1920: Anything but Status Quo
May 5, 2011 by Sam Miller · Leave a Comment
All eyes stared at the Detroit Tigers dugout. If TV had existed in 1920, all of America would have been tuned in as well. Life began to blur in 1920. Some folks didn’t know what was what at the dawn of the Jazz Age, but baseball was baseball. Black or white, right or wrong, win or lose.
Suddenly baseball was not immune. Gambling allegations grew louder and louder. The commissioner wielded enough power to make one shudder but too much power for his own good. On Aug. 16, Carl Mays’ pitch killed Ray Chapman and left the baseball in uproar. “To the average American who follows baseball more closely than he follows affairs of state, recent revelations may well destroy all faith in the general rightness of the world,” a Chicago Daily News 1920 editorial read. ( 214, Under )
Read Bill Felber’s Under Pallor, Under Shadow because:
1. Felber details how one of the most reliable institutions came to hang by a thread .
Commissioner Ban Johnson ruled with a clenched fist. Johnson didn’t know the meaning of the word “give.” Therefore he expected the same treatment in return if he made the wrong move in the Mays beaning fallout. “It was not at all clear that Johnson could have rallied the league behind any position he took. Any effort by him to halt a work action aimed at Mays might easily trigger a wider-scale revolt. It was no guarantee that he could prevail against such an insurrection.” ( 4-5 ) Johnson’s only action was to say he expected Mays would not pitch again that season.
Chicago’s problems grew with the acquisition of Eddie Collins from Philadelphia. Collins received a guarantee of fifteen to twenty thousand dollars when the average man made five to ten. Meanwhile, Charles Comiskey celebrated his wealth and didn’t let the disparity between him and the rest of his team get him down. The White Sox would take their $3 in meal money and like it. Not that they liked each other. “None of these guys felt any friendliness toward each other,” Eliot Asinof wrote in “Eight Men Out.” ( 37 )
A week after Chapman’s death, no one knew if baseball was headed for the beginning or the end. Mays stood on the mound ready to face Ralph Young and the Detroit Tigers that afternoon, but would Young take his place in the batter’s box? Baseball would go on, Young’s stair climb said.
2. You will have an up-close look at the teams and players who remain larger than life in game’s legends .
A July 7 paper blared that The Babe was dead. Two months later, he was dead again after a train accident on the way to Cleveland. The so-called “Black Sox” were known to fight amongst themselves in the outfield. The 1920 season wore on Tris Speaker so much that he finally blew up when he perceived an umpire’s blown call in late summer. Speaker argued for so long that he had nothing to say by the end and simply resumed his place in the dugout.
3. The train is waiting for you to hop on for a journey through the second half of the season .
After you get to know the characters and the lay of the land, Felber chronicles the season’s final months, and you are welcome to join him.
File “Under Pallor” under new book worth reading.
Sam Miller is a graduate of the University of Illinois where he worked with various teams in sports information and received the Freedom Forum – NCAA Sports Journalism Scholarship for his achievements. During the 2009 season, Miller served as communications intern for the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate. Prior to that, he worked as a communications intern for USA Basketball and as an associate reporter for MLB.com.
