Please Stand By; The Trouble You Are Experiencing Is Not In Your Set

A power outage on Monday really did a number on my 5-year old desktop.  I suspect the Department of Homeland Security remotely disabled my surge protector.  

In other sci-fi news, this Saturday night as you rest in preparation of a 48-hour marathon of Easter services, Easter brunches, Easter egg hunts, Easter dinners and then the grandest holiday of them all - Reds Opening Day, you can relax in front of your 800-inch flat-screen televisions and watch the season premiere of Doctor Who on BBC America.  What?  You don't get BBC America?  Demand it!  (credit; Neil Cavuto).  2013 marks the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, the greatest television series not featuring a Ferrari-driving Hawaiian private investigator or weekly baseball highlight show hosted by Mel Allen or Cincinnati radio station and its wacky staff and management.  What better way to look back at the past 50 years of Time Lord travels and travails than with a fan-made highlight reel which is just screaming for YouTube to pull the plug on for various and assorted - and multitudinous - copyright violations [read; check it out while you can!].

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary

Low-budget sci-fi special effects are the best!

That same person created an unofficial trailer for this season, the story line of which revolves around a young woman named Clara Oswin Oswald who was introduced in an episode last season and then again appeared in the 2012 Doctor Who Christmas Special.  In both episodes she died.  Intriguing, no?  This season, Doctor Who tries to unravel her mystery. Here's the trailer:

Unofficial 2013 Season Trailer

Now you are no doubt riveted to your monitor!  But wait, it gets better!

Not only has the attractive and mysterious and attractive [did I repeat attractive?] died twice, but her introduction last season was just about as shocking and unexpected as any plot twist that has happened on Doctor Who since its inception in 1963.  If you have never seen an episode of Doctor Who (what's wrong with you people?), the following video will be utterly meaningless.  For the six of you who are still reading, here's what you missed:

Oswin we have a problem

Bonus!  In that clip you got to see the Doctor's previous companion, the attractive and cheeky and attractive (I did it again, didn't I?) Amy Pond.  Too bad she got killed off last season. That seems suddenly to be a recurring theme.  OK, as your reward for making it this far, here is an official BBC preview clip for this week's premiere episode, "The Bells of Saint John":

2013 season premiere clip

Long-range Reconnaissance

If you have ever asked yourself, "Self, where did the Chicago Cubs play in the days before their move to Weeghman Park Wrigley Field?" then today is your lucky day.  Cast your thoughtful gaze upon the West Side Grounds during Game 5 of the 1906 World Series:

The 1906 World Series pitted the pitiful Chicago Cubs against their crosstown rival Chicago White Sox.

I am told that in the city of Chicago there is an elevated rapid transit system which is commonly referred to as "The El."  I am not certain of what design concept the architect of the West Side Grounds was aiming for, but it looks like he simply absconded with a section of "The El" to serve as the grandstand.

The West Side Grounds served as the Cubs' not-so-Friendly Confines (with the center field fence 560' from home plate - "Holy Cow!") from 1893, when the club was known as the Colts, until 1915 by which time the team had changed its name to Cubs.

The Cubs of "Tinker to Evers to Chance" fame won the National League pennant in 1906 with a record of 116-36.  The White Sox won the American League pennant that season despite having the lowest team batting average in the league, just .230.  That accomplishment earned the White Sox the nickname of "the Hitless Wonders."  Of course, the Cubs lost the World Series in 1906.  With the Series tied 2-2, the Cubs permitted "the Hitless Wonders" to rap out 26 hits over the next two games to claim the championship, 4 games to 2.  For the Series, "the Hitless Wonders" batted just .198.  The Cubs managed to bat .196.

Jude would like, here, for me to mention that his benighted beloved Cubbies went on to win the 1907 and 1908 World Series but I will not.

Game 5 of the 1906 World Series was played on Saturday, October 13.  Here again you see thousands of patrons occupying the field of play, as well as peanut, popcorn and Cracker Jack vendors.

Lager House Rules

Two weeks ago I had lunch with one of my unnamed sources deep within the Reds organization [codenamed; CAMPBELL] at a top secret Banks Project location:

I had the the BBQ Burger and fries, Agent CAMPBELL was under the weather and therefore had the "Angry Mac-N-Cheese" to help alleviate his sinuses. 

Upon stepping inside this establishment one is immediately greeted by the heart of the brewery:

And also by a large mural depicting the old Christian Moerlein Brewery, established in Cincinnati in 1853.

At the base of the mural is a Christian Moerlein timeline and to the right is a display of vintage Moerlein bottles, mugs and assorted ephemera.  The highlight is an old, original Moerlein bottle label.  On a wall opposite the stainless steel works is a collection of reproduced 19th century Moerlein advertisements:

The first seating option one sees is, of course, the bar:

Whether one heads for the bar or takes the stairwell (barely seen, at left) to the second-floor dining area - where Agent CAMPBELL and I were served lunch, the patrons' path takes them past a bronze plaque in the floor (forgive my shadow):

That's one of my all-time favorite Peter Edward Rose quotes;  "I'm just like everyone else. I have two arms, two legs, and four thousand hits."  It reveals both the bravado and humor of The Hit King.

Agent CAMPBELL and I were shown to a table where I snapped the following photos.  First, of our general seating area:

And then two photos of the view from my position; Paul Brown Stadium:

 
And, next, humanity's most cherished bridge in all of bridgedom, the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge.  This iconic landmark was completed in 1866, thirteen years after the founding of the Moerlein Brewery:

Your eyes do not deceive you, that is an area of outdoor seating - just beyond the glass - which provides Lager House patrons a sweeping view of the mighty Ohio River.

Behind me was an up-close view of Great American Ball Park but from my vantage point I wasn't able to get it photographed properly.

Long-range Reconnaissance

This week, in honor of the only two Cubs fans I deign to associate with - J.A. Killy and Dr. K, we begin a multi-part look back at the old ballparks of the Second City's second-most successful baseball club.

Fans of Our National Pastime will instantly recognize The Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field, where the Cubbies hibernate in a perpetual state of competitive slumber:

The photo above was taken at the start of Game 1 of a Saturday doubleheader (quoting Archie and Edith Bunker; Those were the days!) on July 27, 1929 against the Phillies of Philadelphia.  The Cubs won both ends of the doubleheader, by scores of 6-1 and 10-7.  The flag in right field and the pennants atop the grandstand reveal the too-often truth of Wrigley Field; the wind was blowing out that afternoon.

Once you get over your shock of seeing so many white shirts in the stands you may next observe the absolute absence of ivy-covered brick outfield walls.  The ivy was planted by then-General Manager Bill Veeck (infamously as in Wreck) in 1937.  Perhaps Jude can inform us as to when the brick walls were planted.

With the Cubbies having just taken the field in the panoramic photo above, the intrepid photographer captured the Cubs' two sluggers of the period - second baseman Rogers Hornsby and center fielder Hack Wilson.

The short, squat, inhuman-appearing Hack Wilson, 5'6" and well over 200 .lbs, patrolled center field for the National League Cubs from 1926-1931.  In 1929, the season in which he was photographed here, Hack Wilson hit 39 home runs - his third season in a row with 30 or more homers - and drove in 159 RBI.  Hack Wilson's Hall of Fame career peaked the following season when, in 1930, he blasted 56 wind-aided, Friendly Confines home runs and drove in an all-time Major League record 191 runs.  By comparison, the departed (from Cincinnati) and unlamented Drew Stubbs hasn't driven in 191 runs for his career (spanning 4 seasons).  Hack Wilson concluded his playing days with fewer than 250 home runs, fewer than 1500 hits and barely a .300 hitter [.307] playing half his career in the Friendly Confines.  Evidently that's all it takes for a Cubbie to be granted HOF immortality (much like being given an MVP award while playing on a last-place team [see; Andre Dawson]).  Well, that and a 56 homer, 191 RBI season.

HOFer Rogers Hornsby was a loathsome figure who played all but 6 of his Major League seasons in the city of St Louis.  Hornsby is recognized by some as the greatest-ever right-handed hitter.  Hornsby's .358 lifetime batting average is second all-time to Ty Cobb, an equally loathsome figure who nevertheless could also hit a baseball exceptionally well.  During his playing days Rogers Hornsby won seven batting titles, including six in a row from 1920-1925.  Hornsby twice won Triple Crowns; in 1922 when he hit 42 home runs, drove in 152 RBI while batting .401 and again in 1925 when he slugged 39 homers, 143 RBI and batted .403.  That 1922 season was remarkable for two other reasons; that season Hornsby became the first Major Leaguer to hit 40 or more home runs in a single season and he became also that season the only Major Leaguer to hit .400 or more in a 40-homer season.  In 1924 "The Rajah" batted .424, a modern era [20th century and beyond] National League record.  His on-base percentage that season was .507.

As one part of an objectionable lineage of unrepentant Cubs racists spanning from Cap Anson to Sammy Sosa [?], Rogers Hornsby was disliked by his fellow teammates and, later, by players that he managed.  Hornsby managed the Cincinnati Reds to two sixth-place finishes (out of then eight N.L. clubs) in 1952 and 1953 before being fired.  Hated by his players for myriad reasons, chief among them for his consistent scorn of Reds first baseman and future Hall of Famer Ted "Big Klu" Kluszewski as "a big, dumb [insert common derogatory remark for those of Polish descent]."  Throughout his days as a player and as a coach for the Big Red Machine, "Big Klu" was universally and fondly regarded as a gentleman and as an excellent hitter.  A college graduate from a Big Ten school, "Big Klu" certainly was "big" but he was not "dumb."  Only his nature as a gentle giant kept the powerful Kluszewski from pummeling Rogers Hornsby.

Highlighted in Ken Burns' Baseball documentary, Rogers Hornsby famously said; "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball.  I'll tell you what I do.  I stare out the window and wait for spring."

Getting back to 1929, the Cubs - what else? - lost the World Series that season to Connie Mack's Philadelphia A's, 4 games to 1, including the only two games of the Series played in Chicago.  That A's club was stockpiled with future Hall of Famers;  pitcher Lefty Grove, catcher Mickey Cochrane, outfielder Al "Bucketfoot" Simmons and first baseman Jimmie "Double X" and/or "The Beast" Foxx, one of the players who could give Rogers Hornsby a run for his money as the greatest-ever right-handed hitter.  "Double X" was a three-time A.L. MVP, won two batting titles (batting .356 in 1933, .349 in 1938), four times led the A.L. in home runs (hitting as many as 58 in 1932), had 4 seasons with more than 150 RBI (175 in 1938) and concluded his 20-year career batting .325/.428/.609.  When Jimmie Foxx retired following the 1945 season, his 534 career home runs was second only to Babe Ruth.

Wrigley Field opened in 1914 as Weeghman Field (lame) as the home ballpark for the rival Federal League (it only gets worse) Chicago Whales (how embarrassing is that?).  Once the Federal League folded, like vultures descending upon rotting carrion, the Cubs moved into Weeghman Park in 1916 and have called Weeghman Wrigley home ever since.

I say blow it up!

Of Archbishops and Winter Storms

Caught in the midst of a busy two weeks, here are a few recent [declassified] photos from my routine assignment of [declassified] covert duties.

On February 20th my oldest niece Anna successfully navigated the gauntlet of Confirmation.  For you pagan derelicts (i.e., non-Catholics) reading this, that's a rite of initiation.  If it helps you heathens, think of "The Century Club" at Paradise City with Pope Big Randy the First and you may begin to have some better idea of process and significance.  Afterward, I surreptitiously had my photo taken with Archbishop Schnurr.  He is the shadowy figure in the background doing something or other [credit: Gary Burbank].  I am the handsome devil sporting the stylish sweater.

Global Warming/Climate Change hit The Ranch without much warning this past week, causing much change in scenery.  The resulting winter wonderland summoned me to record the event.

This photo (above) is from the West 40, in an area just recently (this past summer) cleared of all manner of invasive growth in an effort to expand the usable acreage of The Ranch.

From the West 40 again.  Different perspective, here looking between the snow laden branches of a buckeye tree.

  

Horseshoe

A new era in Cincinnati gambling dawns this Monday, March 4 when the Horseshoe Casino opens at 1000 Broadway, a site also known as Broadway Commons (and formerly considered for Great American Ball Park before, ultimately, it was situated on the banks of the Ohio River).  Here's an aerial view, looking south towards the river:

 

Mount Adams is seen at upper left, downtown at upper right and the Blue Grass State across the top.

 

Here's a recent photo of the facade, construction still underway:

 

The iconic Horseshoe name originated with Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas which was bought by Caesar's, which itself was formerly known as Harrah's and which these days is a co-owner of Turfway Park, thus bringing the Horseshoe theme full circle. 

I'm not much of a casino gambler, some of you may know that I prefer thoroughbred horse racing (it has been written about here before, on occasion).  These are interesting times for regional horse racing:

--- Any successes achieved by the Horseshoe Casino should benefit the purse sizes and, therefore, quality of racing at Turfway Park which itself has seen better days,

--- Venerable old River Downs is being demolished, paving the way for an entirely new plant featuring a larger track, massive grandstand, video gaming, restaurants, shopping and, who knows, maybe handicappers cashing a winning ticket or two,

--- Decrepit Lebanon Raceway will soon be completely and utterly obliterated from the map, befitting its abysmal crumminess, its new owners relocating a modern facility elsewhere in the county, nearer to the I-75 corridor, with video gaming machines.

All this talk of casinos and gambling got me to thinking, as so many things seem to do, of Dean Martin and the heyday of gaming and nightlife in 1960s Las Vegas.  The showroom at The Sands was an intimate setting:

In the photo above Dino is playing to a front row filled with celebrities, notably comedian Jack Benny.  Dean would often play two shows nightly, a dinner show and a midnight show.  And of course, in addition to relaxing poolside at The Sands with a bevy of buxom beauties and taking up residence at the bar, Dino would hit the tables (below, playing blackjack at The Sands with Frank Sinatra looking on):

 

The Sands was one of the settings for the Rat Pack's Ocean's 11 film, released in the U.S. on August 10, 1960.  You've all seen the more famous photo of the Sands' marquee featuring their names, as seen in the film.  Below is the same marquee at night:

 

And just a little further back in time, a daytime scene from 1954:

 

We'll rap this walk down Sands memory lane with another famous walk, the concluding scene of Ocean's 11 shot on the sidewalk outside of The Sands.

 

Roll Credits!

 

Long-range Reconnaissance

Leading off, for those of you - if anyone - still puzzled by last week's panoramic photo (see February 17 posting, below) the aspect subject to question is the seeming appearance of ten White Sox fielders; pitcher, catcher, four infielders and four outfielders.  Logic informs us that cannot be so, that there must be some undetermined issue with the photograph itself but the fact remains..... our eyes see four outfielders in that photograph.

The first photo, below, puts you as close to the action as any historic panoramic photo I've yet discovered.

 

This photo is circa 1903 and features the visiting Chicago White Sox (batting) playing the Boston Red Sox (actually the Boston Americans as they were known from inception, in 1901, through the 1907 season).  Fenway Park opened in 1912.  Prior to then the Boston Americans [Red Sox] played at the Huntington Avenue Grounds which you see in the photo above.

 

The only Boston player of note in 1903, at least to the modern non-Hub dwelling fan, was pitcher Cy Young.  The future eponym was then 36 years old but led the Boston pitching staff with a 28-9 record and posting a 2.08 ERA over 341.2 innings pitched.  The WHIP statistic did not yet exist, but that season Cy Young achieved a 0.969 mark.

1903 saw the playing of the first World Series, won by Boston over the Pittsburgh Pirates 5 games to 3.

 

The Boston Americans used just six pitchers in 1903, five of whom pitched right handed.  My knowledge of Cy Young isn't complete enough to assert that's who is depicted pitching in the above photo.  Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.  I don't know.

 

In 1904 the Boston Americans again won the American League but they would not win the World Series that season as there was no World Series in 1904.  The manager of the National League champion New York Giants, John McGraw, refused to play the A.L. representative more out of denial of their equality, as a League, than anything else.  The World Series resumed in 1905 and has been played every year since except 1994 when A. Bartlett "Bug" [sic] Selig ordered it cancelled.  While the Boston Americans did not have the opportunity to defend their championship in 1904, they did draw a sizable crowd (see photo, below) when they played New York City's other ball club late in the 1904 season.

 

 

In contrast to last week's photo, here you see the outfield defense playing at a depth we today recognize as "normal."  Among the abnormalities, in terms of the modern game, are the thousands of Bostonians occupying fair territory, the towering flag pole in play in center field and the distance from home plate to the center field fence; 560 feet.  That's FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY FEET.  For reference, both old Riverfront Stadium and today's Great American Ball Park measure 404 feet to center field.  Another 156 feet puts a modern-day home run into the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

 

The photo above was taken in Boston at the Huntington Avenue Grounds on October 8, 1904.  The New York Yankees were not yet Yankees.  Before 1913 they were known as the Highlanders.  Still, New York-Boston was a hot ticket.

 

In 1904, the 37-year old Cy Young went 26-16.  He recorded an ERA of 1.97 in 380 innings pitched.  Had anybody in 1904 known of WHIP, they would have also known that Cy Young's was 0.937.

 

The 1904 New York Highlanders were led by pitcher/manager Clark Griffith.  As a pitcher that season, he posted a 7-5 record in 100 innings pitched.  Clark "The Old Fox" Griffith began his playing career in 1891.  He would later manage the Cincinnati Reds for three seasons (1909-1911) before moving on to manage the Washington Senators.  In 1920 Clark Griffith bought the Senators and remained their owner until his passing in 1955.

 

The Highlanders ace that season was Jack "Happy Jack" Chesbro, mentioned here last week.  In 1904 Chesbro set a then-A.L. record when he pitched 454.2 innings (later surpassed by "Big Ed" Walsh) while starting 51 games and throwing 48 - FORTY EIGHT - complete games.

 

The Highlanders catcher was 40-year old Youngstown, Ohio native Deacon McGuire.  Deacon was born on November 18, 1863.  As you know, that was during the Civil War.  That was, to us reading this today, a long time ago.  I'll let that sink in for a moment before proceeding. 

 

OK?  Ready to continue? 

 

[As a brief aside, regarding long-ago birthday's of Major League players, Harry Wright, captain and center fielder of the undefeated 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, was born January 10, 1835 in Sheffield, England. Here in the good 'ole U. S. of A., that was during the presidency of Andrew Jackson!  Oh, Doctor!]

 

Deacon McGuire's rookie season came in 1884 when he debuted wearing the Tools of Ignorance with the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association (a short-lived rival to the National League) where he was a battery-mate to future Cincinnati Red Tony "The Apollo of the Box" Mullane, he of the ambidextrous pitching delivery.  In that 1884 season, Tony Mullane went 36-26 while pitching 567 innings.  It is unknown today how many of those innings were pitched right handed and how many were pitched left handed.  Deacon McGuire jumped to the National League in 1885 where he suited up with Detroit.  No, not the (later) Detroit Tigers of the American League, but the N.L.'s Detroit Wolverines.  The Wolverines were only in existence from 1881-1888.  In 1885, Deacon McGuire was the backup catcher for a pitching staff that featured Stump Wiedman, Pretzels Getzien, and Lady Baldwin.  Stump, Pretzels and Lady.  No wonder the Wolverines didn't last for very long!  Kentuckian Mox McQuery played first base for the 1885 Wolverines.  He died young, in 1900, and is buried in Covington, Kentucky.

 

Without question, the most famous of the 1904 Highlanders was outfielder Wee Willie Keeler, originator of the quote "Hit 'em where they ain't."  Baseball-reference.com lists Wee Willie at 5'4" and 140 lbs.  Keeler came to prominence at the end of the 19th century playing for the infamous - but excellent and innovative - Baltimore Orioles of the National League.  There he was teammates with Hall of Famers John McGraw (5'7", 155 .lbs), Hughie Jennings (5'8", 165 .lbs), Joe Kelley and Wilbert Robinson (5'8", 215 .lbs).  The Baltimore Orioles of the 1890s were an indomitable force of dirty play and trickery but also are credited as perfecting "small ball" - in particular directional bunting, the double steal, the so-called Baltimore Chop and the Hit and Run (if you call it "Run and Hit" I'll give you a knuckle sammich courtesy of John McGraw).  These National League Orioles won the pennant three years in a row, from 1894-1896.  Along the way they earned their reputation for dirty play by spiking opposing players and umpires alike and for fighting with opposing players and umpires alike.  In a coarse age of American sport their particular nature, frequency and volume of verbal vitriol aimed at the opposition (and umpires) was unparalleled.  And for those with a primary interest in statistics, the N.L. Orioles achieved some ridiculous numbers.

 

From 1893-1899, third baseman John "Mugsy" McGraw had the following On-Base Percentages; .454, .451, .459, .422, .471, .475, .548.  I did not transpose numbers in that final OBP, you read it correctly - .548.  The Orioles were contracted by the N.L. following the 1899 season, but "Mugsy" went on to post a .505 OBP in 1900 with St Louis.  In 1902, playing for the newly formed Baltimore Orioles of the American League (it get's confusing, I know), his OBP was .508.  In a sixteen year Major League career, McGraw's lifetime batting average was .334 with a career OBP of .466.  Interestingly, McGraw's .548 OBP stood as the single-season record from 1899 until 1940, when that mark was passed by Ted Williams' .553 in 1941.  The Splendid Splinter's record stood until 2001 when scoundrel Barry "the San Francisco Cheat" [credit: Lou] Bonds brought discredit to MLB and set a .582 OBP in 2002.  Think of it; from 1899 until 2001 - the totality of the twentieth century - just two players held the all-time single-season record for OBP.

 

Shortstop Hughie Jennings led the N.L. in Hit By Pitch for five consecutive seasons, from 1894-1898.  His high-water mark for HBP was 51 in 1896.  On a ball club infamous for its profane hectoring of the opposition, you now have a very clear indicator of which Oriole ran his mouth the most!  Here are Hughie's peak-season slash lines: 

 

.386/.444/.512 [1895] 204 hits in only 131 games played

.401/.472/.488 [1896] 209 hits & 70 stolen bases in only 130 games played

.355/.463/.469 [1897] 60 stolen bases in only 117 games played

 

Joe Kelley had a .502 OBP in 1894, from 1894-1898 he had consecutive 100+ RBI seasons, and in 1896 he swiped 87 bases.

 

No wonder those old National League Orioles won so many championships!

 

But let's get back to the focus of this chapter in Orioles/Highlanders (Yankees) history; Wee Willie Keeler.  From 1894 through 1901 (playing for Brooklyn in 1900 and 1901 following Baltimore's contraction) Keeler had eight consecutive 200+ hit seasons.  From 1894 until the demise of the Orioles Keeler's season OBP never dipped below .420 and his batting average never sank below .371.  In 1897, the diminutive Wee Willie staked his claim to the peak of ridiculous statistics when he finished the season batting .424 with 239 hits, 19 triples and 64 stolen bases (Keeler sandwiched that .424 season batting .386 and .385 in 1896 and 1898 respectively).  Wee Willie's .424 batting average that season remains the fifth-highest in MLB history, dating back to the foundation of the National League in 1876 (fans of the Cincinnati Reds know that in 1869, playing for the undefeated Red Stockings, shortstop George Wright led the galaxy when he batted .633 with 49 home runs in 57 games played).  1897 was also the season in which Keeler set the all-time single-season National League record for consecutive games with a hit, 44, that was later equalled by The Hit King Peter Edward Rose in 1978.

 

By 1904, when the Highlanders-Americans photo (above) was taken, Wee Willie was on the downside of his Hall of Fame career.  That season, his 13th in the Majors, he managed to eke out a .343 batting average with a .390 OBP.  Keeler's career ended in 1910, his 19th season, playing in just nineteen games for the New York Giants but still posting a .300 batting average and a .462 OBP.  For his 19-year career, Wee Willie Keeler was a .341 batter.  He was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1939 on his fourth BBWAA ballot.