Sports History

Baseball: The 1944 St. Louis Street-Car Series

October 19, 2021 by Bill Orzell Leave a Comment

I 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

The 100th Fasig-Tipton Yearling Horse Sale in Saratoga: Some History

August 8, 2021 by Bill Orzell Leave a Comment

This week Fasig-Tipton will conduct its 100th Saratoga Yearling Sale. This is a remarkable achievement, not only in the thoroughbred industry, but for any business to reach the century mark with their product.

The yearling sales at Saratoga Race Course have long set the standard for the thoroughbred industry. Fasig-Tipton entered as a participant in 1917, with their purchase of property on East Avenue, giving them the advantage over existing auction companies like Powers-Hunter and the Kentucky Sales Company, who conducted their auctions in the race track paddock. Interestingly, all the competing companies would often hire the same auctioneer, the venerable George A. Bain, to deliver the chant. [Read more…] about The 100th Fasig-Tipton Yearling Horse Sale in Saratoga: Some History

New York’s Olympic Bobsled Track: Some History

August 2, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The 1932 and 1980 Olympic bobsled track, located on Mt. Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y., is on The National Register of Historic Places.

Clearing for the original one and a half, 26-curve course began in August 1930 and the track, specifically built for the 1932 winter games, was open to the public just 148 days later on Christmas Day 1930. [Read more…] about New York’s Olympic Bobsled Track: Some History

1922 World Series Was First To Be Broadcast

July 29, 2021 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

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

The Great Intercollegiate Regatta of 1874

July 25, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Nothing is quite as exciting as being part of the crowd at a Super Bowl or at the Olympic Games. That type of excitement must have been experienced by Saratoga Lake dwellers in July, 1874 when the “Great Intercollegiate Regatta” came to our community.

Nine colleges – Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Wesleyan, Dartmouth, Williams, Cornell, Trinity and Princeton all entered six man shells. While each school brought their own fans to the area, most interest (especially betting interest) centered on the fierce Harvard – Yale rivalry. In a race five years earlier, Yale had beaten the boys from Harvard but were charged with unsportsmanlike conduct and disqualified. Bad blood existed between these two prestigious members of the Ivy League. [Read more…] about The Great Intercollegiate Regatta of 1874

Albany’s John McBain Davidson: Safes, Steamboats & Horse Racing

July 21, 2021 by Bill Orzell 2 Comments

The Saratoga Dreams B&B at 203 Union Avenue gives a modern day traveler, the opportunity to step back into the marvelous past of Saratoga Springs. Climbing the stairs starts the adventure, where you first see the statue of Seabiscuit at the National Museum of Racing next door, and across the street you may catch a glimpse of runners being “tacked-up” in the paddock at Saratoga Race Course.

The large covered porch, typical of so many of Saratoga Springs’ Queen Anne style homes, allows an elevated view of “Tex” Hughlette Wheeler’s fabulous sculpture. Charles S. Howard, Seabiscuit’s owner, commissioned cowboy sculptor Wheeler (who’s unique given name of Hughlette was the surname of the doctor who delivered him during his mother’s difficult pregnancy), to “capture the horse from life,” and had two castings made. Howard’s heirs graciously donated this casting, originally at the Howard’s Ridgewood Farm, to the National Museum of Racing. The other bronze which Howard had cast has always stood in the Santa Anita paddock. [Read more…] about Albany’s John McBain Davidson: Safes, Steamboats & Horse Racing

Horse Racing History: Westchester County’s Bowman Park

July 14, 2021 by Bill Orzell 1 Comment

The 1920s witnessed a new era of Americans who were at ease committing their hard earned dollars toward the privilege of being spectators of live sport. In horse racing, John McEntee Bowman became the President of the United Hunts Racing Association, an organization of cross-country enthusiasts in 1922.

Bowman was an impressive fellow, certainly one of the best rags-to-riches stories in turf history, from immigrant groom to multi-millionaire owner and track operator, while developing a successful national business brand, the Biltmore Hotel chain. Through his flagship hotel and banquet facilities in New York City, Bowman was able to cultivate the social side of jump racing during the winter months, which increased the sport’s following immensely. [Read more…] about Horse Racing History: Westchester County’s Bowman Park

Staten Island Boxer Bill Richmond Delivered the Punches

July 12, 2021 by Jaap Harskamp 3 Comments

Archaeologists in Central London are involved in a massive undertaking excavating St James’s Gardens, a graveyard close to Euston Station, before a terminus for the controversial High Speed 2 (HS2) railway project is built on the site. Among the 45,000 skeletons due to be dug up it is hoped that the remains of Bill Richmond will be identified.

By the end of the eighteenth century boxing was England’s dominant sport. Confirmation of its repute occurred at the coronation of George IV on 19 July 1821 when eighteen pugilists were invited to guard the entrance to Westminster Abbey. One of the ushers selected for the grand occasion was Bill Richmond, a formerly enslaved man who descended from Richmondtown, a colonial outpost on Staten Island, New York. [Read more…] about Staten Island Boxer Bill Richmond Delivered the Punches

The Horse ‘Governor Hughes’ & Gambling Suppression in NY

July 7, 2021 by Bill Orzell Leave a Comment

There was this gentleman named Charlie Ellison, or Charles R. Ellison to be precise, from Chicago. He was involved with the horse racing game in the late nineteenth century, and as the calendar flipped to 1900, began finding great success.

Ellison was famous for his large wagers, and turf writers seemed to revel in detailing his betting successes His countenance was fair, and as he was towheaded, these very recognizable locks earned him a unique sobriquet, the “Blonde Plunger.” The plunger in his nickname implied a reckless speculator or gambler. [Read more…] about The Horse ‘Governor Hughes’ & Gambling Suppression in NY

NY Islanders New Home Has A Fine Sporting Pedigree; Manice Mansion Once Stood On UBS Arena Grounds

July 1, 2021 by Bill Orzell 4 Comments

UBS Arena, the $1.5 billion multi-purpose facility being built next to Belmont Park race track in Elmont, Nassau County, NY, is expected to be home of the New York Islander hockey in the upcoming 2021–22 NHL season. The location has a storied history.

The Westchester Racing Association raced in that county at both Jerome Park and Morris Park, prior to their move to Long Island. The privately held Westchester Racing Association was able to acquire several farm properties, the most notable being the former Oatlands Estate of William DeForest Manice.

The new racing facility, which would become Long Island’s Belmont Park, was comprised of 400 acres north of the Hempstead Turnpike and 160 acres on the south side. [Read more…] about NY Islanders New Home Has A Fine Sporting Pedigree; Manice Mansion Once Stood On UBS Arena Grounds