Baseball

1. Baseball

2. Players Protective Association • Players Protective Association is founded in 1900 • Originated from the Brotherhood of Professional Baseball players (1885) • One of the first unions created by players who objected the reserve clause • Forced players to stay with one team at the owners disposal • Players had no say as to where they were traded/sold

3. Byron Bancroft Johnson • Created the American League in 1901, which offered higher salaries and better contract options • Players like Cy Young, John McGraw, and Nap Lajoie jumped from the National League • Cracked down on dirty play and banned liquor from ballparks • Baseball was becoming a more acceptable activity

4. Immigration and Baseball • Baseball was becoming a reflection of the changing ethnic composition of America. • Many European immigrants became club owners due to limited entrepreneurial opportunities in a less risky environment. • A number of Northern and Eastern European immigrants played on teams as a means for social mobility. Olaf Henriksen Denmark

5. The First, First Pitch William Howard Taft establishes the tradition of throwing out the first pitch on April 14, 1910

6. Player-Owner Relationships • Players were becoming increasingly frustrated with poor conditions on and off the field • 1912-Players Fraternity created • Attempted to negotiate better conditions, but quickly fell apart • 1912-First players strike • Detroit Tigers players struck over Ty Cobb’s suspension after fighting with a fan • Tigers President, Frank J. Navin, hired scabs off the street to replace his striking players • This and numerous other problems helped to increase the sense of injustice within baseball, eventually leading to the Black Sox Scandal

7. The Black Sox • Charles Comiskey, Owner of the Chicago White Sox, paid extremely low wages and treated his players poorly • Due to their poor treatment, players leaped at any opportunity to earn more money • A group of players including: Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte, accepted money to throw the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds Charles Comiskey

8. The Scandal • Multiple rumors and accusations led to the investigation of eight players, and their eventual trials • During the investigation, both Cicotte and Jackson confessed, although shortly after their confessions went missing • Now, with no evidence, all eight players were acquitted • Because of the evident problems, Federal Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was brought in as the sport’s first commissioner • Unfortunately for the players, Landis was not as forgiving and banned all eight players for life

9. Federal Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis “Regardless of the verdict of the juries, no player who throws a ball game, no player who undertakes or promises to throw a ball game, no player who sits in confidence with a bunch of crooked players and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball.”

10. The End of the Dead-Ball Era • In 1920, Major League Baseball instituted a new set of rules which reduced the pitcher’s arsenal and improved the hitter’s chance at making solid contact • The extent to which offense dominated the 1920s is even difficult to comprehend today • From 1921-1930, each league neither league batted under .280 • This new, exciting style of play coupled with America's economic boom led to an increase in baseball’s attendance and popularity • Nobody exhibited this shift towards offensive production more than Babe Ruth

11. The Great Bambino His towering home runs and mammoth swings helped counter the negative effects of the Black Sox scandal and WWI He exemplified the average American due to his rise from lowly origins and his enthusiasm for the game

12. Great Ballplayers of the 1920s “What the fans saw, during the 1920s, were many of the most colorful and distinctive players in the history of the game. Babe Ruth was the era’s great personality, of course, but there were many others who remain nearly as vivid in our memories.” - Joseph Wallace Dizzy Dean Dazzy Vance Lefty Gomez

13. The Radio With the creation of the radio, a new industry was developed that broadcasted play-by-play descriptions of baseball games On August 5, 1921 Westinghouse station’s Harold Arlin broadcasted the first game from Forbes Field

14. The Negro Leagues • In 1920, Rube Foster, a former ballplayer, founded the Negro National League • A second league, the Eastern Colored League, was established in 1923 • The ECL folded in 1928 and led to the creation of the American Negro league in 1929 • The NNL did well until Foster passed away in 1930 • Unfortunately, this came at a time in which not only baseball was suffering, but America was as well • Without a strong leader the NNL entered into the Great Depression and fell apart

15. Who is the Greatest Hitter of All-Time? Josh Gibson Babe Ruth You Decide Batting Average Home Runs .350 ~800 .342 714

16. The Depression and Baseball The depression hit baseball almost as hard as it hit the nation Young men came to spring training not looking for stardom but simply looking for a job Attendance dropped drastically as fans could no longer afford the cost to get into a game Others, unwilling to give up baseball, made the ballpark hot dog their meal of the day Many people felt that baseball should be suspended, but a slightly prominent figure in American society believed that it should continue...

17. Franklin Delano Roosevelt FDR realized the importance of social outlets in the midst of the depression and emphasized baseball’s continuation In the President’s mind, politics and baseball were intertwined, and both were useful in supporting society’s morale and confidence Baseball, like the New Deal, battled public apathy, resignation, defeat, and despair During his speeches, Roosevelt compared baseball to his New Deal to instill understanding and boost the public’s confidence

18. Franklin Delano Roosevelt FDR labeled owners and players as examples of American spirit and dedication Historian Marc Okkoken said, “He [FDR] presented a vigorous image and energetically supported baseball throughout his presidential years.” In 1932, Roosevelt stated “Baseball as a sport has done as much as anything to keep up the spirits of people when they were losing their jobs and were in the midst of the depression.”

19. Fireside Chats Throughout FDR’s famed fireside chats, he often used Baseball metaphors in hope that they would simplify his complex ideas On May 7, 1933, in his second fireside chat, Roosevelt spoke of “making a hit” and “winning for the team” “I know that the people of this country will understand this and will also understand the spirit in which we are undertaking this policy. I do not deny that we may make mistakes of procedure as we carry out the policy. I have no expectation of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average, not only for myself but for the team. Theodore Roosevelt once said to me: If I can be right 75 percent of the time, I shall come up to the fullest measure of my hopes.”

20. The Annual First Pitch FDR threw out the first pitch of the season every April at Griffith stadium in Washington DC FDR threw out more first pitches than any other president in history despite his physical ailments from polio

21. American Sports Heroes Baseball was not only popular but it was critical during the depression. Baseball was the cure that many people needed by providing heroes and symbols that Americans cherished. Joe DiMaggio Lou Gehrig Hank Greenberg

22. Baseball's New Deal Baseball, like the New Deal, created new attractions in hopes of stimulating attendance and popularity • 1933~All-Star Game at Comiskey Park, Chicago • 1935~The first night game is played in Cincinnati

23. Cooperstown The Baseball Hall of Fame is opened on June 12, 1939 The first players inducted were Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson in 1936

24. World War II´s Affect on Baseball • During a game at the Polo Grounds, in May of 1941, play stopped so that both fans and players could hear the president declare an unlimited emergency • That summer, fans alarmed by the front pages found a more reassuring kind of excitement in one of the best seasons in baseball history • This season was highlighted by: • Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak • Ted Williams .406 batting average • Both records still stand today

25. Players in the War In all, some 340 MLB players went into uniform in WWII American GI’s played baseball everywhere they fought, teaching it to anyone they had come in contact with Ted Williams Jackie Robinson Warren Spahn Bob Feller

26. Players in the War Although some players saw combat, most stars found themselves playing baseball for the Army and Navy to raise funds for the war and to boost the morale of fellow soldiers Pee Wee Reese Joe DiMaggio

27. The Beginning of a New Era In the Fall of 1944, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis passed away His replacement was, Kentucky politician, Albert Benjamin “Happy” Chandler Benjamin, unlike Landis, was pro-integration and felt “If a black boy can make it in Okinawa and Guadal Canal, hell, he can make it in baseball!”

28. The Man Who Forever Changed the Game At UCLA, Jackie Robinson excelled in track, basketball, football, and his least favorite of them all, baseball In 1944, he accepted a $400 a month contract to play with the Kansas City Monarchs On October 23, 1945, Branch Rickey, President, GM, and Co-Owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson On April 15, 1947, 26,623 fans (14,000 of them black) attended Ebbets Field on opening day to see Robinson play for the first time

29. No Respect • Although Robinson was loved by the Black population and Dodgers Fans, he endured an immense amount of abuse from the rest of the baseball’s audience • At first, his own teammates, many of them southerners, didn’t want to play with him and signed a petition that said they’d rather be traded • Some examples of the abuse endured: • Threats towards him and his family • Pitches thrown at his head • Base runners tried to cut him with their cleats

30. Seven Years Ahead of itís Time For all the hardships that Robinson and other black players tolerated, and despite the slow pace of integration that followed, the MLB was well ahead of the US A year after Robinson’s first game, the complete integration of American Armed Forces finally occurred It would be seven years before the US Supreme Court rejected the notion that separate could truly be equal It was not until 1965 that Congress enacted meaningful legislation to protect the basic right of black citizens to vote