Oral Presentations on 19c Subjects
SABR32 (Boston, June 2002)

Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2002 19:09:12 -0400
From: Paul Wendt 

19ers,
There will be 53 research presentations at SABR32, the 32d Annual
Convention of SABR, in Boston next week.  All research presentations
will be Thursday morning to Saturday morning, 27-29 June.

At least five of the 41 traditional "oral" presentations (theater style)
feature 19th century subjects.  Unfortunately, two are simultaneous :-(

 Thu    Peter Morris (Haslett MI)
 5:00   --  The "Muffin Game" and Early Baseball's Popularity

 Fri    Ralph Christian (Des Moines IA)
 2:30   -- Animals, Little People, Prohibition, Undertakers, Businessmen
        and Demonic Possession: An Examination of Professional Baseball
        Team Nicknames in Des Moines, Iowa, 1887-1982

 Fri    Gail Rowe (Greeley CO) and John Phillips (Greeley CO)
 4:00   --  Tim Murnane's Mysterious Beaneater Fan

 Fri    Richard Hunt (Clinton NY)
 5:00   --  Ted Lewis:  Pitcher, Role Model, and the American League

 Fri    J. Thomas Hetrick (Clifton VA)
 5:00   --  Chris Von der Ahe (1851-1913) and the St. Louis Browns
        (AA and NL)

The printed Convention Program includes a blurb about the research and
the author for each presentation, in consistent length and style by
Neal Traven, the presentations coordinator for SABR32.
Visit http://sabr.org; select "Convention"; select "Detailed schedule".

Morris and Rowe each accepted my invitation "to distribute an abstract,
description, or modest promotion" directly to 19cBB.

19cBB #835. 20 May. G.S. Rowe, "summary of presentation" [on Murnane]

19cBB #851. 22 May. Peter Morris, "Summary of SABR presentation" [on Muffins]


Here are descriptions from the other three authors.


    Ralph Christian (Des Moines IA)
    -- Animals, Little People, Prohibition, Undertakers, Businessmen
    and Demonic Possession: An Examination of Professional Baseball
    Team Nicknames in Des Moines, Iowa, 1887-1982

from Ralph Christian :

The focus of my presentation will be on the historical forces and trends
that influenced the adoption of professional baseball team nicknames
from 1887 when Des Moines had its first professional team until 1981
when local ownership signed a working agreement with the Chicago Cubs,
which has continued to the present day.

For Des Moines, the name selection process has had several distinct
phases. In the first phase from 1887 to the late 1890's, there was
little direct involvement or even interest in picking a nickname. In
fact, nickname selection seems to have been due more to local acceptance
of what sportswriters and fans in other cities had devised for the Des
Moines team. By the early years of the 20th century, however, Des Moines
sportwriters and team owners began to take control of the naming process
and using it as a promotional vehicle. Public involvement culminated in
highly publicized team naming contests in 1904 and 1905 with fans
actually selecting the nickname by ballot in that latter year. The names
that won, however, proved so unpopular that management quickly dropped
them and renamed the team with little public imput. In the mid-1920's,
team owners did seek public imput again but with less fanfare and much
greater degree of control. By the late 1940's and afterwards, Des Moines
teams found themselves restricted in naming rights due to the
requirements of major league working agreements which often ran counter
to the wishes of local owners and fans.


    J. Thomas Hetrick (Clifton VA)
    --  Chris Von der Ahe (1851-1913) and the St. Louis Browns (AA and NL)

from Joseph Hetrick :

Presentation regarding the remarkably colorful life of Chris Von der
Ahe, owner of the St. Louis Browns in the late nineteenth century. Meet
the man most responsible for beer at the ballyard, Sunday baseball, and
baseball for the masses. Friday, June 28, 2002, 5 p.m., SABR 32 National
Convention, Seymour Medal Finalist book, http://www.scarecrowpress.com.


    Richard Hunt (Clinton NY)
    --  Ted Lewis:  Pitcher, Role Model, and the American League

from me and Richard Hunt :

pgw:
As chairman of the 19th Century Committee, I wonder whether yours is
mainly or wholly a 20th story: Lewis, Boston AL1901, and later? or is
there a significant 19th century story, such as his baseball biography?

Richard:
The first half of the Ted Lewis presentation will be about his education
and career with the Boston national team from 1896-1900.  The second
half of the presentation will feature his years with the Boston team in
the American League (1901) and his post-baseball career.



Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 17:39:22 -0600
From: G.S. Rowe 
Subject: [19cBB] summary of Tim Murnane's Mysterious Beaneater Fan

Paul Wendt invited individuals scheduled to give presentations in Boston on
19th century subjects to provide an advance summary (and to receive
publicity in the process). I'll happily take advantage of his generosity.
John Phillips (an attorney in Denver) and I will explore sportwriter Tim
Murnane's creation and use of an African-American figure he termed "Darkhue
White" in his baseball columns in the Boston Globe in the late 1890s.

Timothy H. Murnane (baseball editor of The Globe from 1886 to 1917) has
justifiably been recognized as one of the greatest of the early baseball
columnists. Beginning in mid-1897, he began to mention one particular Boston
Beaneater fan who routinely attended games at the South End Grounds. Over
the years, Murnane told readers about this fan--where he sat, what he said
to the players and team owners, in what inning he left games, what he bet
on, where he lived, and other details.

One of the things that made Murnane's mystery fan so remarkable is that he
was a black man. Massachusetts, of course, has long been known as a center
of progressive, liberal ideas, including on the subject of race. Still,
Murnane's ongoing and prominent focus on one fan-a black man-is surprising.
After all, Murnane lived and wrote at a time when lynchings were on the
rise, segregation was the law of the land, and race relations generally were
getting worse rather than better.Boston was whites fearful of the growing
numbers of blacks after 1890.

In this presentation, we will tell the story behind the Beaneaters' mystery
fan and the information Murnane provided about him. Why did Murnane pick him
out, especially in light of his own democratic and egalitarian sensibilities
when it came to players and workers? Was the fan real? Fictional ? Was he a
composite character? If fictional, to what purpose? Why did Murnane portray
him in characature, and what were the repercussions of his choice? Was there
a connection between Murnane's emphasis on Darkhue White and the growing
segregation of professional baseball? These are just a few of the questions
we will examine.

We will illustrate this talk with drawings from the Globe's sports and news
columns.

Some aspects of our investigation into Murnane's "Darkhue White" will appear
in the SABR32 publication. Anyone interested in seeing the ms in advance--or
wishing to discuss the topic generally--should feel free to contact me.

Gail Rowe
Professor Emeritus of History
Department of History
Univ. of Northern Colorado
Greeley, CO 80639
growes36@attbi.com



Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 09:22:07 -0400
From: Peter Morris 
Subject: [19cBB] Summary of The "Muffin Game" and Early Baseball's Popularity

A brief summary of my presentation at this summer's SABR convention follows.
My hope is that I can draw attention to what I feel is a neglected area and
I would love it if someone is intrigued and decides to explore this topic at
much greater length.  I would be glad to share additional details with
anyone who is interested.

Peter Morris

My thesis is that "muffin games" (muffin is short for muffing) played a
crucial role in maintaining interest in baseball at a pivotal time.  It is
well known that between 1865 and 1867, there was a tremendous increase in
interest in regulation baseball that was frequently described as a fever or
an epidemic.  But by 1867 that enthusiasm was rapidly burning out and there
was widespread belief that baseball would prove to be just a fad.  Much less
attention has been devoted to how that possibility was avoided.

I contend that the problem was profound and systemic -- the Knickerbockers'
version of baseball had changed an open, inclusive game into a very
exclusive activity.  The Knickerbockers' rules had put limitations on the
number of participants and how they could participate.  Additional changes
brought about by competitive fervor accelerated this trend.  Games were
played in enclosed stadiums with an admission fee. Clubs picked first nines
for competition and began setting aside separate areas for the first nine to
practice and play.  A once fun game had become serious, rule-bound,
contentious and above all exclusive; it no longer belonged to everyone but
just to a select few.

I offer a number of examples of how muffin games offered a deft and very
specific parody of this tendency to exclusivity.  By putting those excluded
from the playing field back in the action, and spectators back in the
stands, these tremendously popular events played a crucial role in the
game's survival.  I suggest that they initiated an essential but often
overlooked tradition of "fun at the old ballpark" that has been continued in
many different forms.  The exclusive tendencies of a competitive sport, I
contend, cannot be sustained without the accompaniment of such a tradition.