BASEBALL

Alexander Cartwright

“Johnny Appleseed of BB”

Wrote Knickerbockers BB club rules

Introduced ppl to BB from coast to coast

1970s

Greenies and other drugs

• doc Ellis LSD

Green Light Letter

After PH, FDR to Landis: it was up to landis but he believed BB should continue but that drafted players should report. 340 majors and 3000 minor leaguers served

Henry Chadwick

Introduced the idea of using numbers and stats to measure BB players

Created box score, ERA (#runs allowed/9inning pitched), Batting Avg (hits/AB)

Chadwick’s American Base Ball Manual

Cinci Red Stockings

1st all professional BB team, 10 salaried players

NAPBBP

Replaced NABBP

Set schedule, invented concept of a “season”, award for reg szn winner (pennant)

Problems: profitability, chaos, turnover bc finances, gambling (throwing games)

William Hulbert

Created NL in 1876 after stealing all the best NAPBBP players in 1875

Banned alcohol and gambling, doubled ticket prices, reserve rule

Teams have power rather than players now

Ban Johnson and American League

Est 1901, 101 players moved from NL to AL leading to National Agreement in 1903 to honor reserve rule

Hound Wagner

OP for the Pittsburgh pirates and discontinued his BB card bc he didn’t wanna be associated w tobacco

John McGraw

Self-made man

Left home at 12 bc of abuse and player pro BB at 16

Scrappy player

Became NY giants manager 1902-32

Suffrage Day

Polo grounds 1915

Transformed park into a political theatre

Yellow everywhere, signs “make a home run for suffrage”, became suffrage rally after the game

Why? Bc lost of important men with power were at the game

Ty Cobb

Embodies pre 1920s American culture (discipline, hard work, struggle)

Darwinian - BB is survival of the fittest

Sour personality

Nicknamed The Georgia Peach

Federal League

1914

No reserve rule, offered big money to Major league players with 81 jumping ship

Filed a suit against mlb arguing they were monopolizing the business of BB - interstate commerce

Charles Comisky

Owner of CHI White Sox

Very stingy - paid players the least in the league

Loves reserve rule

Kenesaw Mountain Landis

Commish 21-44

Lawyer/judge who helped bring baseball back together after white Sox scandal

Makes all owners agree to never disagree w his rulings and that his word is final

Jury ruled Sox players non guilty, but he banned them from mlb forever

Hank Greenberg

“The Hebrew Hammer”

Missed 4 seasons due to WW2

Ted Williams

Navy for 3 years

Chapel Hill Cloudbusters

Joe DiMaggio

3 years in army

1941 - 56 game hit streak gave America something to think about other than war

Rube Fostsr

One of the best pitchers of all time, regardless of race

Hired to secretly coach Giants pitchers

Wanted to create a league for black players in case baseball was fo be integrated

Abe and Effa Manley

Effa ran the reward eagles (NNL) and used money to fund civil rights issues - mainly lynching

Only female in MLB HOF

Willie Mays

Was the player that finally made teams realize that they need black players

Shot heard round the world

“The giants win the pennant”

Last great radio moment and first great tv moment - first nationally televised game

Flood v Kuhn

Floods lawsuit arguing his 13th amendment rights were violated failed

Marvin Miller

Director of MLBPA with the goal of removing reserve rule

Knows he has to keep it out of courts bc they will never back him

Floods Kuhn’s desk w complaints so he creates arbitration panel (this is what he wanted)

Charlie Finley signs Catfish Hunter to 100k contract, tax burden went to Finley who tried to restructure. MLB Arbitration Panel upholds contract, so Hunter hits FA and signed 5yr/3.5m contract w Yankees in free agency

Ted Turner

Channel 17 owner, needed smth to broadcast so he buys the braves

Signs star player Andy messersmith to wear #17 and paid him to change his last name to Channel so his jersey read Channel 17