Bridgewater Review

Volume 3 | Issue 2 Article 7

Jul-1985 The eH roic Image: The Lives and Times of Superstars in Two Golden Ages of Sport Philip T. Silvia Jr. Bridgewater State College

Recommended Citation Silvia, Philip T. Jr. (1985). The eH roic Image: The Lives and Times of Superstars in Two Golden Ages of Sport. Bridgewater Review, 3(2), 9-13. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev/vol3/iss2/7

This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, . test comparing with Pepsi? Certainly not a droll Senator Robert Dole who has sug­ the Summer Olympics of 1984 or the If gested that in 1985 our nation needs decision yearly Super Bowl extravaganzas are any making liy realists, and that perhaps an NFL indication, Americans continue to be sport­ owner could lead through example by mov­ obsessed. It has become increasingly impor­ ing a franchise to sunny Colombia, South tant that we reflect about professional ath­ America. With so many associated prob­ letes and the public's perception oftheir role lems, the cynically informed might concur in society. I would like to take a subjective, with the words ofThomas Wolfe: "It is hard biographical look at four dominant athletes to get excited about the efforts of hired who influenced American civilization dur­ men." Besides this understandable aliena­ ing our two Golden Ages of Sport, namely, tion, there are also many Americans who the 1920s and the late 1960s-1970s. 'I never have been attracted to athletics and yet The role of sport in twentieth -century enjoy fulfilling, contented lives. Western Civilization can scarcely be exag­ Nevertheless, since the 1920s we have gerated. Sport is not merely a diverting lei­ lived through "the Age of the Spectator" in sure activity; at times it has been integrated historian Benjamin Rader's phrase. Millions into life and death matters. Highly spirited of Americans for a multitude of reasons soldiers from British units advanced rapidly have lived vicariously by enthusiastically toward enemy trenches while kicking at a cheering for player and team. And a pre­ soccer bait during World War I (a presum­ ponderant number ofsports' most cherished ably deflating experience), while at the time crown jewels n for example, the World Ser­ ofthe later London blitz the rule's committee of one ofthat city's golfclubs decided upon a ies and, more recently, the Super Bowl-- are one-stroke penalty for replacing any ball in the professional domain. blown away by a bomb! What have the millions of loyal fans of professional sport come to expect ofthe per­ Sport came to enjoy great popularity in an formers who, over the past two generations, industrializing and urbanizing late nine­ have provided them with entertainment? teenth century . Participants Certainly the evidence will reveal a meta­ and observers were attracted to athletic con­ morphosis ofattitude as we pass through the tests that had largely outlived Puritanical Two Golden Ages, the first stamped with the condemnation as "worthless entertainment label of "coverup," the second with "expo­ for gentlemen ... and despicable rowdies." sure." In this century spectator sport has become We can best begin with the understanding increasingly associated with professionalism that the coverup decade of the 1920s simply and commercialism. The trend away from represented an intensive extension ofVictorian­ the amateur ideal as personified by Baron de era media protection accorded two of our Coubertin's resurrected Olympic Games of nation's first publicly acclaimed profes­ the 1890s has disappointed proponents of sional sports heroes. Their athletic skills competition-for-competition's sake. Money were appreciated and publicized, their off­ subverts. Athletes all-too-frequently cease field conduct de-emphasized. Only recently dreaming of victory cup, laurel, and draped did we realize that John L. Sullivan and medal, demanding instead what critics What have the mil­ Michael J. "King" Kelly were questionable demean as fool's gold. Bill Rodgers disturb­ characters. ingly lobbies against tradition, preferring to lions ofloyal fans of be paid for running from Hopkinton to the Roxbury-born Sullivan, "the Pru. Obscene contracts -- forty million dol­ professional sports come Strong Boy," was America's first lionized lars lifetime, fifteen million dollars for seven athlete, a colorful personality who attracted years -- mock those hard-working citizens to expect of their worshipful crowds wherever he went. His who make the psychologically devastating career took him from Boston College where mistake of measuring their worth by salary performers who ... he had begun to prepare for entry into the comparisons. priesthood, to the life of a brawler, boozer, The greed of players, agents, and franchise­ have provided them with and adulterer. High-living, free-spending hopping owners aside, other issues lead to a John L. left behind a wife in Boston while he rejection of professional sports in our times. entertainment? toured the country on the vaudeville circuit Brutality, exploitation, sexism, and racism and lived openly with a burlesque queen. His offend. Most especially, there is drug abuse. appetite was incredible. On the day of When today's pros prefer Coke as "the real his championship fight with Jake Kilrain, he thing" who can be certain that they are taste- consumed three whole chickens covered 9 with rice and a loaf of bread. Until he awa­ the progress of the ball after an outfield . theless, another type of savior was required, kened with a hangover one day in 1905 and On another occasion at dusk in this pre­ one offering more than the simple integrity vowed temperance, Sullivan, an incredible floodlight era, Kelly raced back­ of the rigidly authoritarian Landis. Organ­ tippler, had spent a fortune, mostly in bar­ ward, leaped, slammed his fist convincingly ized turned to the playing field for rooms. Even maintaining a healthy scepti­ into his glove and was credited with the help. cism about Professor William Lyon Phelps' game-saving "catch" of a ball that had trav­ Ever since breaking into the majors in assertion that Sullivan once consumed fifty­ eled well beyond his reach. 1905, Tyrus Raymond "Ty"Cobb had thrilled six gin fizzes in a single hour (!), he doubt­ The newspapers' penchant for whitewash­ baseball aficionados. By the time he retired lessly had an amazing capacity for drink. He ing the non-athletic antics of Sullivan and in 1928, "Mr. Baseball" had amassed more would imbibe for days on end, even develop­ Kelly was precedent-setting for the next than four thousand lifetime base hits, won ing delirium tremens during 1888 and almost sixty years, particularly during the 1920s, twelve batting crowns, including nine suc­ killing himself after one spree. It was poten­ "The Era of Wonderful Nonsense." Though cessive titles, and achieved the game's high­ tially hazardous to one's health to encounter that decade featured a galaxy ofstars -- Jack est batting average. As the most aggressive Sullivan while he was on a bender, for the Dempsey, Red Grange, Bobby Jones, Big of competitors, Ty had been a terror on the belligerent champ was always ready to deck Bill Tilden -- American spectators were basepaths who thrived on intimidating oppos­ those for whom he developed an instant overwhelmingly drawn to the self-proclaimed ing infielders with his flashing spikes and dislike. "national game" of baseball. This domi­ slashing slides en route to stealing 892 bases. nance had not been easily maintained, for "King" Kelly of "Slide, Kelly, Slide" fame For all his achievements, Cobb would not since 1910 major league attendance had was a one-time Paterson, New Jersey mill be baseball's savior during the 1920s. Ty, failed to keep pace with the general popula­ bobbin boy who became the darling of though remaining colorful and extremely tion growth, with World War I proving par­ baseball fans in the 1880s. competent, was by then an old-style repre­ ticularly disruptive. Developer ofthe "Chicago"slide, now known sentative of "deadball" play which had fea­ Worse still, by the beginning of the 1920s as the hook slide, King Kel was a complete tured single runs scored by bunting, base organized baseball was sorely in need of ballplayer who was worth the then astro­ stealing, and hit-and- strategy. Purists house cleaning. Just as the country was nomical sum of ten thousand dollars to the might be pleased, but for the fans of the returning to "normalcy" and the Red Scare Chicago White Stockings team when he was Roaring Twenties low scoring contests were was petering out, a distraught young boy traded to the Boston Nationals in 1887. Irish a bore. .Beantowners loved their "Ten-Thousand­ was reputedly exclaiming, "Say it ain't so, Cobb's one "failure" was in not hitting Dollar-Beauty"and showered him with gifts, Joe." The Great Black Sox scandal had many home runs. But he was not alone. No including a house and land in Hingham. If broken. Shoeless (and illiterate) Joe Jack­ son, Ed Cicotte and several other Chicago one had ever hit many homers. This key popularity can be measured by the criterion ingredient in stimulating patron excitement offuneral attendance, then Kelly was first in White Sox players had conspired with gam­ was suddenly provided by George Herman the hearts of fans until the Babe's body was blers to lose the 1919 to Cin­ "Babe" Ruth, destined to become America's laid out at Yankee Stadium in 1948. cinnati. Frantic owners sought to rescue the game's sullied reputation by granting abso­ best-known athlete, its quintessential hero This redhead's funeral was sadly prema­ lute power to Judge Kenesaw Mountain (just ask Aaron and ). ture. Kelly managed to die broke at age Landis as . Never- Cold statistics illustrate his remarkable thirty-six after drinking himself out of the majors by 1893 and likely to death if pneu­ monia had not first intervened. His ribaldry had inspired the Boston trade by a Chicago organization concerned about his negative influence upon younger players. Asked iii -_...... whether he ever drank during a contest, Kelly stated simply, "It depends on the length of the game." Exasperated manage­ ment even resorted to hiring the Pinkerton agency to report on "tenderloin district" activities of Kelly and some teammates. Confronted with damning evidence at a showdown squad meeting, the ever-candid Kelly, apparently a stickler for accurate detail, announced that "where the detective reports me as taking a lemonade at 3:00 a.m. he's off. It was straight whiskey, I never drank a lemonade at that hour in my life." During his playing career Kelly did not abide by the principle that what counts is "how you play the game," win or lose. Here was a hustler who literally cut corners, tak­ ing advantage of one- situations by scampering from second base across the pitching box (no mound then) to ho me plate. l.£-_..L.:..:-:-...:.;;""'":"':--...... ~...:;.;~~~-~""7~~~;,.;..;.~I-iA:.J.il,~-:!:;&~U1Il::-~'-' ...... _~..J while the arbiter was preoccupied with

10 achievements. In 19 19 he broke all previous His career was marred by altercations, not uninhibited slugger was wantonly self­ records by slamming twenty-nine home runs only with opponents but with teammates as indulgent. An irate American League presi­ for the Yankees. When his total well who hazed him unmercifully as a rook­ dent once vented his frustra­ soared to fifty-four during the ensuing sea­ ie, goaded him into fist fights with the club­ tions in a message to his frolicsome prodigy: son, no other major league team as a whole house strongman, nailed his uniform to the "It seems the period has arrived when you managed that number. Although both fig­ wall, etc. Convinced of a conspiracy against should allow some intelligence to creep into ures have been exceeded, his sixty homers in him, Cobb gave no quarter: "I had to fight a mind that has plainly been warped." 1927 (one-eighth of that year's American all my life to survive. They were all against The advice was ignored and the Babe League total) contributed to a career total of me ... but I beat the bastards." "They" remained awash in food and prohibition 714, the two most famous numbers in Amer­ apparently included the physically handi­ booze. Though he broke into the majors ican sporting history. capped spectator who Cobb once went into weighing a solid 195 pounds, he worked at The Bambino, the Sultan of Swat, revolu­ the stands to punch. During his career this acquiring his famous torso, a'pot belly that tionized baseball. Management adapted to pistol-carrying loner also slashed a hotel seemingly placed impossible pressure on his the sudden craving of spectators for batting detective with a penknife, beat up a young spindly legs. On a comparative basis John L. power. Fences were moved in, a livelier ball butcher's assistanf in an argument over the had been a crash dieter. Stories of Babe's was introduced, and the squeamish were quality of a few pennies worth of food, and adventures is gastronomy, some surely delighted when a pitcher's best friend, the on two occasions was accused of assaulting apocryphal, are legion. Eighteen eggs for spitball, was banned. what he termed "nigger" women. Before his breakfast. A midnight snack of"eskimo pie, death, Cobb had alienated family and friends. Ruth, as Cobb before him, had become apple pie, pigs trotters, beans, and beafsteak Only three representatives from professional the great American idol. "It is part of our pie!" Or the evening when he devoured a baseball attended the funeral of this man national history," proclaimed sports colum­ restaurant meal consisting of a double por­ whom sportwriters had honored as the nist Jimmy Cannon, "that all boys dream of terhouse steak, double orders oflettuce with Georgia Peach! being ." dressing, potatoes, and apple pie a la mode. The next stop was Coney Island where he Parents, beware of youthful emulation! Ruth was a different sort who took exub­ erantjoy in the game and loved kids because washed down eight hot dogs with the same was in fact a psychotic competi­ in many ways he remained one, "well named, number ofsodas. Before retiring, he returned tor willing to maim for victory. At his Social Babe." Ruth was primitive, an elemental to the restaurant and duplicated his earlier Darwinist best, he reminded readers of his force, as noted by a teammate's remark: "He dinner feast. autobiography: wasn't born, he dropped from a tree." No And then there were the women in his life. I didn't play for fun .... It's no pink tea, intellectual, Ruth confessed that his ghost­ A frequenter of brothels, Ruth had the repu­ and mollycoddles had better stay out. It's a written autobiography was the only book he tation of having a girl in every town when the contest and everything that implies, a struggle for supremacy, a survival of the had ever read cover to cover -- twice! Neither Yankees made their annual trek northward fittest. was he given to a moderate lifestyle; this in 1925 after breaking spring training camp

11 in Florida. During this sojourn In the wake of this chaos came Ruth was taken seriously ill and Super Bowl III in January, 1969 hospitalized, supposedly suffering (the year of Woodstock). The con­ from "The Bellyache Heard Round test assumed meaning dispropor­ the World." It is instructive to note tionate to a mere game. Tradi­ that reporters chose to fabricate by tional NFL fans had to reckon relating the medical problem to the with Namath who, to their way of lesser sin of gluttony when the sus­ thinking, had become in two ways picion of insiders was that he had the most offensive player in the been stricken with "something a bit land. Namath represented an obstruc­ lower," i.e., venereal disease. tion in the movement to stay the Hindsight provided by a plethora youth culture which was associated of biographies led to Michael with the sexual revolution and peace­ Novak's 1976 devastating con­ now demands. He personified the demnation of Ruth as a "buffoon, open, permissive, do-your-own­ a boor, a sot, a mouthstuffing, thing society. No sense in looking insatiable pig." for support oftried-and-true values from the man who would author [ Novak's was an age for debunk­ Can't Wait Until Tomorrow - Be­ ing, far removed from the era of cause [ get Better Looking Every Ruth's contemporary sportswriters. Day. Flaunting his hedonism, eschew­ No such denunciation, even if in­ ing the solid citizen, crew-cut image wardly felt, would have been penned of Johnny Unitas, careless in vio­ by Grantland Rice or Paul Gallico lating sacred canons. Namath gli­ who instead crusaded to convince UPIfBETTMANN ARCHIVE bly informed reporters that his readers ofthe wholesomeness ofsport. These of the anti-hero in sports. Demythologizing Saturday night method of preparing for two luminaries were leading representatives a fa Jim Bouton's became the Sunday's big game was to "take a broad and of the "Gee Whizzers" school of sports order of the day, a show-and-tell tearing a bottle of scotch to bed." journalism in the twenties. Professional sport away at the cover of propriety, pricking the The dramatic mini-war game was for vin­ heroes were sanctified by such writers and by falsely ballooned images ofperfection. Amer­ dication. To the consternation of most "ex­ the hyperbole of radio announcers whose ica's middle class was bewildered and dis­ pert" forecasters and NFL enthusiasts the voices helped convert multitudes oflisteners mayed at this damaging assault, for virtuous brash, never unassuming Namath ("And into fans. It was vogue to embellish athletic sports heroes had been models for dis­ we're going to win Sunday, I'll guarantee performances while screening fans from the pensing its value system. Sensing its vulner- you") used superb skills and intelligence in unpleasant realities. ability, the over-thirty generation was ready guiding his Jets to the Great Upset. Score Sports reporters thus saddled the profes- to react angrily and with a siege mentality. one for the counter culture. sional athletes of the first Golden Era of Enter Joe Willie Namath and Munammad If Namath rankled the silent majority, sport with the responsibility, however un­ Ali. These two performers have had the Muhammad Ali came to evoke feelings of sought, unrealistic, and unwelcomed, of greatest impact on the nation ofany athletes revulsion from a significant segment of mid­ being paragons of virtue. They and succes­ dle class white America. The process was since Babe Ruth n and greater than the Babe sor superstars were elevated into the first, in the sense that their influence extended evolutionary, for Cassius Clay's life style the ideal citizens of the land. Despite play­ beyond the gridiron and ring. and values were initially more satisfactory for-pay lives, from that time until the mid­ than Namath's. The apparently patriotic After the New York Jets won the bidding 1960s the typical portrayal was of real-world Clay earned gold as the light-heavyweight war for the University of Alabama's quarter­ versions of Gilbert Patten's fictional Ivy Olympic champion of 1960 and four years back in 1965, "Broadway"Joe quickly helped League hero Frank Merriwell. Patten, when later, as a professional, gained the heavy­ turn the AFL pumpkin into Cinderella to asked to react to his own virtuous creation, weight crown by scoring a popular victory the delight of its team owners who via had unabashedly enthused, "Yes, I loved over scowling, presumably villainous Sonny merger of leagues began sharing bonanza him. And I loved him most because no boy, Liston. To this point the handsome kingpin TV revenue with their NFL brethren. The if he followed in his tracks, ever did anything of boxing had enjoyed every opportunity to 1966 peace settlement did not, however, thtlt he need be ashamed of." broaden his appeal. Few would deny that his seem to guarantee playing-field parity, for This time-honored image which created considerable skills and wit were doing for Green Bay under authoritarian father figure an innocence of expectation among prop­ boxing what Ruth had done for baseball. Vince Lombardi methodically whipped AFL agandized fans did little to cushion them opponents in the first championship games Suddenly the acclaim for the Louisville from counter-culture shock during the late climaxing the 1966 and 1967 seasons. Lip became muted. "1 am the greatest" could 1960s. Suddenly, as professional sports popu­ be dismissed as acceptable, ticket-hyping larity surged to unparalleled heights, the The next year, 1968, stands as the most entertainment. Dark thoughts of an uppity media assumed a new role, concomitant tragic of a turbulent decade. The year began Jack Johnson-type champ and dreams of a with the times. Premising its coverage on the with the Tet offensive. Americans were then Great White Hope began to develop, how­ validity of the counter-culture concept that buffeted by assassinations, student unrest, ever, among conservative whites when he it was psychologically healthier for the aver­ the infamous Chicago convention, and a changed his name and began identifying in age American to look at one another rather dramatic transfer of presidential political I964 with the Black Muslims. This new iden­ than "upwards" for inspiration, TV announ­ leadership. Animosities plagued a confused tification came about during a period of cers and especially writers ushered in the age and polarized society. racial tensions, urban rioting, and civil rights

12 ing the ideal heroic model. Obviously, star­ gazing is in the eye of the beholder. Une final note. Though the concept of hero has survived the counter-culture, its meaning has changed. Thus, while debates continue about the responsibility of profes­ sional athletes towards social issues, and the degree to which media intrusion into their lives will be tolerated, it is no longer credible to suggest that sainthood is synonymous with athletic prowess. These performers, it appears, have been relieved of a heavy responsibility. Lest they relax and permit virtue to slip completely away, a warning should be given about a lingering ambiguity towards sports heroes even in our post-innocent society. Halls of Fame continue to proliferate, mec­ cas attracting the faithful to their enshrined heroes whose exploits are immortalized. Our expectations of role models, while UPI/BETTMANN ARCHIVE . changed, have not disappeared. Pure, sim­ demonstrations that culminated, at least derailed at the potential peak of his career. plistic hero worship is passe, but the idea of within the world of sports, with the black Score one for the establishment (although the athlete with special status and special power clenched-fist salutes from the victory this generalization is more warily offered obligations to society, particularly its ado­ stand by John Carlos and Tommy Smith because ofstrong Ali support among middle lescent component, has not. There are limits during a rendition of the "Star Spangled class civil libertarians who shared his dislike to the public's toleration of reprehensible Banner" at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. for American involvement in the Vietnam anti-social behavior. Ali especially twisted the central nerve war) Baseball speedster Willie Wilson laments cord of American society by refusing induc­ The 1980s seem far removed from this that he has been singled out for excessive tion into the armed services and insisting turmoil. Now, while pitying a Parkinson's punishment by beingjailed for a drug offense upon conscientious objector status. "I ain't syndrome afflicted Ali who slurs words and conviction. Unsympathetic fans applaud the got no quarrels with them Viet Congs" thinking of Namath primarily in terms of sentencing judge. Even in a liberalized soci­ became a rallying slogan for youthful peace­ drunken driving and his hawking of every­ ety normally devoted to fostering freedom of niks who, of course, ignored the irony of thing from Brut to panty hose and men's action, superstars like Wilson would profit their man's violent, brutalizing profession. underwear, we can dispassionately reflect by heeding the bitter humor of Finley Peter Why balk, why not play the game? Assuredly, upon public expectations of our star ath­ Dunne's Mr. Dooley: "When ye build yer there would be special treatment and no letes. Our four superstars were model sports triumphal arch to yer conquerin' hero, Hen­ worry about being sent to the fighting front. figures who unquestionably performed with nissey, build it out of bricks so the people Couldn't he understand that the object was excellence and courage while demonstrating will have somethin' convenient to throw at for the hero to put on a patriotic show for total commitment. With them spectators him as he passes through." public consumption? History gives us the always got their money's worth. example of Jack Dempsey trying to over­ Different eras, personal values, am:! media come his reputation as a World War I coverage were, then, responsible for the pub­ shirker by laboring at a defense plant during lic's dichotomous attitude. The private lives World War II. Wasn't that an inspiring of Ruth and Cobb had gone unscrutinized, photo pose -- though mudslinging critics did at least compared to those of Namath and point out Dempsey's shiny patent leather Ali. Furthermore, because of natural reti­ shoes! cence or media-imposed blinders, these As is well remembered, Ali refused to giants of the twenties would never have cooperate and was arbitrarily deprived of his wandered from the track to comment upon heavyweight title in 1967 by a sanctimonious or become involved in issues and events boxing establishment. It is true that Ali beyond the world of sports. avoided jail and in time would again bask in Conversely, the two unbridled modern glory after a draft-refusal conviction was superstars thrived on media exposure of reversed 'in 1971 by a unanimous Supreme their lifestyles which often overshadowed Court decision. The judicial verdict paved their athletic performances. What's more, Ph" Silvia. professor of history, teaches a the way for memorable matches which includ­ they also, particularly Ali, had the effrontery Sport in American Life course. Dr. Silvia ed a championship victory over George to vocally advocate political and social co-authored Greater Fall River Baseball: Foreman in Zaire, the "Rumble in the Jun­ causes. Defenders have commended their Twenty-Five Major Leaguers in One Hundred gle," and classic contests with nemesis candor and openness as pleasantly refresh­ Years (/983) and presented a paper at the Smokin' Joe Frazier, including the justly ing. Detractors prefer the old-time athlete /984 national convention ofSA BR (Society famous "Thrilla in Manila." Nevertheless, and can only condemn Namath and Ali for for American Baseball Research) held at for more than three years Ali had been not knowing their place and thereby degrad- Brown University.

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