Welcome to the Baseball History Podcast: Featuring This Week in Baseball History, baseball dictionary and a tour of baseball cities. I’m your game announcer Bob Wright.
This is game 5 of the 2007 baseball season
In the first inning let’s take a look at This Week in Baseball History for the 1 week of February.
February 3
1886 Albert Spalding begins a sporting goods company with $800. He will become the manufacturer of the first official baseball as well as the tennis ball, basketball, golf ball, and football.
Albert Goodwill Spalding was born September 2, 1850 in Byron, Illinois. He was a professional baseball player and founder of the famous sporting goods manufacturer.
A.G. Spalding was the premier pitcher of the 1870s and an organizational genius during baseball’s formative years. He led the league in pitching victories in each of his six full seasons in Organized baseball. His 47 victories led the ’76 Chicago White Stockings to the first-ever National League championship.
Spalding’s Hall of Fame plaque acclaimed him as the “organizational genius of baseball’s pioneer days” and as a star pitcher. As a teenager in the 1860s, Spalding played for the Forest City team in his hometown of Rockford, IL, where he gained a reputation for his straight-armed, underhand fastball and for his hitting.
He went to work for the National Association Boston Red Stockings in 1871, and made his Major League Debut on May 5, 1871. He was soon hailed as the “champion pitcher of the world.” Through 1875, he compiled a 207-56 won-loss record to become baseball’s first 200-game winner. Boston won four consecutive National Association pennants from 1872-75, with Spalding leading the league in victories each year. In 1874 he pitched all of Boston’s games, and in 1875 he went 57-5. He also played in the field, batting .320 in the National Association.
After the National Association folded, he joined the Chicago White Stockings, later known as the Cubs, of the newly formed National League in 1876.
On Opening Day, April 25, 1876, Spalding pitched the National League’s initial shutout, the first of his eight that year, and had three hits in Chicago’s 4-0 win over Louisville. He finished the season with a league-leading 46 wins, losing 12, and managed his team to the pennant.
The arm strain of years as a workhorse pitcher soon took its toll. Spalding played mostly at first base in 1877, pitching only four games.
Retired from the game at age 28, he and his brother opened a sporting goods store in Chicago, obtaining the rights to produce the official National League ball. His company, eventually named A.G. Spalding & Brothers, emerged as the era’s dominant sporting-goods firm. Spalding proved a skilled businessman, capitalizing on his fame as a ballplayer. The business, which grew rapidly over the next 25 years, with 14 stores by 1901, expanded from retail into manufacturing baseball equipment and is still a going concern.
From 1882 to 1891, Spalding served as president of the Chicago team. He sought to improve baseball’s image around ballparks by reducing rowdiness and eliminating the influence of gamblers. Chicago, meanwhile, emerged as the decade’s powerhouse, winning five pennants.
A skillful diplomat and first-rate organizer, Spalding promoted baseball’s interests nationally and internationally, and simultaneously furthered his own sporting-goods enterprises
In 1900 Spalding was appointed by President McKinley as the USA’s Commissioner at that year’s Summer Olympic Games. Seven years later, his prompting would lead to the founding of the commission that (erroneously) declared baseball to be the invention of Abner Doubleday.
Receiving the archives of the late Henry Chadwick in 1908, Spalding combined these records with his own memories to write America’s National Game. published 1911, which, despite its flaws, was probably the first scholarly account of the history of baseball.
A.G. Spalding died September 9, 1915, in San Diego, California
He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Old Timer’s Committee in 1939.
In this inning we’ll open up the Baseball Dictionary
Under the letter: D
defensive indifference
A play in which a runner advances to the next base without a throw from the catcher or without any fielder attempting to cover the bag to accept a throw from the catcher. The runner then does not get credit for a stolen base because his action was not challenged in any way. This usually occurs in a game in which the score is heavily favored towards one team and a runner advancing a base will not make a large difference in the expected outcome of the game… specifically, the ninth inning with two outs, where the objective is simply to focus on the batter and induce him to make the final out.
And now for the ninth inning…
Continuing our trip around baseball cities…
Crosley Field, 1912-1970
crosley-field.com
baseball-almanac.com
The Cincinnati Reds have played at eight ballparks, erected in five locations, since their professional debut in 1869.
Union Grounds was their first home, located about two blocks directly south of the future Crosley Field. The Reds played here from 1867 to 1870, when the team disbanded. Union Grounds was located just about where the fountain is now in front of the Cincinnati Museum Center.
In 1876, the Reds reformed and built the Avenue Grounds, about one mile north of Union Grounds. This park was eventually discovered to be just too far from downtown to be practical. So, in 1880, they moved south again, to the Bank Street Grounds, located about two blocks north of the future Crosley Field. This stay was short-lived, also.
Losing their lease at Bank Street, the Reds moved south two blocks to Findlay and Western, building League Park in 1884 on an old brick yard. They stayed at this location for 86 years, until 1970, playing in the three parks erected on this site; League Park from 1884-1901, Palace of the Fans from 1902-1911, and Redland/Crosley Field from 1912-1970.
Harry Hake designed Redland Field at a cost of $225,000. The field remained Redland Field until 1934 when Powel Crosley, Jr. purchased the Reds, and the ballpark, and renamed the park Crosley Field.
In 1933, the directors of Cincinnati’s Central Trust Bank hired Larry MacPhail to run the Reds. Mac Phail’s first task is to bring some talent to the team. In 1934, MacPhail convinced Powel Crosley, Jr. to purchase the controlling interest in the Reds and Redland Field. MacPhail’s appeal was to Crosley’s civic pride. Crosley did not want to see the city lose its team. He never anticipated making any money with the team; he only hoped to minimize his losses. He purchased both the team and the ballpark for less than $500,000.
MACPHAIL INSISTED THAT CROSLEY RENAME THE PARK AFTER HIMSELF, AND THE PARK BECAME CROSLEY FIELD.
Also in 1934, the original Redland Field scoreboard was extensively remodeled with an art deco flavor. Larry MacPhail was a promoter with a talent and flair for creating excitement.
Crosley was also the host to the first Major League night game, played under the lights on May 24, 1935.
Throughout its history, Redland/Crosley Field was usually among the smallest parks. It accommodated 25,000 fans in 1912; even at its peak, it never exceeded 30,000 seats, excluding temporary seating areas created for opening day and World Series games. Contributing to this was the fact that there were no bleachers in left or center fields; all outfield seating was in the semi-trapezoid-shaped right field stands that became known as the “Sun Deck”.
Finally, in mid-season 1970, the Reds moved to Riverfront Stadium. This marked the first time the Reds had ever played anywhere other than the west side of Cincinnati. Crosley Field was finally torn down in 1972 for development as commercial property.
In the year 2003 the Reds moved from Riverfront Stadium, which had been renamed Cinergy Field, to their new home, The Great American Ball Park.
You can email me at baseballhistory@gmail.com. Transcripts of the game can be found at baseballhistorypodcast.blogspot.com. Well, that’s it for today’s game of Baseball History Podcast. I’ll see you later at the ballpark.
TWIBH- Albert Spalding,
Baseball Dictionary- Defensive Indifference,
Tour- Crosley Field
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