Baseball

Rochester, Baseball and History

July 5, 2018 by Jack Kelly Leave a Comment

Baseball is our innocent pastime. Marked by stateliness and decorum, the game largely excludes the messiness and cruelty of the outside world. Saturday, July 25, 1959, was one of those rare occasions when history intruded on the grassy diamond. That evening, the simple game of pitching, hitting, and fielding became entangled with revolution, gunfire, and cold war politics.

The game took place in the sweltering atmosphere of Havana, Cuba. The Rochester Red Wings were playing the home team, known as the Sugar Kings. Along with the Syracuse Chiefs and Buffalo Bisons, Rochester was an upstate member of the triple-A International League, which included teams from Havana, Montreal and Toronto. [Read more…] about Rochester, Baseball and History

Brooklyn Dodgers Lecture at Old Stone Fort Museum

March 23, 2018 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The next lecture in the Old Stone Fort Museum Winter Lecture Series has been set for Sunday, March 25th at 1 pm, with “A Night with the 1950 Brooklyn Dodgers of Old”, presented by local attorney and former Dodgers ball boy Marv Parshall Sr.

Parshall will share his recollections, stories and anecdotes of his time sharing a dugout with baseball legends such as Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Gil Hodges and Duke Snider. [Read more…] about Brooklyn Dodgers Lecture at Old Stone Fort Museum

Bloomers and Baseball at Peterboro Women’s History Weekend Sept 22-24

September 17, 2017 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

The Peterboro Women’s History Weekend will be held September 22-24, 2017. The name for this years weekend is taken from a 2016 biography of Elizabeth Smith Miller Ballots, Bloomers, and Marmalade written by Norman K. Dann PhD, biographer of Elizabeth’s father Gerrit Smith.

Miller is most famous for the trouser outfit that she wore to Seneca Falls to visit her cousin Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Stanton introduced Miller to Amelia Bloomer who wrote about the healthy costume in her newspaper The Lily. Women’s rights activists began wearing the reform dress against much negative press and scathing public protest. [Read more…] about Bloomers and Baseball at Peterboro Women’s History Weekend Sept 22-24

Larry Wittner: A Short, Happy Life As A Baseball Fanatic

March 24, 2016 by Lawrence Wittner 5 Comments

As a child, I was a baseball fanatic.

This fanaticism did not reflect any athletic ability on my part. Far from it! Growing up, like Bernie Sanders, in a lower middle class area of Brooklyn during the 1940s, I was often pressed into joining baseball games with the other boys in my neighborhood. But I was a terrible fielder, as well as a mediocre hitter. Stationed at my usual post in right field, I almost invariably missed the few fly balls or ground balls that headed my way. Also, when I finally caught up with them, I often managed no more than an inaccurate throw to the frantic infielders. When local kids chose up sides before the game, the organizers usually made me one of their last selections. Who can blame them? [Read more…] about Larry Wittner: A Short, Happy Life As A Baseball Fanatic

Old Time Utica Ballplayer George Burns

May 5, 2015 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

Sports enthusiast Mike Hauser has a personal stake in advocating National Baseball Hall of Fame status for George Joseph Burns, who played his best years with the New York Giants. Burns was the brother of Hauser’s great-grandfather on his mother’s side.

Burns is being inducted into the Fulton County Baseball and Sports Hall of Fame on July 11th during the annual vintage baseball game. [Read more…] about Old Time Utica Ballplayer George Burns