1.
Sportsman's Park
–
Sportsmans Park was the name of several former Major League Baseball ballpark structures in the central United States, in St. Louis, Missouri. All but one of these were located on the piece of land, at the northwest corner of Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street. The physical street address was 2911 North Grand Boulevard, in 1923, the stadium hosted St. Louiss first NFL team, the St. Louis All-Stars. Baseball was played on the Sportsmans Park site as early as 1867, the tract was acquired in 1866 by August Solari, who began staging games there the following year. It was the home of the St. Louis Brown Stockings in the National Association, originally called the Grand Avenue Ball Grounds. Some sources say the field was renamed Sportsmans Park in 1876, the local papers also still used the alternate name Grand Avenue Park until at least 1885. The first grandstand—one of three on the built in 1881. At that time, the diamond and the grandstands were on the southeast corner of the block, the park was leased by the then-major American Association entry, the St. Louis Brown Stockings, or Browns. The Browns were a strong team in the mid-1880s. When the National League absorbed the strongest of the old Association teams in 1892, soon they went looking for a new ballpark, finding a site just a few blocks northwest of the old one, and calling it New Sportsmans Park, which was later renamed Robison Field. They also changed colors from Brown to Cardinal Red, thus acquiring a new nickname. When the American League Browns moved from Milwaukee in 1902, they built a new version of Sportsmans Park and they initially placed the diamond and the main stand at the northwest corner of the block. This Sportsmans Park saw football history made and it became both the practice field and home field for Saint Louis University football teams, coached by the visionary Eddie Cochems, father of the forward pass. These included a 39–0 thrashing of Iowa before a crowd of 12,000, robinson launched an amazingly long pass in the game against the Jayhawks, which was variously reported to have traveled 67 or 87 yards in the air. College Football Hall of Fame coach David M. Nelson called the extraordinary, considering the size, shape and weight of the fat. Sports historian John Sayle Watterson agreed, in his book, College Football, History, Spectacle, Controversy, Watterson described Robinsons long pass as truly a breathtaking achievement. St. Louis finished with an 11–0 record in 1906, outscoring its opponents 407–11, the previous wooden grandstand was retained as left-field bleachers for a while, but was soon replaced with permanent bleachers. The Cardinals came back to their home in mid-1920, as tenants of the Browns, after abandoning the outdated
2.
St. Louis
–
St. Louis is an independent city and major U. S. port in the state of Missouri, built along the western bank of the Mississippi River, on the border with Illinois. Prior to European settlement, the area was a regional center of Native American Mississippian culture. The city of St. Louis was founded in 1764 by French fur traders Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, in 1764, following Frances defeat in the Seven Years War, the area was ceded to Spain and retroceded back to France in 1800. In 1803, the United States acquired the territory as part of the Louisiana Purchase, during the 19th century, St. Louis developed as a major port on the Mississippi River. In the 1870 Census, St. Louis was ranked as the 4th-largest city in the United States and it separated from St. Louis County in 1877, becoming an independent city and limiting its own political boundaries. In 1904, it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Summer Olympics, the economy of metro St. Louis relies on service, manufacturing, trade, transportation of goods, and tourism. This city has become known for its growing medical, pharmaceutical. St. Louis has 2 professional sports teams, the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, the city is commonly identified with the 630-foot tall Gateway Arch in Downtown St. Louis. The area that would become St. Louis was a center of the Native American Mississippian culture and their major regional center was at Cahokia Mounds, active from 900 AD to 1500 AD. Due to numerous major earthworks within St. Louis boundaries, the city was nicknamed as the Mound City and these mounds were mostly demolished during the citys development. Historic Native American tribes in the area included the Siouan-speaking Osage people, whose territory extended west, European exploration of the area was first recorded in 1673, when French explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette traveled through the Mississippi River valley. Five years later, La Salle claimed the region for France as part of La Louisiane. The earliest European settlements in the area were built in Illinois Country on the east side of the Mississippi River during the 1690s and early 1700s at Cahokia, Kaskaskia, migrants from the French villages on the opposite side of the Mississippi River founded Ste. In early 1764, after France lost the 7 Years War, Pierre Laclède, the early French families built the citys economy on the fur trade with the Osage, as well as with more distant tribes along the Missouri River. The Chouteau brothers gained a monopoly from Spain on the fur trade with Santa Fe, French colonists used African slaves as domestic servants and workers in the city. In 1780 during the American Revolutionary War, St. Louis was attacked by British forces, mostly Native American allies, the founding of St. Louis began in 1763. Pierre Laclede led an expedition to set up a fur-trading post farther up the Mississippi River, before then, Laclede had been a very successful merchant. For this reason, he and his trading partner Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent were offered monopolies for six years of the fur trading in that area
3.
Jimmy McAleer
–
James Robert Loafer McAleer was an American center fielder, manager, and stockholder in Major League Baseball who assisted in establishing the American League. He spent most of his 13-season playing career with the Cleveland Spiders, and went on to manage the Cleveland Blues, St. Louis Browns, shortly before his retirement, he became a major shareholder in the Boston Red Sox. During his brief tenure as co-owner of the Red Sox, McAleer quarreled with longtime friend and colleague Ban Johnson, in the wake of this disagreement, he sold off his shares in the Red Sox and broke off his relationship with Major League Baseball. McAleers rift with Johnson, along with his retirement, damaged his professional reputation. Today, he is most often remembered for initiating the customary request that the President of the United States throw out the first ball of the season, McAleer was born in Youngstown, Ohio, an industrial center located near the border of western Pennsylvania. His father, Owen McAleer, died at an age, leaving McAleers mother, Mary. The family lived on the citys west side, where the McAleer children were raised to value the concept of formal education, McAleer attended local public schools and graduated from Rayen High School. In later years, all three of the McAleer brothers moved on to careers, and the oldest, Owen McAleer. A strapping six-foot 175-pound outfielder, McAleer won early recognition for his physical speed and he became involved with a Youngstown minor league baseball club in 1882, remaining with the team until 1884. In 1885, McAleer joined another minor league organization in Charleston, South Carolina and his skill as a center fielder was recognized in 1888, while he was playing for a club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Although his primary focus was organized sports, McAleer was also drawn to the field of entertainment, during one season of his minor league career, he became part-owner of the DeHaven Comedy Company, a theatrical road troupe that was organized in Youngstown. His interest in show business remained a constant, and in later years McAleer developed a friendship with Broadway composer and performer George M. Cohan. On April 24,1889, McAleer broke into the Major Leagues in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1891, when Patsy Tebeau became manager of the Cleveland Spiders, the club became known for its aggressive tactics. Tebeau encouraged players to block and hold runners, while he openly challenged and harassed officials. In 1896, the Cleveland manager was jailed for attacking an umpire who decided it was too dark to continue a game, on June 27,1896, McAleer was among several Cleveland players to be fined by a Louisville judge for their role in the incident. Later that year, the clubs notoriety prompted other National League teams to propose a boycott of Cleveland, McAleers periodic displays of temper were in keeping with this rowdy environment. At the same time, McAleer proved a strong performer, a later newspaper account described him as an outstanding outfielder who was blessed with excellent speed. The article noted that McAleers skills as a sprinter helped him steal 51 bases in one year and 41 in another
4.
Baseball
–
Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each, who take turns batting and fielding. A run is scored when a player advances around the bases, Players on the batting team take turns hitting against the pitcher of the fielding team, which tries to prevent runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways. A player on the team who reaches a base safely can later attempt to advance to subsequent bases during teammates turns batting. The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the team records three outs. One turn batting for both teams, beginning with the team, constitutes an inning. A game is composed of nine innings, and the team with the number of runs at the end of the game wins. Baseball has no clock, although almost all games end in the ninth inning. Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century and this game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. By the late 19th century, baseball was widely recognized as the sport of the United States. Baseball is now popular in North America and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, in the United States and Canada, professional Major League Baseball teams are divided into the National League and American League, each with three divisions, East, West, and Central. The major league champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series, the top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League. The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games is difficult to trace with precision, a French manuscript from 1344 contains an illustration of clerics playing a game, possibly la soule, with similarities to baseball. Other old French games such as thèque, la balle au bâton, consensus once held that todays baseball is a North American development from the older game rounders, popular in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It, A Search for the Roots of the Game, by David Block, suggests that the game originated in England, recently uncovered historical evidence supports this position. Block argues that rounders and early baseball were actually regional variants of other. It has long believed that cricket also descended from such games. The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, David Block discovered that the first recorded game of Bass-Ball took place in 1749 in Surrey, and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. William Bray, an English lawyer, recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford and this early form of the game was apparently brought to Canada by English immigrants
5.
1909 Detroit Tigers season
–
The 1909 Detroit Tigers won the American League pennant with a record of 96–56, but lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1909 World Series,4 games to 3. The season was their 9th since they were members of the American League in 1901. It was the third season in which they won the pennant. Center fielder Ty Cobb won the Triple Crown and pitcher George Mullin led the league in wins, catching duties were split between Boss Schmidt and Oscar Stanage. Schmidt hit.265 in 1908, but his average dropped to.209 in 1909. As a young man, Schmidt worked in the mines and was a skilled brawler who fought an exhibition match with the heavyweight champion. Schmidt also beat Ty Cobb in at least two fights, in the second fight, Schmidt knocked Cobb unconscious but admired Cobbs resiliency, and the two became friends until Schmidts death in 1932. Schmidt never wore shinguards and could force nails into the floor with his bare fists, Stanage played for the Tigers from 1909 to 1920, catching 1,074 games for Detroit—second only to Bill Freehan in team history. Stanage was a weak hitter but one of the best defensive catchers of the dead-ball era, known for his strong throwing arm, Stanage threw out more baserunners than any other catcher in the 1910s. Stanage still holds the American League record for most assists by a catcher, with 212 in 1911, Stanage was not as skilled with the glove, his 41 errors in 1911 was the most by a catcher for the 20th Century. First baseman Claude Rossman played for the Tigers from 1907 to 1909, in 1908, Rossman had the best year of his career with 33 doubles,219 total bases, and 48 extra base hits. On August 20,1909, the Tigers traded him to the St. Louis Browns for Tom Jones, Rossman had a peculiar emotional quirk where he sometimes froze and could not throw the ball when he became excited. Runners would lead off first to draw a throw from the pitcher and he was 28 when he played his last major league game and died at age 46 in a New York hospital for the insane where he had been a patient for several years. Second baseman Germany Schaefer was traded by the Tigers to the Washington Senators during the 1909 season for Jim Delahanty. Schaefer is remembered more for his antics than for his performance on the field, including trying to steal first base and, coming to bat in the rain with a raincoat and boots. In 1919, a little over a year after Schaefer played his last game, he died at age 42 of tuberculosis at the sanitarium in Saranac Lake, Jim Delahanty took over at second base from Germany Schaefer in 1909. He played all seven games of the 1909 World Series, batting.346 with 4 RBIs, donie Bush was Detroits starting shortstop for thirteen seasons from 1909 to 1921. His 52 sacrifice hits is the fourth highest single season total in league history
6.
Rube Waddell
–
George Edward Rube Waddell was an American southpaw pitcher in Major League Baseball. Born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, Waddell was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946, Waddell was a remarkably dominant strikeout pitcher in an era when batters mostly slapped at the ball to get singles. He had an excellent fastball, a curve, a screwball. He led the leagues in strikeouts for six consecutive years. Born in 1876 outside of Bradford, Pennsylvania, Waddell grew up in the country, biographer Alan Levy writes that Waddell was a decidedly different sort of child. At the age of three, he wandered over to a fire station and stayed for several days. Waddell did not attend school very often, but he was considered to be literate and he strengthened his arm as a child by throwing rocks at birds he encountered while plowing the familys land. He also worked on mining and drilling sites as a youngster, Waddells career wound through a number of teams. Waddell was unpredictable – early in his career, he would leave mid-game to go fishing and he had a longstanding fascination with fire trucks and had run off the field to chase after them during games. He performed as a wrestler in the offseason. He was easily distracted by opposing fans who held up puppies and shiny objects, an alcoholic for much of his short adult life, Waddell reportedly spent his entire first signing bonus on a drinking binge. Waddells eccentric behavior led to constant battles with his managers and scuffles with bad-tempered teammates and his first pro contract was with Louisville, pitching two league games and a couple of exhibitions with the team at the end of the 1897 season. When the season ended, he was lent to the Detroit Wolverines of the Western League to gain professional experience and he rejoined Louisville in the final month of the 1899 season and won seven of nine decisions. When the National League contracted to eight teams for the 1900 season, Louisville ownership bought the Pittsburgh franchise, louisvilles top players, including Waddell, Honus Wagner, Fred Clarke and others, were transferred to Pittsburgh. Waddell debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1900, leading the National League in ERA, on August 19, Waddell pitched the first game of a doubleheader for Milwaukee, winning in the 17th inning on his own triple. His manager, Connie Mack, offered Waddell a three-day fishing vacation if he agreed to pitch the second game, Waddell threw 5 scoreless innings for the victory, and headed to Pewaukee Lake for fishing. However, his behavior led manager Fred Clarke to suspend him. Milwaukee was in the newly named American League, formerly known as the Western League, when Waddell displayed his prowess for Milwaukee, Pittsburgh management asked for Rubes return
7.
American League
–
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League, is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a league based in the Great Lakes states. It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season,25 years after the formation of the National League. At the end of season, the American League champion plays in the World Series against the National League champion. Through 2016, American League teams have won 64 of the 112 World Series played since 1903, the 2016 American League champions are the Cleveland Indians. The New York Yankees have won 40 American League titles, the most in the history, followed by the Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics. Originally a minor league known as the Western League, the American League later developed into a major league after the American Association disbanded, in its early history, the Western League struggled until 1894, when Ban Johnson became the president of the league. Johnson led the Western League into major league status and soon became the president of the newly renamed American League, babe Ruth, noted as one of the most prolific hitters in Major League Baseball history, spent the majority of his career in the American League. The American League has one notable difference versus the National League, in 1902, the Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis and were renamed the St. Louis Browns. In 1902, The Cleveland Bluebirds were also renamed the Cleveland Broncos, in 1903, the Broncos were renamed the Cleveland Naps. In 1915, the Naps were renamed the Cleveland Indians, in 1903, the Baltimore Orioles moved to New York and were renamed the New York Highlanders. In 1913, the Highlanders were renamed the New York Yankees, in 1904, the Chicago White Stockings were renamed the Chicago White Sox. In 1908, the Boston Americans were renamed the Boston Red Sox, in 1954, the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and were renamed as the Baltimore Orioles. In 1955, the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City and were renamed as the Kansas City Athletics, in 1961, the league expanded and added two teams as the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators, expanding the league to 10 teams. The original Senators team moved to Minneapolis/St, Paul in 1961 and were renamed as the Minnesota Twins. The Angels team name changed to the California Angels in 1966, then to the Anaheim Angels in 1997, the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots were added to the American League, expanding the league to 12 teams. In 1970, the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee and were renamed the Milwaukee Brewers, in 1972, the Washington Senators relocated to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and were renamed the Texas Rangers. In 1977, the league expanded to fourteen teams, when the Seattle Mariners, in 1998, the Tampa Bay Rays was added to the American League and at the same time, the Milwaukee Brewers were switched to the National League, leaving the American League with 14 teams
8.
Road (sports)
–
A road game or away game is a sports game where the specified team is not the host and must travel to another venue. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions, each team has a location where it practices during the season and where it hosts games. When a team is not the host, it must travel to games. Thus, when a team is not hosting a game, the team is described as the team, the visiting team, or the away team. The venue in which the game is played is described as the stadium or the road. The host team is said to be the home team, major sporting events, if not held at a neutral venue, are often over several legs at each teams home ground, so that neither team has an advantage over the other. Occasionally, the team may not have to travel very far at all to a road game. These matches often become local derbies, a few times a year, a road team may even be lucky enough to have the road game played at their own home stadium or arena. This is prevalent in college athletics where many schools will play in regional leagues or groundshare. The related term true road game has seen increasing use in U. S. college sports in the 21st century, while regular-season tournaments and other special events have been part of college sports from their creation, the 21st century has seen a proliferation of such events. These are typically held at sites, with some of them taking place outside the contiguous U. S. or even outside the country entirely. In turn, this has led to the use of true road game to refer to contests played at one home venue. In some association football leagues, particularly in Europe, the teams fans sit in their own section. Depending on the stadium, they will either sit in a designated section or be separated from the home fans by a cordon of police officers. However, in the leagues in England, supporters may be free to mix. When games are played at a site, for instance the FA Cup final in England which is always played at Wembley Stadium. This results in each team occupying one half of the stadium and this is different from other sports, particularly in North America, where very few fans travel to games played away from their home stadium. Home and away fans are not separated at these games
9.
Claude Rossman
–
Claude R. Rossman was an American baseball player. He appeared in 511 major league games and compiled a.283 batting average, Rossman was born in Philmont, New York, in 1881. Rossman began playing baseball in 1903 in the Connecticut League and was with Holyoke in 1903 and 1904. He was drafted by the Cleveland Naps but was sent to the Naps minor league team in Des Moines in 1905, Rossman finally made it to the major leagues in September 1904, playing 16 games in right field for the Naps in the closing weeks of the season. Rossman did not play in the majors in 1905 but won a spot as the Naps starting first baseman in 1906 and he hit.308 in 118 games with 53 RBIs. Rossmans.308 average in 1906 was 8th best in the American League, in December 1906, the Naps sold Rossman to the Detroit Tigers. Rossman had a season for the Tigers in 1907, playing 153 games at first base. He was among the 1907 American League leaders in RBIs, hits, total bases, Rossman also excelled in the 1907 World Series, batting.474 with a.579 slugging percentage,9 hits,2 RBIs and a run. Unfortunately for the Tigers, their two biggest hitting stars, Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford, did not come through, hitting.200, Rossman had as many hits and triples in the 1907 World Series as Cobb and Crawford combined. In 1908, Rossman had the best year of his career, in the 1908 World Series, Rossman had two hits and 3 RBIs in another losing effort to the Chicago Cubs. Batting behind Ty Cobb in the Detroit lineup, Rossman had a talent for laying down bunts. Rossman was so proficient at bunting that Cobb was regularly able to streak from first to base on Rossmans bunts. Rossman was also involved in an incident involving Ty Cobb. With the Tigers and Athletics in a pennant race in 1907, when Sam Crawford misplayed a fly ball in the 14th inning, the Tigers claimed that a Philadelphia policeman had interfered with Crawford. Cobb tried to provoke things further by telling Rossman that Monte Cross of the As had called Rossman a Jew bastard, Rossman punched Cross and was both ejected from the game and arrested by the Philadelphia police. As the situation escalated into a near-riot, plate umpire Silk Loughlin ruled that Crawford had been interfered with, Cobb later called this game his most thrilling, and his anti-Semitic baiting of Rossman played a key role in the incident. On August 20,1909, with Rossman batting.261 in his season in Detroit. Rossman played in only 2 games for the Browns, his last major league game occurring on September 3,1909, Rossman continued to play professionally in the American Association after leaving the Browns
10.
1909 Philadelphia Athletics season
–
The 1909 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the As finishing second in the American League with a record of 95 wins and 59 losses. The As also moved into the majors first concrete-and-steel ballpark, Shibe Park, in 1909, the As were wearing an elephant logo on their sweaters. Note, Pos = Position, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg. = Batting average, HR = Home runs, RBI = Runs batted in Note, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg. baseball-almanac. com
