American Baseball Volume 2 Notes

I have been reading American Baseball Volume 2: From the Commissioners to Continental Expansion, by David Quentin Voigt (1970, University of Oklahoma Press).  It has provided some memorable quotes that I would like to share.  A couple of notes on my posts in that I try to provide: (1) references for each post; (2) links to further explore topics; and (3) a personalized Dean Comment for each post:

Indeed, 493 major league players (out of 2750 or 18%) in the silver age of baseball were college men, a type much sought by managers like Mack and Branch Rickey, who urged their scouts to scour the campuses for promising talent (Voigt, 1970, p. 64; Lee Allen, “Notebooks containing statistical data on baseball players.”).  Dean Comment: Billy Beane was not really a pioneer in collegiate recruiting compared to Mack and Rickey, but here is a link to an interesting and recent NY Times article on Beane.

(The daily hazards of major league baseball players) include social dangers from contact with shady characters and designing females.  Called “baseball Sadies,” the latter sometimes trapped or blackmailed those who enjoyed their favors.  In a tragic incident, Chick Stahl of the Red Sox, distraught over fear for exposure, swallowed carbolic acid and died in agony at the age of thirty-four (Voigt, 1970, pp. 71-72; Baseball Digest, September, 1959, p. 63; Reach’s Official Baseball Guide, 1908, p. 393). In an 1898 interview, Stahl reported that he had 23 siblings. "We had just enough in our family to make a couple nines--eighteen boys and half a dozen girls” (SABR Biography of Chick Stahl).  Dean Comment: While the reason for his suicide has been widely disputed (See SABR), the conditions were ripe for blackmail in a different era.  Question: Why hasn’t anyone made a movie of the Chick Stahl story?

(Joe) Jackson was often goaded by fans who asked him to spell simple words, a cruel treatment that drove him to unprintable replies (Voigt, 1970, p. 57)). Dean Comment: Imagine being in the crowd and hearing this…the ultimate heckle.

Despite an epileptic condition which sometimes attacked him while on the mound, and despite a growing taste for liquor, (Grover Cleveland) Alexander pitched eighty shutouts and 250 victories in the years 1911-1921 (Voigt, 1970, p. 59).  Dean Comment: This averages to 23 wins and over 7 shutouts per season.  He finished with 373-208 lifetime record.(See Baseball Reference.com statistics on Alexander).

(Walter) Johnson entered the majors (in 1907) with little more than a blazing fast ball, but after two years of maltreatment by bunting batters, Johnson learned his trade.  By 1910 his blazing speed and fielding agility aroused the baseball world.  When the American League began keeping earned-run averages in 1913, Johnson posted a 1.09 mark for 346 innings (Voigt, 1970, p. 60 – His ERA was actually 1.14 according to Baseball Reference.com statistics on Johnson).  Dean Comment: This season from Johnson could have single-handedly won a fantasy league for someone back in 1913 (I know, they didn’t exist back then…).  Apart from his 243 strikeouts, his 0.780 WHIP was most impressive.

Facing the “Big Train” for the first time in 1916, Jimmy Dykes never saw the first pitch and was amazed when told by the umpire to take his base.  When Dykes asked why, the umpire pointed to his cap, which had been clipped by the pitch and knocked completely around so that the bill faced backwards (Baseball Magazine, December 1912, pp. 25-28, 104-106; Baseball Digest, January-February, 1957, p. 54). Dean Comment: Perhaps Jimmy Dykes started the whole trend of wearing backwards baseball caps?

After all, it was just one game that stamped Fred Merkle as the anti-hero of the century.  Indeed, that black day of September 23, 1908, introduced the epithet, “bonehead” into the American language.  It had previously been an “anemic and almost meaningless word”; but shortened to “boner” it became a favorite description of a pathetic performance (Voigt, 1970, p.63).  Dean Comment: Yes, baseball is America, although I don’t know what Merkle would have thought about today’s use of the word “Boner.”  Perhaps he could have been a spokesperson for Viagra?

Rube Waddell’s treatment in 1913 stands as a monument to avaricious exploitation (by owners).  Playing with the Browns, Waddell ended the season in debt, as he was billed $1000 for breaking a no-drinking pledge, another $750 loaned him for his wife’s alimony and $700 for various miscellaneous disciplinary fines (Voigt, 190, p. 66).  Dean Comment: Compare this to today’s salaries…

(Ty Cobb) prudently invested in the Coca-Cola Company, a move that eventually made him a millionaire. Most men would have mellowed at such a turn of fortune, but Cobb in retirement was embittered to the point of doubting his choice of a career.   At this stage, he told James T. Farrell that if he had his life to live over, he would have chosen a medical career (Baseball Digest, April, 1946, pp. 57-58). Dean Comment: The tragic manner of his father’s death (his mother apparently mistook him for a burglar and shot him), may have jaded Cobb for life.  The fact that the greatest player of all-time wanted to do something else baffles me.

Welcome to Our Blog: Purpose and History

Thanks for visiting our baseball blog.  Our purpose is to shed some light on major league baseball as fans for fans.  Our meeting  is somewhat fateful - it is pretty fair to say that we have both never met another more knowledgeable and interested in baseball.  This is in many parts an experiment to recreate the baseball conversation between bartender (Jim) and patron (Dean).   This blog recreates some of these conversations and we figure that we can perform this is a timely manner because we have no problems writing, with Jim an English major graduate and Dean an ex-professor.  In summarizing these conversations, they are usually informative and laden with dry humor and research.  We hope others can chime in our conversation.

Pragmatically, when watching a game together Dean usually provides play-by-play and Jim chips in on color commentary.  This is both dispositional and situational because Dean has lecturer tendencies and is facing the bank of TVs with no interruptions. Jim is more reserved and prone to the occasional one-liner using baseball vernacular.  Multiple games are also on simultaneously and the analysis usually focuses on close games or when the Dodgers or Orioles are playing at the time.  Our in-game analyses (pitch-by-pitch & strategy speculation) will be discussed as well as trivia, predictions, stories, and anecdotes.  This is how we interact as hardcore fans.  We hope that our type of baseball discussion rings true with other fans.  

Given recent technological advances, we would be remiss to not consider multimedia channels for our grassroots baseball fan blog.  We can share occasional audio and video clips, but would like to focus on writing about interesting baseball questions and predicaments and getting others to lend their own two cents.  One new way to effectively market our message is through Twitter.  Twitter allows 140-character quips to go viral and can be used to promote thought evoking conversations between people who are knowledgeable or fascinated on a topic.  Our blog is linked to Twitter to get our message out faster and recruit followers and contributors to our discussion.  We hope to write thought-evoking headlines to stimulate interest in a meaningful discussion regarding our baseball obsession.  I have no idea where this is going, but Play Ball!