Baseball History — As Seen From the Shadows of Cooperstown

In the first of a 10-part series, the author takes an in-depth look at Major League Baseball history from 1900 to 1910.

Introduction

See last issue, Notes 436 , for the background of this project. I will add here just a few more comments. First, this will be a selective history of baseball — they all are, in a sense, but there are books that try to be comprehensive, and what I’m doing here has nothing to do with the serious histories that have been written so far, and that will follow. I recommend the Seymours’ volumes, especially Baseball: The Golden Age , for not just “the rest of the story” about the events I’m going to write about, but for a much better understanding of how those events are linked together.

Second, I’m starting my history rather arbitrarily with 1900. Again, there are some wonderful books that cover the years before 1900 — I recommend David Block’s Baseball Before We Knew It (see Notes #398 – 399 ) for more than you want to know about the game’s origins, Abner Doubleday, and lots more. David Nemec’s The Beer and Whiskey League is one of the best books I’ve seen to get a feel for 19th century baseball, but there are lots more.

Lastly, I will necessarily be skimming here, because to cram a whole decade into one issue requires that. I will refer readers to other things I’ve written, or to books I’ve reviewed, along the way. And as always, I invite your comments and corrections.

1900 — RUMBLINGS OF WAR

The shape of baseball at its top level changed dramatically as the new century arrived — no Y2K fears, but fans might have worried anyway in Y19, about the slimmed-down 8-team National League being challenged by the brand-new American League, which was the old Western League, re-named and strategically relocated.

In 1899, MLB was just the NL, twelve teams strong. Well, not all of them were strong, and that was the problem. For example, the Cleveland entry finished 20-134, 84 games behind Brooklyn. So the NL contracted , shedding four teams and keeping eight — a magic number that worked for the next six decades or so. The eight are familiar to us even today: Brooklyn (which eventually moved to Los Angeles), Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston (which relocated to Milwaukee, then to Atlanta), Chicago, St Louis and Cincinnati, and New York (which became San Francisco). The four cities that lost teams included Baltimore, Louisville, Washington and Cleveland.

Baltimore became an AL city; that franchise moved to New York in 1903 and exists today as the Yankees. Louisville’s top players, including Honus Wagner and manager Fred Clarke, joined Pittsburgh, giving that city its first and maybe its only real dynasty. Washington and Cleveland became AL sites, and with Baltimore, were joined by Detroit and Milwaukee; AL teams also faced off with NL rivals in Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia.

COMMENT:
I grew up following eight of the then-sixteen ML teams, the National League, and that seemed about right. I knew the rosters of those eight teams pretty well. And players stayed put, unless they were traded. I don’t recall resisting expansion, but it made it harder to keep up, and I gave up trying, long ago. I think it is a good thing that there are more ML teams. I no longer care how many, I still follow only one closely, and then study up, for October.

In Notes #196 , I wrote at length about the 1900 season, and whether or not the American League of 1900 should be considered a major league or not. Suffice here to say it was not, at the time, and you know how hard it is to change things after a century has passed. But there is no doubt about 1901, and there we see the upstart AL, led by that bully promoter Ban Johnson, succeed.

The War took place on several fronts. Teams fought over players, who became better-paid slaves as a result. At the box office, especially in the big cities that had teams in each league, it was the same old story, a struggle to survive. The AL showed to be the better marketer, clamping down on “rowdy ball” by supporting the authority of their umpires; the kinder, gentler version of baseball was easier on the eyes and ears of women and children, too. And you could take your family to the ballpark for a buck or less.

The issues teams had to deal with back then are fascinating to read about today. Whether to play ball on Sundays or not? That was a crucial question, ultimately decided by economics, because the weekends drew the biggest crowds, and that made a big difference for teams with a tight budget. Whether to serve beer or not, or to permit fans to bring it into the parks. There were wet and dry cities, and the debate that climaxed with Prohibition was heating up. What about gambling at the ballpark? This was part of America, and baseball’s unpredictability and variety made it popular for friendly wagering. Two bits sez this next guy’s gonna strike out. We suspect now that when the Mighty Casey fanned, Mudville had some money riding on that game. Gambling was the national pastime, and I think it still is.

So that was Baseball in 1900. If we attended a game, we would be right at home. Three strikes yer out. Ned Hanlon led Brooklyn to the pennant in 1900, with Fred Clarke and Pittsburgh right behind, thanks to Honus’ .381, which led the league. Wee Willie Keeler hit ‘em where they ain’t to the tune of .362 for the champs, while Iron Man McGinnity won 29 for Brooklyn. A guy named Herman “Germany” Long went long twelve times to lead the league in home runs. Every team in every city had its heroes.

1901-1903

Eventually it dawned on the magnates who owned the sixteen ML teams that the pie they were warring over was huge, and they would all get bigger pieces if they made peace and let the players play ball. (This lesson was forgotten by later generations of owners, and has had to be re-learned more than a few times.) The AL and NL recognized each other, and decided on a structure that was called the National Commission. The two league presidents were joined by a tie-breaking magnate, Garry Herrmann of Cincinnati, in 1903.

The AL President, Ban Johnson, emerged as the “czar” who ran the business, and for many years, no one seemed to mind. There were always disputes over player contracts and other matters, but now there was a civilized way to resolve them. Fan interest grew, and after the 1903 seasons ended, the AL & NL champs agreed to go at it in what we now call a “World Series,” even though the teams represented the best of just a dozen North American cities.

COMMENT:
I devoted NOTES #28 to Ban Johnson, a key player in 1919, but also in over three decades of baseball. He was a stuffed shirt, but a colorful one, and I think he gave baseball more than he took. Had he been a more collegial fellow, able to work better with others, he might have stayed in power longer, and Judge Landis may have spent the rest of his life in baseball rooting as a fan. I think we are still looking for the Commish (or Czar) that really puts the interest of baseball — its players and its fans — ahead of the business.

Pittsburgh won the pennant in 1901 (Philadelphia finishing 7.5 back), again in 1902 (by 27.5 games ahead of Brooklyn — because the AL raids hit Pittsburgh the least), and again in 1903 (by 6.5 over the up-and-coming NY Giants of John McGraw). Their pitching was in ruins after the 1903 season, but they agreed to take on the AL champ Boston anyway. Boston had finished 1903 14.5 ahead of Connie Mack’s A’s, the 1902 champs; Clark Griffith had won the first AL flag in 1901 for Chicago, edging Boston. There is a good book on the 1903 Series, which I reviewed here, I think. For more on the first Series bribe (Boston catcher Lou Criger, who apparently just said No) see Notes 322 and 289 . For more on Nine Game WS, see 284 .

1903 was the year that Big Ed Delahanty died under mysterious circumstances, and there’s a good book on that, too — see my review of July 2, 1903 in Notes 257 .

1904

1904 got some attention when Bud Selig cancelled the 1994 World Series, breaking a streak. There was no Series in 1904, because of John McGraw of the NY Giants. I’m not sure if he did it to spite Ban Johnson and the AL, or to assure that his team finished on a high note. Or if he had other reasons. In any case, the NL Champs, the Giants, did not play Boston, who took the AL. This makes it harder to remember who the AL champs were in ‘04, and that shows that even WS losers get some immortality.

The Giants ran away with the NL flag, and for aces, how about Iron Man McGinnity (35-8, 1.61) and Matty (33-12, 2.03). Between them, they pitched 776 innings! That was over 50% of the innings played by the Giants. Iron Men , indeed. Jimmy Collins managed the Boston to their repeat pennant. Cy Young led their staff, so we were denied some great duels in the October sun when McGraw said No. Honus Wagner and Nap Lajoie were the batting champs, and only one player hit as many as ten homers.

1905

The Giants won again, and this time they agreed to meet with Connie Mack’s A’s in the second modern Series. This is the one in which every game was a shutout — three tossed by Mathewson, one by McGinnity, and one by Chief Bender, as McGraw won, 4 to 1. During the season, the Giants won 105 and finished 9 ahead of Pittsburgh. The A’s and White Sox both won 92, but the Philly team lost fewer, and there was no make-up rule (the teams had 56 and 60 losses, respectively), so neither played 154. The Series was a fitting climax for Matty, who went 31-8, 1.27. No pun intended, but he sure could make opponents fade away.

1906

Enter the Cubs. Chicago’s NL entry had been winning over 90 and finishing behind McGraw, but starting in 1906, they reeled off seasons of 116, 107, and 99 wins, finishing on top by 20, 17, and then there was 1908 — we’ll get to that later.

The 1906 Series was considered an upset, although Hugh Fullerton had predicted that the crosstown rival “Hitless Wonder” White Sox would triumph over the dynastic Cubs, and they did, 4-2. Three Finger Brown was the Cub ace (26-6, 1.04!) The Cub team ERA was 1.76 or 1.75. Against the Hitless Wonders, that sparkling ERA soared to 3.40. The Sox staff mustered 1.67 in October.

1907

What I remember best about 1907 is that the Cubs won the Series against Ty Cobb and the Tigers — the first of three straight Series losses for Detroit. The Cubs swept in 1907, a baseball first, altho there was a 12-inning 3-3 tie. Brown didn’t pitch till Game Five, then tossed a shutout. Cobb was held to 4-for-20, after a .350 season.

1908

The same two teams met in 1908, and this time the Detroiters did better, winning Game 3, but losing the Series, 4-1. Cobb did better, too, .368. But the Series that Fall seemed anti-climactic to two fantastic pennant races, that both went right down to the wire. I refer readers now to Notes #396 and 403 where I reviewed and commented on Cait Murphy’s book, Crazy ‘08 .

That season deserves a book, maybe more. The Merkle Game, the Joss perfecto, a NL playoff. 1908 had it all. Matty won 37 and the Giants lost the playoff. Ed Walsh won 40 for the White Sox, and they finished third, out by a game and a half.

COMMENT:
The pennant races — when there were just eight teams in each league — were often boring at the end. Look at those Cub margins, in 1906 and ‘07. But when they were close, there was nothing like them. The long summer, 154 games, boiled down to a few that count for everything. You won the pennant, or you won nothing. OK, some cities had that City Series going, or maybe Cincinnati took on Cleveland for bragging rights in Ohio. But those were exhibitions. Good for betting, but they added nothing to the season. The problem in baseball was ALWAYS sustaining fan interest at the end. Teams 30, 40 games out, did not draw well. Sometimes I wish that baseball had the playoffs sooner — say, in 1908. Can you imagine, the Cubs and Giants, at it again? Or maybe the Pirates, they were right there, too. Six teams put together great seasons, but only two advanced to October. Oh well.

1909

I grew up knowing that the Pirates were World Champs for the first time in 1909, the same year Forbes Field was built. They took on Detroit, and for the first time, both league batting champs faced off in October, too, Hans Wagner vs Ty Cobb. We can only imagine all the betting this event inspired. I like the Wagner biography by the DeValerias, and recommend it for a good feel for not just Wagner, but his times, and for 1909.

The Cubs did not exactly give the pennant away, they won 104 games. But Pittsburgh won 110. George Mullin was the Tiger ace. I think the 1909 Pirates and Tigers were among the first “APBA Great Teams of the Past” that I owned, and I managed them in many replays of the 1909 Series. Babe Adams didn’t always win three games, but who cared, it was a great face-off.

1910

This first installment of my selective history ends with 1910. The Cubs beat out McGraw in the NL again, but this time they would lose the Series to Connie Mack, whose Philadelphia A’s had grown into a dynasty themselves. And the Mackmen did it handily, 4-1. Eddie Collins played in his first of six Series, and went 9-for-21; Colby Jack Coombs won three. (For more on Collins, see my review of Rick Huhn’s book in Notes # 435 .)

COMMENT:
It was a decade of war and peace between the two leagues. As the seasons unwound, heroes were made, and baseball took root in America. My grandparents were just finding each other; my parents would both be born in the next decade. My tangible link with this era was a stickpin, and although this story has appeared here in NOTES a few times before, it seems like a good way to end this first — in a series of ten, I hope.

Editor’s Note: “The Stickpin” will appear on Seamheads.com on Monday, March 10.