Baseball (26 page)

My first debt is to the writers who have contributed to this lovely series. Their work and reputations made me want to be part of the team.

I wish to thank Julia Cheiffetz of Random House, who made this book twice as good as I would have done on my own. Also, thanks to Esther Newberg, my agent, who lets me see the Red Sox through her heart. And thanks to my wife, Marianne Graham Vecsey, for the advice that always works. I do listen to you.

I also want to thank Ted Spencer, the chief curator, and Jeff Idelson and Bill Francis of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, along with members of the Society of American Baseball Researchers (SABR), who have laid out an amazing amount of baseball history. And in particular, John Thorn, who was so generous with ideas, contacts, and information.

In no particular order, other kind people include:

Yoshi Demura, Pico Iyer, Brad Lefton, Dave Ornauer, Haruko Hasami, Bobby Valentine, Ken Belson, Bruce Picken, David Falkner, Yasumasa Ishikawa and our good friends, the Usuzaka family, for teaching me about Japan. Domo arigato.

Mark and Josephine Harris. Branch B. Rickey, for the stories about his grandfather. George Shuba, one of the Boys of Summer. Garrett Squires, nephew of Roger Connor. Abe J. Schear, for his enlightening interviews with baseball people.

David Block, who wrote an excellent book and then answered a lot of my questions. Fay Vincent. Peter Ueberroth. Ralph Branca. Buzzie Bavasi, a grand storyteller. Christopher Vecsey, Ph.D., my kid brother.

Karen D. Thompson, Information and Research Services Branch, Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau. Martina Bagnoli, Associate Curator, Manuscripts and Rare Books, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland. Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, Department of Drama, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, for his e-mail about Frazee and
Nanette.
Kate Salem, University of Nebraska Press.

Peter C. Bjarkman. Douglas Logan. Sandra Levinson, Center for Cuban Studies, New York. Bob Waterman of the Elias Sports Bureau. Stan Isaacs. Marv Rothenstein. Ron Blum. Buck O'Neil, who taught us about the Negro Leagues, and then taught us about grace. Al Campanis, a good man who was so proud of Jackie, Campy, Newk, and Gilliam.

Glenn Stout, for his knowledge about Ruth, Frazee, and the Robinson tryout. Jack Lang, who was so generous with Brooklyn and Mets information. Alan Taxerman, who gives me insight into the demanding world of the Yankee fan. And Ray Robinson, for his books, plus the long lunches, talking baseball—and politics.

And finally, my parents, George Vecsey and May Spencer Vecsey, journalists and union pioneers who made me want to go into the family trade.

Ashe Arthur R. Jr.
A Hard Road to Glory: Baseball: The African-American Athlete in Baseball
New York Amistad 1988

Asinof Eliot
Eight Men Out
New York Holt, Rinehart & Winston 1963

Astor Gerald, editor
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: 50th Anniversary Book
New York Prentice Hall 1988

Block David
Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game
Lincoln University of Nebraska Press 2005

Boswell Thomas
How Life Imitates the World Series
Garden City Double-day 1982

Clark Joe
A History of Australian Baseball
Lincoln University of Nebraska Press 2003

Eig Jonathan
Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig
New York Simon & Schuster 2005

Fainaru-Wada Mark Lance Williams
Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports
New York Gotham 2006

Fetter Henry D.
Taking On the Yankees
New York W. W. Norton 2003

Flood Curt, with Richard Carter
The Way It Is
New York Pocket 1972

Goldstein Richard
Spartan Seasons: How Baseball Survived the Second World War
New York Macmillan 1980

Goldstein Warren
Playing for Keeps: A History of Early Baseball
Ithaca Cornell University Press 1989

González Echevarría Roberto
The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball
New York Oxford University Press 1999

Harris Mark
The Southpaw
Lincoln University of Nebraska Press 2003 (Orig. pub. 1953.)

Helyar John
Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball
New York Villard 1994

Jensen Don
The Timeline History of Baseball
New York Palgrave Macmillan 2005

Koppett Leonard
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
New York Carroll & Graf 2004

Kuhn Bowie
Hardball: The Education of a Baseball Commissioner
New York Times Books 1987

Lamster Mark
Spalding's World Tour: The Epic Adventure That Took Baseball Around the Globe and Made It America's Game
New York Public Affairs 2006

Levine Peter
A. G. Spalding and the Rise of Baseball
New York Oxford University Press 1985

Mann Jack
The Decline and Fall of the New York Yankees
New York Simon & Schuster 1967

Maraniss David
Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero
New York Simon & Schuster 2006

Miller Marvin
A Whole Different Ball Game
Chicago Ivan R. Dee 2004

Nuñez Bernardo B. Camilo A. Nuñez
Su Majestad, El Baseball, Rey de los Deportes
Panama Playball Sports 2002

Obojski Robert
Bush League: A History of Minor League Baseball
New York Macmillan 1975

Oh Sadaharu, with David Falkner
A Zen Way of Baseball
New York Times Books 1984

Oleksak Michael M. Mary Adams Oleksak
Beisbol: Latin Americans and the Grand Old Game
Grand Rapids, Michigan Masters Press 1991

Rampersad Arnold
Jackie Robinson: A Biography
New York Alfred A. Knopf 1997

Reaves Joseph A.
Taking In a Game: A History of Baseball in Asia
Lincoln University of Nebraska Press 2000

Riley James A.
The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues
New York Carroll & Graf 1994

Ritter Lawrence
The Glory of Their Times
New expanded edition. New York William Morrow 1984

Robinson Jackie, as told to Alfred Duckett
I Never Had It Made
New York G. P. Putnam's Sons 1972

Robinson Ray
Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time
New York W. W. Norton 2006 (Orig. pub. 1990.)

Robinson Ray
Matty: An American Hero
New York Oxford University Press 1993

Rogosin Donn
Invisible Men
New York Atheneum 1983

Ryan Bob
When Boston Won the World Series
Philadelphia Running Press 2002

Shapiro Michael
The Last Good Season
New York Doubleday 2003

Smelser Marshall
The Life That Ruth Built
Lincoln University of Ne braska Press 1993

Smith Curt
Voices of Summer: Ranking Baseball's 101 All-Time Best Announcers
New York Carroll & Graf 2005

Smith Curt
Voices of the Game
New York Simon & Schuster 1987

Snyder Brad
A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports
New York Viking 2006

Stout Glenn
Yankees Century: 100 Years of New York Yankees Baseball
New York Houghton Mifflin 2002

Sullivan Neil
The Diamond in the Rough: Yankee Stadium and the Politics of New York
New York Oxford University Press 2001

Thorn John, with Pete Palmer Michael Gershman David Pietrusza
Total Baseball: The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball
Sixth Edition. New York Total Sports 1999

Tygiel Jules
Baseball as History
New York Oxford University Press 2000

Whiting Robert
The Chrysanthemum and the Bat: Baseball Samurai Style
New York Dodd, Mead 1977

I: SIX DEGREES

3 Musial in Japan: Lee Kavetski, “Stan ‘the Man’ Musial—A Class Guy,”
Stars and Stripes
, January 24, 1988.

3 Oh and Musial crouch: Sadaharu Oh, with David Falkner,
A Zen Way of Baseball
(New York: Times Books, 1984), p. 81.

9 Merkle and 1908: Lawrence Ritter,
The Glory of Their Times
, new expanded edition (New York: William Morrow, 1984), pp. 105–8.

10 legacy of the game: Tom Shieber and Ted Spencer,
Baseball as America: Seeing Ourselves Through Our National Game.
Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2002.

11 “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”:
Baseball-Almanac.com
.

11 Tagliabue and baseball: Karl Taro Greenfeld, “The Big Man,”
Sports Illustrated
, January 23, 2006.

12 “Casey at the Bat”:
Favoritepoem.org
.

12 “I went back”: Mark Harris,
The Southpaw
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003), pp. 287–88.

II: BERBERS
WITH BATS

17 blond Berbers: David Block,
Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005), pp. 95–99.

18 Spanish drawing: Bill Pennington, “They Ain't Found Till They're Found,”
New York Times
, September 12, 2004.

18 Flanders ball: Block,
Baseball Before We Knew It
, p. 148.

18 Stow and London: Ibid., pp. 166–67.

19 Newbery and baseball: Ibid., pp. 178–79.

19 Gutsmuths: Ibid., pp. 67–73.

20 Silesian glass-blowers: Ibid., p. 101.

20 The game that flourished:
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: 50th Anniversary Book
, edited by Gerald Astor (New York: Prentice Hall, 1988), pp. 1– 4. 20 Doc Adams: John Thorn, “The True Father of Baseball,”
Elysian Fields Quarterly
, Winter 1992.

23 first admissions: John Odell, “Curator's Corner: The All-Stars Are Not the Only All-Stars,”
Memories and Dreams
(Baseball Hall of Fame quarterly magazine), Spring 2003.

23 James Creighton: Leonard Koppett,
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
(New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004), p. 46.

24 Creighton death: John Thorn, SABR Baseball Biography Project.

24 Cuthbert and stolen bases: Don Jensen,
The Timeline History of Baseball
(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). 25 U.S. Grant and Red Stockings: Harvey Frommer, “The Birth of Base-ball's First Professional Team,” Frommer Sportsnet, 2005.

III: THE FIRST ENTREPRENEUR

29 Spalding and “manliness”: Peter Levine,
A. G. Spalding and the Rise of Baseball
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1985), p. 119.

29 Spalding and professionalism: Ibid., p. 14.

30 Spalding as entrepreneur: Ibid., p. 44.

30 Spalding's awareness of thèque: David Block,
Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005), p. 11.

30 Chadwick and
Beadle's
: Levine,
A. G. Spalding and the Rise of Baseball
, p. 19.

31 “Boston is in mourning”: Ibid., p. 21.

32 Spalding and sporting goods: Leonard Koppett,
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
(New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004).

32 Chadwick and the K: Jules Tygiel,
Baseball as History
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 23.

32 Salary cap: Koppett,
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
, p. 57.

32 Spalding and Chadwick and labor: Levine,
A. G. Spalding and the Rise of Baseball
, p. 53.

32 Australia trip: John Rossi, “The Great Base Ball Trip Around the World in 1888–89,” LaSalle University in Philadelphia,
Nationalpastime.com
.

33 Duval and leash: Mark Lamster,
Spalding's World Tour: The Epic Adventure That Took Baseball Around the Globe and Made It America's Game
(New York: Public Affairs, 2006), p. 317.

33 Twain at Delmonico's:
Boston Daily Globe
, April 9, 1889.

33 Delmonico's menu: Lamster,
Spalding's World Tour
, p. xv.

34 Louisville scandal: Eliot Asinof,
Eight Men Out
(New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963), pp. 11–12.

34 Comiskey and playing wide: Tygiel,
Baseball as History
, p. 43.

35 Roger Connor: Mike Attiyeh, “Roger Connor: The 19th Century HR King,”
baseballguru.com
.

35 “The family old-timers”: E-mail from Garrett Squires, Connor's grandnephew, February 5, 2005.

36 Anson and Ward at Delmonico's:
New York Times
, April 9, 1889.

37 Mack and the Brotherhood: Tygiel,
Baseball as History
, p. 45.

38 Philadelphia Pythians: Don Jensen,
The Timeline History of Baseball
(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).

38 Bud Fowler and Page Fence Giants: Ibid.

38 Moses Fleetwood Walker: Arthur R. Ashe, Jr.,
A Hard Road to Glory: Baseball: The African-American Athlete in Baseball
(New York: Amistad, 1988), pp. 3–4.

38 Anson and Stovey: Michael M. Oleksak and Mary Adams Oleksak,
Beisbol: Latin Americans and the Grand Old Game
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Masters Press, 1991), p. 26.

IV: COLUMBUS, POCAHONTAS
,
AND DOUBLEDAY

41 Doubleday: Richard J. Tofel, “Regarding the ‘Innocuous Conspiracy’ of Baseball's Birth: Two Long-Lost Letters Show How Double-day Was Credited with the Game's Invention,”
Wall Street Journal
, July 19, 2001.

42 “an American Dad”: Letter from Spalding to Murnane, January 25, 1905, courtesy of Bill Francis, researcher, National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, 2006.

42 Spalding resists Chadwick's rounders theory: Peter Levine,
A. G. Spalding and the Rise of Baseball
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1985), p. 113.

43 Graves letters: Courtesy of Ted Spencer, chief curator, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, 2006.

43 no record of Doubleday visiting Cooperstown: Ted Spencer, chief
curator, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, e-mail, February 16, 2006.

43 Doubleday never wrote about baseball: Victor Salvatore, “The Man Who Didn't Invent Baseball,”
American Heritage
, June/July 1983.

43 “You ask for some information”: Letter to unknown correspondent, November 20, 1887, courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, 2006.

44 Abner Demas Doubleday: David Block,
Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005), p. 58.

44 Mills in honor guard for Doubleday: Levine,
A. G. Spalding and the Rise of Baseball
, p. 114.

47 Alexander and Hall:
Sporting News
, January 27, 1938, p. 4.

47 Ted Williams and Negro League stars: Donn Rogosin,
Invisible Men
(New York: Atheneum, 1983), p. 176.

V: GROWING PAINS

51 Ban Johnson and Western League: Eliot Asinof,
Eight Men Out
(New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963), p. 75.

52 Athletics “white elephants”: Leonard Koppett,
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
(New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004), p. 95.

53 crowds in Boston: Bob Ryan,
When Boston Won the World Series
(Philadelphia: Running Press, 2002), p. 100.

53 “Tessie”: Ibid., p. 135.

53 Mathewson and Sunday: Ray Robinson,
Matty: An American Hero
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 12.

54 Eddie Grant, Argonne Forest: Ibid., p. 186.

55 Cobb's average reviewed: E-mail from Bill Francis, National Baseball Hall of Fame, May 2007.

55 Federal League and Mack: Jules Tygiel,
Baseball as History
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 59.

56 Landis “shocked”: Rick Burton, “From Hearst to Stern: The Shaping of an Industry Over a Century,”
New York Times
, December 19, 1999.

VI: THE BLACK SOX

60 Hal Chase and $50: Eliot Asinof,
Eight Men Out
(New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963), p. 14.

60 White Sox salaries: Ibid., pp. 17–18.

61 Cicotte hits Rath: Ibid., pp. 64–65.

62 “whelp of a beaten cur”: Ibid., p. 77.

63 push for a neutral leader: Leonard Koppett,
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
(New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004), p. 135.

64 “Birds of a feather”: Asinof,
Eight Men Out
, p. 280.

64 Cobb and Speaker: Koppett,
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
, p. 164.

VII: THE BABE

68 father never visited St. Mary's school: Marshall Smelser,
The Life That Ruth Built
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993), p. 11.

68 Brother Matthias: Ibid., p. 14.

68 Dunn guardian: Ibid., p. 32.

68 “Jack Dunn's babes”: Ibid., p. 39.

69 Ruppert and Huston: Ibid., p. 123.

69 Ruth $125,000 plus loan: Ibid., p. 128.

69 livelier baseballs: Leonard Koppett,
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
(New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004), p. 139.

70 better wool: Smelser,
The Life That Ruth Built
, p. 189.

70 “The House That Ruth Built”: Ibid., p. 274.

71 Gehrig's farewell speech: Jonathan Eig,
Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), p. 317.

73 Henry Ford: Glenn Stout,
Yankees Century: 100 Years of New York Yankees Baseball
(New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2002).

73 anti-Semitic material: “Jewish Degradation of American Baseball,”
Dearborn Independent
, September 10, 1921; Glenn Stout, “Nothing but the Truth: The Untold History of the ‘Curse,’”
Elysian Fields Quarterly
, Fall 2005.

74 Frazee estate: Stout,
Yankees Century
.

VIII: MR. RICKEY

77 Rickey stolen bases: Mark Herrmann, “Branch Rickey: One Man's Vision Changed Baseball Forever,”
Newsday
, March 16, 1997.

79 Knothole Gang: Mike Eisenbath, “Branch Took the Birds, and Baseball, Out of the Woods,”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, May 5, 1992.

79 Cardinals impoverished: Henry D. Fetter,
Taking On the Yankees
(New York: W. W. Norton, 2003), p. 108.

79 “the king of the weeds”: Ibid., p. 119.

79 “lending” players: Ibid., p. 122.

80 Holmes on reserve clause: Allen Guttmann, “When Supreme Court Rules,”
New York Times
, September 9, 1984.

80 “sport, not trade”: John Helyar,
Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball
(New York: Villard, 1994), p. 10.

80 fifty ex-farmhands in majors: Ibid., p. 173.

80 “South Dakota, North Dakota”: Interview with Branch B. Rickey, 2005.

81 Schoendienst and CCC:
BaseballLibrary.com
. 81 Slaughter and hunting dogs: Interview with Branch B. Rickey, 2005.

81 Giants, Yankees resist farm system: Fetter,
Taking On the Yankees
, p. 154.

81 Yanks emulated Cardinals: Marshall Smelser,
The Life That Ruth Built
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993), p. 405.

81 Newark farm team: Fetter,
Taking On the Yankees
, p. 104.

IX: THE NEGRO LEAGUES

87 some Cubans not white: Roberto González Echevarría,
The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 255.

88 “Cherokee” bellhop: Arthur R. Ashe, Jr.,
A Hard Road to Glory: Baseball: The African-American Athlete in Baseball
(New York: Amistad, 1988), p. 15.

88 Ban Johnson bans white players: Ibid., p. 18.

88 “no makeshift club”: Michael M. Oleksak and Mary Adams Oleksak,
Beisbol: Latin Americans and the Grand Old Game
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Masters Press, 1991), p. 22.

89 Andrew (Rube) Foster: Ashe,
A Hard Road to Glory
, pp. 17, 23.

89 Foster rebuilds grandstand: Donn Rogosin,
Invisible Men
(New York: Atheneum, 1983), p. 8.

89 Foster and black owners: Jules Tygiel,
Baseball as History
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 116.

89 Landis forbids major league uniforms: John B. Holway, “A Vote for Chandler, an Ignored Pioneer,”
New York Times
, March 1, 1981.

89 Homestead Grays and Posey:
Negroleaguebaseball.com
.

90 Greenlee buys Crawfords: Rogosin,
Invisible Men
, p. 15.

90 five Hall of Famers on Crawfords: Ibid., p. 17.

90 Gibson joins Grays, 1930: Ibid., p. 53.

90 baseball as black industry: Ibid., p. 6.

91 nine consecutive championships:
Negroleaguebaseball.com
.

92 “shadow ball”:
Baseball
, documentary by Ken Burns, 1994.

92 Dean praises Paige: Rogosin,
Invisible Men
, p. 124.

92 Negro League victories: Burns,
Baseball
.

92 “In games between”: Jules Tygiel, “The Negro Leagues,”
Organization of American Historians, Magazine of History
, Summer 1992.

92 innovations by Bassett, Wells: Rogosin,
Invisible Men
, p. 74.

92 Manley and Newark Eagles: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, 2006.

93 Willie Wells in Mexico: Wendell Smith,
Pittsburgh Courier
, May 6, 1944.

93 bridge named for Grays: Associated Press, “Bridge Name Honors Homestead Grays,” July 14, 2002.

93 Negro League merchandise: Richard Sandomir, “Survivors of Negro League Reaping the Benefits,”
New York Times
, February 12, 1995.

X: RADIO DAYS

97 converted telephone: Curt Smith,
Voices of the Game
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987), p. 6.

97 “I was just a nobody”: Ibid., p. 7.

97 first World Series broadcast: Stan Isaacs, “Baseball's Radio Pioneers,”
Newsday
, July 11, 1989.