Baseball Magazine

Baseball Magazine, October 1913

"In the golden age of magazines, the period 1880-1920, the newsstands were bedecked with general-interest and literary publications: the weeklies included such fare as The Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s, Frank Leslie’s Popular Magazine, and Harper’s; the monthlies boasted, among others, Atlantic, Munsey’s, McClure’s Magazine, and Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine. Competition for rack space was fierce, as was the competition for the eye (and pocketbook) of the browser; the fees that top writers routinely received in 1920 exceed those available today, when the dollar buys so much less; and artists whose work graced magazine covers, like James Montgomery Flagg, Edward Penfield, Maxfield Parrish, and J. C. Leyendecker, became truly wealthy. But first-class cover art had never been viewed as a necessary competitive edge for an all-sports publication until the advent of Baseball Magazine. In December 1907 veteran Boston sportswriter Jacob Morse issued a prospectus on behalf of The Baseball Magazine Company for the creation of a new, deluxe, all-baseball monthly the likes of which had never before been contemplated. ..."
Our Game - John Thorn

Exposition Park III

Exposition Park, Pittsburgh, 1903

"Exposition Park (sometimes called Exposition Park III) was a baseball park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1890 to circa 1915. It was located on the north side of the Allegheny River across from Pittsburgh's downtown area. Prior to the construction of this version of Exposition Park, two previous ballparks of the same name were similarly situated along the Allegheny. Due to flooding from the nearby river, the three stadiums' exact locations varied somewhat. ... Built for use of the Pittsburgh Burghers of the Players' League, the third incarnation of Exposition Park was the second home of the Pittsburg Pirates (during those years the team and the city were known as Pittsburg, with no 'H'), the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise. The Pirates played home games at the stadium from 1891 to 1909, when they moved to Forbes Field. In 1903, Exposition Park was the first National League ballpark to host a World Series game."
Wikipedia

"... A covered single tier grandstand extended from the first base side to home plate, and down the third base side. Uncovered bleachers extended down both the first and third base lines. Their was also standing room in right field, and additional seating was on top of the covered grandstand. Because Exposition Park was near the Allegheny River it flooded many times. It also had its roof ripped off two times. After Barney Dreyfuss bought the Pirates, he decided that the club needed a new ballpark. The Pirates last game at Exposition Park was on June 29, 1909. The next day the Pirates moved into Forbes Field. Exposition Park was later demolished is now part of the site of the Pirates current home PNC Park."
Ballparks of Baseball

"... There were actually three Exposition Parks built in the late-1800s, all located on or near the Allegheny riverfront and the Union Bridge. The first, referred as Exposition Park I, was built to host a variety of expositions, including horse racing and circuses. It was the original home of the Pittsburgh Alleghenies Baseball Club, who in 1900 became the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1882, the Alleghenies began play at Exposition Park I. After one season, a fire and persistent flooding forced a second park to be built. Despite its reason for construction, Exposition Park II was constructed closer to the river."
Exposition Park (1890-1915)

Frank "Wildfire" Schulte, Cubs. 
George "Hack" Gibson, catcher for the Pirates, 1906

"... With flood control capabilities well in the future, a devastating flood left the Lower Field under water in 1882, forcing the opening games of the 1883 season to be moved to hastily built Exposition Park II (also called the 'Upper Field'), on slightly higher ground. The Alleghenies played here for one year until flooding again forced the team to move several blocks away to Recreation Park, near present-day West Park, for seven years until the final version of Exposition Park was finished in 1890. The newly-named Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League took the field there for the first time on April 22, 1891. (The name was changed after the team 'pirated' second basemen Louis Bierbauer from the Philadelphia Athletics)."
Exposition Park: The Birthplace of Pittsburgh Baseball

YouTube: Exposition Park - Pittsburgh

Connie Mack

"Cornelius McGillicuddy, Sr. (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball player, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds records for wins (3,731), losses (3,948), and games managed (7,755), with his victory total being almost 1,000 more than any other manager. Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics for the club's first 50 seasons of play, starting in 1901, before retiring at age 87 following the 1950 season, and was at least part-owner from 1901 to 1954. He was the first manager to win the World Series three times, and is the only manager to win consecutive Series on separate occasions (1910–11, 1929–30); his five Series titles remain the third most by any manager, and his nine American League pennants rank second in league history. However, constant financial struggles forced repeated rebuilding of the roster, and Mack's teams also finished in last place 17 times. Mack was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937."
Wikipedia

Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball
"... This book brings to life the unruly origins of baseball as a sport and a business and provides the first complete and accurate picture of a character who was larger than life and yet little known: the tricky, rule-bending catcher; the peppery field leader and fan favorite; the hot-tempered young manager. Illustrated with previously unpublished family photographs, it affords unique insight into a colorful personality who helped shape baseball as we know it today."
amazon

Connie Mack: The Turbulent and Triumphant Years, 1915-1931
"The Philadelphia Athletics dominated the first fourteen years of the American League, winning six pennants through 1914 under the leadership of their founder and manager, Connie Mack. But beginning in 1915, where volume 2 in Norman L. Macht’s biography picks up the story, Mack’s teams fell from pennant winners to last place and, in an unprecedented reversal of fortunes, stayed there for seven years. World War I robbed baseball of young players, and Mack’s rebuilding efforts using green youngsters of limited ability made his teams the objects of public ridicule."
amazon

boob

"A fool; a dolt. "Cy Falkenberg, who was a boob in 1912, but a star in 1913, won his ninth straight game thr Naps yesterday' (San Francisco Bulletin, May 30, 1913; Gerald L. Cohen). ETYMOLOGY. David Shulman (American Speech, Feb. 1951) noted that the term is not baseballese, but seems to earliest use that Shulman could find was in Christy Mathewson's Pitching in a Pinch (1912); 'There's a poor boob in the hospital now that stopped one with his head.' The term may have been inspired by the much older term 'booby,' for a fool."
Paul Dickson, The Dickson Baseball Dictionary

1917 World Series

World Series Program Giants VS White Sox

"In the 1917 World Series, the Chicago White Sox beat the New York Giants four games to two. The Series was played against the backdrop of World War I, which dominated the American newspapers that year and next. The strong Chicago White Sox club had finished the 1917 season with a 100–54 record: their first and only one-hundred-win season in franchise history as of 2012. The Sox's next World Series winner in 2005 would finish the regular season with a 99–63 record. The Sox won Game 1 of the Series in Chicago 2–1 behind a complete game by Eddie Cicotte. Happy Felsch hit a home run in the fourth inning that provided the winning margin. The Sox beat the Giants in Game 2 by a score of 7–2 behind another complete game effort by Red Faber to take a 2–0 lead in the Series."
Wikipedia

"As a sign of how pervasive and accepted betting on major league baseball was in the late 1910s, here’s a picture from the Chicago Tribune in the aftermath of the White Sox beating the N.Y. Giants in game 6 on Monday, October 15 to win the 1917 World Series... The caption reads: 'Pat Piper, announcer at the Cubs park, as a loyal National leaguer, upheld the Giants’ chances to beat the Sox. His friend, Percy Curtis, of a score card concern, could see nothing but the Sox.' Curtis won $100 on the bet and also won 'a ride around the loop in a wheelbarrow' powered by Piper."
Misc. Baseball

Coach Kid Gleason and manager Pants Rowland

1917 Clean Sox
"While America enters the Great War and pressure is put upon owners and players to do their part, the Chicago White Sox prevail in the World Series with many of the same players who will severely taint the game's reputation two years later."
This Great Game

1917 World Series game one: The Chicago White Sox versus the New York Giants from Comiskey Park
"Scenes from the 1917 baseball World Series. Game 1 in Chicago, Illinois. A large crowd gathering at Comiskey Park to watch the game. Fans lined up in front of sign for bleacher seating with sign 'Bleachers 50 cents'. Scenes from the field before the game. Managers Pants Rowland of the White Sox and John McGraw of the Giants reviewing ground rules. Pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Slim Sallee during warm-ups. White Sox dugout is seen with Happy Felsch on the far left, John 'Shano' Collins beside him, then Fred McMullin and Reb Russell (just past the big baseball). Joe Jackson and Nemo Leibold may be standing outside

Comiskey Park

the dugout, with Eddie Cicotte in the background and Chick Gandil and Byrd Lynn in front of Cicotte. African American man on the Giants bench around one-minute mark may be J. L. Mackall, the team's trainer. Manager John McGraw is sitting in front of the dugout, with Art Fletcher on his right and Red Murray on his left. Scenes from the game in progress, and view of cheering fans in the packed stadium. Scene changes to New York, with Giants fans jammed in the streets of New York City watching the large scoreboard being updated during the game, mounted on the building of the New York American Newspaper offices. Cars and trucks pass slowly by in the area jammed with baseball fans."
CriticalPast (Video)

The New York Giants in 1917 baseball World Series games 3 and 4 in New York against the Chicago White Sox
"Baseball 1917 World Series games numbers three and four in New York at Polo Grounds IV stadium in Upper Manhattan, New York City. A large crowd gathers at the stadium to watch the game. New York Mayor John Mitchel arrives along with officers and Mayor Mitchel throws out the first pitch. World Series Baseball game 3 in progress. Giants take the lead at 2 - 0 in the fourth. Robinson scores on Holke's double. Burns singles, sending Holke home. A closeup view of Dave Robertson and Rube Benton in the dugout. The crowd cheers the teams. View also from game 4 where Benny Kauff gets two home runs and Giants win game 4 also. New York crowd, all men, cheering the game 4 win. Mass of spectators exiting the stadium after the game."
CriticalPast (Video)

Ray Chapman

"The body of Ray Chapman, the Cleveland shortstop, who died early today in St. Lawrence Hospital after being hit in the head by a pitched ball thrown by Carl Mays at the Polo Grounds yesterday afternoon, was taken to his home in Cleveland tonight. A group of baseball fans stood with bared heads at the Grand Central Terminal as the body was taken through the gates to the train. The ball player's widow, who went with the body, was accompanied by her brother and a friend, Indians Manager Tris Speaker, and Joe Wood, one of the players. Chapman's death has cast a tragic spell over the baseball fans of the city, and everywhere the accident was the topic of conversation. Chapman was a true sportsman, a skillful player, and one of the most popular men in the major leagues."
NY Times - August 17, 1920

"Ray Chapman, star shortstop for nine seasons with the Cleveland Indians, might have ended up in the Hall of Fame had he not been fatally injured by a Carl Mays fastball at the Polo Grounds on August 16, 1920. An ideal number two hitter who crowded the plate, the 5' 10", 170-pound Chapman led the league in sacrifice hits three times. His total of 67 sacrifices in 1917 is a major league record, and he stands in sixth place on the all-time career list with 334. Chapman was also a legitimate offensive force in his own right: the right-handed batter led Cleveland in runs scored three times during his career, and paced the entire American League in runs and walks in 1918, with 84 of each. He also led the Indians in stolen bases five times, and his 52 thefts in 1917 remained the franchise record until 1980. In addition to his offensive skills, Chapman was also an excellent fielder who led the American League in putouts three times and assists once. Put it all together, and Chapman was, in the view of the Cleveland News, the 'greatest shortstop, that is, considering all-around ability, batting, throwing, base-running, bunting, fielding and ground covering ability, to mention nothing of his fight, spirit and conscientiousness, ever to wear a Cleveland uniform.'"
SABR

Ray Chapman’s Final Hours
"Leading off the 5th inning in New York on 8/16/1920, Ray Chapman, a righthanded batter, took a ball and a strike from pitcher Carl Mays. The third pitch, a rising fastball, from the righthanded submariner struck Chapman in the head with a thunderous crack. The ball rolled toward third base, where Mays, believing the ball hit Chapman’s bat handle, fielded it and threw to first. Yankees manager Miller Huggins and the Indians Ray Caldwell both said that Chapman ducked into the pitch. Chapman immediately dropped in the batter’s box, bleeding from his left ear. Umpire Tom Connolly called for medical assistance. Several doctors from the stands attended to the fallen player. Chapman responded after several minutes and was assisted by two teammates to the clubhouse in centerfield; however, Chapman collapsed again on the field and was quickly carried to the clubhouse and whisked away to St. Lawrence Hospital in Manhattan."
Baseabll History

"Raymond Johnson Chapman (January 15, 1891 – August 17, 1920) was an American baseball player, spending his entire career as a shortstop for Cleveland. Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by Yankees pitcher Carl Mays, and died 12 hours later. He remains the only Major League Baseball player to have died from being hit by a pitch. His death led Major League Baseball to establish a rule requiring umpires to replace the ball whenever it became dirty. His death was also one of the examples used to emphasize the need for wearing batting helmets (although the rule was not adopted until over 30 years later). His death was partially the reason MLB banned the spitball after the 1920 season."
Wikipedia

Chapman Suffers Skull Fracture
NY Times

Baseball scorekeeping

1876 Box Score

"Baseball scorekeeping is the practice of recording the details of a baseball game as it unfolds. Professional baseball leagues hire official scorers to keep an official record of each game (from which a box score can be generated), but many fans keep score as well for their own enjoyment. Scorekeeping is usually done on a printed scorecard and, while official scorers must adhere precisely to one of the few different scorekeeping notations, most fans exercise some amount of creativity and adopt their own symbols and styles. Sportswriter Henry Chadwick is generally credited as the inventor of baseball scorekeeping. His basic scorecard and notation have evolved significantly since their advent in the 1870s but they remain the basis for most of what has followed."
Wikipedia

1867 Score

"He is credited with devising the baseball box score[2] (which he adapted from the cricket scorecard) for reporting game events. The first box score was a grid with nine rows for players and nine columns for innings. The original box scores also created the often puzzling abbreviation for strikeout as 'K' - 'K' being the last letter of 'struck' in 'struck out.' The basic format and structure of the box score has changed little since the earliest of ones designed by Chadwick. He is also credited with devising such statistical measures as batting average and earned run average. Ironically, ERA originated not in the goal of measuring a pitcher's worth but to differentiate between runs caused by batting skill (hits) and lack of fielding skill (errors). He is also noted as believing fielding range to be a superior skill to avoiding errors. The following description of a game was written by Henry Chadwick and appeared in his Base Ball Memoranda."
W - Henry Chadwick

Brooklyn Eagle, September 3, 1875

Box score
"In baseball, the statistical summary of a game is reported in a box score. An abbreviated version of the box score, duplicated from the field scoreboard, is the line score. The Baseball Hall of Fame credits Henry Chadwick with the invention of the box score. The line score is a two-line chart that reports each team's run totals by inning, and total runs, total hits, and total errors on a line. The visiting team is on the top line and the home team on the bottom line. The terms top of the inning and bottom of the inning are derived from their positions in the line score. Sometimes, the winning team is bolded or colored for quick-reference. If the home team is already leading and does not bat in the bottom of the 9th inning, that position in the line score will have an 'X' instead of a number of runs scored."
W - Box Score

These Delightful Designer Notepads Revive Old-Timey Baseball Score-Keeping
"The statistical revolution in baseball has changed the way the sport is played. Now, if graphic designer Bethany Heck has her way, it will revive the art of spectator score keeping as well. The practice of tracking games with a series of cryptic notations has existed since the 1870s, but with her designer-notepad HalfLiner Scorebook project, Heck hopes to make this geeky pastime more accessible to modern fans. Heck’s Scorebook’s pages are filled with a grid of miniature diamonds that can be turned into a compelling account of a dramatic game with a few small marks. Any conceivable game scenario can be captured with a few numbers, letters, and well placed squiggles."
Wired (Video)
The Eephus League Baseball Scorebook Revival Project

Dan's Guide to Baseball Scorekeeping

YouTube: Keeping a scorebook pt1, Keeping a scorebook pt2. How to Keep Score in Baseball : How to Note a Base runner on a Scorecard.

Dressed to the Nines: Caps

Spalding’s Base Ball Guide for 1888

"The baseball cap is the quintessential American hat. It is seen not just on the ball field, but in the stands, on the streets and even at the workplace. Today, as in the past, the baseball cap serves many functions. It shades a player’s eyes from the sun during the day and from artificial lights at night. It helps players and fans distinguish members of one team from another. A cap’s distinctive coloring and graphics help promote the team and make for an enticing retail product. And how could a club mount a late-inning comeback without displaying an inside-out 'rally cap?' Old Hat. On April 24, 1849, the New York Knickerbockers, baseball’s seminal organization, adopted the first official uniform. The first baseball caps were chip (or straw) hats. A few years later the club switched to a cap made of merino (a soft, fine wool) that featured the two main characteristics of the modern-day baseball cap: a crown and a bill (or visor)."
Dressed to the Nines: Caps

"... Caps, or other types of headgear with eye-shades, have been a part of baseball uniforms from the beginning. From the 1840s to the 1870s, baseball players wore various types of hats, or even no cap at all, since there was no official rule regarding headgear. Examples included full-brimmed straw hats such as boating caps, jockey caps, cycling caps, and flat-topped caps. The Brooklyn Excelsiors was the first team to wear what would later become the modern baseball cap, with its distinctive rounded top and peak, in the 1860s. By the early years of the twentieth century, this style of cap had become common, but some teams occasionally revived the flat-topped cap, such as the New York Giants in 1916 and the Pittsburgh Pirates as recently as during the 1979 World Series."
Wikipedia

Ty Cobb play

"A particularly daring piece of baserunning in which the runner attempts to take an extra base even though the ball is in the hands of a fielder. 'Joe Jackson attempted a regular Ty Cobb play in the third inning' (Chicago Tribune, May 28, 1911; Peter Morris)."
Paul Dickson, The Dickson Baseball Dictionary