equates to

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 198

$111 in 2016 and the carcass $4,440, which exceeds current

“legal” value. The fate of the umbrella and its thief are still

unknown.

Of more significance Temper-Challenged-Sam watched the

Hartford Dark Blues play the Boston Red Stockings. Boston won

the game 10-5, which is sufficient cause for a local boy to not

be in the best of moods. Boston’s pitcher that day was future

Hall of Famer and all-time record holder for the endorsing and

autographing of baseballs; Al Spalding.

America’s entrée into baseball is popularly said to have

begun when Alexander Cartwright and a committee established a

rulebook in 1845 for their Knickerbocker Club of New York. Like

most old stories, this is disputed. In fact, Cartwright, a Hall

of Famer, may have the all-time record for dead men disputed

with.

The game called Rounders had been long played in England,

with the earliest written reference to it being in 1744 book

titled; “A Little Pretty Pocket-Book” in which it was called

"base-ball” by John Newbery. In 1828, Londoner William Clarke

published “The Boy's Own Book,” which included the rules of

Rounders; and also included a description of a bat and ball

game. There seems little doubt that various bat and ball games

were played on fields in the US and the UK, but something

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 199

inevitably becomes “official,” though usually temporary, and

these events seem to be good candidates for that honor.

To get back to Twain, his birthplace of Florida, Missouri

was a long horse ride from New York. Though he was given 38

miles of eastward help through his family’s move to Hannibal

when he was four, the US Civil War proved to be a setback to any

possible Twain baseball invasion at age 25. Travelling

difficulties hindered the rapid growth of the sport. After the

war, the game resumed that growth through its westward march.

In 1869, the benchmark New York Times printed 126 stories

concerning “Base ball," and by 1876, that number had risen to

189. In 1887, the Times commenced spelling the sport "Baseball"

and the number of stories written topped 500.

Published posthumously, sometime around 1876 while staying

in Elmira, NY Twain wrote in what has been called “Letters from

the Earth,” of the violence aimed at baseball umpires. He ended

that particular segment with; “But in the fullness of time was

he more fortunate, and did lay the Umpire dead.”

In the summer of 1887, again in Elmira, some say Twain

umpired at least one game; while as is usual, it has been

contested by others. However, the event was widely reported in

newspapers across the country. The following story appeared in

the local Elmira paper.

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 200

Elmira Daily Advertiser; Saturday, July 2, 1887:

“A number of distinguished people will be on hand to-day to see

the old-fashioned game of base ball at which Mark Twain will be

one of the umpires, between the Alerts and Unions. These two

clubs were the leaders in the sport in southern New York twenty

one years ago, and were reorganized for this one game. The

players are all prominent business and professional men. Mark

Twain, who is at his summer home at Quarry Farm, consented to be

one of the umpires on condition that a chair, a fan, an umbrella

and a pitcher of ice water be furnished him. Colonel D. C.

Robinson assured him that they would be supplied, and the

engagement was made. .........................

 

The game to-day will begin at 4 p.m., and five innings only will

be played. Permissions will be given the players to carry

umbrellas into the field for protection from the sun if they see

fit. The rumor that messenger boys will be employed to carry the

ball is emphatically denied. Tricycles will also be barred out.

Two or three of the old rules will be observed:

1. The ball will be pitched, not thrown as now.

2. The umpiring conclave are not required to call balls or

strikes unless they choose.

3. Any boy who "Haw-haws" at a muff by his parent may be

disciplined behind the grand stand, but not in it.

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 201

4. In case of violent disagreement among the umpires the

question at issue shall be decided by a majority vote of the

triumvirate, and not by noise in the grand stand or the teams.

5. Players will not be allowed to receive flowers while running

bases.

6. The audience is required not to say "Hi," "Hi," to members of

either team who weigh over 200 pounds while such players are

making second base. ................... “

 

On Sunday, July 3, the Elmira Sunday Telegram also reported

on the baseball game. This report was paraphrased with quotes in

the Mark Twain Society Bulletin of February 1981:

“The rules followed were those of 1866 when the two teams were

first organized right after the Civil War. ‘Base ball was then

in its infancy, so to speak, and only the fundamental principles

are now displayed. Pitched balls were the rule, bound catches

were considered out, there was no calling of strikes and balls,

and all the modern features of the game were unknown. Still it

was immensely popular with the public and those who participated

as well.’ The Unions beat the Alerts in the old timers contest,

23 to 10. According to the Telegram, "Samuel L. Clemens and T.

K. Beecher, the advertised umpires were on hand early, but after

looking at the heated appearance of things around home plate

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 202

decided to occupy a cool seat elsewhere and left their important

duties to John R. Joslyn”

 

The Washington Post of July 3, 1887 further clarified in

bold headlines:

Washington Post, July 3, 1887.

Mark Twain Didn't Umpire.

ELMIRA, N.Y., July 2. - Mark Twain and the Rev. Thomas K.

Beecher were advertised to umpire an old-fashioned game of

baseball in this city this afternoon. The Mayor and other

representative men of the city played in the game, but neither

Clemens nor Beecher acted as umpire. Twain said he could not

make a martyr of himself, notwithstanding the fact that he would

be glad to perish in a good cause, and took a seat by Mr.

Beecher in the grand stand. Twain used a big fan in a vigorous

manner, and said that he would encourage the players with his

presence, but he must refuse to go out in the sun.

 

The Elmira Daily Advertiser chose to provide a follow-up

story:

 

Elmira Daily Advertiser; Monday, July 4, 1887.

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 203

“Mark Twain's effort to umpire a game of old-fashioned base ball

on Saturday afternoon at the Maple avenue park, was not unmixed

with an element of good natured humbuggery. The humorist rode to

the grounds behind General Langdon's spirited team, and after an

innocent visit to the ice water tank he sauntered slowly upon

the diamond. The large audience thought that Twain and Mr.

Beecher would stand behind the bat or at a reasonably safe

distance therefrom and tell humorous stories while they called

the batmen out or remonstrated gently but firmly with the

kickers. But this was not to be, for the two umpires

contemplated the game from a cool seat in a far-off pavilion,

and the audience was not given an opportunity to see how

dexterously Twain could wield his serviceable horn-handled cane,

in a case of necessity. He is a decided reformer in base ball

umpiring. He does it by proxy, like a statesman supplies

autograph letters to signature-hunters.”

 

Are there other takes on Mr. Twain’s activities on that

fateful day? You bet your Eddie Gaedel autographed baseball that

there are. But, I’m going to skip them as this book is not only

about Mark Twain’s disputed activities and contributions to the

Great National Pastime. However, there are excerpts from a

speech he gave I’d like to include. The reference to not being a

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 204

native is the result of a likely coordinated, joking

introduction.

 

The Boston Daily Globe; April 9, 1889

“Though not a native, as intimated by the chairman, I have

visited, a great many years ago, the Sandwich Islands; that

peaceful land, that beautiful land, that far-off home of

profound repose, and soft indolence, and dreamy solitude, where

life is one long slumbrous Sabbath, the climate one long

delicious summer day, and the good that die experience no

change, for they but fall asleep in one heaven and wake up in

another.

 

And these boys have played base ball there! Base ball, which is

the very symbol, the outward and visible expression of the

drive, and push, and rush and struggle of the raging, tearing,

booming nineteenth century! One cannot realize it, the place and

the fact are so incongruous; it's like interrupting a funeral

with a circus. Why, there's no legitimate point of contact, no

possible kinship, between base ball and the Sandwich Islands;

base ball is all fact, the Islands all sentiment. In base ball

you've got to do everything just right, or you don't get there;

in the islands you've got to do everything just wrong, or you

can't stay there. ..............

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 205

 

Everybody there is educated there, from the highest to the

lowest; in fact, it is the only country in the world where

education is actually universal, and yet every now and then you

run across instances of ignorance that are simply revolting-

simply degrading to the human race. Think of it; there, the ten

takes the ace, but let us not dwell on such things; they make a

person ashamed. Well, the missionaries are always going to fix

that, ..............

 

Well, it is refreshment to the jaded, water to the thirsty, to

look upon men who have so lately breathed the soft airs of those

islands of the blest and had before their eyes the

inextinguishable vision of their beauty. No alien land in all

the world has any deep, strong charm for me but that one, no

other land could so longingly and so beseechingly me, sleeping

and waking, through half a lifetime, as that one has done.

.......

 

And so I drink long life to the boys who ploughed a new equator

round the globe, stealing bases on their bellies!”

 

Despite its infancy baseball was already termed the very

symbol of the booming nineteenth century by the man who invented

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 206

the great American novel. Considering his popularity it seems

likely that his views were adopted by many others. Or maybe he

just told them what they already knew. For the purposes of this

book, I’d have liked it if Twain was quoted as precisely naming

baseball as the Great American Pastime. It would have provided

an excellent starting point. I like to think that when he said;

“Base ball, which is the very symbol, the outward and visible

expression of the drive, and push, and rush and struggle of the

raging, tearing, booming nineteenth century!” that phrase was

subsequently “borrowed” and ultimately converted to the

shortened version.

 

As we all know by now this game predated 1900 in varying

formats, though that date was picked as the beginning of

“modern” baseball. I suspect that some of you are amused. I am

too. It wasn’t my call. I’d have started modernity with “Babe”

myself. The only “logic” I can draw from this other

determination is that rules became more or less constant by the

turn of the last century. What is certain is that when one

compares accounts of the 19th century events one gets the same

consistency as whether or not and under what circumstances Mark

Twain umpired that game in Elmira.

Until Babe Ruth, a 2016 person transported back in time

might not easily see Wee Willie Keeler’s era nickname of “Hit

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 207

‘Em Where They Ain’t” as the same game played by Chris Davis,

Nelson Cruz, Albert Pujols, and Clayton Kershaw. At 5’4”, 140

pounds Willie put up a .341 lifetime average which straddled the

old and the determined as being new; 1892-1910.

However, if we went back to the pre-1900 era Of Cap Anson,

Dan Brouthers and Cy Young, it would be even more difficult.

 

Some early notable commentaries follow.

Walt Whitman, 1846

“In our sundown perambulations of late, through the outer parts

of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters

playing 'base', a certain game of ball. Let us go forth a while

and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our close rooms. A

game of ball is glorious.”

 

Apparently still a big fan 43 years later in 1889, Walt

Whitman added;

“It's our game. That's the chief fact in connection with it.

America's game has the snap, go, fling of the American

atmosphere. It belongs as much to our institutions, fits into

them as significantly, as our Constitution's laws; is just as

important in the sum total of our American life.”

 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1824

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 208

“Ball playing communicated such an impulse to our limbs and

joints, that there is nothing now heard of, in our leisure

hours, but ball, ball, ball. I cannot prophesy with any degree

of accuracy concerning the continuance of this rage for play,

but the effect is good, since there's been a thorough-going

reformation from inactivity and torpitude.”

 

Henry Chadwick, (1824 –1908)

He was an English born American sportswriter, baseball

statistician and historian, and is often called the "father

of baseball." He invented the box score, the statistics of

batting average and earned run average, as well as the

designation “K” for strikeout. He is a member of the National

Baseball Hall of Fame. “Americans do not care to dawdle over a

sleep-inspiring game, all through the heat of a June or July

day. What they do they want to do in a hurry. In baseball all is

lightning. Thus the reason for the American antipathy to cricket

can readily be understood.”

This is likely amusing to some sports fans of 2016, as the

movement in baseball seems slow when compared to basketball,

hockey, or football. Recall, his comparison is with cricket.

But, also keep in mind that the baseball he saw was not the game

we see. It was a game of speed. More motion was involved. A

runner on first wanted to steal second. A runner on second

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 209

wanted to steal third. The “hit and run” play was commonly used.

And with many games officiated by only one umpire, players tried

to use every advantage they could when he was distracted.

 

On Dec 5, 1856; The Sunday New York Mercury referred to

baseball as "the national pastime". That would be a nice

starting point; despite not exactly saying “The Great American

Pastime.” But, there are other considerations. Mercury was the

first newspaper to regularly cover baseball, starting in 1853.

One game was covered by the Herald in 1845. In 1858 Henry

Chadwick was hired by Mercury. Be that as it may; of more

significance is the fact that this Mercury phrasing was unknown

until it was mentioned in a book which came out in 2000. No

replica of the alleged article was posted. Though many people

will say that this was the first incarnation, their source is

the secondary book, not the allegedly primary newspaper.

So, believe what you will. I like correct birthdays. What

can I say? Astrology signs and all that. Rather than detailing

the old rule changes and going into the “professional” status of

the players, I thought I might just share some stories of the

time.

 

Michael Joseph "King" Kelly was an outfielder, catcher,

and manager in various professional American baseball leagues.

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 210

He played from 1878-1893, compiling a .308 lifetime average and

earned his nickname. He was the most popular and most notorious

star of the 19th century and the trickiest player who ever

handled a baseball. His aggressive base running inspired the hit

song, “Slide, Kelly, Slide.”

He sometimes cut across the field, going from first to

third by skipping second altogether when the umpire was not

looking. Kelly liked his liquor as much as he liked competing.

One day he was sitting on the bench, and the rule at the time

was that if you wanted to substitute for a player all you had to

do was call it out. A foul ball came in his direction. Kelly

stood up and yelled out; “Kelly now catching for Boston!” He

caught the ball and the batter was out. He was trickster, a

villain, and sometimes a fool. He was also a great player and

all the rage.

 

In 1888; “Casey at the Bat” was written by Ernest Thayer.

 

John Montgomery Ward was a Major League pitcher, shortstop

and manager. Yes, he was a pitcher who also played the field. He

was also an attorney. He played from 1878-1894; batted .275 with

2,104 hits; had a 164-103 won-loss record, and a 2.10 ERA.

In 1885 he founded the Brotherhood of Professional Base-

Ball Players, the first players' union. He led the formation of

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 211

a new baseball league; called the Players' League; which only

lasted one year. The Players' League was short-lived but star-

studded. The League included most of the best players of

the National League. Led by John Montgomery Ward, they left the

National after failing to change the one sided player-management

relationship in existence there.

The Players League lasted just the one season of 1890, and

the Boston franchise won the championship. The league was well-

attended, at least in some cities, but was underfunded, and its

owners lacked the confidence to continue beyond that one season.

 

John Montgomery Ward is quoted as having said; “There was a

time when the National League stood for integrity and fair

dealing. Today it stands for dollars and cents. Once it looked

to the elevation of the game and an honest exhibition of the

sport. Today its eyes are on the turnstile. Players have been

bought, sold, and exchanged as though they were sheep instead of

American citizens. There is now no escape for the player. If he

attempts to elude the operation of the rule he becomes at once a

professional outlaw, and the hand of every club is against him.

Like a fugitive slave law, the Reserve Clause denies him a

harbor or a livelihood, and carries him back bound and shackled

to the club from which he attempted to escape. We have, then,

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 212

the curious result of a contract, which on its face is for seven

months, being binding for life.”

 

That sounds sufficiently precocious and universal, like it

could have been written anytime later in baseball history, until

Curt Flood came along. The man was well ahead of his time.

 

Albert Goodwill Spalding was a pitcher, manager and

executive in the early years of baseball, and the co-founder

of A.G. Spalding Sporting Goods Company. He played between 1871

and 1878. A popular myth is that Spalding became the first

player to use a fielding glove in 1877 as such gloves were among

the items sold at his sporting goods store. However, field

gloves were regularly used in the mid-1870s. He was President

and part owner of the Chicago White Stockings. With William

Hulbert, Spalding organized the National League.

 

A.G Spalding responded to Ward with;

“I am for war without quarter. I want to fight until one of us

drops dead. From this point on it will simply be a case of dog

eat dog, and the dog with the bulldog tendencies will live the

longest.”

In 1890; The Brotherhood was crushed and the National

League absorbed both the Players' League and the Beer & Whiskey

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 213

League, securing a monopoly on major league baseball. The Reserve

Clause remained intact.

Spalding then said; “The Players' League is deader than the

proverbial doornail. When the spring comes and the grass is

green upon the last resting place of anarchy, the national

agreement will rise again in all its weight and restore to

America in all its purity its national pastime: the great game

of baseball.”

 

Cy Young recorded 511 career wins between 1890 and 1911, a

record never even approached by any other pitcher. It should be

noted that during part of his career it was not uncommon for a

pitcher to pitch virtually all of his team’s games. Having said

that he put up a pre-1900 record of 267-151; and 244-165 after

the official announcement of the coming of modernity. His record

number of career wins was countered by his record number of

career losses. His lifetime 2.63 ERA is sixtieth on the all-time

list and his 2,803 strikeouts is twentieth. The man had to have

had a rubber arm.

Early on, Young established himself as one of the harder-

throwing pitchers in the game. His regular catcher, Chief Zimmer

often put a piece of beefsteak inside his baseball glove to

protect his catching hand from Young's fastball.

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 214

Two teams dominated the 1890s: the Boston Beaneaters and

the Baltimore Orioles. Boston was led by Billy Hamilton and Hugh

Duffy, and pioneered what would be called the “Inside Game;”

sacrifice bunts, squeeze plays, double steals. They fought and

struggled for every run. In an era of dirty baseball the Orioles

delighted in being the dirtiest. The Orioles were one of the

greatest teams ever assembled and later evolved into being the

New York Yankees.

 

“Baseball was mighty glamorous and exciting to me, but there's

no use in blinking at the fact that at that time the game was

thought by solid, respectable people to be only one degree above

grand larceny, arson and mayhem, and those who engaged in it

were beneath the notice of decent society.”

Connie Mack, catcher, manager, owner

 

Dan Brouthers, Orioles' first baseman, was the greatest

power hitter of the 1880s, bettering .300 in 14 seasons".

 

"Wee Willie" Keeler, Orioles' right field, was "the game's

preeminent place hitter.” Asked for the secret of his success,

he answered, “Keep your eye clear and hit 'em where they

ain't.” He once managed at least one hit in 44 consecutive

games; a record for a while.

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 215

 

Hughie "Ee-Yah" Jennings, Orioles' shortstop, hit .401 in

1896, stole 70 bases, and set a record in his specialty. He

managed to get hit by pitched balls 49 times. Between seasons he

practiced law.

 

John McGraw, Orioles' third baseman, was the most

pugnacious Oriole of them all. The toughest of the toughs, and

an abomination on the diamond; a rough, unruly man, he used

every low and contemptible method that his erratic brain could

conceive to win a play by a dirty trick. Referring to McGraw;

“The one true American.”

George Bernard Shaw, Irish writer, critic and polemicist, which

basically means one who likes to argue and proceeds to make

little sense.

 

"The great lesson in sports is supposed to be that you not only

learn the elation of winning, but you learn how to lose. There's

a lot of emphasis on that in the British attitude toward sports,

and Americans have it, too. But there's something very American

about being a poor loser, refusing to shake the other fella's

hand. He says, 'He's a scoundrel, he always was a scoundrel, and

he's even more of a scoundrel now that he's beat me.' There's

something likable about that in people ... it's bad

Baseball; the Last Great American Pastime

Page 216

sportsmanship."

Shelby Foote, historian