1.
Boston
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Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Boston is also the seat of Suffolk County, although the county government was disbanded on July 1,1999. The city proper covers 48 square miles with a population of 667,137 in 2015, making it the largest city in New England. Alternately, as a Combined Statistical Area, this wider commuting region is home to some 8.1 million people, One of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston was founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England. It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. Upon U. S. independence from Great Britain, it continued to be an important port and manufacturing hub as well as a center for education, through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the original peninsula. Its rich history attracts many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone drawing over 20 million visitors per year, Bostons many firsts include the United States first public school, Boston Latin School, first subway system, the Tremont Street Subway, and first public park, Boston Common. Bostons economic base also includes finance, professional and business services, biotechnology, information technology, the city has one of the highest costs of living in the United States as it has undergone gentrification, though it remains high on world livability rankings. Bostons early European settlers had first called the area Trimountaine but later renamed it Boston after Boston, Lincolnshire, England, the renaming on September 7,1630 was by Puritan colonists from England who had moved over from Charlestown earlier that year in quest of fresh water. Their settlement was limited to the Shawmut Peninsula, at that time surrounded by the Massachusetts Bay and Charles River. The peninsula is thought to have been inhabited as early as 5000 BC, in 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Colonys first governor John Winthrop led the signing of the Cambridge Agreement, a key founding document of the city. Puritan ethics and their focus on education influenced its early history, over the next 130 years, the city participated in four French and Indian Wars, until the British defeated the French and their Indian allies in North America. Boston was the largest town in British America until Philadelphia grew larger in the mid-18th century, Bostons harbor activity was significantly curtailed by the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812. Foreign trade returned after these hostilities, but Bostons merchants had found alternatives for their investments in the interim. Manufacturing became an important component of the economy, and the citys industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance by the mid-19th century. Boston remained one of the nations largest manufacturing centers until the early 20th century, a network of small rivers bordering the city and connecting it to the surrounding region facilitated shipment of goods and led to a proliferation of mills and factories. Later, a network of railroads furthered the regions industry. Boston was a port of the Atlantic triangular slave trade in the New England colonies
2.
1890 Boston Reds season
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The 1890 Boston Reds baseball team was a member of the short-lived Players League. They compiled an 81–47 record and won the league championship, after the season, the league folded, but the Reds were invited to join the American Association for the following season. Note, Pos = Position, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, = Batting average, HR = Home runs, RBI = Runs batted in Note, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg
3.
Congress Street Grounds
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Congress Street Grounds is a former baseball ground located in Boston, Massachusetts. The ground was home to the Boston Reds, that played in the Players League in 1890, although a short-lived facility, the ballpark witnessed some significant history. First, its occupants won league pennants in their two years of existence, despite its success, the club was dropped during the NL-AA merger of 1892, as there was already an NL entry in Boston. Congress Street Grounds was also a name for the first of the Chicago ballparks called West Side Park. SABRs Baseball Biography Project Project Ballpark An 1899 map showing the site of the grounds
4.
Arthur Irwin
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Arthur Albert Irwin, nicknamed Doc, Sandy, Cutrate or Foxy, was a Canadian-American shortstop and manager in Major League Baseball during the late nineteenth century. He played regularly in the leagues for eleven years, spending two of those seasons as a player-manager. He played on the 1884 Providence Grays team that won the first interleague series to decide the champions of baseball. Irwin then served as a major league manager for several years, Irwin occupied numerous baseball roles in the later years of his career. He spent time as a baseball coach, a major league scout and business manager, a minor league owner and manager. For most of Irwins career, the collegiate and professional baseball schedules allowed him to positions at both levels in the same year. Irwin also produced several innovations that impacted sports and he took the field with the first baseball fielders glove, invented a type of football scoreboard, promoted motor-paced cycling tracks and ran a short-lived professional soccer league. Irwin became terminally ill with cancer in the last weeks of his life, shortly after his death from an apparent suicide, Irwin made headlines when it was discovered that two wives and families survived him in separate cities. He had been married to one woman since the 1880s and to the other since the 1890s and he was posthumously elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Arthur Irwin was born in 1858 in Toronto, Ontario, to an Irish blacksmith, as a child, he moved with his family to Boston and attended school there. He played local amateur baseball from 1873 until he was recruited by the Worcester Ruby Legs of the National Association in 1879, in late 1879, manager Frank Bancroft took Irwin and most of the other Worcester players on a baseball tour that included visits to New Orleans and Cuba. The team, which traveled under the name of the Hop Bitters, the team may have played as few as two games in Cuba. Irwins major league career began when the Ruby Legs moved into the National League in 1880 and he led the league in assists in his rookie season, and remained with the team through 1882, when it folded due to poor attendance. Irwin spent three seasons with the Providence Grays, and was captain and starting shortstop of the 1884 Providence team that became world champions. The 1884 Grays featured star pitchers Charles Radbourn and Charlie Sweeney, the club folded after a fourth-place finish in 1885. Irwin moved on to the newly formed Philadelphia Quakers in 1886, tragedy struck the Philadelphia squad in 1888 when pitcher Charlie Ferguson developed typhoid fever, he died at Irwins home. During the 1889 season, Irwin went to the Washington Nationals for his first opportunity as player-manager and he played for the Boston Reds in the Players League in 1890. That same year, Irwin coached the team at Dartmouth College
5.
King Kelly
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He spent the majority of his 16-season playing career with the Chicago White Stockings and the Boston Beaneaters. He is also credited with helping to popularize various strategies as a player such as the hit and run, the hook slide. In only the vote since its creation in 1939 the Old Timers Committee elected Kelly to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945. Also, he seems to have been the first big leaguer to successfully cut a base, and, Kelly could have been the first to foul off lots of pitches on purpose. Doing so was a top trick of some Baltimore players of the 1890s, at the turn of the century, that trick was defused when all foul balls began counting as strikes. Kellys autobiography Play Ball was published while he was with the Beaneaters in 1888, Kelly also became a vaudeville performer during his playing career, first performing in Boston where he would recite the now-famous baseball poem Casey at the Bat, sometimes butchering it. Kellys baserunning innovations are also the subject of the hit 1889 song entitled Slide, Kelly, Slide, Kelly was born in Troy, New York to Michael Kelly Sr. and his wife Catharine, both Irish immigrants. Upon the outbreak of the American Civil War, his father joined the Union Army, after the war, his ill father moved the family to Paterson, New Jersey. Kellys parents apparently died within five years of each other. A best guess, based on tracking Paterson city directories, is that his father died around 1871, and his mother around 1876, according to the 1870 census, a Michael Kelly of his age was working in a silk mill in Paterson as of that year. From 1875 to 1877, he played three seasons as a semi-pro, in Paterson and then other cities, in 1877, he was with the Paterson Olympics until around June 10, when he joined the Delawares of Port Jervis, N. Y. In mid-July, a Paterson paper said he had signed with a Springfield, Ohio, a few weeks later, Port Jervis had not played again when he signed with the celebrated Buckeye club of Columbus, Ohio. He made his big debut in 1878 with Cincinnati. In 1877, Kellys friend Jim McCormick was signed to play for the Columbus Buckeyes of the International Association, the year after that, Kelly signed to play for the Cincinnati Reds, then known as the Red Stockings. Although the concept would later, Mike Kelly was now a major leaguer. After playing in Cincinnati for two years as an outfielder and backup catcher, Cincinnati and Chicago White Stockings players went on a tour of California, while there, Chicago secured him for 1880, then-Chicago Secretary Albert Spalding doing the signing. Later from San Francisco, Kelly wrote Spalding, who was back in Chicago, Cincinnati had fallen on hard times by 1879 and released all their players at the end of that season to save having to pay them a last paycheck. As of 1879, Chicago was the most important city financially in the National League, Kelly was now a young, good-looking man in the big city with money in his pocket
6.
Baseball
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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
7.
National League
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Both leagues currently have 15 teams. The two league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the inaugural World Series, after the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement, the two leagues formalized the World Series as an arrangement between the leagues. National League teams have won 48 of the 112 World Series contested from 1903 to 2016, the 2016 National League champions are the Chicago Cubs. By 1875, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was dangerously weak, additionally, Hulbert had a problem—five of his star players were threatened with expulsion from the NAPBBP because Hulbert had signed them to his club using what were considered questionable means. Hulbert had a vested interest in creating his own league. After recruiting St. Louis privately, four western clubs met in Louisville, Kentucky, Boston Red Stockings, the dominant team in the N. A. Hartford Dark Blues from the N. A. Mutual of New York from the N. A. St. Louis Brown Stockings from the N. A, the only strong club from 1875 excluded in 1876 was a second one in Philadelphia, often called the White Stockings or Phillies. The first game in National League history was played on April 22,1876, at Philadelphias Jefferson Street Grounds, 25th & Jefferson, the new leagues authority was tested after the first season. The National League operated with six clubs during 1877 and 1878, over the next several years, various teams joined and left the struggling league. By 1880, six of the eight members had folded. The two remaining original NL franchises, Boston and Chicago, remain in operation today as the Atlanta Braves, in 1883 the New York Gothams and Philadelphia Phillies began National League play. Both teams remain in the NL today, the Phillies in their original city, the NL encountered its first strong rival organization when the American Association began play in 1882. The A. A. played in cities where the NL did not have teams, offered Sunday games and alcoholic beverages in locales where permitted, the National League and the American Association participated in a version of the World Series seven times during their ten-year coexistence. These contests were less organized than the modern Series, lasting as few as three games and as many as fifteen, with two Series ending in disputed ties, the NL won four times and the A. A. only once, in 1886. Starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1887, the National League began to raid the American Association for franchises to replace NL teams that folded and this undercut the stability of the A. A. Other new leagues that rose to compete with the National League were the Union Association, the Union Association was established in 1884 and folded after playing only one season, its league champion St. Louis Maroons joining the NL. The NL suffered many defections of star players to the Players League, the Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York franchises of the NL absorbed their Players League counterparts. The labor strife of 1890 hastened the downfall of the American Association, after the 1891 season, the A. A. disbanded and merged with the NL, which became known legally for the next decade as the National League and American Association
8.
Atlanta Braves
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The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball franchise based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The franchise competes in Major League Baseball as a member of the National League East division, the Braves played home games at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium from 1966 to 1996, and Turner Field from 1997 to 2016. Since 2017, their stadium has been SunTrust Park, a new stadium 10 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta in Cumberland/Galleria, Georgia. The Braves play spring training games in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, in January 2017, the Braves announced a formal agreement to move their spring training home to North Port, Florida. The Braves name, which was first used in 1912, originates from a term for a Native American warrior, from 1991 to 2005, the Braves were one of the most successful franchises in baseball, winning division titles an unprecedented 14 consecutive times in that period. The Braves won the NL West 1991–93 and the NL East 1995–2005, the Braves advanced to the World Series five times in the 1990s, winning the title in 1995. The Braves are the only Major League Baseball franchise to have won the World Series in three different home cities, the Braves and the Chicago Cubs are the National Leagues two remaining charter franchises. The Braves were founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1871, the team states it is the oldest continuously operating professional sports franchise in America. After various name changes, the team began operating as the Boston Braves. Then, in 1953, the moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The teams tenure in Atlanta is noted for Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruths career home run record in 1974, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, established in 1869 as the first openly all-professional baseball team, voted to dissolve after the 1870 season. The original Boston Red Stockings team and its successors can lay claim to being the oldest continuously playing team in American professional sports. Two young players hired away from the Forest City club of Rockford, Illinois, turned out to be the biggest stars during the NAPBBP years, pitcher Al Spalding and second baseman Ross Barnes. Led by the Wright brothers, Barnes, and Spalding, the Red Stockings dominated the National Association, the team became one of the National Leagues charter franchises in 1876, sometimes called the Red Caps. The Boston Red Caps played in the first game in the history of the National League, on Saturday, April 22,1876, defeating the Athletics, although somewhat stripped of talent in the National Leagues inaugural year, Boston bounced back to win the 1877 and 1878 pennants. The Red Caps/Beaneaters were one of the dominant teams during the 19th century. For most of time, their manager was Frank Selee. Boston came to be called the Beaneaters in 1883, while retaining red as the team color, the 1898 team finished 102–47, a club record for wins that would stand for almost a century
9.
Boston baked beans
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Boston baked beans are a variety of baked beans, typically sweetened with molasses or maple syrup, and flavored with salt pork or bacon. Native Americans had made corn bread and baked beans, the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony learned these recipes in the early 1620s and likely added barley to the corn meal to invent New England brown bread. The Triangular Trade of slaves in the 18th century helped to make Boston an exporter of rum, at that time, molasses was added to local baked bean recipes, creating Boston Baked Beans. In colonial New England, baked beans were cooked on Saturdays. On Sundays, the beans were still hot, allowing people to indulge in a hot meal, brown bread and baked beans were a popular meal on Saturdays and Sundays in Massachusetts until at least the 1930s. Cholent List of regional dishes of the United States Original Boston Baked Beans, the Greenwood encyclopedia of American regional cultures. The Diners Dictionary, Word Origins of Food and Drink
10.
Pennant (sports)
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A pennant is a commemorative flag typically used to show support for a particular athletic team. Pennants have been used in all types of athletic levels, high school, collegiate. Traditionally, pennants were made of felt and fashioned in the colors of a particular team. Often graphics, usually the mascot symbol, as well as the name were displayed on pennants. The images displayed on pennants were either stitched on with contrasting colored felt or had screen-printing, today, vintage pennants with rare images or honoring special victories have become prized collectibles for sporting enthusiasts. While pennants are typically associated with teams, pennants have also been made to honor institutions and vacation spots. In Major League Baseball, a pennant typically refers to such a flag flown specifically by the National League or American League championship team of a given season, the last few weeks of the regular American professional baseball season are known as a pennant race. This is a holdover from the time when the championships were determined by the team with the best record at the end of the regular season. In Australian sports, the flag is used in the same context. The pennant is waved around in the crowd to support to the sport team they are cheering for
11.
St. Louis Cardinals
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The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. Busch Stadium has been their home ballpark since 2006, with origins as one of the early professional baseball clubs in St. Upon the discontinuation of the AA, St. Louis joined the NL in 1892, at time, they were called the Browns. One of the most successful franchises in history, the Cardinals have won 11 World Series championships. Their 19 National League pennants rank third in NL history, in addition, St. Louis has won 13 division titles in the East and Central divisions. While still in the AA, St. Louis won four league championships, the Cardinals have won 105 or more games in four different seasons and won 100 or more a total of nine times. Cardinals players have won 20 league MVPs, four batting Triple Crowns, and three Cy Young Awards. Baseball Hall of Fame inductees include Lou Brock, Dizzy Dean, Bob Gibson, Whitey Herzog, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Medwick, Stan Musial, Branch Rickey, Red Schoendienst, Ozzie Smith, and Bruce Sutter. In 2016, Forbes valued the Cardinals at $1.6 billion, making them the 7th-most valuable franchise in MLB, their revenue the year was $300 million. Since their purchase in 1995, owner William DeWitt, Jr. s investment group has seen enormous growth from the $147 million purchase price, John Mozeliak is the general manager and Mike Matheny is the manager. Professional baseball began in St. Louis with the inception of the Brown Stockings in the National Association in 1875, the NA folded following that season, and the next season, St. Louis joined the National League as a charter member, finishing in third place at 45-19. George Bradley hurled the first no-hitter in Major League history, the NL expelled St. Louis from the league after 1877 due to a game-fixing scandal and the team went bankrupt. Without a league, they continued play as a barnstorming team through 1881. For the 1882 season, Chris von der Ahe purchased the team, reorganized it, and made it a member of the American Association. 1882 is generally considered to be the first year existence of the St. Louis Cardinals, the next season, St. Louis shortened their name to the Browns. Soon thereafter they became the dominant team in the AA, as manager Charlie Comiskey guided St. Louis to four pennants in a row from 1885 to 1888. Pitcher and outfielder Bob Caruthers led the league in ERA and wins in 1885 and he also led the AA in OBP and OPS in 1886 and finished fourth in batting average in 1886 and fifth in 1887
12.
History of the Brooklyn Dodgers
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The teams name derived from the reputed skill of Brooklyn residents at evading the citys trolley streetcar network. The team is noted for signing Jackie Robinson in 1947 as the first black player in the major leagues. Brooklyn was home to numerous clubs in the mid-1850s. Eight of 16 participants in the first convention were from Brooklyn, including the Atlantic, Eckford, Brooklyn helped make baseball commercial, as the locale of the first paid admission games, a series of three all star contests matching New York and Brooklyn in 1858. The Excelsiors no longer challenged for the championship after the Civil War. The Eckfords and Atlantics declined to join until 1872 and thereby lost their best players, the Eckfords survived only one season and the Atlantics four, with losing teams. When the Mutuals were expelled by the league, the Hartford Dark Blues club moved in, changed its name to The Brooklyn Hartfords and played its home games at Union Grounds in 1877 before disbanding. Byrne arranged to build a grandstand on a lot bounded by Third Street, Fourth Avenue, Fifth Street, and Fifth Avenue, the Grays played in the minor Inter-State Association of Professional Baseball Clubs that first season. Doyle became the first team manager, and they drew 6,431 fans to their first home game on May 12,1883 against the Trenton team. The Grays won the title after the Camden Merritt club disbanded on July 20. The Grays were invited to join the American Association for the 1884 season and they lost the 1889 World Series to the New York Giants and tied the 1890 World Series with the Louisville Colonels. Their success during this period was partly attributed to their having absorbed skilled players from the defunct New York Metropolitans, in 1899, the Grays merged with the Baltimore Orioles, as Baltimore manager Ned Hanlon became the clubs new manager and Charles Ebbets became the primary team owner. The team name, Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers, was coined in 1895, the nickname was still new enough in September 1895 that a newspaper could report that Trolley Dodgers is the new name which eastern baseball cranks have given the Brooklyn club. Some sources erroneously report that the name Trolley Dodgers referred to pedestrians avoiding fast cars on street car tracks that bordered Eastern Park on two sides, however, Eastern Park was not bordered by street-level trolley lines that had to be dodged by pedestrians. The name was shortened to Brooklyn Dodgers. Other team names used by the franchise that finally came to be called the Dodgers were the Grooms, the Bridegrooms, Wards Wonders, the Superbas, and the Robins. All of these nicknames were used by fans and newspaper sports writers to describe the team, the teams legal name was the Brooklyn Base Ball Club. However, the Trolley Dodgers nickname was used throughout this period, along with nicknames, by fans
13.
History of the Boston Braves
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The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, the Boston Franchise played at South End Grounds from 1871 to 1914 and at Braves Field from 1915 to 1952. Braves Field is now Nickerson Field of Boston University, the franchise, from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta, is the oldest continuous professional baseball franchise. The Cincinnati Red Stockings, established in 1869 as the first openly all-professional baseball team, the original Boston Red Stockings team and its successors can lay claim to being the oldest continuously playing team in American professional sports. Two young players hired away from the Forest City club of Rockford, Illinois, turned out to be the biggest stars during the NAPBBP years, pitcher Al Spalding and second baseman Ross Barnes. Led by the Wright brothers, Barnes, and Spalding, the Red Stockings dominated the National Association, the team became one of the National Leagues charter franchises in 1876, sometimes called the Red Caps. Boston came to be called the Beaneaters by sportswriters in 1883, although somewhat stripped of talent in the National Leagues inaugural year, Boston bounced back to win the 1877 and 1878 pennants. The Red Caps/Beaneaters were one of the dominant teams during the 19th century. For most of time, their manager was Frank Selee. The 1898 team finished 102-47, a record for wins that would stand for almost a century. The team was decimated when the American Leagues new Boston entry set up shop in 1901, many of the Beaneaters stars jumped to the new team, which offered contracts that the Beaneaters owners didnt even bother to match. They only managed one winning season from 1900 to 1913, in 1907, the Beaneaters eliminated the last bit of red from their stockings because their manager thought the red dye could cause wounds to become infected. The American League clubs owner, Charles Taylor, wasted time in changing his teams name to the Red Sox in place of the generic Americans. The all-white outfits gave rise to the sobriquet Doves in 1907, however, clever monikers did nothing to change the National League clubs luck. The team adopted a name, the Braves, for the first time in 1912. Their owner, James Gaffney, was a member of New York Citys political machine, Tammany Hall, two years later, the Braves put together one of the most memorable seasons in baseball history. After a dismal 4-18 start, the Braves seemed to be on pace for a last place finish, on July 4,1914, the Braves lost both games of a doubleheader to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The consecutive losses put their record at 26-40 and the Braves were in last place,15 games behind the league-leading New York Giants, who had won the previous three league pennants
14.
World Series
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The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball in North America, contested since 1903 between the American League champion team and the National League champion team. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a playoff. As the series is played in October, during the season in North America. As of 2016, the World Series has been contested 112 times, with the AL winning 64, the 2016 World Series took place between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs. Seven games were played, with the Cubs victorious after game seven, the final score was 8–7, the game went into extra innings after a tied score of 6–6. This was the third World Series won by the Cubs, as well as their first title since 1908, in the National League, the St. As of 2016, no team has won consecutive World Series championships since the New York Yankees in 1998,1999, all championships were awarded to the team with the best record at the end of the season, without a postseason series being played. From 1884 to 1890, the National League and the American Association faced each other in a series of games at the end of the season to determine an overall champion. These series were disorganized in comparison to the modern World Series, the number of games played ranged from as few as three in 1884, to a high of fifteen in 1887. Both the 1885 and 1890 Series ended in ties, each team having won three games with one tie game, the series was promoted and referred to as The Championship of the United States, Worlds Championship Series, or Worlds Series for short. In his book Krakatoa, The Day the World Exploded, August 27,1883, Simon Winchester mentions in passing that the World Series was named for the New York World newspaper, but this view is disputed. Until about 1960, some sources treated the 19th-century Series on a basis with the post-19th-century series. After about 1930, however, many authorities list the start of the World Series in 1903, following the collapse of the American Association after the 1891 season, the National League was again the only major league. The league championship was awarded in 1892 by a playoff between half-season champions and this scheme was abandoned after one season. Beginning in 1893—and continuing until divisional play was introduced in 1969—the pennant was awarded to the club in the standings at the end of the season. For four seasons, 1894–1897, the league played the runners-up in the post season championship series called the Temple Cup. A second attempt at this format was the Chronicle-Telegraph Cup series, in 1901, the American League was formed as a second major league. No championship series were played in 1901 or 1902 as the National and these series were arranged by the participating clubs, as the 1880s Worlds Series matches had been
15.
South End Grounds
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South End Grounds refers to any one of three baseball parks on one site in Boston, Massachusetts. They were home to the franchise that became known as the Boston Braves, first in the National Association and later in the National League. At least in its edition, the formal name of the park. It was located on the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Walpole Street, accordingly, it was also known over the years as Walpole Street Grounds, two other names were Union Baseball Grounds and simply Boston Baseball Grounds. Over time the team acquired other informal nicknames, such as Beaneaters, Red Caps, Rustlers and this team eventually adopted the official nickname Braves, just a few years before abandoning South End Grounds. With its tight foul lines and expansive center field, like a version of the Polo Grounds, it was sometimes said that the South End had no right or left field. South End Grounds was rebuilt twice during its lifetime, the first time by choice, the first South End Grounds was opened on May 16,1871. The last game was played on September 10,1887, the ballparks stands were demolished later that month to make way for a new structure. The second South End Grounds was opened on May 25,1888, the medieval-style witchs cap turrets were a very popular decoration on public seating structures of the 1880s and 1890s. The ballpark seated 6,800 by one estimate and it was the only double-decked baseball stadium ever built in Boston, apart from the rooftop seating which has turned the single-decked Fenway Park into a de facto double-deck ballpark. During the rebuilding process, the Bostons played their games at Congress Street Grounds. The third South End Grounds was built in ten weeks on the site of the old stand, because the previous structure had not been sufficiently insured, there wasnt enough money to rebuild the stands according to its old plans, and a smaller structure was built. Few photographs of this ballpark seem to be in circulation and that image can be seen above this text. The Braves moved out of the South End Grounds after their game on August 11,1914 to accommodate larger crowds during the drive of the 1914 pennant race. The team continued to play at Fenway Park until Braves Field was completed during the 1915 season, the stadium was demolished after the Braves left. The parking lot between Northeastern Universitys Columbus Parking Garage and Ruggles Station of the Orange Line of the MBTA now stands on the site of the grandstand. The outfield was located where the garage stands
16.
Bobby Lowe
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Robert Lincoln Bobby Lowe, nicknamed Link, was an American Major League Baseball player, coach and scout. He played for the Boston Beaneaters, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Lowe was the first player in Major League history to hit four home runs in a game, a feat which he accomplished in May 1894. He also tied or set Major League records with 17 total bases in a single game, Lowe was a versatile player who played at every position but was principally known as a second baseman. When he retired in 1907, his career fielding average of.953 at second base was the highest in Major League history, Lowe also worked as a baseball manager, coach and scout. He was the player-manager of the Detroit Tigers during the last half of the 1904 season and he was also a player-manager for the Grand Rapids Wolverines in 1908, and coached college baseball in 1907 for the University of Michigan and from 1909 to 1910 for Washington & Jefferson College. Lowe was a scout for the Detroit Tigers in 1911 and 1912, Lowe was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in July 1865, two months after the end of the American Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. His middle name Lincoln likely derives from the historic circumstances immediately preceding his birth, Lowes father, Robert L. Lowe, was a Pennsylvania native and a railroad engineer. His mother, Jane Lowe was an immigrant from Ireland, by 1880, Lowes father had died and at age 15 he was living with his mother and three siblings in Union Township. In 1881, Lowe was working as an office devil at the Newcastle Courant, in the summer of 1881, at age 16, he played in a baseball game between the printers and the doctors of New Castle. Charley Powers, who played minor league baseball, was working as a compositor at the Courant and was selected as the captain of the printers, Lowe pleaded for a place on the team, and Powers stationed him in right field. He later recalled that the kid carried off the honors both in the field and at the bat, I saw at once that he was a born ballplayer. In 1882, Lowe played with the Archie Reeds, a baseball club in New Castle. He left his job with the Courant in 1883 and, at age 18 and he was the sole support at the time for his mother and youngest sister, Olive, and gave up baseball for several years. Some accounts indicate he also played for Witherows plant baseball team, in 1886, Charley Powers organized a baseball club in New Castle and persuaded Lowes employer to allow him to play with the club occasionally. He played catcher and third base for New Castle in 1886, Powers and Lowe both signed to play with the Eau Claire, Wisconsin team in the Northwestern League during the summer of 1887. Powers later recalled that the manager of the Eau Claire club, Abe Devine, ran a saloon and refused to use Lowe because he refused to patronize his saloon. Devine sent him back to New Castle, declaring, That boy cant play ball, Lowe was put into the lineup in a game against Milwaukee and drew cheers from the crowd for his defensive play at third base. In his first at bat, he hit a home run off Varney Anderson that sailed far over the center field fence
