Baseball in the late 19th century
Today we think of baseball as almost a gentleman's sport, with only occasional outbursts over disputed calls. In the late 19th century, however, the Baltimore Orioles epitomized the rough and tumble aspect of the game, and turned it from "baseball " into "basebrawl".The life of an umpire in that era was a very stressful one, with only one man assigned to cover the entire field, and be subjected to scorn and abuse, and often physical danger, from not only the players, but from the "cranks" (that's what fans were called then, and perhaps it's a very apt name). This well-written book tells the story of the 1897 season, that came down to a fight for the pennant between the "outlaw" Orioles, and the "gentlemanly" Boston Beaneaters. There is an almost day-by-day account of the season, and it's quite captivating to the reader. Once the main tale is finished, the author gives some brief summaries of the further careers and lives of a few of the participants. Some went on to further acclaim and eventual enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and some died suddenly and tragically, often by their own hands. This is a story of a bygone era when the "sport" of baseball was more of a war than a game. It's fascinating reading, and I highly recommend it.
An Aptly Named Book
This book covers the 1897 pennant race between the Boston Beaneaters and the Baltimore Orioles, or the Bostons vs. the Baltimores. Baseball at this time in its history was, indeed, a game of brawl. Players fought on the field, there was rowdiness among fans, umpires exchanged punches with players, oftentimes without penalty, and teams took turns seeing who could invent new profanities to hurl at one another. Games often had only one umpire, two if it was of special significance, and players took advantage by cutting corners while running bases while the lone umpire wasn't watching. With a runner on base an umpire would position himself behind the pitcher to better make calls on the bases. Games were played on ill-kept infields, and players literally kept their eye on a ball and suffered injury. Treatment for a swollen closed eye was leeches to draw out the blood. Boston sent their Royal Rooters contingent to Baltimore to cheer on their heroes, chief among them, John Francis Fitzgerald, better known as "Honey Fitz", grandfather of our late President Kennedy. The book primarily covers the 1897 pennant race between the Beaneaters and Orioles, won by Boston. The top two teams then faced off in the Temple Cup series since there was no World Series at the time. The final section of the book covers what happened to several of the participants, many of which ended up in Baseball's Hall of Fame. Some died from consumption (tuberculosis), Chick Stahl and Patsy Tebeau were suicides, while Marty Bergen murdered his family and then slit his own throat. One drawback for me in the book was too much of a play-by-play from one game to the next as the season is covered. The game of baseball was going through a chaotic time during this period with ineffective leadership in the league, and a thorough cleansing was necessary. If you are interested in this period of the game's history I would recommend this book to you.
(2 reviews)
