BASEBALL, HOW'D THAT HAPPEN? The Final Look

From one game in 1845 in Hoboken, NJ, to an international pastime  with hundreds of thousands of players and millions of spectators....all in 55 years. Yikes, How could that have happened?  It's an incredible story that shows what a great game it is and the development process that made the game what it is today.

Transcript

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Well, g'day everybody, and welcome to Boomer Nation. This is TK coming to you once again from our international headquarters here in Northeast Ohio. And welcome again to the last episode of the podcast Baseball. How'd that happen? You know, from the very start of this, we did not really intend to provide a history of baseball. And I know we provided a history along the way, certainly starting in 1845. But then again, the purpose of this thing was to show the growth and the spread of baseball between 1845 and 1899, which is the beginning of the modern era. And so today we're going to be looking at those rules that were applied in the last 10 years of that century, 1890 to 1899. We're also going to be looking at some of the players that started their careers in the 1890s and extended well into the modern era. But first, in looking at the rules in the 1890s, there were quite a few, but there were only three that I think really make a difference. One was in 1892, a foul bunt counted as a strike, and a foul bunt with two strikes means you are out. Also, 1894, the infield fly rule came about. Imagine that, what they were thinking of back then. Very important rule. But first and foremost, it was the pitcher's distance standardized at 60 feet six inches. Arguably the most important rule change in baseball. And prior to this, the pitcher was standing 50 feet away from home plate in a small box, which was 50 feet in front of home plate. And also, there was what they call a pitcher's rubber that was installed in the ground at 60 feet 6 inches, requiring the pitcher to keep his foot on that while he completes the pitch. The actual origin for that distance is up for grabs. But the important thing is to realize that 60 feet 6 inches the perfect distance given today's pitching. Also, in taking a look at some of the players whose career started in the 1890s and carried through to the modern era, some well into the 1900s. First, we've got players like Honus Wagner, who debuted in 1897, did very well his whole career, 328 lifetime. But the thing about Honus Wagner is because there are only about 50 of his baseball cards out, they are worth a minimum of$2 million. If the condition is good, prices have gone up to$7 million for that baseball card. Yikes. That didn't last very long, though, but that's what it was. Also, there was a pitcher by the name of Cy Young who debuted in 1890. He was one of the most durable pitchers in history with 511 wins. Continued excellence well into the 1900s, adapting rule changes along the way. And of course, we're all aware that the best player in the National League and in the American League today wins the Cy Young Award. And in looking at the pitchers in that era, there's always a lot of discussion about their durability and what the owners expected of them. But typically, an elite pitcher routinely threw 350 to 500 innings per season, pitching 40 to 60 complete games only on one to three days of rest, and doubleheaders, in which they sometimes pitched both complete games. Take Sa Young, as we mentioned him, but in 1892 he threw 453 innings, 414 innings in 1895, and get this 511 innings in 1899. The owners expected their pitchers to pitch a complete game, to pitch through pain, avoid complaining, finish games regardless of fatigue. A pitcher removed from a game might be viewed as weak or unreliable, and managers believe frequent work strengthened arms actually. Boy, we have certainly come a long way in how we train our pitchers today. And now we're going to take a look at growth, the growth and spread of baseball, until 1899. Most baseball historians would call a game played in 1846 in Hoboken, New Jersey, with the Knickerbocker Baseball Club using its 20 rules of baseball. And while there's no record of how many spectators were at that game, I think it would be safe to say somewhere around 50 to 100 would be reasonable. We're going to call it 100. From that point, baseball had fairly slow growth until 1858 when the National Association of Baseball Players joined the teams and created their own set of rules which supplemented the Knickerbocker rules. In 1860, there were about 200 cities with baseball teams. Baseball continued to grow at a somewhat leisurely pace until 1869, and when in Cincinnati the first professional baseball team was formed. This team traveled around the country, virtually beating everybody that came up, and in its way gave baseball a huge boost. And now we fast forward to 1900, where we have the National League, we have some minor league teams, and some semi-pro and independent teams. This was considered this 1875 to 1900 was considered the golden age of independent baseball. Nearly every town with a railroad stop and a population of over 1,000 probably had a team. And based on a US population of 76 million in 1900, sports historians generally estimate that several million Americans played baseball in some capacity, ranging from organized high school and college teams to the good old sandlot games. That's pretty impressive, but remember those are only participants. We haven't talked about spectators yet. And the estimates now, starting back at 1870, estimated spectator visits was 3 to 5 million people. 1880 was 8 to 12 million. 1890 15 to 25 million, and in 1900, there was estimated 25 to 30 million people watched a ball game at one place or another. As a sidelight, and with those numbers, nobody should be surprised that Ernest Thayer in 1888 came out with their poem Casey at the Bat. And as my friends know, I can recite the whole thing. And having a couple of beers in me at the time is a help. Can't remember what I had for dinner last night, but I can recite Casey at the Bat, I'll tell you. And I've been asked to mention when could you get beer and a hot dog at a baseball game? And it, as it turns out, it was in the late 1870s to mid-1880s when uh concession stands came up. You can buy a hot dog, you can buy a beer. By the way, a hot dog was a nickel, and a beer also was a nickel. So if you're with a buddy and you wanted to buy two beers and two hot dogs, it's gonna cost you 20 cents. That's a far cry from uh three weeks ago. I was there with my buddy JP. We were sitting at the Indians, I mean the Guardians game, and I said, I'm gonna get us a couple of beers and hot dogs. So that he said, that's great. So up I went, came back, two beers, two hot dogs. He said, How much was that? I said,$43.$43 for two beers and two hot dogs, and that's why I won't be buying beer and hot dogs anymore at that stadium, anyway. And even after my research, I could tell him uh there was a time when two beers and two hot dogs cost 20 cents. He said, Really? How long ago was that? I said, only 140 years ago. Well, that's inflation, you know. And so we can't walk away from the spread of baseball and the growth of baseball without thinking about Japan. And in 1872, an American professor named Horace Wilson went to the Kaiser School in Japan to be soon to become the University of Tokyo, and he began to teach English. He also brought baseball with him, adopted the game quickly, but in a different sense, more of a mentality sense. For example, early Japanese rules and etiquette forbade showmanship, which, as we all know, is common in the United States, but not in Japan. Also, arguing with umpires was seen as a dishonorable lack of self-control. And Japanese practices were very different than those in the United States. In Japan, players were expected to field ground balls until they collapsed from exhaustion. This wasn't just for skill, it was to build spiritual strength. And also, in the Japanese view, the sacrifice bunt was the ultimate expression of harmony. Giving up one's own at-bat for the good of the team was a moral victory as much as a tactical one. Wow. And one more thing, in Japan, there was one specific event that made baseball the national game. It was an 1896 series between in Japanese, the first higher school of Tokyo, playing against the Yokohama Cricket and Athletic Club, which were primarily Americans, and they did not want to play, they declined playing because they thought the Japanese were so inferior it would be embarrassing to them. And in trying to make a long story short, they did play in the first game. The Japanese students crushed the Americans 29-4. The Americans wanted a replay and they were beaten again. And how about another replay and another defeat? And finally, the fourth game, the Americans won. They went home with their tails between their legs, and Japan had a new national pastime. And so now, 1899, we've seen baseball go from one game in Hoboken, New Jersey, to games all over the country. And from two teams and a few spectators, thousands of fields, thousands of teams, millions of participants, and many millions spectators. It was a game easy to be played by kids as well as adults, an open field when all you had was a bat and a ball. New York kids could do it in the streets. Some kids could play for an hour or all day. The game had its heroes, which were popular around the country. And technology played a role back then. The Telegraph allowed fans in distant cities to follow live practically play-by-play updates. Scores could be posted on chalkboards outside of newspaper offices within minutes, and the expansion of the rail network allowed teams to travel across the country, turning local rivalries into a national narrative. And even newspapers realized that sports coverage sold papers. The 1880s saw the birth of the sports page, which gave fans daily statistics, gossip, and a sense of belonging to a larger community. Let's fast forward again to today, where worldwide, somewhere between 120 and 150 countries and territories play baseball in at least some organized form. The World Baseball and Softball Confederation has now 140 national members for baseball and softball combined. And so, folks, baseball, how'd that happen? Holy cow, I'm not sure we answered the question, but you can see for yourself, it's quite a story. Unbelievable. And we'll leave baseball alone at least for a while. And our next slice of American history is the Roaring Twenties from Boom to Bust and how that happened. I hope you'll be checking in on that one. It looks like it's going to be real interesting. Kind of a crazy time for this country, that's for sure. And so while it's been a great ride, as always, I'm going to leave you with some famous words from famous people. And this time it's Albert Einstein. When he said, Oh, by the way, I said this, these favorite words in my last episode. However, I think they're important enough to say them again. So here you go. I hope you listen. The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything. So says Albert Einstein. And that wraps it up for today, folks. Be safe and God bless this great country of ours.