A Baseball Story: Chapter 1: The Beginning of Baseball

Episode 1: The Beginning of Baseball

  Since as early as the the 18th century, America, and even prior to that, the British colonies in North America, has had some form of the game of baseball. Townball, a popular New England game, which looked more like a game of Cricket than our game today, was one of the most popular team sports the country had to offer. While horse racing and boxing had more of a national notoriety, both sports focusing on the individual, either man or horse, Townball was a chance for people to come together on Sunday afternoons, after church and take part in a community affair. Townball and other game’s like ‘Rounders’ consisted of bat, ball and base type games. But then how did the game of baseball get created? 

  The creation of baseball, has been debated throughout its history. Many would argue, it began with a notable Civil War veteran, writing down a list of rules near Ostego lake, in Cooperstown, NY

Now most people are familiar with the popular myth of Abner Doubleday, writing down the rules of baseball, thus becoming the messiah of the sport. But sport historians have done a pretty good job over the last 30+ years debunking that theory. But how is it that so many people for so long, and even to this day, believed that Abner Doubleday was the sole creator of the sport, even though he had practically nothing to do with its creation. Simply put, nobody really understood how to explain the beginnings of Baseball, so they made up a story.

Abner Doubleday 

But here is what’s not made up: Abner Doubleday was a career military man, whose bravery at the Battle of Gettysburg saw to his rise through the ranks of the military with great speed and success. But he was not the only Doubleday with military honors. Abner was born in Ballston Spa, New York in 1819 to a very prestigious military family. His grandfather fought in the American Revolution, his maternal grandmother was a messenger for George Washington. His father would go on to join the service and he took part in the War of 1812 then went on to serve in Congress. Abner Doubleday came from a prestigious family and he earned even more prestige fighting in the Civil War. 

Prior to the Civil War he fought in the Mexican War, then after that he went on to serve in the Seminole wars, then in 1858 he was transferred to South Carolina where he would soon be at one of the greatest turning points in American history. When the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter which prompted the start of the Civil War, he was the second in command of the garrison. In the first half of the war, Doubleday rose through the ranks in the Army of the Potomac, which was the army that got whopped by Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia for the first two and half years of fighting. He was involved in every major engagement, including, but not limited too, the Peninsula Campaign, the Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg (where luckily for him his division sat that one out. Union division after division got slaughtered trying to take the fortifications of Robert E. Lee. But his division was not called upon to make an attack. At the battle of Gettysburg he received a promotion on the first day of the fighting, after his core commander John Reynolds was shot and killed. But as quickly as he received his promotion to run an entire corps of Union Troops, the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, George Meade, replaced Doubleday because of mixed reports that Doubleday actions on the first day of the fighting allowed the Confederates to advance their position through the town and on to Cemetery Hill, a key strategic point in the battle. Doubleday would later contest this throughout his life, that Meade supposedly never liked Doubleday. But despite the “insult” Doubleday continued to fight valiantly on the second day of the battle, until he was wounded and carried off of the field. After he was wounded Doubleday was reassigned to Washington to work on the defense of the city, even though the battle of Gettysburg would prove to be the closest Robert E. Lee would ever get to Washington again. 

Now, ok, that’s a lot of Civil War history thrown at you, and if you’re like me, you may have enjoyed that little stroll through history and might be looking up on the Peninsula Campaign and its details as we speak. But I am going to bank that most of you didn’t tune in to hear Civil War history, you wanted to hear a baseball story, so at this point, hopefully not to frustrated, you are probably wondering, what the hell does Abner Doubleday have to do with baseball? Well, absolutely nothing, and nothing much was ever said about Doubleday and baseball throughout his war efforts, in fact nothing was mentioned of Doubleday and baseball throughout his entire life, that was, until 1905, and the infamous Mills Commission. But it was as this meeting, that baseball owners, investors and politicians decided that America’s game needed an origin story, so they decided to go with the made up story of Abner Doubleday according to one random guy who wrote a letter to the commission claiming he say Doubleday write down some rules about the game in the 1840s. Problem was that wasn’t true, and facts have been shown that this guy didn’t even know Doubleday, nor was there to witness Doubleday do the thing he probably made up that he did. And Doubleday was not at this meeting because he died in 1893. But despite the stories many inaccuracies, Doubleday’s story was just as reliable as the “true story”

So what is the the ‘true story’ or the true ‘origin story’ of baseball? Who should we credit for the game we love? Well that’s were we see the story of Alexander Cartwright and his Knickerbocker baseball club and when we look it, what we find, is that Cartwright had as much to do with the creation of baseball as Doubleday did. 

Alexander Cartwright grew up in New York City. He was broker on Wall-Street, and he did clerical work at Union Bank in Manhattan. He also served as a volunteer firefighter. Unfortunately, and ironically Union Bank burned down, and Cartwright had to find another job. In the meantime, Cartwright played baseball, or at the very least “base ball” games. There was already one team in New York, not of professional status, but what they would call a ‘Club’. The Gotham Base Ball Club was a popular group in New York, and one of their own member’s William Wheaton drew up some rules that made some minor adaptations to the game of ‘Rounders’ which was England’s version of the game. Inspired by this Cartwright formed his own club in 1842 known as the Knickerbocker Club (named after his Fire Engine company he volunteered with). Now here is where things get a little tricky…

In 1845 Wheaton joined a committee that began to draft up the official rules of ‘Baseball’ which included the distances between bases, three strikes per batter and how many players on a field at one time. The thing is, Alexander Cartwright was not apart of this committee, even though he got the credit for it (check out his Hall of Fame plaque, and it will tell you). So how did he get credit for it, without even being part of the committee? If you think that is bizarre, how about the notion that many of the rules people said he made, were rules that were already in existence prior to the meeting. That he wasn't apart of. Even though he gets credit for creating them... 

  So if you want to know where the rues of baseball were made, they were made at a meeting, where the founder of the rules was not present, but giving credit, for making rules that were either already made, or did not exist.

Case closed. The truth is nobody, especially not just one specific person drafted up the rules of baseball. Instead the rules had been adopted by teams, clubs and eventually leagues. Even when Harry Wright formed the first ever professional team in 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings created their own rules as well. So who created baseball? Let’s just use the creation of the National League as the true creation of baseball

1869 Cincinnati Reds

Professional teams and leagues were springing up all throughout the country, and it was no longer a “town” game but a city game, that unified the whole country by sport. The National League was formed in 1875, which provided a new set of rules that would be adopted and changed, and adopted and changed and adopted and changed over the next three decades. But the National League was considered to the the predominate league in America. But labor disputes amongst players and owners would cause players, coaches and even umpires to defect or create other professional leagues. Leagues like the American Association (not to be confused with the American League, that comes later), and the Beer & Whiskey League often had NL players jumping leagues in order to make a few more bucks. But the other leagues did not have the bankroll or the clout that the National League had firmly established in their early existence and all of them folded, that was until the American League was created in 1902 by Ban Johnson, but that is a story for a little bit later. 

So despite all of the labor disputes and weirdly thought up leagues, Baseball was thriving in the late part of the 19th century, and it seemed the growth of the sport did not have a ceiling. A big reason why the sport became so popular had to do with not just the talented players and teams that thousands of peoples came to see, but the savvy business men that helped promote the game to new heights. One of those men, just happened to be one of the game’s greatest players. Albert Spaulding. 

Albert Spaulding became the National League’s first dominate pitcher of the 1870s-1880s. He was baseball’s first ever 300 game winner, he threw the first ever shutout, and he lead the league in wins for the first five years of the league’s existence. 1875, Spaulding’s best season, he was 54-5, and had 24 consecutive wins, which I will assume, is still a record to this day. Aside from being a great pitcher, Spaulding could handle the stick as well. He boasted a career .313 batting average. But Spaulding’s true greatness, as many are aware, well anyone who ever bought a piece of sporting equipment, went way beyond his stats on the diamond. 

In 1876, in the midst of being the Cy Young, Lefty Grove, or Clayton Kershaw of his day, Spaulding began to start heavily investing in his sporting goods store that he operated with his brother in Chicago. Before long, Spaulding had stores all across the country from Oregon to Rhode Island, that included all types of sporting good equipment, manuals for play, and apparel of America’s greatest pastime. While Spaulding began to rake in the massive profits from cornering the sport’s goods market, he became partial owner of the Chicago White Stockings. The former player, becoming owner was not an uncommon thing back in the 19th century, as many owners, including Harry Wright of the Boston Red Stockings (Spaulding’s first boss). Whereas today, we would think, a owner, who is a former player could assist in players further advancing their economic standing in the sport, Spaulding and the owner NL owners began to tighten their grip on baseball’s workforce. 

*Just a quick little point of reference here: The National League's Chicago White Stockings, would later become the Chicago Cubs. The Chicago White Stockings of the American League (which will be created later) is the Chicago White Sox of today. That can be quite confusing when reading. 

After the Civil War, the U.S. industry exploded across the country. Factories were being built at a record pace from coast to coast, and America’s Industrial Revolution was about to hit its peak but it came with serious side effects. Factory conditions were deplorable, workers had to work long hours, with little pay, in incredibly dangerous conditions and when workers tried to stand up and bargain for better rights in the work place, many were fired from their jobs. The struggles of Unions became a prominent theme of the late 19th century. Unions in industry, mining, and farming began their uphill climb towards worker’s activism, many of their cases making it all the way up to the Supreme Court, but as the country was bringing in billions from big business tycoons like Andrew Carniege, John D. Rockefeller, little was done to help the common working man. Baseball would follow the same trend. As players would demand more in pay, owners would tighten their grip, using the ‘reserve clause’ to lock up players for an indefinite amount of time. There was little a player could do, and that would be the case for the next 100 years, literally, until the Reserve Clause was banished prior to the 1976 season. One recourse players had however, albeit a lofty endeavor, was start their own league. And start their league they did.

There was the American Association, not to be confused with the American League which will appear a little later in our story, but it dos have a cool little nickname as players began to call it the Beer & Whiskey League. Despite being the ‘rival league’ to the NL, the two leagues did organize a series of contests throughout the 1880s, in which the champion of each league played one another. These were primitive World Series affairs, with the NL winning all but one of the contests, some ended in ties (for whatever reason), but the American Association really lost steam in the middle of the decade when players would jump from American Association back to the National League. The final blow was delivered when a new league formed in 1890, the Players League, which following the same model as the American Association in appealing to angry players still pleading for more rights from the NL and the AA. But the Players League would fail after just one season, the American Association wasn’t far behind, and entering the 1890s, the National League was clear true league of Baseball. 

While, some player were arguing for better wages and more rights as baseball players, other baseball players were just arguing for their right to play. 

Jackie Robinson is known for being the first black man to break the color barrier, but over time, as his legacy has grown for being the first to do so and what he had to endure, there has been a bit of a mixup. Jackie Robinson was the first to break the color barrier, but he was not the first African-American baseball player to play with whites. In 1883, Moses Fleetwood Walker, debuted for Toldeo Blue Stockings, after playing ball at the University of Michigan. one of the team’s in the newly formed American Association, as a catcher. If you do a quick, baseball reference search of Fleet Walker, you will only find statistics from his 1884 season where Walker played in only 42 games, but it’s what happened in 1883, Walker’s brief stint with the club that would send shockwaves throughout the sport. 

Fleetwood Walker 

In August, the Chicago White Stockings (which would later become the Chicago Cubs, and the Chicago White Sox of the AL would come later…just in case you felt like being confused) decided to play an exhibition game against Toledo, which was common during those days, so player could make  few extra bucks, traveling from one city to another. When the White Stockings arrived they noticed that this Toledo team was unlike any other team they had played before. Because Toledo had a black man. At the behest of their best player and manager, Chicago threatened to to leave the ballpark and give up the gate, rather than play with a black player. The player manager, was the hall of fame first baseman, the first to ever amass 3,000 hits, Cap Anson. 

Cap Anson

Not too many people today, even diehard baseball fans, are familiar with the workings of Cap Anson. Anson, was one of the first feared hitters in the game, not a traditional power hitter in the sense, but Anson was notorious for his batting skills, and the Chicago teams of the 1880s were the ‘Murderer’s Row’ of their time. Quite literally. The 1884 team was quite special, while the home run was not a common feature in 1880s baseball, this Cubs/White Sox team provided an interesting glimpse into Baseball’s future. This team boasted four players, including Abner Dalrymple, Fred Pfeffer, Ned Williamson, and Cap Anson, all of whom hit 20+ homers that season, a feat that would not be accomplished again until the 1936 Yankees. Williamson, who led the league with 27 home runs, was the single season champion until his record was broke in 1919 by, you guessed it Babe Ruth, with 29 homers, his last season as a Red Sox. That alone, along with Anson’s other hitting feats, would have made him known as one of the greatest players of the 19th century, an interesting footnote, but his actions in August of 1883, made him known for something else. 

Prior to taking the field, Anson started yelling at Toledo manager Charlie Morton, that his White Stockings would not take the field as long as Fleet Walker was there. Morton, stood his ground, and told Anson that he, and his Chicago team could leave the field, and say good bye to their day’s earnings, but Anson decided to play that day, despite his protest, but before leaving the field was quoted in saying “We’ll play this here game, but won’t play never no more with the ni’’er in” Now Anson, was not the only racist player in baseball, racism ran rampant in not only the sport, but throughout the entire country. Just two years later, the Supreme Court handed out their decision in the landmark, Plessy v. Ferguson case, which made segregation legal throughout the country, which left the African-American community at a severe disadvantage in terms of growth, prosperity, and more importantly equality because was separate was legal, it was not equal. Segregation was made legal in 1886, but in 1884, baseball had already established its racist precedent. Anson would work behind the scenes, following the 1883 season, with a litany of other players to make sure that no other black players would enter baseball, and play alongside white players. In the 1884 season, prior to Toledo’s road game in Richmond, Virginia, Morton once again was confronted about having Walker on his team, but this time it wasn’t a protest, but a threat. Morton received a letter that if Toledo showed up to the game in Richmond, with Walker in tow, that 75 men would “mob” Walker. If Walker did not show up, there would be and quote “no blood shed”. Toledo, released Walker because of “injuries”, just one day prior to the trip to Richmond, and Walker never played in the Major Leagues again, nor would any other black player for the next sixty years. 

1884 Toledo

At the close of the 1880s, Baseball began to take shape, in a common way that would exist for the next 60 years. The leagues were thinning out, the National League continuing to be the senior circuit, the reserve clause was firmly entrenched, and the color line as well. As the rules of ‘who’ could play and ‘where’ they would play would tarnish the sport for decades, the actual rules of the game itself began to bring us to a more modern understanding of the game. 

In 1889, four balls became a base on balls (which was the fourth and final time the rule was changed in the decade. It started at 8 balls in 1880, 6 in 84’, 5 in 87’, and finally, as what we have come to know four in 89’). In 1893, the pitching mound was moved back to its current state of 60 feet 6 inches. The following year saw to it, that foul bunts were now strikes, that could result in a batter striking out, which you would think, prior to that rule change, the pitcher especially, would just simply be in the box trying to bunt as many times as possible. Gotta imagine that they flirted with the DH during the 1880s as well right? 1895 saw the adaptation of the infield fly rule and a held would foul tip was classified as a strike, but more importantly as a strike out. While, all of these changes would go on to make the game, America’s game, and the game that we all now understand, its another change that would take place in 1892 that would create the storylines, that we would all fall in love with.

In 1891, after 9 years of existence the American Association disbanded. Throughout the 1880s the owners of the A.A. would promise their players better treatment and higher wages than the National League, but at the close of the decade, they could no longer pay their bills. The National League owners would sweep in, in very Robber Baron fashion, and sweep up their formerly persecuted players back into the fold. With players coming and going, and fans coming much more infrequently, the A.A. closed up their tents. But there were solid foundations that the American Association built, but those involved just could not build upon. That was until two men, by the name of Ban Johnson and Charles Comiskey created the estate that became the American League.

Ban Johnson, a former sports writer, became close friends covering Cincinnati Reds manager, Charles Comiskey. The Reds were apart of the American Association since its inception, because the franchise’s removal from the National League in 1880. While the Red Stockings, the one created by Harry Wright were known for the pioneer status in the sport, the Reds in the 1870 were a little too ‘pioneer’. In 1876, the club decided to (get this, make sure you’re sitting down) sell beer during the game and to keep their ballpark open for business on Sundays. Both offenses were considered capital by baseball standards of the 1870s, as the National League would not allow a club to poison their sport with their ‘non puritan ways’. So the club was released of the NL status. So the Reds brought in Charles Comiskey to manage the squad, and it was during that time he would be a beat writer named Ban Johnson, a bright kid from Ohio, would spend many days talking about baseball, the state of the sport, and more importantly, how it could be improved. So after the American Association had folded in 1891, Comiskey came up with an idea. He wanted his friend to take over as the Western League President, a minor league at the time, with a grand vision to build it into the new professional league to rival the National League. But how would he do so?

Ban Johnson

Simeltaneously, the National League was beginning to show signs of decay. It wasn’t enteriley their fault, that the U.S. economy wasn’t doing the greatest after the Panic of 1893, the gap between the rich and the poor was continuing to widen thanks to the Free Market being a little too ‘free’ and Monopolies became the talk of the day. But with all of the changes in the game, and at the gate, the National League decided to consolidate and focus their attention on the most successful NL clubs, and to opt for a smaller league of only 8 clubs: Chicago, Brooklyn, New York (the Giants, were not to the other guys yet), Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. The Reds were allowed back into the NL, but Comiskey was long gone, taking his talents up to St. Paul, Minnesota. But Ban Johnson thought the time was perfect to strike, because the National League had failed to take advantage of cities that the National League deemed dispensable. Johnson brought in NL castoffs like the Baltimore Orioles, he would then create a club in Washington that would become the Senators, and he attempted to bring teams in some of the firmly attached NL cities, like the Athletics in Philadelphia, the White Sox in Chicago (who Comiskey would move his team from St. Paul down to become), and the Americans in Boston (who would become the Red Sox). And yes he creates a New York team as well, that would become the Highlanders, who would later become the Yankees, but how about we enjoy a couple of podcasts Yankee free? We will come to know their dominance at a later time. For now, just let me enjoy the world where they didn’t exist, and didn’t cause anyone any pain. In the fall of 1899, Johnson and Comiskey invited other Western League owners to the Grand Northern Hotel in Chicago to discuss the Western League, making the switch and becoming a major league organization. They decided to rename the league to the American League, apparently as some sort of marketing strategy or something, and in 1900 the American League became a major league. 

Charles Comiskey 

At the beginning of the 20th century, the newly formed American League took off like a rocket, bringing in big names, both in terms of owners, coaches, and players. Most notably was a manager, who decided to hang up the spikes after a career that boasted a robust .244 batting average. While his playing days didn’t amount to much, he was known for having a brilliant mind, and getting along with his teammates. Becoming a manager, only made the most since for this kid who grew up in Massachusetts, obsessed with baseball, and for Connie Mack, being a manager is what he would become synonymous for being. Mack had been with the Western League since 1896, when Johnson brought him on to be the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, in 1901, Johnson helped make Mack part owner, of the Philadelphia Athletics, and promptly Mack brought over some of his best players from Milwaukee, a dominate, strikeout heavy, but a bit wild in personality, Rube Waddell. 

It didn’t take long for other superstars of the game to join the American League, like Waddell. The biggest move, that would send shockwaves throughout the sport is when a young, hard-hitting second baseman, named Napoleon Lajoie made the switch from the NL to the AL. Johnson needed a big star to join his league, because he knew if one would come, then many more would follow. The only way his league could be considered professionals, is if it had the best professionals to offer. So, Connie Mack, the new manager of the Philadelphia A’s signed Lajoie. 

Nap Lajoie

In his first season, Lajoie hit for the Triple Crown, batting .426 (a modern day record), with 14 homers and 125 RBIs. He also led the league in OPS, OPS+, Runs, Hits and Total Bases with 350. All of this is even more impressive when you consider the fact that Lajoie had little plate discipline. He was infamous for swinging at pitches by his feet, or even stepping out of the batter’s box to swing at pitches outside the zone when pitchers were trying to walk him. Lajoie was dangerous with the bat, but the sword is only a weapon if you swing it. 

  The American League had their star, someone who could rival the NL greats like Honus Wagner of the Pirates, however, this union did not last long as Mack would have a hard time retaining a player of high quality, a theme that would plague Mack’s A’s throughout his tenure. 

After the 1902 season, the Philadelphia Phillies, Lajoie’s team prior to making the jump to the American League filed an injunction against Lajoie, in violation according to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which forbade him with playing for any other team in the state of Pennsylvania. Instead of going through a lengthy legal process that he and the American League would ultimately lose, Lajoie decided to sign on with another, team, making sure he stayed in the American league. After the A’s, Lajoie negotiated a new deal, this time with another American League foe, Cleveland Bronchos. But Nap was such a star for the club, that they decided to rename the team to the Cleveland Naps in 1903, they even named him the player manager. Talk about superstar treatment. Cleveland would remain the Naps until they finally changed the name in 1915 to the Indians. Nap Lajoie would continue to play the rest of his career, terrorizing American League pitchers on a path that would lead him to the Hall of Fame. 

The Washington Senators, a team and a city Ban Johnson invested heavily in to develop into a predominate team in baseball had one of the most feared sluggers in the game in Ed Delahanty, whose career batting average sits at .346, good enough for 5th all-time. And finally   another American League, the Boston Americans boasted the most accomplished starting pitcher in the game in Cy Young. 

Denton True Young grew up as a farmer’s son, who grew up finding every which way to play baseball, even when he wasn’t suppose to play baseball. As oppose to doing his household chores, Young would sneak off to work on his craft, throwing stones at small animals like squirrels and stuff, to perfect his accuracy. When he wasn’t torturing woodland creatures, and became old enough, he joined up with semi-pro teams before reaching the Player’s League in the 1880s. From there Cy Young began to put together the most impressive career, any starting pitcher has ever had. Young is famous for his 511 career wins and 749 complete games, two feats that will never be accomplished, but when you break down those numbers and begin to look at how successful he was each year, it becomes more astonishing. Young was a 20-game winner, 15 times, and a 30-game winner 5 times. He threw the first perfect game of the 20th century, had 3 other no-hitters to go along with, and while his ‘Cyclone’ windup, which garnered him the nickname ‘Cy’, was deceptive to hitters, Young had some of the best stuff in the history of the game as well. Hall of Famer Honus Wagner claimed that he threw harder than Walter Johnson himself, someone who has been regarded as one of the hardest throwing right handers ever. 

In 1901, Young joined the American League when he signed with the Boston Americans (which would later become the Red Sox), however prior to coming to Boston, many thought that Young’s best year’s were behind him. Ever since the rule change that brought the mound back to 60 feet 6 inches, Young was great, just not as great as he used to be. And by the time he came to Boston, Young was already 34 years old, and his best days were supposedly behind him. Entering Boston, entering a new league, a new experiment, Young, Boston, and the American League had a lot to prove, but they needed a stage to prove it. 

At the conclusion of the 1902 season, Ban Johnson tried to negotiate a ‘exhibition’ type series at the end of the year between the best team in the American League and the best team in the National League. Unfortunately, a deal fell through, and no matchup was made. In 1903, the National League elected a new president, Harry Pulliam. Now, all I am going to do for the moment is introduce Pulliam and move on, because his importance will come a little later on in our story. But entering 1903 both Johnson and Pulliam were confident that a postseason matchup would finally take place, but time would prove to be a factor, as both sides negotiated with the owners as to when this series would take place. In the meantime, two teams were putting themselves on a collision course that would mark the event as Baseball’s World Series.

And next time, we will take a close look at the first ever Fall Classic, and baseball’s first decade of the 20th century. We will also be introduced to the first superstars and celebrities of the game that would go on to write the first chapters of our story of Baseball.