Stony Brook University

SSStttooonnnyyy BBBrrrooooookkk UUUnnniiivvveeerrrsssiiitttyyy The official electronic file of this thesis or dissertation is maintained by the University Libraries on behalf of The Graduate School at Stony Brook University. ©©© AAAllllll RRRiiiggghhhtttsss RRReeessseeerrrvvveeeddd bbbyyy AAAuuuttthhhooorrr... Words That Make the Man: Major League Baseball, the Media, and American Manhood, 1945-1962 A Dissertation Presented by Elizabeth O’Connell Gennari to The Graduate School in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Stony Brook University August 2016 Copyright by Elizabeth O’Connell Gennari 2016 Stony Brook University The Graduate School Elizabeth O’Connell Gennari We, the dissertation committee for the above candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree, hereby recommend acceptance of this dissertation. Nancy Tomes – Dissertation Advisor Distinguished Professor, History Department Wilbur R. Miller - Chairperson of Defense Professor, History Department Michael Barnhart Distinguished Teaching Professor, History Department Kathleen Banks Nutter Accessioning Archivist, Sophia Smith Collection Smith College This dissertation is accepted by the Graduate School Nancy Goroff Dean of the Graduate School ii Abstract of the Dissertation Words That Make the Man: Major League Baseball, the Media, and American Masculinity, 1945-1962 by Elizabeth O’Connell Gennari Doctor of Philosophy in History Stony Brook University 2016 Baseball and the media have been linked throughout the American national pastime’s history. Its rise as a professional game coincided with the Circulation Wars between Joseph Pulitz- er and William Randolph Hearst, who used sports as one means of selling newspapers. The ex- pansion of radio programming linked listeners across the nation, and made Babe Ruth one of the first national celebrities. Baseball likewise helped fill airspace in the early days of television, and allowed viewers unable (or unwilling) to attend a ballpark the opportunity to see players like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays perform. This dissertation examines the role of the media in promoting baseball and baseball players during the early years of the Cold War, 1945-1962. Print and broadcast media were essential to establishing and maintaining Major League Baseball’s reputation as the “American national pastime,” and in the process, established standards for evaluating players’ skills and behavior. These standards aligned with the dominant values of white, middle-class America, and gendered expectations of athletes. I analyze the different ways in which journalists and broadcasters ap- proached baseball reporting and the ways in which the construction of the game story helped to build ballplayers’ reputations. Although these reputations fell into a series of archetypes, they revealed cultural arbiters’ criteria for “proper masculine behavior” in an era in which “American character” was scrutinized, debated, and defined. iii Dedication Page This dissertation is dedicated with love to my husband, Christopher Adam Gennari, without whom it would not have been possible. Thank you for your love and support. God only knows what I’d be without you. iv Table of Contents Introduction: Baseball’s Perfect Knight, Baseball’s Perfect Warrior……………………………..1 Chapter 1: The National Pastime: Baseball, Major League Baseball, and American History…..22 Growing Pains………………………………………………………………………………..28 The Game Ruth Built………………………………………………………………………...43 Survival and Sacrifice…………………………………………………………………….….51 Baseball and the Cold War……………………………………………………………….….63 Chapter 2: The Knights of the Keyboard: The Baseball Writers Association of America and the Art of Baseball Writing…………………………………………………………………………..72 Creating Gentlemen and Heroes……………………………………………………………..78 “Stop Godding Up the Ballplayers”………………………………………………………….82 Heroes, Villains, and Fools…………………………………………………………………..89 Chapter 3: The Twenty-Sixth Man: The Storytellers of the Broadcast Booth……………..……99 Chapter 4: Baseball Gets Boyish: Bouton’s Ball Four and the End of Baseball Hagiography...136 Bouton and the Chipmunks…………………………………………………………………139 The Boutonian Revolution and “Masculinity” in Baseball…………………………………144 They Took It Personally…………………………………………………………………….154 Epilogue: Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio? Major League Baseball form the “Golden Era” to the Steroid Era………………………………………………………………………….159 Baseball Strikes Out………………………………………………………………………..162 Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Lose, and Sometimes It Rains…………………….172 The Power and the Glory?.....................................................................................................186 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………195 v Introduction: Baseball’s Perfect Knight, Baseball’s Perfect Warrior Baseball is America’s game. The crack of the bat, strategy of the game, and pageantry of the ballpark are ingrained in our national culture. A critical part of the game’s story, and thus of our nation’s story, are the heroes who have captured the hearts of baseball fans and their skill, grace, competitive spirit, and unimaginable accomplishments. Few stand out like St. Louis great, Stan “The Man” Musial. 1 So began U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill’s 2010 letter to President Barack Obama nominating the St. Louis Cardinals’ Hall of Famer Stan Musial for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Medal of Freedom, the highest honor awarded to civilians, has commemorated “especially meri- torious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural of other significant public or private endeavors.” McCaskill’s endorsement was included in a packet with similar letters by U.S. Senators Christopher “Kit” Bond of Missouri, and Dick Durbin of Illinois; U.S. Congressmen of Missouri Russ Carnahan and William Lacy Clay; Mis- souri Governor Jay Nixon; and a letter signed by 97 members of the Missouri General Assembly. The nomination was spearheaded by Bill DeWitt, Chairman of the Board and General Partner of the St. Louis Cardinals. 2 DeWitt argued that Musial’s accomplishments were as deserving of acknowledgment as those of his contemporaries Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams, both of whom had received the Medal of Freedom. In addition to his achievements on the baseball diamond (including a .331 1 Sen. Claire McCaskill, Washington, D.C., to Pres. Barack Obama, Washington, D.C., 1 Febru- ary 2010. Copy provided by St. Louis Cardinals, “Nomination Packet,” online. <<http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/downloads/y2010/musial_nomination _packet.pdf>>, ac- cessed 3 October 2010. 2 Ibid .; copies of other letters provided by St. Louis Cardinals, “Nomination Packet.” 1 lifetime batting average, 3,630 career hits, 475 homeruns, 1,951 RBIs, three Most Valuable Player Awards, and 24 consecutive All-Star Game appearances in a twenty-two year career in which he set seventeen Major League records, twenty-nine National League records and nine All-Star Game records), Musial was a World War II veteran, the chairman of Lyndon Johnson’s Presidents’ Council on Physical Fitness from 1964 to 1967, an unofficial emissary to Poland during the Cold War, and member of the Board of Directors of the St. Louis U.S.O., St. Louis Boy Scouts, St. Louis Muscular Dystrophy Association, St. Louis Diabetic Association, and the East- er Seal Society for Crippled Children. To DeWitt and those who supported Musial’s nomination, the Medal of Freedom represented a way of expressing gratitude to a local and national hero whose humility had caused his good deeds to be overshadowed by the flashier figures on the East Coast: “Throughout his life, Stan has never sought recognition for his good works. His happi- ness comes from doing the right thing and bringing joy to others. While Stan does not know of our efforts to nominate him for this honor, we respectfully request your consideration as Stan has been a true role model—exemplifying the humility, grace and generosity we so desperately need to see in our American sports heroes.” 3 What began as a quiet campaign supported by Missouri politicians quickly turned into a social media movement, as the Cardinals turned to the Internet to advance Musial’s candidacy in May 2010. The Stand for Stan campaign was launched on the Cardinals’ official Web site and offered fans the opportunity to read the nominating materials, view information about the Presi- dential Medal of Freedom and sign a petition in support of Musial. By October, the page had approximately 60,000 visits and the campaign included 10,200 followers on social media Web site Twitter. Fans were also encouraged to print their own “Flat Stan,” a play on the popular 3 William O. DeWitt, Jr., St. Louis, to Pres. Barack Obama, Washington, D.C., 15 March 2010. Copy provided by St. Louis Cardinals, “Nomination Packet.” 2 children’s series “Flat Stanley,” which encouraged literacy and interaction with family and friends throughout the world by sending copies of their own paper cutouts and tracking his “adventures.” Flat Stan was also a paper cutout, this time a cartoon likeness of Musial, and more than 1,000 fans posted photos of his adventures on the Stand for Stan Web site. 4 On October 3, 2010, the 39,633 fans in attendance at St. Louis’s Busch Stadium received cardboard Flat Stans during a game against the Colorado Rockies. The game paused for a five- minute ceremony in the sixth inning, in which Musial and Lillian, his wife of 70 years, were es- corted around the field in a golf cart. Cardinals’ manager

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