The
Young Men's Christian Association was formed in the United States in 1851. This was seven years after it had formed in England. The YMCA promoted clean living, physical exercise, fellowship, and Bible study. While poking around Google Books I came across this article from one of the Y's house organs.
I guess one could interpret the stats in a variety of ways. Perhaps drinking and playing ball was good when you were young, but as you got older, drinking hampered your batting. Look who did the research. None other than
Hugh Fullerton. A few years later he exposed the evils of baseball and gambling.
The lure of the drink is strong. Several players showed up in ads through the decades and some distillers used the game as a backdrop.
I found a few other nice images from the pages of
Association Men showing the young men playing the national pastime.
Interesting post. I always love to see old baseball pictures. As regard the "Baseball and Drink" part I'd like to see more about the players. Were they all the same age at the start, etc.
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