Things didn’t start well (1900)

The Boston Beaneaters (now the Atlanta Braves) had seen some pretty good days under Manager Frank Selee but 1900 brought a continued decline under his leadership. They ended up 66-72, 17 games behind in fourth place. Closer to last than third.

They year started out on a bad note. In 1899, several players didn’t like how moody catcher Marty Bergen was. So much so, they said they wouldn’t play with him next year. I guess no one really knew how troubled he was. On January 19, Marty’s father discovered how bad it was. Bergen used a razor and ax to kill his wife, three year old son, new born daughter and himself.

Things did not start well and did not finish well.

$15,000 (1871)

Ivers Whitney Adams knew a very good thing when he saw it. He was very interested in professional baseball. He had seen the Cincinnati Red Stockings and what professional players could do. Cincinnati had won the first 89 games they played. Imagine that!!!

So on January 20, 1871 he invested $15,000 to create the Boston Red Stockings (now the Atlanta Braves). They joined the National Association. Mr. Adams became the first President of the club. It started at Boston's Parker House. Harry Wright and his younger brother George were at that meeting. They had played for Cincinnati. They would both play for Boston.

And so ... it began. That is all it took. They still play today. They are the Atlanta Braves.

Bobby couldn’t have been happy (1979)

When the Braves are in a funk, they are really bad. 1979 was about as bad as it could get. It was Bobby Cox second season as manager. They maintained their ability to stay in the cellar ending the year 66-94 and in sixth place in the West Division. A full 23 1/2 games behind.

As is many times the case, pitching was a challenge for the Braves in 1979. The Braves pitchers had a combine ERA of 4.18, the worst in the league. And to make things worse, the defense committed 20 more errors than any other team. Bad pitching and a worse defense. A combination for disaster. I am sure Bobby wasn't a happy man.

Tools of Ignorance (1875)

I can’t remember not playing baseball. It seems like I always have. I remember the day I first played on an organized team in Little League. I had been selected for the team. We arrived for our first practice. My dad was the coach. We all stood in a circle waiting to take the field to practice. My dad asked everyone what positions they would like to play. I was on his left. We started going around the circle starting to his right. I would be last to say. By the time it got around to me all the positions had really been spoken for several times. Only one position no one seemed to want. I said I would like to be the catcher. My dad said, “Great, then put on the tools of ignorance”. And with that we took the field.

My dad taught me how to catch. I loved it. Fast forward and guess what position my son wanted to play when he started baseball. Yup, he wanted to catch. And I taught him about the tools of ignorance. The term, "the tools of ignorance", was coined by Herold "Muddy" Ruel, a lawyer turned backstop who caught for greats like Walter Johnson with the Washington Senators in the 1920s.

So, if you were catching Al Spalding for the Braves (then know as the Boston Red Stockings) from 1872 to 1875, you might have wanted a mask. One didn’t initially exist though. It wasn’t until 1875 that one was “invented”. The founder of the Red Stockings had the catchers use a “mouth protector”. It was a “Harvard guy” (Fred Thayer) that actually invented the mask. The first to use it was Alexander (Jim) Tying who was playing for the Harvard Nine. It was called a rat-trap. It made it to the Spalding catalog in 1878. Eventually Fred Thayer sued Al Spalding for infringement upon Thayer's patent rights to the catching mask. Spalding would be forced to pay royalties to Thayer and Wright when the case was settled.

And so ... fathers continue to teach their sons to use the "tools of ignorance".

A good start that only got better (1871)

So .... the Atlanta Braves (then known as the Boston Red Stockings) played five years in the National Association. They were the only one of the 10 original teams to play continuously during that time. In 1876 they then joined the National League in it’s inaugural year.

They had a pretty good first season in 1871. They won 20 out of 30 games. Unfortunately, they finished in second place. Philadelphia was two games ahead of them.

The good news is, they then won the pennant the next four years.

And .... they are still playing today.