Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game - David Block

"Baseball is America's great secular religion, a collection of mythologies that reflect who we are and who we aspire to be. The game's most enduring myth, of course, is its immaculate conception on a Cooperstown, N.Y., street in 1839. Who invented baseball? For nearly a century, the axiomatic answer to that question has been Abner Doubleday, though that belief was discredited almost as soon as it was first made public, in 1908. What's more, as David Block reveals in Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game, America's pastime was not born in America, and legitimate claims to its origin can be made by a handful of nations, including -- of all places -- France. While the Doubleday myth was never taken seriously by historians, Block reveals that the gospel that supplanted it was also deeply flawed. In this accounting, baseball was understood as the derivation of an English children's game, rounders, but America was allowed to retain patrimony over its national pastime through the assertion that it had been reinvented as a modern sport by the members of a New York gentlemen's club, the Knickerbockers, who codified its rules for the first time in 1845."
NYT: 'Baseball Before We Knew It': What's the French for 'Juiced'?

In Search of Baseball's Holy Grail
"... The Blocks live on the top two floors of a blue house in the Mission District of San Francisco. Block is 69 years old, with a bald head and neatly trimmed beard. One afternoon, Block was pulling old books off his shelf. They are volumes with disintegrating covers and foxed pages and the labels of long-dead booksellers. 'I have tons of stuff,' Block said. 'It literally takes hours to look at all my stuff. And I never have the opportunity to show it to people.' This is our fault rather than his. In a just world, Block would be an archaeologist hero. What Bill James did for 20th-century baseball, Block is doing for 18th-century baseball. Eight years ago, Block came out with a book called Baseball Before We Knew It."
Grantland

"Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game is a 2005 book by David Block about the history of baseball. Block looks into the early history of baseball, the debates about baseballs beginnings, and presents new evidence. The book received the 2006 Seymour Medal from the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). The account, first published in 1905, that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in 1839 was once widely promoted and widely believed. However, this belief was discredited almost immediately. Although the Doubleday myth was never taken seriously by historians, Block showed that the gospel that supplanted it was also deeply flawed."
Wikipedia

"... Block’s book takes readers on an exhilarating journey through the centuries in search of clues to the evolution of our modern National Pastime. Among his startling discoveries is a set of long-forgotten baseball rules from the 1700s. Block evaluates the originality and historical significance of the Knickerbocker rules of 1845, revisits European studies on the ancestry of baseball which indicate that the game dates back hundreds, if not thousands of years, and assembles a detailed history of games and pastimes from the Middle Ages onward that contributed to baseball’s development. In its thoroughness and reach, and its extensive descriptive bibliography of early baseball sources, this book is a unique and invaluable resource—a comprehensive, reliable, and readable account of baseball before it was America’s game."
amazon

MLB - Baseball Discovered: Who's Who: David Block (Video)

Why Do Baseball Players Still Bunt So Damn Much?

 Ross Barnes, Red Stockings, 2B, 1874

"In the 1870s, just as professional baseball was getting its sea legs, there was an infielder named Ross Barnes who was really only good at one thing. At 5 feet 8 inches and 145 pounds, he had a smidge of pop in this deadest part of the dead-ball era, hitting six home runs in almost 500 career games, but where Barnes really excelled was bunting. As recounted by Bill James in his most recent Historical Baseball Abstract, Barnes made a career of being able to bunt balls that would land fair and then spin over the base lines and off the field. (In the rules of the day, this still counted as a fair ball.) And so it was that Barnes led the league in hits four times and batting average three times."
Buzzfeed

SABR 43: Ross Barnes selected as Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legend for 2013
"... In June, 279 members of the Society for American Baseball Research submitted their votes for the 2013 Overlooked 19th Century Base Ball Legend — a 19th-century player, manager, executive or other baseball personality not yet inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Previous Overlooked Legends were Pete Browning in 2009, Deacon White in 2010, Harry Stovey in 2011, and Bill Dahlen last year. White was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 28. Charles Roscoe Barnes was born to Joseph and Mary (Weller) Barnes on May 8, 1850 in Mount Morris, New York. His family eventually moved to Rockford, Illinois where Barnes became a ballplayer. He joined the Forest City Club of Rockford in 1866, the beginning of a historic career on the field for possibly the most exciting all-around player of the 1860s and 1870s."
SABR

1874 Harper's Woodcut of the Boston Bostons

"Charles Roscoe Barnes (May 8, 1850 – February 5, 1915) was one of the stars of baseball's National Association (1871–1875) and the early National League (1876–1881), playing second base and shortstop. He played for the dominant Boston Red Stockings teams of the early 1870s, along with Albert Spalding, Cal McVey, George Wright, Harry Wright, Jim O'Rourke, and Deacon White. Despite playing for these star-studded teams, many claim that Ross was the most valuable to his teams."
Wikipedia

The Ross Barnes Case
"Charles Roscoe 'Ross' Barnes was one of the greatest players of his era, and largely forgotten today. Barnes was a member Harry Wright’s Boston Red Stocking teams in the National Association from 1871-75, and won the National League’s first batting title hitting .429 in 1876 as a member the Chicago White Stockings. Teammates and contemporaries had no doubt about how good he was. 'Orator Jim' O’Rourke called Barnes 'the greatest second baseman the game ever saw.' In 1896 A.G. Spalding 'declared Ross Barnes to have been the greatest ballplayer in America,' and Tim Murnane said of Barnes: His left-handed stops of hard-hit balls to right field were the prettiest stops ever made on the Boston grounds. As a base-runner no man of the present day is his equal, and as a batsman he must be reckoned very high."
Baseball History Daily

Doc Crandall

"James Otis Crandall (October 8, 1887 – August 17, 1951) was a right-handed pitcher and second baseman. He was the first player to be consistently used as a relief pitcher. Consequently, he was given the nickname Doc by Damon Runyon who said Crandall was 'the physician of the pitching emergency'. He played from 1908 to 1918, debuting with the New York Giants. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1913, but played just two games with them before being sold back to the Giants. He also played for the St. Louis Terriers in the Federal League in 1914 and 1915, the St. Louis Browns in 1916, and for the Boston Braves in 1918. That same year he flirted with a no-hitter in the morning game of a double-header in Los Angeles against Salt Lake City of the Pacific Coast League. He carried the no-hitter into the 9th inning when, with two out, his outing was spoiled by Karl Crandall, his brother."
Wikipedia

"Doc Crandall is generally regarded as the premier relief specialist of the Deadball Era. Though he never led the National League in saves, he did lead the league in relief appearances each year from 1909 to 1913, and from 1910 to 1912 he led the NL each year in relief victories, compiling an overall record of 45-16. 'Crandall is the Giants' ambulance corps,' wrote Damon Runyon after the 1911 campaign. 'He is first aid to the injured. He is the physician of the pitching emergency, and they sometimes call him old Doctor Crandall. He is without an equal as an extinguisher of batting rallies and run riots, or as a pinch hitter.' In the latter role the .285 lifetime hitter never really excelled, batting just .229 in 96 pinch at-bats over the course of his 10 seasons, but one reporter nevertheless proclaimed him 'the only pinch-hitting pitcher ever developed in the Big Leagues'. ..."
SABR

P2 Sweet Caporal Pins

“Big, Good-Hearted and Foolish”
"Almost immediately there was trouble for manager John McGraw after the New York Giants acquired Larry McLean from the Saint Louis Cardinals, August 6, 1913—it was one of the few times in his career when the trouble wasn’t McLean’s fault. With Chief Meyers hurt McGraw needed a catcher and traded the popular Doc Crandall to the Cardinals for McLean. The day after the trade The Cincinnati Commercial Tribune reported that McGraw had 'exchanged fisticuffs' with five of his players: Crandall was very popular among the club members, and there was much bitterness felt at his loss…The players passed hot words (at McGraw), and several blows were struck. McGraw was left with a bloody nose from the fight, and less than two weeks later reacquired Crandall from Saint Louis. ..."
Baseball History Daily

Giants Come From Behind in 9th to Win Thriller; Did Doyle Touch Home Plate?
"(October 26th, 1911) NEW YORK– It looked like this Series was shaping up to have a real Broadway ending. Rube Oldring (left, looking at camera), whose sister died a week ago, was one out away from being Philadelphia’s newest hero. In the 3rd inning of yesterday’s game, he blasted a 3-run shot deep into the left field bleachers off of Giants pitcher Rube Marquard, and the A’s had a 3-0 lead and Jack Coombs on the hill. It looked like the Series was over, and Philadelphia prepared for a celebration. But these Giants proved that their hearts were still beating, and they’ve got as much grit as any team in baseball. They scratched out a run in the 7th, and the 9th inning began with the Athletics up by a score of 3-1. ... Up came Giants pitcher Doc Crandall. Doc, the first pitcher that I’m aware of being used solely as a relief pitcher, had come in in the 8th inning and shut the A’s down. Of course, he’s also known for swinging a fair piece of lumber, and McGraw regularly uses him as a pinch hitter. Jim Nasium over at the Inquirer remarked on the feeling amongst Philadelphia fans as Crandall (pictured below, right) stepped to the plate with 2 outs."
Philly Sports History

T206

The Physician of the Pitching Emergency
"When New York Giants' Manger John McGraw began using Otis 'Doc' Crandall regularly as a relief pitcher during the Deadball Era he employed a new strategy that would eventually become the norm. The report 'From Exile to Specialist: The Evolution of the Relief Pitcher' shows that at the beginning of the 1900's more than 80% of games were completed by the starting pitcher and and when averaged out, fewer than .25 relief pitchers appeared per game. By the year 2000, less than 10% of games were complete games and approximately 2.5 relief pitchers appeared per game. This transition saw relievers move from second-rate pitchers with high earned run averages to specialists with low ERAs."
Baseball Has Marked the Time

Brother broke up Doc Crandall's no-hitter
"Uncommon commons: In more than 30 years in sportscards publishing I have thrown hundreds of notes into files about the players – usually non-star players – who made up the majority of the baseball and football cards I collected as a kid. Today, I keep adding to those files as I peruse microfilms of The Sporting News from the 1880s through the 1960s. I found these tidbits brought some life to the player pictures on those cards. I figure that if I enjoyed them, you might too. Otis 'Doc' Crandall was a pitcher for the New York Giants 1908-13, the St. Louis Terriers of the Federal League, 1914-15 and St. Louis Browns, 1916. A relief specialist for most of his time with the Giants, he also filled in around the infield when he wasn’t on the mound. He was a lifetime .285 hitter. His career pitching record was 102-62 with an excellent 2.92 ERA."
Bob Lemke's Blog

Eight Men Out - John Sayles (1988)

"Eight Men Out is a 1988 American dramatic sports film, and based on Eliot Asinof's 1963 book 8 Men Out. It was written and directed by John Sayles. The film is a dramatization of Major League Baseball's Black Sox scandal, in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox conspired with gamblers to intentionally lose the 1919 World Series. ... The 1919 Chicago White Sox are considered the greatest team in baseball and, in fact, one of the greatest ever assembled to that point. However, the team's owner, Charles Comiskey, is a skinflint with little inclination to reward his players for a spectacular season. When gamblers gets wind of the players' discontent, they offer a select group of Sox — including star pitcher Eddie Cicotte — more money to play badly than they would have earned by winning the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. A number of players, including Chick Gandil, Swede Risberg, and Lefty Williams, go along with the scheme. The team's greatest star, Shoeless Joe Jackson, is depicted as being not very bright and not entirely sure what is going on. Buck Weaver, meanwhile, is included with the seven others but insists that he wants nothing to do with the fix."
Wikipedia

"... Eight Men Out is the story of the 1919 World Series-fixing scheme that shattered the faith of this boy and so many others. As such, it's much more than a film about baseball. It's an amazingly full and heartbreaking vision of the dreams, aspirations and disillusionments of a nation, as filtered through its national pastime. Eight Men Out, which opens today at Loews Tower East and other theaters, establishes its scope in a wonderfully edited (by John Tintori) opening ballpark scene that shows how many disparate elements Mr. Sayles will bring into play. There are the Chicago White Sox themselves, just on the verge of winning the pennant and in their full bloom of talent and optimism. There are the White Sox wives and children, bursting with pride, and the fans, whose excitement fills the air. There is also the team's owner, Charles Comiskey (Clifton James), whose stinginess is so extraordinary that he rewards his players for winning the pennant with bottles of flat Champagne."
NY Times

Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series
"The headlines proclaimed the 1919 fix of the World Series and attempted cover-up as 'the most gigantic sporting swindle in the history of America!' First published in 1963, Eight Men Out has become a timeless classic. Eliot Asinof has reconstructed the entire scene-by-scene story of the fantastic scandal in which eight Chicago White Sox players arranged with the nation's leading gamblers to throw the Series in Cincinnati. Mr. Asinof vividly describes the tense meetings, the hitches in the conniving, the actual plays in which the Series was thrown, the Grand Jury indictment, and the famous 1921 trial. Moving behind the scenes, he perceptively examines the motives and backgrounds of the players and the conditions that made the improbable fix all too possible. Here, too, is a graphic picture of the American underworld that managed the fix, the deeply shocked newspapermen who uncovered the story, and the war-exhausted nation that turned with relief and pride to the Series, only to be rocked by the scandal. Far more than a superbly told baseball story, this is a compelling slice of American history in the aftermath of World War I and at the cusp of the Roaring Twenties."
amazon

"... That’s not a criticism of their performances - it was great to see Terkel chewing his cigar and looking as if he’d seen it all - but of the screenplay. If you’re going to make a movie about a baseball scandal that happened before most of the audience was born, you’d better start by making it understandable and then move on to considerations of art and drama. Perhaps the problem is that Sayles, who wrote as well as directed the film, was so close to the material that he never decided what the focus of his story really was. Early in the film, we get a lot of vignettes designed to give us a flavor for professional baseball at the time, and they’re intercut with short personal or domestic scenes in which the characters are established, but not very clearly. ..."
Roger Ebert

Eight Men Out: 25 Things You Didn't Know About the Classic Baseball Drama
"... Public sympathy for 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson and his teammates has built ever since the release of this movie, generally regarded as one of the finest baseball films ever made. Still, there's a lot you probably don't know about Eight Men Out, including which of its stars had real potential as ballplayers, the tricks Sayles used to recreate the 1919 World Series on a budget, the truth about the 'Say it ain't so, Joe' incident, and the inspirational story of Black Betsy. Read on for the behind-the-scenes story of Sayles' pitch. ..."
moviefone

YouTube: Eight Men Out 1988 trailer

Tyrus: The Greatest Of 'Em All

"Originally published in the June 1915 issue of American Magazine and anthologized in the Library of America's new collection of Ring Lardner's stories. Reprinted here with permission.
Sit down here a while, kid, and I'll give you the dope on this guy. You say you didn't see him do nothin' wonderful? But you only seen him in one serious. Wait till you been in the league more'n a week or two before you go judgin' ball players. He may of been sick when you played agin him. Even when he's sick, though, he's got everybody I ever seen skun, and I've saw all the best of 'em. Say, he ain't worth nothin' to that club; no, nothin'! I don't know what pay he's gettin', but whatever it is, it ain't enough. If they'd split the receipts fifty-fifty with that bird, they wouldn't be gettin' none the worst of it. That bunch could get along just as well without him as a train could without no engine."
The Stacks