Category: Baseball History

Secondbaseman and the Intentional Walk

Taking a look at the Intentional Base on Balls with a twist.  Here is an all-time top ten list of secondbaseman ranked by most intentional base on balls in a single season.

    1 Ted Sizemore       21 1977
    2 Jose Lind          19 1990
    3 Rod Carew          18 1975
    4 Glenn Hubbard      17 1987
    5 Ron Oester         17 1985
    6 Ron Oester         16 1986
    7 Ted Kubiak         16 1970
    8 Bill Mazeroski     16 1962
    9 Phil Garner        15 1979
   10 Bill Mazeroski     15 1960

Unlike the complete IBB single-season leaders list which is dominated by sluggers (read: Barry Bonds), those on the secondbaseman top ten list do not curry their intentional walks from fear.

Nay, with the exception of Rod Carew, these second sackers, earned their intentional ball-fours because they primarily hit eighth in the lineup on a National League team.  Hitting before the pitcher got them their IBBs.

Phil Garner is an interesting case.  While he played a full season (150 games, 549 AB), Only 60 of his games were dedicated to the 8th spot.  The other lineup spots (2nd, 6th, and 7th) were pretty evenly distributed.  I’m pretty familiar with the 79 Pirates lineup and can’t think of another hitter that a team would walk Garner to get to (SS Foli was a decent hitter).

My only guess was that Garner must have gotten most of his 15 IBB in his 60 games as the 8th place hitter.  Perhaps the Pirates pitchers’ hitting was that poor.

Sunday baseball: the history of blue laws

I was searching around Google the other day and sorta got off track on what I was REALLY looking for as I’m prone do.  The advantage of that is I tend to learn a lot.  This time I picked up on the topic of blue laws and how they affected the sport of baseball.  Man, how things have changed!

First, let’s start with a general definition of blue laws for the whippersnappers out there who aren’t familiar with the concept of blue laws.

Straight from Wikipedia:

A blue law is a type of law, typically found in the United States, designed to enforce religious standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest, and a restriction on Sunday shopping. Most have been repealed, have been declared unconstitutional, or are simply unenforced, although prohibitions on the sale of alcoholic beverages, and occasionally almost all commerce, on Sundays are still enforced in many areas. Blue laws often prohibit an activity only during certain hours and there are usually exceptions to the prohibition of commerce, like grocery and drug stores. In some places blue laws may be enforced due to religious principles, but others are retained as a matter of tradition or out of convenience

As to blue laws’ relevance to baseball, there were many cases where they were enforced to stop games on Sunday.  It has been reported that as of 1906, five times that games took place on Sunday and the players or managers were arrested for violating the local code.

What were the particular reasons?  The Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society web site has a very extensive article on “The Fight for Sunday Baseball in Philadelphia” (very well worth the read for those interested in the topic).  According the article, legislators in the state assembly passed a law way back in 1794 was an Act for the prevention of vice and immorality, and of unlawful gaming, and to restrain disorderly sports and dissipation” on the Lord’s Day.

This law and more strict ones that were to follow influenced those who enforced these what were to be more commonly known as the “blue laws”.

Philadelphia is a good case study for the blue laws and how they affected the sport of baseball.  According to PAHS, it wasn’t until 1934 when a legal game of baseball was played on Sunday.  The other pro ballclubs were a little more lenient.

Professional Ballclub Cities and the Year Sunday Baseball was Legal

Chicago 1902
Cincinnati 1902
St Louis 1902
Cleveland 1918
Detroit 1918
New York 1918
Washington 1918
Boston 1929
Baltimore 1932
Philadelphia 1934

Professional ballclubs (and those in the East) weren’t the only ones who were affected by blue laws.  While not widely publicized, it took its toll on minor leagues as well.   The Nebraska Minor League website also has a good article detailing the history of playing games on Sunday.  By the early 1900s, Nebraskan teams were being arrested for playing on the Sabbath.  Some were playing knowing full well they were going to be arrested.

In 1903, a decision went to the Nebraska state supreme court.  The court affirmed the earlier decision that made Sunday illegal.

Bit by bit through the mid 20th century, the blue laws were taken off the books.  It wouldn’t surprise me though if some laws were still lingering on today, forgotten and just not being enforced.

Just something to think about as you’re about to sit down to watch some Sunday Baseball.

PS I found this humorous.  There’s a vintage baseball team called the Winona Blue Laws.  Clever.

Disco Sucks!

Thirty years ago a promotion at a major league baseball game went wrong, it went really wrong.  Mike Veeck, son of White Sox owner at the time, Bill Veeck, the P.T. Barnum of promotions was in charge of promotions for the White Sox.  Thirty years later, this promotion lives on, Disco Demolition was the brain child of 25 year old Loop disk jockey Steve Dahl & Mike Veeck.  The Loop was a rock station in Chicago and disco, popular in some circles, was despised by rockers.  Thus the promotion, bring a disco record to Comiskey Park, get in for a buck, and all of the disco records would be blown up by Dahl between games of a scheduled doubleheader between the White Sox and the Tigers.

Mike Veeck believed there would be a few fans, perhaps 1,000, who would take advantage of the promotion, and enjoy a cheap night out at the ole ballpark.  He had no idea he would be remembered for coming up with the worst promotion in the history of the game, this coming from the son of a guy who batted a midget, Eddie Gaedel, in a major league game.  Thousands of pot smoking disco haters showed up for the explosion between games, they couldn’t have cared less about baseball.  There wasn’t enough security to handle the crowd, which soon overtook the ballpark.

They demolished the playing field, along with a few disco records, making the playing field unplayable for the second game, which was forfeited by the White Sox to the Tigers.  Even the ever popular broadcaster Harry Caray and the infamous owner Bill Veeck’s pleas couldn’t get through to the stoner fans, who’d overtaken the field.  As a young White Sox fan, I remember hoping the second game would be played, how embarrassing to lose a game by forfeit.

What do you remember about Disco Demolition Night?

Historic Ballparks and what happened to them

 

I’m fan about old baseball stadiums.  Reading about their history, viewing what little photographs we have of them. 

Chris Epting has put together a cool slideshow video of old photographs of historic baseball stadiums in their heyday and then comparing them with current photographs of the locations of where once stood.  Sort of like VH1’s Where are they Now? but more depressing.

Sappy, sentimental, but poignant too for us amateur baseball historians.

 

 

Epting is the author of Roadside Baseball: The Locations of America’s Baseball Landmarks which I haven’t read yet but it is on my “to-get” list. 

Andre Dawson: Best free agent money could buy?

Askmen.com presents their top ten list of All-time Baseball Free-Agent Bargains. 

dawson I’m glad to see their memory is intact and they remember Andre Dawson at #3.  In the collusion market after the 1986 season, Dawson was picked up by the Cubs for $500,000 (plus incentives which eventually came out to around $700,000).  Even back then, that was a pitiful amount. 

The rest, as they say, is history.  Dawson had his famous 49-homer, 137 rbi season for the last place Cubs.  Both figures led the NL that year and were enough to garner him the NL MVP. 

Fortunately, the Cubs saw value in their new outfielder and gave him a raise.  They signed him at $1.85 million the next year.

Dawson played six 20+ HR years for Chicago.

Odd Black Mountain University Magnet

 

ladybruins

Solve this mystery for me.  I found this refrigerator magnet (actually two of them) in my son’s room when cleaning his room with him.  I have no idea where we got them.

With two bats crossed and a smiling bear in the middle, the text of it says:

Lady Bruins

1954

Black Mountain University

Fossil Conf. AAA Winter League

After a web search, the only possible result that matched was a Black Mountain College that was founded 1933 near Asheville, North Carolina.  The school closed in 1957. 

I couldn’t find anything on a Fossil Conf Winter League. 

Keep in mind that it could either baseball or softball (I’m thinking softball).

Odd mystery and even odder that it would show up in my kid’s room.

Who Was the HR King Before the Babe?

connor Kids of my era all grew up with the number 714 ingrained in us, it was written into our DNA. But I wonder if there’s anybody out there who would know without googling, what the Home Run Record was before Babe Ruth shattered it and who held that record. Yesterday’s White Sox tear-off calendar asks the question, “In 1921, Babe Ruth became the all-time career home run king. Whose record of 138 career home runs did he eclipse?”
A. Roger Connor

I had no idea, so I looked up Roger Connor, and this is what I found. The 6’3″ 220 pound Hall of Fame firstbaseman played from 1880-97, amassing 2,467 hits in 8,837 at bats, for a .317 lifetime batting average. He hit 441 doubles, 233 triples, & 138 home runs, swinging from the leftside.

Connor entered the National League in 1880 as a member of the Troy Trojans. He later played for the New York Gothams, and, due to his great stature, gave that team the enduring nickname “Giants”.

Roger is credited with being the first player to hit a grand slam in the major leagues and being the first to hit an over-the-wall home run at the Polo Grounds. His grand slam came with two outs and his team down three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Another notable fact from Connor’s career: in his first year in the Majors with the Troy Trojans, he teamed with future Hall-of-Famers Dan Brouthers, Buck Ewing, Tim Keefe and Mickey Welch, all of whom was just starting out their careers.

Back-to-back Jacks are #300

73455753SD008_Chicago_White Jermaine Dye hit his 300th home run of his career against the Tigers in Detroit. Then the next batter for the White Sox, Paul Konerko stepped in against Zach Miner, and launched his 300th homer of his career. I couldn’t believe what I’d just seen, back to back players hitting their 300th career home runs, currently Chicago has a 10-6 lead over Motown.