Around The Horn

With the toppling of home run records and the “juiced” controversy seemingly now a part of baseball’s culture, with all kinds of opinions being uttered in various quarters about the validity of accomplishments - it is now nostalgic to flash back to a simpler time, to a simple man - New York Yankee Roger Maris - the man who broke Babe Ruth’s single season home run record - - in a game against the Red Sox of Boston.

“When Roger Maris was going for the home run record he would eat only bologna and eggs for breakfast,” his friend Julie Isaacson recalled. “Every morning we would have breakfast together at the Stage Deli. We had the same waitress, and I’d leave her the same five dollar tip every time. After, I would drive Roger up to the Stadium.”

In 1956, Mickey Mantle had smashed 52 home runs for the Bronx Bombers. And there were many who saw him as the man to break Babe Ruth’s season record of 60. Mantle was the favorite; Maris who had come to the Yankees in a trade with Kansas City was the outsider, the loner.

In 1961, Maris did not homer in his first ten games, but by the end of May he had recorded a dozen. There were 27 by the end of June. By the end of July Maris had 40 home runs - and was six ahead of the Babe Ruth record total that had stood since 1927.

“My going off after the record started off such a dream,” the Yankee outfielder said. “I was living a fairy tale for awhile. I never thought I’d get a chance to break such a record.” Reporters lined up by the Maris locker in ballparks all over the American League. “How does it feel to be hitting so many home runs? Do you ever think of what it means?” “How the hell should I know,” Maris, short-tempered, surly, shot back.

There were all kinds of commercial capitalizations. An enterprising stripper went by the name of Mickey Maris. The sales of M&M candy skyrocketed - a tip of the cash register to the “M &M Boys” who had not endorsed the confection. Newspapers printed endless stories and charts comparing Mantle and Maris, Maris and Ruth, Ruth and Mantle, etc., ad nausea. Over-reaching journalists invented stories that bickering and animosity existed between Mantle who earned $75,000 that season and Maris, paid $42,000. The stories were completely untrue. “Roger,” Mantle insisted, “was one of my best friends. The two shared a Queens apartment with Bob Cerv. The three young Yankee outfielders rode in Maris’ open convertible back and forth from Yankee Stadium.

Media scrutiny was unrelenting. Photographers insisted on pairing Mantle and Maris together in all kinds of posed shots. Maris was irked; Mantle was bemused. “We’ve taken so many pictures together,” he smiled, “that I’m beginning to feel like a Siamese twin.”

Against his former Kansas City teammates on August 26th in his 128th game of the ‘61 season, Maris mashed Number 51, eight ahead of the Ruth pace. It was about that time that Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick ruled that an asterisk would be placed next to Maris’ name in the record books if he broke the Babe’s record. Frick pointed out that Ruth set the record in a 154 game season. Maris was playing in a season with a 162-game schedule.

The “Mick” managed but one home run from September 10 on - Number 54, With Mantle a shell of himself and no longer a factor in the home run race, with the Yankee having clinched their 26th pennant, the pressure was now totally on Roger Maris.

On September l8, the Yankees arrived in Baltimore for a four-game series. Maris had 58 home runs. His chance to “officially” break Ruth’s record was restricted by the Ford Frick edict to the first three games. They fell within the l54-game schedule. Accomplishments after that date, the ruling read, would be designated by an asterisk.

In a twi-night doubleheader, games l52 and l53, Maris was shut out. On September 20, a night game, Maris faced Milt Pappas of the Orioles. It was a media circus with reporters from all over the country converged on the scene. But there were only 21,000 or so in the stands. The man they called “Rajah” lined solidly to right field his first time up. In the third inning, Maris caught a Pappas pitch and blasted it almost 400 feet into the bleachers in right field - home run Number 59! He had passed Jimmie Foxx and Hank Greenberg. Maris had three more chances that night to tie the Babe Ruth record. But he struck out, flied out and grounded out.

Five days later on September 26 in Game Number 158 for the Yankees in the third inning - Jack Fisher of Baltimore threw a high curve ball. “The minute I threw the ball,” Fisher moaned, “I said to myself, that does it. That’s Number 60.” The record tying home run pounded onto the concrete steps of the sixth row in the third deck in Yankee Stadium.The ball bounced back onto the field and was picked up by Earl Robinson, the Oriole right fielder who tossed the ball to umpire Ed Hurley who gave it to Yankee first base coach Wally Moses who rolled it into the Yankee dugout. The ball and Maris, running out the 60th home run, arrived in the dugout of the Bronx Bombers at about the same time.

Maris picked up the ball and barely looked at it; cheering fans kept calling for him to come out and take a bow. Finally, Maris emerged. Standing sheepishly on the top step of the dugout, he waved his cap. An especially interested onlooker was Mrs. Claire Ruth, widow of the Babe.

In the Yankee bullpen in right field the pitchers and the catchers watched as the action played out. A $5,000 reward had been promised to the one who caught the ball. “I told them,’ Maris said, “that if they got the ball not to give it to me. Take the $5,000 reward.”

The shot at the record breaking 61st home run came down to the final three games of the 1961 season. It was Yankees-Red Sox. It was Maris-Ruth. The player they called “Rajah” was shut out in the first two games by Boston pitchers determined not to be the one to be linked with him in the record books.

It was October 1st. A tired, bedraggled Maris faced 24-year-old Red Sox right-hander Tracy Stallard who got the powerfully built Yankee out in his first at bat. The 23,154 roaring fans at Yankee Stadium were quieted. In the fourth inning, Maris came to bat again.

“They’re standing, waiting to see if Maris is gonna hit Number Sixty-one.” The voice of Phil Rizzuto broadcast the moment. “We’ve only got a handful of people sitting out in left field,” Rizzuto continued, ” but in right field , man, it’s hogged out there. And they’re standing up. Here’s the windup, the pitch to Roger. Way outside, ball one…And the fans are starting to boo. Low, ball two. That one was in the dirt. And the boos get louder…Two balls, no strikes on Roger Maris.

Here’s the windup. Fastball, hit deep to right! This could be it! Way back there! Holy Cow, he did it! Sixty-one for Maris! ”

The ball traveled just 360 feet, went over outfielder Lou Clinton’s head and slammed into box l63D of section 33 into the sixth row of the lower deck in right field. And a melee broke out as fans scuffled and scrambled, fighting for the ball and the $5,000 reward.

Roger Maris trotted out the historic home run. A kid grabbed his hand as he turned past first - Maris shook hands and then did the same thing with third base coach Frank Crosetti as he turned past third base and headed home. His Yankee teammates formed a human wall in front of the dugout, refusing to let him enter. Four times he tried to no avail. Finally, Maris waved his cap to the cheering crowd who gave him a standing ovation. His teammates finally let him into the dugout.

“He threw me a pitch outside and I just went with it,” Maris would say later. “If I never hit another home run - this is the one they can never take away from me.”

” I hated to see the record broken,” Phil Rizzuto said. “But it was another Yankee that did it. When he hit the 61st home run I screamed so loud I had a headache for about a week.”

HF

Harvey Frommer is the celebrated author of 37 sports books, including the classics: “New York City Baseball,” “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball,” “Rickey and Robinson” “The New York Yankee Encyclopedia,” “A Yankee Century,” and the best selling “Red Sox Vs. Yankees: The Great Rivalry” (with Frederic J. Frommer). He is now in his 31st consecutive year of writing sports books. “BASEBALL NAMES” comes from his newest book: THE SPORTS JUNKIES BOOK OF TRIVIA, TERMS, AND LINGO.

A few of you have been clamoring for the next installment of “Baseball Names.” Clamor no more. Here it is — hot off the press. And if you have other terms, names, definitions . . . you want to submit - we can turn this whole enterprise into a cottage industry. Enjoy. And as always - reactions are most welcome.

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“BABE RUTH’S LEGS” Sammy Byrd, used as a pinch runner for Ruth.

BARBER, THE Sal Maglie had the unique distinction of pitching for the Brooklyn Dodgers, the New York Yankees and the New York Giants in the 1950’s. A curveballing clutch pitcher, his nickname came from two sources. A swarthy 6′2″ righthander who always seemed to need a shave, he was a master at “shaving” or”barbering” the plate. His pitches would nick the corner, and he wasn’t too shy about nicking a batter if the occasion demanded it.

“BERRA-ISMS” Yogi Berra always had a way with words, herewith, a sampler:

“Congratulations on breaking my record last night. I always thought the record would stand until it was broken.” -to Johnny Bench who broke his record for career home runs by a catcher.
“I didn’t say the things I said ”
“The other teams could make trouble for us if they win.”
“If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.”
“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
“He must have made that before he died.” –on a Steve McQueen movie, 1982
“A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”
“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”
“The future ain’t what it used to be.”
“A home opener is always exciting, no matter if it’s home or on the road.”
“I take a two hour nap between 1PM and 3PM.”
“90% of the putts that are short don’t go in.”
“Baseball is 90-percent mental. The other half is physical.”
“You have to give 100 percent in the first half of the game. If that isn’t enough, in the second half, you have to give what is left.”
“Nobody goes there any more. It’s too crowded.”
“It gets late out there early,” referring to the bad sun conditions in left field at the stadium.
“He is a big clog in their machine.”
“I’ve been with the Yankees 17 years, watching games and learning. You can see a lot by observing.”
“Baseball is the champ of them all. Like somebody said, the pay is good and the hours are short.”
“All pitchers are liars and crybabies.”
“Bill Dickey learned me all his experience.”
“I want to thank you for making this day necessary.” — to fans in hometown St. Louis for giving him a day in 1947 at Sportsman’s Park.
“I’ve known this guy so long. Can’t he spell my name right?” — after receiving a check that said “Pay to the order of Bearer”
“I think Little League is wonderful. It keeps the kids out of the house.”
“If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them.”
“Pair off in threes.”
“The other teams could make trouble for us if they win.” — as Yankee manager
“Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”
“We have very deep depth!”
“It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much.”
When asked what time it is — “Do you mean now?”
When asked what he would do if he found a million dollars - “If the guy was poor, I’d give it back”
When asked by a waitress how many pieces she should cut his pizza into — “Four. I don’t think I could eat eight.”
When asked why the Yankees lost the 1960 series to Pittsburgh– “We made too many wrong mistakes.”
When told by Yankee manager Bucky Harris to think about what was being pitched to him — “Think? How the hell are you gonna think and hit at the same time?”
When told Ernest Hemmingway was a great writer — “Yeah, for what paper?”
When asked what his cap size was at the beginning of spring training — “I don’t know, I’m not in shape.”"
“It’s deja vu all over again.”
“It ain’t over until it’s over.”

BRONX CHEER Another term for booing or razzing or raspberry, this sound allegedly originated in the Bronx in the 1920’s. (The Bronx, one of the five boroughs of New York City, gets its name from the Dane Jonas Bronck, the man who first settled the area in 1641 for the Dutch West India Company.) The contemptuous sound sarcastically referred to as a”cheer” was made by vibrating the tongue between the lips.

BROOKLYN DODGER SYM-PHONY From 1938 to 1957 a group of unlikely musicians serenaded Dodger fans at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Sometimes they sat in seats 1-8, row 1, section 8. Sometimes they sauntered up and down the aisles, tooting and rooting on their beloved Bums. Sometimes they climbed up on top of the Dodger dugout and played their original form of jazz through the long summer days and nights. A special feature of the group was a tune they performed known as the “Army Duff.” Fans referred to the song as “The Worms Crawl In.” The little band would razz a visiting-team strikeout victim back to his bench with this song. As the player would sit down on his bench, the Sym-phony would accentuate the touch-down of his derriere with a blasting beat of the bass drum. There were many games of cat-and-mouse between the Sym-phony and strikeout victims who would feign seating themselves to avoid the last, razzing bass-drum beat. The Sym-phony always managed to time the touch-down and accentuate it musically to the delight of Dodger fans and to the dismay of the visiting players. Brooklyn broadcaster Red Barber originated the nickname for the group.

Harvey Frommer is the celebrated author of 37 sports books, including the classics: “New York City Baseball,” “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball,” “Rickey and Robinson” “The New York Yankee Encyclopedia,” “A Yankee Century,” and the best selling “Red Sox Vs. Yankees: The Great Rivalry” (with Frederic J. Frommer). He is now in his 31st consecutive year of writing sports books. “BASEBALL NAMES” comes from his newest book: THE SPORTS JUNKIES BOOK OF TRIVIA, TERMS, AND LINGO.

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Frommer sports books are available direct from the author -discounted and autographed. Contact Harvey Frommer for details. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of 750,000 and appear on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

The time is now for baseball fans to unite and let their voices be heard. Baseball is reaching its prime time of the year, but millions will snore through it because of the TV networks stranglehold on the clock. Nobody in their right mind wants the pinnacle of the baseball season to occur at 1:22 in the morning, as was the case last year. By far the most compelling game of 2004 was Boston defeating NY in game four on David Ortiz’s walk off home run. If only it took place 3 hours earlier, how many more people would have witnessed it live? FOX and ESPN don’t quite see the logic in having the most exciting time of the year on at a time when fans could stay awake and see all the action. The optimum time to start MLB games is 6:18 P.M. Football understands this, and that is when they start the Super Bowl. More people should watch the post-game, than the pre-game, but baseball does not recognize this fact. I challenge any TV executive to tell me more people want baseball on after midnight in October. Last year was an unbelievable year for any fan of the Red Sox, but even the late games took a toll on me. One of the leaders of the team wrote me before game 7 in NY and asked me if I wanted any tickets. I turned down tickets to game 7 of the ALCS, because I was too exhausted. On that Monday morning after going to game 4, I reached my home at 3:45 in the morning, and was on the road by 6:30 to travel an hour to my teaching job. Two days later I was still sleepless, and didn’t think I could drive down and back to NY. Most people have lives outside of baseball, and you need some sleep in order to function in a normal behavior.

Baseball is a passion to many people, not just those of Red Sox Nation. There should be a baseball fan rule that says, “Any team in the playoffs will never begin a game past 7 P.M. local time.” It isn’t only the kids that go to bed before it is over and baseball needs to open their eyes, before everyone else’s are closed tight, because they are sound asleep.

I am
The Fan’s Commish

Rick Swanson

Move over SportsCenter, now there is a a new source for sports catch phrases, nicknames and jargon. The Sports Junkies Book of Trivia, Terms, and Lingo (October 2005, Taylor Trade Publishing) is the definitive book on the language of sports by celebrated sports author and journalist Harvey Frommer.

The prolific Frommer successfully fuses the common with the exotic, the arcane with the ordinary, the old with the new, and the poignant with the matter of fact. Admittedly, sports language comes and goes with the times, growing each year, changing in its attempts to describe the ever expanding world of athletics. In that vein, many of the words and terms defined here have become all but extinct in today’s vernacular, while others have become incorporated into the mainstream like “Say it ain’t so, Joe?”

Broken down by sport, Sports Junkies expounds a mind boggling number of entries in the sports vocabulary originating from clubhouses, media, rulebooks, and the bleachers. For any sports fan who ever wondered,where did that come from as they listened intently to play by play, tried to learn a new game, or to coach a kid in sports - -the descriptions here will not only define the words and terms, but give accurate historical relevance and acumen to each.

This book is a must have for any ESPN addicted, season ticket-holding, sports trivia buff that thought they knew it all. (Or a great tool for the sports journalist craving slang for a story or broadcast.)

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Harvey Frommer is the noted author of more than thirty seven books on sports, including the recent and bestselling Yankees VS Red Sox: The Great Rivalry. Frommer has a Ph.D. in Communications from NYU and teaches sports journalism and oral history at Dartmouth College. He lives in Lyme, New Hampshire.

Media Contact: Tracy Miracle ~ tmiracle@rowman.com
Book Details: October 2005 ~ 420 pages ~ 8 X 8
ISBN 1-58979-255-6 ~ $16.95 pb. ~ Taylor Trade Publishing
Distributed by National Book Network 1-800-462-6420

The media likes to poke fun at Jason Giambi, like Boston Dirt Dogs showing him with a green tint, and an incredible hulk body. How much of it is true though? You can take this season and see both sides of the Giambi story. It started out with his press conference apology, and the shrinking of his bulk. He then proceeded to hit with the authority of a 98 pound weakling for the first 2 months. NY even wanted him to go to the minors, just to see if he could play the game with this reduced body size. Then something happened around June. His body changed back to the massive arms and shoulders he once had. Whispers started that he was taking HGH. Human Growth Hormones. If you were told if you take this drug you could go back to being the star you once were, and there isn’t any test that MLB uses to detect this, would you do it? The only test for HGH is a blood test, and the baseball union will never let anyone put a needle into their bodies, so why not do it? Jason’s story is unique because his body has had rapid change 3 times in the last 2 years. Coincidently when his body is big he hits like a superstar, and when it shrinks, so does his baseball ability. The only solution would be for the baseball world demand that baseball take an Olympic approach to testing. Nobody wants to see cheaters winning and setting records, so why can’t baseball come clean like other sports?

The next story for the game to deal with is Barry Bonds. On March 21 I wrote this in “Around the Horn” the day before he had his crutch conference with his son at his side. “Bonds should just retire because of his bad knees, and then it will only be the records that need to be revised. The words of Senator Jim Bunning should remain with us all. “they (the records) all should be withdrawn, altered or stricken from the books,” Bunning said.”
With Barry getting ready to beat the Babe in 3 weeks, it is time to take the words Senator Bunning said and follow through. Everyone knows the home run records of the past decade are a fraud. If Bud really wants to place his name with the great ones in the game, then right now is his chance for glory. Make the following statement, right after Barry says he is going to play again. “MLB announces that all home run records set from 1995-2002 will listed under a separate category. Records will be listed 1871-1994 and post 2002 under one and those between 1995-2001 under another category.” This way Roger, the Babe, and Hank will never be changed to Barry. Let Barry have his own section, but it does not enter the Hall of records where everyone else is listed. If you ask every fan to vote on what Bunning said, you would see how fans really feel. Instead of some Latino great baseball players voting, let fans vote about the real issues in the game.

Question 1 Should baseball restore Roger Maris as the single season home run hitter?

Question 2 Should all the home runs hit from 1995-2002 be listed under a separate category by baseball records?

Question 3 Should baseball follow the words of Hall of Fame and Senator Jim Bunning? “They (the records) all should be withdrawn, altered or stricken from the books.”

Question 4 Should baseball have the same drug policy as the Olympics?

I am
The Fan’s Commish

Rick Swanson

In baseball, one statistic that everyone knows the value of, is how many runs batted in a player has. When you think of records, Hack Wilson’s 190 RBI is probably one that won’t be challenged in some time. The game is decided by who score the most runs, and RBI is a stat that everyone can see its value. If there is one fault with statistics, it is that in baseball most are designed to only judge the offense side of the game. Last year when I came up with a new way to measure defense, by using the fielder’s reaction time divided by his range distance, Tom Verducci wrote to me, and said: “In order for a statistic to be recognized, it must be easy to compute, and also be measurable.” What if you could come up with a way to measure the amount of runs that were saved, because of outstanding defensive plays? The same way that RBI measures runs batted in by a hitter, what if there was a new stat called RPI. That would be for runs prevented in. If you recorded the number of times a fielder made a superb play which prevented a run from scoring, you would get credit for a RPI. On 9/7 the Angels had first and third with two outs. Garret Anderson hit a slow chop between third and short. Edgar Renteria, went into the hole, and made probably his best play of the year, throwing out Anderson at first. That play would earn him an RPI, because it directly prevented a run from crossing the plate. If a fielder leaped over the fence to rob the batter of a grand slam, he would get credit for 4 RPI, because without his catch, 4 runs would have scored. The official scorer would be responsible to determine if an RPI was warranted on the play. The converse of this would be the REI, or runs errored in. Again, using Renteria as an example, in the game last Saturday in the ninth inning he muffed what would have been a game ending double play. This miscue cost the Red Sox 2 runs. Those 2 runs would be counted as REI on Edgar’s game log. If you make an error but no run is scored then you would not be charged with a REI, only if the error directly leads to a run, or more than one run.The team with the most runs wins, but beside those that crossed the plate, baseball should give a credit for those that prevent runs from crossing the plate. It means just as much to prevent a run from scoring, as it does to drive in a run. It is time for those that prevent runs for scoring to have an easy number to understand, and also be relevant to the statistical information of the game.

I am
The Fan’s Commish

Rick Swanson

The evolution of baseball also saw a revolution in the type and amount of playing equipment. The day of purposeful-some would say superfluous- equipment, like the sweatband, headband, batting tee, batting glove, was far off in the future, but all equipment has its roots in the nineteenth century.

Bumps, bruises, and fractured fingers were part of the lot of baseball players for years. The game was rough and tumble, the players were manly, and any type of protective garb was frowned upon.

Then one day in 1875, in a game against Boston, outfielder Charlie Waite of New Haven sauntered onto the field to play first base, his left hand adorned with an ordinary leather dress glove. The garment was an inconspicuous flesh color; Waite sought to attract as little attention as possible and did not wish to be considered less than manly by the partisans in the stands and his peers on the field.

Waite was able to glove his hand but unable to cover up what he was doing. The pioneer’s “sissified” approach-the protective garment on his hand- triggered taunts and jeers from fans and players. Nevertheless, Waite played on, protected, swapping the pain of ridicule for the pain of a batted baseball.

One who always appreciated a good idea was Albert Spalding, a man who also knew too well the pain of a hard ball on bare hand. A year after Waite’s glove appeared, Spalding and his brothers launched his sporting-goods business, a staple of which was the production of baseball gloves. And in 1877, when A.G. shifted from pitching to playing first base, he also shifted to wearing a glove.

“When I’d recalled that every ball pitched had to be returned, and that every hit one coming my way from fielders, outfielders, or hot from the bat must be caught and stopped, some idea may be gained of the punishment received,” noted Spalding in defense of his wearing a glove.

The glove Spalding wore was padded but not disguised in flesh color like Waite’s; it was dark leather and there for all to see. “I found,” explained Spalding, “that the glove, thin as it was, helped considerably. I inserted one pad after another, until a great deal of relief was afforded.”

Spalding began the trend, and gloves began to catch on in all types of variations. Catcher Henry Fabian of New Orleans in 1880 utilized two gloves on his left hand and placed a piece of sheet lead between the surfaces. Cap Anson sported kid gloves with cut off fingertips on his throwing hand. Anson’s catcher, Frank “Old Silver” Flint, got by with thin leather gloves cushioned with raw beef steak.

Actually the mouth protector, not the glove, was baseball’s first bit of protective equipment. Sported by Cincinnati Reds shortstop George Wright in the 1860s, it was a patented piece of equipment and a welcome replacement for the broad rubber bands that had previously been worn around the mouth by catchers to save their teeth.

Wright’s sporting-goods company patented, manufactured, and enjoyed some big-money days selling the mouth protector for a time, until it became a footnote to baseball history when it was replaced by the catcher’s mask. As the story goes, the captain of the Harvard team, F. Winthrop Thayer, invented the mask, using the one employed in fencing as a prototype. He then presented the new model to his catcher, James Alexander Tyny, who had issued threats of quitting the game because of fear of disfiguring his face. Not until 1877 did professional catchers adopt the mask that fans referred to as a “bird cage” and that sportswriters ridiculed with such diatribes as: “There is a good deal of beastly humbug in contrivances to protect men from things that don’t happen. There is about as much sense in putting a lightning rod on a catcher as a mask.”

Despite the criticisms, sales of catcher’s masks became a good business. Peck and Snyder’s sporting goods stores sold them for three dollars each. The store’s ad copy claimed that “some of the top catchers of 1877″ were using the equipment “made of wire and cushioned with soft leather . . . filled with best curled hair. They are light and easy to adjust.”

Peck and Snyder of New York City not only carried the catcher’s mask but also advertised “new styles of baseball uniforms and outfits; baseball caps, eight corners with star in top of corded seams for $10 per dozen ($1 sample by mail); uniform flannel for $8 a dozen, and second quality flannels at $6 a dozen.” There were also belts for sixty cents each, heavy English all-worsted hose in either solids or stripes for $2.50 each or $27 for a dozen. With cotton feet, the hose were just $24 a dozen-three dollars less for leggings.

The real impetus making the catcher’s mask an important part of the equipment of the national pastime took place in 1879, when the rules committee outlawed the foul-bound catch, banning catchers from retiring a batter on a foul tip caught on the first bounce. This change in rules made catchers play closer to the plate-increasing their chances of injury and increasing the need for protection.

More protection also came with the introduction of the chest protector, invented by a Hartford man as a way to eliminate the kayos of catchers who were laid low by foul balls pounding into their chest. Dubbed a sheepskin, the chest protector was placed under the uniform, but its bulging nature served as a magnet for boos. The first chest protector was allegedly employed by catcher John T. Clements of the Philadelphia Keystones in 1884.

By 1886 finger gloves were in fairly widespread use, and instead of two gloves most players now used only one. By the 1890s, gloves were standard equipment in baseball. A few players, like Fred Dunlap, however, went through their entire careers without ever using a glove. Dunlap claimed he didn’t need “the thing,” and maybe he was right. He led the National League four years in fielding in the 1880s sans glove. And there were others who, like Dunlap, could not give up the old bare-handed ways. “The game of baseball is being spoiled by allowing players to wear these abominations known as mitts,” said Boston’s Harry Schafer. “Players do not have to show skill in handling balls with those mitts in their hands. Those who cannot play without them should get out of the game and give way to those who can.”

One player who benefited greatly from the use of a glove was Lave Cross, a massive catcher. Converted in 1892 to a third baseman when he joined Philadelphia, Cross played the hot corner buttressed by his catcher’s mitt. Using his oversized glove like a fly swatter, Cross smacked down and snared virtually every ball hit his way. “They’re playing infield with barn doors,” some reporters complained.

In 1895 the rules committee came up with restrictions on “barn doors.” All gloves except for catchers’ and first basemen’s were limited to no more than 10 ounces in weight and no more than 14 inches in circumference, as measured around the palm. The smaller glove was the end of the line for a few players, like Lave Cross, now unable just to hack away at fielding their position.

Baseball bats throughout history have possessed an almost mystical quality. Cap Anson allegedly hung bats like hams from the ceiling in the cellar of his house, and at peak times the old baseballer had at least five hundred pieces of favorite lumber seasoning away. Always on the prowl for a good piece of wood, Anson would go after ancient logs, shafts from carts, fence posts, anything he thought he could shape into good material for a baseball bat.

One of the more macabre stories about a baseball bat concerns a player named Perring, who, when the Ohio State Penitentiary was dismantled in 1880, collected the hickory wood that had formed the scaffolding that had outlived its usefulness. Perring fashioned the highly seasoned and strong wood into a bat that endured for the next two decades.

What would go down in legend as the famed Louisville Slugger, as the story goes, made its debut in 1884. Peter Browning, one of the premier batsmen of his time, broke his bat while performing for the Louisville baseball team. Faced with the pressure of a crucial game the following day, Browning prevailed on J. F. Hillerich at the local wood-turning shop to create another bat exactly like the one that had been broken. The day of the big game arrived. Hillerich had followed orders to the letter and presented Browning with a bat fashioned from the wood of a wagon tongue. Browning batted out four hits with that piece of lumber and Hillerich and Bradsby evolved into the leading manufacturer of the baseball bat-including the famed Louisville Slugger.

The baseball stems from the most primitive of beginnings. Albert Spalding, who would go on to make a fortune producing them, mused about his early experiences.

“The ball was not what would be called a National League ball, nowadays, but it served every purpose. It was usually made on the spot by some boy offering up his woolen socks as an oblation, and these were raveled and wound round a bullet, a handful of strips cut from a rubber overshoe, a piece of cork or almost anything, or nothing, when anything was not available. The winding of this ball was an art, and whoever could excel in this art was looked upon as a superior being. The ball must be a perfect sphere and the threads as regularly laid as the wire on a helix of a magnetic armature. When the winding was complete the surface of the ball was thoroughly sewed with a large needle and thread to prevent it from unwinding when a thread was cut.”

The early baseballs had personalities all their own. Their weights varied quite a bit-and a few of them barely tipped the scales at 3 ounces. Stitching sometimes consisted of crescent-shaped sections.

In 1877 the exclusive right to produce the National League baseball was granted to A. G. Spalding & Brothers. All the covers of all the balls were made of horsehidc an aspect of the ball that remained constant until 1973. Regulation and quality control, however, was an absent item as teams “ordered up” or “doctored up” balls to meet their own needs. The better fielding clubs utilized a soft ball, while those teams who had good hitters made sure the ball they used was hard and lively.

A baseball went through a great deal of heavy duty in those early years, unlike today, when it is routinely replaced for the slightest blemish. An outstanding example of the use and overuse of a baseball took place on August 7, 1882. The Cleveland Spiders and the New York Metropolitans played out their game in the rain at the Polo Grounds in New York City. The ball that was in use from the first pitch of the game was wet, soggy, and dirty. The ninth inning was under way and the captain of the Mets asked the umpire for a new ball to replace the virtually unusable and lopsided sphere. “I can’t do it,” said the umpire. “You’ll have to play on with what you have.” The arbiter’s ruling was in the negative because the rules stated that a new ball could not be put in play except at the beginning of an inning. The ninth had begun.

HF

Harvey Frommer is the author of 34 sports books, including the classics: “New York City Baseball,” “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball,” “Rickey and Robinson: The Men Who Broke Baseball’s Color Line,” “The New York Yankee Encyclopedia,” “A Yankee Century: A Celebration of the First Hundred Years of Baseball’s Greatest Team,” and the 2005 Updated “Red Sox Vs. Yankees: The Great Rivalry” (with Frederic J. Frommer). His THE SPORTS JUNKIE’S BOOK OF TRIVIA, TERMS AND LINGO will be published in September. Frommer sports books are available direct from the author -discounted and autographed. Contact Harvey Frommer for details. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of 750,000 and appear on Internet search engines for extended periods of time. This Article is Copyright © 1995 - 2005 by Harvey Frommer. All rights reserved worldwide.