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. 

Manager Dave Bancroft is cold cocked (June 18, 1927)

Generally Baseball isn’t too violent. There are some notable exceptions. On June 18, 1927, continuing a feud that dates back to Smith’s days with the Braves‚ Pirates Catcher Earl Smith decks Braves manager Dave Bancroft with a right to the jaw after they exchange words in the 7th inning.

Bancroft is carried off the field. Smith draws a $500 fine and 30-day suspension. 

The Pirates score 3 in the 1st led by Paul Waner’s 2-run triple en route to a 7-4 win. Waner extends his hitting streak to 21 games and 13 straight games with extra base hits. He’ll have a pair of doubles the next day.

So I wonder if Smith thought it was worth it. For someone who loves to play, probably not. On the up side, baseball officials have always been careful to “punish” violence very aggressively. Not like hockey I think.

What is the ERA for this game? (1868)

This is amazing. Cal McVey is a pitcher. He looses a game 7-54. That is right, he gave up 54 runs. I don’t think I can even calculate the ERA on that. That is in 1868. The team he lost to is the Cincinnati Red Stockings. The next year they hire Cal McVey for $700. They did however move him to right field. No more pitching for Cal.

While playing for Cincinnati, they had an 84 game winning streak going in 1869 and 1870. So what would you do when the game was tied 17 to 17? Walk off the field during a bad call and forfeit the game? Well, that is what happened. Winning streak over!!

Oh well, when the team folds that year, you continue your career with the Boston Red Stockings. Cal McVey is one of the “four seceders” who broke up the Boston Red Stockings. Controversy seemed to be part of his claim to fame.

And so, baseball continues. The Braves continue on.

First College Baseball game in 1859. Or was it basketball?

It sounds like a basketball score. In the first college baseball game ever played on July 1, 1859, Amherst defeats their archrival, Williams College, 73-32 (66-32 by some reports). The game is played near the corner of North Street and Maplewood Avenue in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

I simply can't imagine a baseball game with that many runs.

The dark years start (1917)

In George Stallings 5th year as manager of the Braves, they plunged from third place the year before to sixth in 1917. They were 72-81 and 25 1/2 games behind. World War I began that year and it was a bleak year for the team. This was the start of series of VERY bad years going to World War II and 1945.

Perhaps this should be known as the dark years for the Braves. For 29 years, the Braves only had six years of .500 plus ball. Eight times they won fewer than 40 percent of their games. Twelve times they finished 35 or more games out of the lead.

Amazing and dark years for sure.