I'm Certified

This showed up in Saturday's mail.

Philip Lowry, author of Baseball's Longest Games and Green Cathedrals, sent this to me for finding an unknown marathon game.  Phil is a fellow SABR member.  He asked if I could share some info with the group that I lead (East Tennessee Chapter) to see if they could find more games.  I took a look around my usual haunts and came up blank in Tennessee, but then I broadened my locations.

Here's what I found about the 20 inning game.

So, thanks, Phil.  I'm honored to accept the certificate and more honored to assist in research.

I had expanded on a bit of Phil's work in Green Cathedrals a bit ago.  I located the location of the Star Baseball Grounds in Covington, Kentucky.

I'm always a bit troubled by using the terms "I found" or "I located".  The information is and has been sitting there, for all to see.  I just connect the dots and share what I learn.

Happenings

You might have noticed the lack of posts around these parts.  It isn't for lack of desire.  Let's call it time management.

Recently I've been doing some research.  Baseball research.  I was part of SABR Day.  This last Saturday Knoxville hosted a SABR meeting to help celebrate SABR Day.  There were only four of us in attendance.  I led the group.  Had a nice agenda scrawled out.  We didn't follow the agenda so much.  But we had fun and enjoyed a few rounds of the "Nickname Quiz" where I give a decade, the player's nickname and the contestants have to guess which player had that moniker.  Everyone's a winner when we play the "Nickname Quiz".  I was able to unload 10 baseball books from the home bookshelf.  It made my wife very happy.  We talked about baseball movies and baseball books.  I learned of a new movie from our newest SABR member, Robert.  Well, new to me.  One of Robert's favorite movies is One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story.  Another one of our members, Marshall, shared with us his involvement in the upcoming book about Baseball's Winter Meetings.  I was going to talk about Frank Moffett, Knoxville's baseball pioneer.  I spent much of the prior week gathering notes, typing them into some coherent pastiche.  It didn't go so well.  The assembling, that is.  Time constraints kept me from talking about Mr. Moffett for more than a minute.  The notes can be reassembled into a more precise biography.  We also discussed the formation of a new SABR chapter in east Tennessee.  Time flew by and we were done.  Three of us walked towards vehicles, one continued to the parking garage, leaving two of us to visit the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection for a quick tour.  I picked up a nice news article that I found a few weeks ago.  It is from 1917 and describes the University of Tennessee's game with Johnson Bible College.

After that, it was a race home to assist my wife in the hosting of her parents' 50th wedding anniversary.  A long day of family, friends, and food.

Nancy & Jim Knowles

This week I was introduced to a new blogger in our midst. Kevin, over at Books and Baseball Cards, apparently found inspiration from me. I don't get it either.  In the Baseball Cards department, Kevin focuses on the St. Louis Cardinals and has assembled some rather tidy wantlists.  His blog is a good read.  Refreshing (in the sense that he doesn't talk about squirrels in his post about 2012 Topps).  Hop on over, follow his blog, trade some cards.

I discovered that I've been cranking out this blog for three years now.  That anniversary was last month.  Flew right by me.  And I also discovered that I've topped 100 followers.  I try not to focus on numbers like that.  How many posts I put up, how many views I've gotten this week.  It really doesn't matter.

In my spare time I've been doing some editing on the SABRpedia.  I've been trying to tighten up the colleges and universities that are located in east Tennessee.  Clean up some formatting, add in some info, that sort of stuff.

Somewhere along the way I chased a rabbit down an hole and found this at Ancestry.com.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Monroe, Ouachita, Louisiana; Roll: 4584714;
Page: 3B;  Image: 1031.0; Family History Library Film: 2340549.

It is an image from the 1930 US Census of Monroe, Louisiana. What what happening in Monroe, Louisiana in 1930? Baseball, that's what. The Monroe Drillers, part of the Class D Cotton States League played there.

Some of the names match up with the team list of players from the SABRpedia. Dan Irby, Clifford Shaw, Loy Bobo, and James Bagby are the names that I can match. Ah, to be boarding with roughnecks. 

I've highlighted the ball players in yellow. You can click on the image to enlarge it.  If you'd like a bigger, more clear copy of it, please let me know and I'll make it available.  I had to balance quality and size. 

Yeah, I've got cards to show.  But not today.  Hey, you're lucky I even posted this much.

A fantastic read

The Baseball Researcher has a great post today.  He tracks down some info about the ballpark (and more) in this photo...

Go read it now.

Potpourri for 100, Alex?

"What is, 'Mark has too much time on his hands'?"

I've been poking around old newspapers and magazines and came up with a few articles that are interesting but don't quite make a whole post on their own.

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I'm not quite sure where I found this. Could have been Google News archives, Paper of Record, I just don't recall, nor can I find it again. What caught my eye was two colored teams playing in 1878. Sure, the gunshot and beating was interesting.

Current intersection of Cumberland and Gilmor.  (link)

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An ad from the September, 1958 issue of Popular Science.

I can't find any other reference to this game.

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This article is from an earlier issue of Popular Science. October, 1937.

Okay, either their copy is wrong or the images are reversed.  The pitcher is not a left-hander.  I don't know who the pitcher pictured is.  Here's the 1937 Washington Senators roster from baseball-reference.com.  Who is he?

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Back in the middle of June, I was watching a baseball game on television.  It might have been ESPN. Yankees at the Cubs, if I remember. The announcers were talking about how neat it was for AL teams to come play at Wrigley, since it is such an iconic park.  They spoke of Gehrig and Ruth coming to Wrigley for the 1932 World Series, among others.  I know that 1929 Philadelphia Athletics visited for the 1929 World Series, bringing Mickey Cochrane, Jimmy Foxx, and Lefty Grove.  Mickey Cochrane returned to Wrigley in 1935 with Detroit.  He brought Charlie Gehringer and Goose Goslin.  The Yankees also returned in 1938, with Tommy Henrich and Lefty Gomez.  Then the announcers mentioned that the Red Sox had never played at Wrigley in the Golden Era of Baseball so it was sad that Ted Williams never got a chance to play there.

This didn't ring completely true to me.  The Red Sox have never faced the Cubs in the World Series, but the 1947 All-Star Game was played at Wrigley.  Who batted third?  Ted Williams.  Yes, this is nit-picky, but I like to be right.  I'll claim it where I can get it.

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To wrap up I'll leave you with a fun photo from 107 years ago.

Phoenix Indian Industrial Training School, 1904
Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library

In very broad terms, the school was set up to assimilate the Indians to the Anglo way of life.  I don't know who these young men played against.

Old Mill Newspaper Advertisements

I was doing a bit of research the other day for a fellow SABR member. I saw an unrelated newspaper ad for "Chinese Baseball". While looking at that page, I found an ad for Old Mill Cigarettes.  We know them as the the cigarettes that came with the T-206 baseball cards.

The earliest ad that I found was from early March, 1910.  The cards were positioned as "Baseball pictures".  I've gathered a sampling of the ads from various states and present them in chronological order.

The Times Dispatch - Richmond, Virginia
March 2, 1910

Daily Public Ledger - Maysville, Kentucky
April 8, 1910

Daily Public Ledger - Maysville, Kentucky
June 10, 1910

Daily Public Ledger - Maysville, Kentucky
June 17, 1910

Daily Public Ledger - Maysville, Kentucky
June 24, 1910

In Texas, the ad copy varies.  They are featuring "Texas League baseball pictures".

Palestine Daily Herald - Palestine, Texas
September 12, 1910

El Paso Herald - El Paso, Texas
October 18, 1910

In Honolulu, they drop the ad copy, but continue to show the picture of the pack with the cards.

Evening Bulletin - Honolulu, Territory of Hawai'i
July 20, 1911

Evening Bulletin - Honolulu, Territory of Hawai'i
August 17, 1911

There probably are other examples showing various sporting or manly type activities.  Although women are featured in some of the ads, they are not shown smoking.

This is not a 'new' find.  Guys on the Net 54 Vintage Baseball Card Forum were discussing this in December of 2008.

UPDATE: I found a site, jimonym.com, that has 26 different Old Mill ads.  There is nothing new under the sun.

images from the Library of Congress's Chronicling America - Historic American Newspapers

Association Men

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.

Association Men - 1914

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.

LIFE - May 12, 1952

I found a few other nice images from the pages of Association Men showing the young men playing the national pastime.

Association Men - July, 1904

Association Men - July, 1904

Association Men - 1914

Star Skating Rink & Base Ball Grounds

Back in July Paul H., a fellow member of SABR, asked about the location of the Star Park in Covington, Kentucky.  Paul runs Project Ballpark.

A few members answered Paul, including me.  I hopped on Google and searched.  I found it.  Clearly the Internet is paying off.  Here's what I found.

from Green Cathedrals by Philip J. Lowry

As I looked at it the info was rather vague. "Just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio".  Really?  That's an awful lot of shore.  I found a map of Covington from 1874, but it didn't show any ball park.

Wait.  The Philadelphia Pearls?  Was that really a team?  A bit more research told me that from 1873 to 1875 the Philadelphia team in the National Association was named the White Stockings (also known as the Whites or the Pearls).  Who did they play?

More searching led me to this 1883 map from HistoricMapWorks.com.   Eight years after the ball game had been played.

Boone - Kenton - Campbell Counties 1883 published by D.J. Lake

A bit more poking around and I found this non watermarked version.  I don't remember exactly from where I retrieved it.

So, there it was.  On the northwest corner of Scott and Seventeenth.

I emailed Kevin at Seamheads of the good news so that they could update their BallParks database.  They moved the pin on Google maps a bit closer from where they had it, but it still isn't right.  I need to gently nudge them. UPDATE: I reached out again to Kevin at Seamheads and they said they'd move their pin based on this research, as it "is the best available evidence we have."  He likes to use Sanborn Fire Maps.

On the family vacation that we took at the end of July, we were just minutes from Covington on our way back home.  I asked my wonderful wife if we could take a short tour of the town "Just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio" and try to find the old ballpark, knowing full well that it wouldn't still be standing.  She said, "yes" and didn't even roll her eyes.  She's wonderful like that.

I've never been to Covington.  Driven by it countless times.  Parts of it seem really nice.  They're doing some renovation, but the town, like scores of others across the land, has seen better days.

looking NW at the corner of Scott and Seventeenth

looking SE from the parking lot that was once the Star Base Ball Grounds

Back to 1875.  September 21 was a Tuesday.  What was a team from Philadelphia doing in Covington, Kentucky?  And who did they play?  Back to the Internet.

According to the Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky the White Stockings' opponents were the Hartford Dark Blues.

Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky - B

According to RetroSheet's Events of Tuesday, September 21, 1875 page, it was the only game played that day and the the score was 13-9, Philadelphia.

So, what did I learn?  I learned that answering a question for a fellow SABR member can be interesting rewarding.

current map of Covington, Kentucky

UPDATE 2: Kevin from SeamHeads indicated that he trusts Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps a bit more than other maps. I did a bit more searching and found two Sanborn Maps at the Kentuckiana Digital Library.

I modified the first image by including the scale on 17th Street.  The second image did not have street names near the block I cropped, but it is the same block as the first image.  There is no ball ground listed, but I could imagine the vacant space in the southwest corner of the block could house a baseball field.

1896 Sanborn Map - Covington, Kentucky

1909 Sanborn Map - Covington, Kentucky

Jollification

The ceremonial first pitch.  I've seen musicians, local dignitaries, Little League champs, celebrities, presidents, and more toss out the first pitch.  I've never seen royalty toss one out.

While doing research for a Fourth of July themed post I came across this gem from 1918.  That led to more research and this blog.  I went to Footnote and grabbed the images.

The Toronto World - June 27, 1918
image from Google

London Times - July 4, 1918
image from Footnote

Gorrell's History - AEF Air Service
images from Footnote

I can only think that the Brits were in on the jollification to pacify the American troops.  Apparently the royal family didn't want us to open another can of Yorktown on their butt.

Happy Independence Day!  Be safe.

Baseball at Clinton Park

Monday evening, July 11th at 7pm, Richard Leyden will be giving at talk about Clinton Park and the First Northern League 1901-1906. This is sponsored by the Clinton County Historical Association.  Clinton county is where I was born and raised.  I have a fondness for that area of the North Country.

I searched through some papers at the Northern New York Library Network and found notice of a game to be played at Clinton Park.  The local team would be playing the traveling Cuban X Giants.

Plattsburgh Daily Press - July 28, 1904

Plattsburgh Daily Press - July 29, 1904

Another day of summer in 1904.

Holy Cross Catcher

Okay, I'm seeing that this is going to turn into a regular feature, and at the moment is pushing aside sports cards.  I'm fine with that.  I'll get back to cardboard eventually.

Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.

The Boston Public Library's Leslie Jones Collection has this photo of Teddy Ballgame in an exhibition game.

Their description says:

Title: Ted Williams hits a grand slam against the Holy Cross varsity team in Worcester

Date created: 1939-04

Summary: Boston Red Sox rookie Ted Williams batting against the Holy Cross varsity team in Worcester, Mass.

Although they don't specifically say that the catcher is unidentified, they don't actually identify him.  That's where I step in.

The Lewiston Daily Sun - April 15, 1939

 From this newspaper article we can see that Holy Cross's catcher had the surname of Barry.

I sought out Meredith Cook, an assistant director of athletic media relations at the College of the Holy Cross, for more information on the catcher and whether he was at all related to Jack Barry, longtime coach at the school.

She replied that the catcher for that season was named David Richard Barry and was not sure if David was related to Jack or not.  I did a bit of research and Jack Barry left no children.

Image linked from crossports.com

I'm not sure who the umpire is, but another player has been identified.

Another Unidentified Player Identified

Another one from the files...

The Boston Public Library's Leslie Jones Collection has this photo of Teddy Ballgame crossing the plate.

Their description says:

Date created: 1955 - 1957 (approximate)

Summary: Boston Red Sox Ted Williams (#9) crossing home plate as teammate Jackie Jensen (#4) prepares to bat in front of unknown Kansas City Athletics catcher (#22) as unknown umpire looks on at Fenway Park.

Sounds like a challenge to me.

The catcher was either Billy Shantz (1955) or Tim Thompson (1956-1957). Both wore the number 22 for Kansas City and both threw right handed.

A bit of research on retrosheet.org shows that there were just three games when Williams hit a HR while either of the men were catching while visiting Fenway during those years.

In 1956 Tim Thompson was behind the plate in the 6th inning on July 17. This game can be ruled out because Mickey Vernon was batting behind Ted Williams.

In 1955 things were a bit different. In mid June Ted Williams had two games in which he hit a HR. Both of those games had Billy Shantz at the plate and Jackie Jensen following Ted in the lineup.

June 14, 1955
June 16, 1955

Based on that info I'd say that the catcher is Billy Shantz.

Depending which game it is the umpire was either Bill Summers (June 14) or Ed Runge (June 16).

Image courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.

Unidentified Player Identified

I saw this yesterday on facebook...

The link takes you to a set of photos by Leslie Jones.  Photo #30 caught my eye.  Not so much the photo as the caption.

It reads:

A scuffle broke out as an unidentified Detroit Tigers player, left, tried to assist George Vico (50), who was restrained by Boston Red Sox pitcher Jack Kramer (18), while Johnny Pesky ran in from third base.  The original dispute was between Red Sox Catcher Birdie Tebbetts (obscured) and Vico.

Who was this mystery "unidentified Detroit Tigers player"?  A quick search on Google News Archive produced this set of photos and short clip from the St. Petersburg Times from May 8, 1948.

Here's a slightly different image from the Nashua Telegraph.

Hal White, wearing uniform number 17 (holding the bat), is the unidentified player. Retrosheet's box score for this game indicates that Red Jones was the home plate umpire.

Now you know.

image credits:
The Boston Globe.  Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection. 
Google