Legends of baseball both known and unknown

As a part of our ongoing coverage of baseball that isn’t currently taking place on the field, we continue to pour through the PBS documentary by Ken Burns, Baseball.

In the Second Inning, we are introduced to the first class of truly great and memorable ballplayers and learned of some lesser-known stories that would make for fine Hollywood fare if some film maker was so inclined.

Here are some of the standout moments.

Turning Point – The Turn of the Century

Literally a turning point for the world, our country, and our game. As baseball moved into the 20th century it became an indelible symbol of everything the United States was about at the time… and in many ways to this day.

Alongside the inventions of things like motor vehicles, flying machines, and the motion picture, baseball came to embody the spirit of a nation racing toward the future but doing so with trial and error, hard work, struggle, and while turning a blind eye to the turmoil it was helping to foster.

Far from a perfect era in the game, this time was filled with strife for many and populated by some of the roughest and most brutal men to ever play the game. It also gave rise to the concept of the national pastime and the ubiquity of the game.

Somewhere, some old baseball writers are still arguing over who was better between Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb.

Players of the Episode – The First Class

There was no way to separate them here. This episode is mostly about the First Class of truly great ballplayers: Honus Wanger, Ty Cobb, Christy Matthewson, and Walter Johnson and Rube Foster.

Other than Foster, these are household names carrying records that still hold up to this day. Wagner hit over .300 15 years in a row. Cobb won 12 batting titles in the 13 years he was eligible to win them. Christy Matthewson threw 27 innings of shutout baseball in the World Series. And Walter Johnson can claim to have thrown 110 complete game shutouts in his career.

The only reason Rube Foster was left out was because of the color of his skin. Legend has it that Matthewson learned his best pitch from the man. He wasn’t as celebrated as the rest but he may well have been the best of the bunch.

Whether it was the hulking man with the bowed legs who could play any position and hit like he invented the concept, or the raging southerner who played the game so hard that he alienated everyone around him, or the Christian Gentleman who showed that greatness on the field doesn’t need to be mutually exclusive from having high character, or the Big Train who garnered as much respect as he did fear, or the great but unknown man whose impact on the game may be immeasurable… these are the prototypes for a hundred years of baseball players.

As such, all five are enshrined in the Hall of Fame with all but the excluded Foster being members of the inaugural class.

Runner Up – Rube Waddell

He did cartwheels on the mound, wrestled with alligators, was said to be distracted by puppies and toys and fire engines, and he was a remarkable pitcher.

The game of baseball is nothing without it’s wild characters and Rube Waddell may well have been the wildest.

Second Runner Up – Alta Weiss

With her wide bloomers designed to look like a skirt, Weiss didn’t care what the standard was or that there was no organized ball for women. She joined a men’s semi-pro team at 17 and by the time she was at her peak, special trains had to run to Cleveland to accomidate the massive crowds she would attract. She even had her own All-Star team, the Weiss All-Stars.

Third Runner Up – ‘Nuf Ced

The birth of organized fandom. Anyone who participates in a community to enjoy their sports owes a thanks to ‘Nuf Ced and his group of fans who are given credit for swinging the first ever World Series in favor of the hometown Boston team.

Play of the Game – Inventing the Hot Dog

Harry Stevens was passing out scorecards featuring Bryon and Shakespeare before one day deciding that the people at the game needed something to eat that was also easily portable.

Hence, the hot dog. It looked like a “red toy balloon inflated” one writer recalled.

Quotes of the Episode

“Was wonderful to watch him pitch…when he wasn’t pitching against you” -Connie Mack on Christy Matthewson.

“Tinker to Evers to Chance” -Franklin P. Adams

“You talk about spitballs? I think that the ball disintegrated and got back together when the catcher got hold of it” Sam Crawford of Ed Walsh

“He knows where he is throwing otherwise there would be dead bodies all over Idaho.” Anonymous writer of Walter Johnson

“The greatest ballplayer of all time? The Detroit man. The most expert man of his profession. He plays ball with his whole anatomy. I believe he would play if he was charged for the privilege and with only the groundskeeper in attendance.” -Charles Comisky

“Baseball is something like a war” -Ty Cobb

“He would climb a mountain to punch an echo” -Anonymous writer of Ty Cobb

“In every hamlet town and city may be the future Rube Fosters. Organize your team.” -W.E.B. Dubois