Philadelphia’s Mr. Baseball and His Amazing Athletics

Posted by on Nov 27, 2013 in | Comments Off on Philadelphia’s Mr. Baseball and His Amazing Athletics Connie Mack always seemed to be dressed in black. His three­-piece business suit, complete with necktie, detach­able collar and derby, gave him the appearance of a Philadel­phia funeral director rather than baseball manager. But for the ten years he had guided the hometown Athletics, Mack took his job very seriously. To be sure, on this sunny Sep­tember morning in 1911, the game of baseball had...
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Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents White Elephants Baseball historians generally consider Connie Mack (1862-1956) the paragon of managers. His knowledge of the game, professional disposition, and ability to acquire and, more importantly, manage players captured the attention of sports enthusiasts during a time when the national pastime was riddled with scandal, permeated with intemperance, and punctuated by rowdyism. Connie Mack...
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Baseball’s One-Armed Wonder: An Interview with the Late Great, Pete Gray

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Baseball’s One-Armed Wonder: An Interview with the Late Great, Pete Gray On Sunday, May 20, 1945, thirty-six thousand spectators packed Yankee Stadium, in the Bronx, for a doubleheader that pitted the New York Yankees against the defending American league champions, the St. Louis Browns. The Yankees, who had finished in third place in the previous season, six games behind the Browns, had something to prove that afternoon. Even though the World War II had stripped...
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Christy Mathewson: Baseball’s Gentleman and Tragic Hero

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Christy Mathewson: Baseball’s Gentleman and Tragic Hero   On Wednesday, September 23, 1908, twenty thousand baseball fans packed New York City’s Polo Grounds to watch the hometown New York Giants host the reigning World Series champion and archrival, the Chicago Cubs. The contest would determine first place in the race for the coveted National League pennant. Right-handed pitcher Christy “Matty” Mathewson (1880–1925), a thirty-seven-game winner,...
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