Baseball intrigues its followers on many different levels. Its statistics TN=======-,P II lend themselves to endless interpre­ tations and speculations, spawning SABRmetrics, the Baseball Research Journal and numerous offspring. In this journal we examine not the statistics but the lives and careers of players and teams of the past and them game and times in which they performed. In an uncertain and changing world, there is comfort in the timeless patterns of baseball. When a team like the Hitless Wonders can upset an apparently invincible squad like the 1906 Cubs, underdogs can forever take heart. And with the right formula and attitude, surprise teams like the 1894 Orioles and 1961 Reds can leap from the second division to the pennant. Whole com­ munities can come together in support of the local ball­ club in times of need, as happened in Amsterdam, N.Y., in 1942, but the pressures of the pennant race can also cause some performers to do strange things, like Flint ==~~===~=====THE -============== Rhem's allegations of kidnapping in 1930. Promising National @ Pastime youngsters like Christy Mathewson and Rube Waddell A REVIEW OF BASEBALL HISTORY often struggle before emerging as stars, while proven performers like Hack Miller may find their careers The '6.1 Reds Oral History Project 2 derailed by changing managerial strategy. But even Signing Jackie Robinson,john Thorn/jules Tygiel 7 after their fabled skills have faded, some old heroes are From the Ashes, David Pietrusza 13 able to stay in the game as managers, executives, or, Did He Really Call His Shot?, Don Bell 15 like Harry Heilmann, as broadcasters. "Pinhead" Mathewson, john McCormick Harris 17 Although baseball's continuity is vital in explaining The 1906 World Series, Peter Gordon 21 its stature as our national pastime, the game is con­ The 1901 Boston Americans, Charlie Bevis 27 stantly, if subtly, changing. It took pioneers like Dickey Harry Heilmann, Announcer,Marc Okkonen 33 Pearce to define how the game is played both on Dizzy Dean at the Mike 37 offense and defense. And an examination of the 1901 Dickey Pearce, Duane Smith 38 Boston Americans reveals differences in nearly all Baseball On Tour Pictorial, Robert Tiemann 43 aspects of the game. Yet not all apparent innovations The Orioles' First Flag,jim Miller 49 are new. Indeed, the first midget pinch-hitter was used Hack Miller, ArtAhrens 54 in 1905, not 1951 as generally believed. Batboys, George Robinson and Margalit Fox 57 At its best, baseball teaches us larger lessons of life. Interview with Professor Seymour, Michael Burke 65 Batboys take their clubhouse experiences into the out­ The First Midget,joe Overfield 69 side world with a greater understanding of humanity. Rube Waddell,joe Scott 72 And one former batboy and amateur club organizer Bobo Newsom, Mike Ross 75 had gone on to world renown as an historian of the Flint Rhem, john Thom 79 game. Bobo Newsom's brilliance in the face of personal Andy Cohen, Bill Simons 83 tragedy in 1940 aroused the admiration of the entire Profiles answers 88 nation, not just that of the fans. Andy Cohen and Jackie Editor: Robert L. Tiemann Robinson had to overcome social prejudices as well as Fact-Checked by Jack Kavanagh the normal pressures to establish themselves as big league performers. PICTURE CREDITS: Stuart Leeds, front cover. Chicago HistoricalSociety, 25, 57. Flash Back Pictures, Inc., 47 (bottom). National Baseball library, 3, 5, 8, 9, This journal owes a great deal to John Thorn, editor 10, 11, 12, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46 (middle and bottom), 48, 55, 62, 70, 73, 80, 81,85. of its first nine editions, who bequeathed a boxful of Joseph Overfield, 71. Professor Harold Seymour, 67. The Sporting News, 35, 59,76. David Zeft, 46 (top). Thanks to The Sporting News for permission to articles and a wealth of ideas and details; to Richard reprint "Dizzy Dean at the Mike." Puff for supervising the covers and critiquing the proofs; to Ralph Horton for proofreading; to the staff at THE NATIONAL PASTIME (ISSN 0734-6905, ISBN 0-910137-40-4), Number 10. Published by The Society for American Baseball Research, Inc., eo. Box EBSCO Media, the printers; and especially to publica­ 93183, Cleveland, OH 44101. Postage paid at Birmingham, AL. Copyright 1990, tions director Paul Adomites for gently leading a rookie The Society for American Baseball Research, Inc. All rights reserved. editor through the myriad steps required in production. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Printed by EBSCO Media, Birmingham, AL. A REVIEW OF BASEBALL HISTORY 1 Players and Fans Recall a Champion From Ragamuffins To Hall-of-Famers THE '61 REDS ORAL HISTORYPROJECT o N THE DAY ROGER MARIS hit his 60th home run, People were jumping in the fountain and the whole bit. Cincinnati Reds' outfielder Jerry Lynch hit lucky num­ It was a real carnival atmosphere." ber 13. When the Dodgers lost, bedlam broke loose. The With the Reds and the Cubs tied 3-3 in Chicago, celebration at Fountain Square continued into the early Lynch hit an eighth-inning home run deep. into the hours of the morning, and the next day all Cincin.nati rightfield bleachers. The Reds went on to win the game woke up to the news that the Reds had won their first 6-3 and clinch at least a tie for the National League pen­ pennant in 21 years. nant. It was the afternoon of September 26, 1961. Reliever Jim Brosnan, who pitched the last three "Frank Robinson was the best hitter on the '61 team. innings for the Reds, was the winning pitcher. "In the lVherever he played he, was the best hitter." seventhinning I had a feeling that this was it," Brosnan -Pat Brosnan said in a recent interview. "I wanted to strike them out. I.had goosebumps up and down my arms. 'Hutch came The Reds were not supposed to win the pennant in out after the game and said, 'That'll do it, Bros.' " 1961. In a pre-season poll of 234 baseball writers, not .When their plane landed at Cincinnati airport, the one picked the Reds to win the pennant. A total of 168 Reds were mobbed by fans who were hungry for a pen­ writers picked Cincinnati to finish sixth; only one nant. One loss by the Dodgers would mean the Reds picked them as high as second. would be in the World Series for the first time since But the Reds surprised the experts, winning 93 1940. Downtown, where loudspeakers had been set up games that year and finishing four games ahead of a at both ends of Fountain Square, an estimated 30,000 highly regarded, Los Angeles team. John Murdough, people gathered to celebrate and to listen to a broad­ the Reds' business manager in 1961, remembers all cast of the Dodger-Pirate game that night. the sportswriters who referred to the Reds as "misfits" On orders from manager Fred Hutchinson, who and "ragamuffins." "Stories kept coming out during decided to let his team join the celebration, the Reds the season, 'Are the Reds for Real?' " Murdough said took a bus down to Fountain Square.' It was a bus ride recently. "So on our press pins that we issued for the that none of them would ever forget. "Everybody was partying," remembers Gordy This article was produced as an Oral History project of the Coleman, who played first base on the '61 team and English Department, ofthe University ofCincinnati during the 1987 Spring Term. The contributors were: Andrew Bloch who now directs the Reds Speakers' Bureau. "When Brenda Dangerfield, JaylynnLeslie Gray, Anne M.Hudson: the bus pulled into Fountain Square, I thought they Wayne A. Marks, Kristina M. Neuhausser, Kathleen A.Ringel, were going to tip the bus over. I mean, there were Robert N. Rolfes, Richard D. Rutman, Diana M. Stroyls, enough people pushing and rocking the bus that it Howard R, Torch, Kathleen A, 'Wilson,. James C. Wilson,. and actually was weaving from side to side sitting still! B.R. Wright. 2 THE NAT ION AL PAS TIM E 1961 CINCINNATI REDS Front Row: Kasko, Post, Otero (Coach), Turner (Coach), Hutchinson (Manager), Sisler (Coach), Whisenant (Coach), Bell, Robinson, Edwards. Center Row: Blasingame, Chacon, Gernert, Zimmerman, Lynch, Coleman, Cardenas, D. johnson, Pinson, Freese, Rohde (Trainer). Top Row: Brosnan, K johnson, Henry, Purkey, Hunt, Maloney, S. jones, jay, Hook, O'Toole. writers at the end of the year, we put, 'The Reds are entire season. The Reds were in a mid-season slump, for ReaL'" and tensions, some of them racial, were running high The 1961 Reds were led by Frank Robinson, who hit in the clubhouse. .323 with 37 home runs and 124 RBIs. For his perfor­ "Robinson called the meeting and ran it," Brosnan mance on the field, Robinson won the National recalls. "He had his say, and then he opened the meet­ League's Most Valuable Player award, one of many ing to everybody else. Four or five other people spoke awards in a long and illustrious career. out, and they shook up the club a little bit. From then Sharing the outfield with Robinson were Vada on Robinson was looked upon· as the leader of the Pinson, Wally Post, Jerry Lynch, and Gus Bell. The team, and he responded very well. We wouldn't have starting infield had Gordy Coleman at first, Don won the pennant without him." Blasingame at second, Eddie Kasko or Leo Cardenas at short, and Gene Freese at third. The Reds pitching ('Fred Hutchinson was as fine a man as the game ever staff, which led the league in shutouts, included had.