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Baseball

Bruce Dearstyne’s ‘Spirit of New York’ Reissued In Expanded Edition

January 24, 2022 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Bruce Dearstyne Spirit of New YorkBruce W. Dearstyne’s expanded new edition of The Spirit of New York (SUNY Press, 2022; first published 2016) explores nineteen dramatic events from New York State’s history that altered the course of U.S. history.

From the launch of the state government in April 1777 thru the tragedy of September 11th and through the debut of the musical play Hamilton in 2015, Dearstyne’s chapters describe great political changes, historical turning points, and struggles for social, racial, and environmental reform.
[Read more…] about Bruce Dearstyne’s ‘Spirit of New York’ Reissued In Expanded Edition

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Books, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: 1964 World's Fair, Aviation History, Baseball, Cultural History, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Environmental History, Glenn Curtiss, Jackie Robinson, John Jay, Legal History, New York, New York State Archives, Office of State History, Political History, Public History, Robert Moses, Sports History, The Spirit of New York, womens history

The Spirit of the Times: A 19th Century Chronicle of American Sports

January 14, 2022 by Bill Orzell Leave a Comment

Title page of the September 1, 1894 issue of The Spirit of the Times, featuring an illustration by Henry Stull.In the early 1800s it was unusual for Americans to be interested in sporting matters on their own shores. News from Europe was the only sporting news of merit, and publishing an American sporting journal was considered a risky use of capital.

The first attempt along these lines may have been in 1829 Baltimore, where John S. Skinner published a monthly magazine which focused on race horse pedigrees called The American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine. Another early attempt was published in New York by the recognized writer and horseman Cadwallader R. Colden, whose organ was called The New-York Sporting Magazine and Annals of the American and English Turf, first published in 1833.

Among the most notable of the sporting press arrived in 1831, when William T. Porter and James Haw published the first issue of The Spirit of the Times, focusing on horse literature and sporting subjects. They had chosen the name for their broadsheet from a quotation in Shakespeare’s King John, “The spirit of the times shall teach me speed.” [Read more…] about The Spirit of the Times: A 19th Century Chronicle of American Sports

Filed Under: Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History, New York City, Recreation Tagged With: Baseball, Belmont Park, bicycling, Civil War, Cultural History, football, Gambling, Golf History, Horses, Journalism, Manhattan, New York City, Newspapers, Publishing, Saratoga Race Course, sports, Sports History

The Cuban Giants: Black Baseball in Northern New York

November 4, 2021 by Maury Thompson 3 Comments

1885-86 Cuban GiantsFans admired the Cuban Giants baseball team for its athletic skills, and Granville, Washington County, NY baseball promoters admired the black baseball team for its draw at the gate.

About 1,000 people, “including many ladies,” with groups of baseball enthusiasts traveling from Rutland, Whitehall, Glens Falls and Troy, attended the June 26, 1890 game when the Cuban Giants defeated the Granville Granvilles 7-0. [Read more…] about The Cuban Giants: Black Baseball in Northern New York

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Baseball, Black History, sports, Sports History

Baseball: The 1944 St. Louis Street-Car Series

October 19, 2021 by Bill Orzell Leave a Comment

Billy Southwards heads homeI often wish one of the great play-writes like Moss Hart or Arthur Miller, or a screenwriter like Billy Wilder, had been bigger baseball fans, as the game would often make a very funny script.

If I had a mind to write one, I would set the plot in St. Louis, at the height of the Second World War. Baseball had a large presence there, and for plenty of seasons including the war years, the Gateway City was home to two major league ball teams.

The National League entry had played in St. Louis since 1892, as one of the surviving franchises from the American Association, which had failed financially the year before. The Brown Stockings took their name from their hose color in the best 1890s baseball tradition. The team changed their name in 1899 to Perfectos and in 1900, mercifully changed it again to Cardinals. [Read more…] about Baseball: The 1944 St. Louis Street-Car Series

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Baseball, Major League Baseball, sports, Sports History

1922 World Series Was First To Be Broadcast

July 29, 2021 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

Crowds watch Game 1 of the 1922 World Series at the Polo Grounds on October 4 1922 (Library of Congress)Nationally-syndicated sports writer Grantland Rice penned a parody of a classic nursery rhyme for the opening of the 1922 World Series.

“Sing a song of sixpence, and eke of dollar bills,” he wrote in a poetic ditty, published October 3rd, 1922 in The Post-Star of Glens Falls. “Four and thirty thousand fans, paying for their thrills.” [Read more…] about 1922 World Series Was First To Be Broadcast

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, New York City Tagged With: Baseball, Glens Falls, Major League Baseball, Newspapers, Radio History, sports, Sports History, WGY Radio

Vintage Baseball in the Catskills (Podcast)

May 27, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

KaatscastHankering for some baseball circa 1895? Teams like Mountain Athletic Club (M.A.C.) and the Bovina Dairymen are playing vintage “base ball” in the Catskills and spectators and players are welcome.

In this episode of the Kaatscast, M.A.C.’s Collin Miller talks during spring practice on Creamery Field in Bovina, NY. Collin’s team is fashioned after the original team established in Griffin Corners, New York in 1895 by yeast magnates Julius and Max Fleischmann. [Read more…] about Vintage Baseball in the Catskills (Podcast)

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Baseball, Catskills, Podcasts, Sports History

When Fort Ontario Was A Baseball Powerhouse

April 11, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Fort Niagara baseball teamDuring World War II, when many athletes went into military service, the military post at the Fort Ontario State Historic Site became a regional baseball powerhouse, due in part to the posting there of former professional and minor league ballplayers, even including a former starting pitcher for the New York Yankees. [Read more…] about When Fort Ontario Was A Baseball Powerhouse

Filed Under: History, Western NY Tagged With: Baseball, Fort Ontario, Major League Baseball, Military History, Sports History, World War Two

Fulton County Baseball History (Podcast)

March 12, 2021 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

The Historians LogoThis week on The Historians Podcast, Mike Hauser, author and Leader Herald columnist, has stories about major league manager Jack McKeon, Parkhurst Field and Moonlight “Doc” Graham from Fulton County baseball history. [Read more…] about Fulton County Baseball History (Podcast)

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Mohawk Valley, Recreation Tagged With: Baseball, Fulton County, Major League Baseball, Podcasts, sports, Sports History

Baseball’s Satchel Paige on Long Island

August 24, 2020 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoBy 1950, Satchel Paige was a star of the Negro Leagues and a World Series winner with the Cleveland Indians. He spent most of that year barnstorming across the United States which is what brought him to Riverhead Stadium on Long Island.

In this episode of the Long Island History Project, librarian and historian Fabio Montella relates his research into Satchel, Riverhead, and the deeper connections between Long Island and Negro League baseball. [Read more…] about Baseball’s Satchel Paige on Long Island

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Baseball, Black History, Long Island, Major League Baseball, Podcasts, sports, Sports History

Mohawk Valley Baseball History Virtual Talk

August 6, 2020 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Gloves Along the Mohawk FlierThe Oneida County History Center will host a virtual talk by Lou Parrotta, the City of Utica Historian, on the history of baseball in the Mohawk Valley, and the local players who made it to the Major Leagues, set for Wednesday, August 12th. [Read more…] about Mohawk Valley Baseball History Virtual Talk

Filed Under: Events, History, Mohawk Valley Tagged With: Baseball, Major League Baseball, Mohawk Valley, Oneida County History Center, sports, Sports History

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