8/7/13

The INNOCENCE of BASEBALL


Professional sports are ugly. They're a big business full of egos and corruption. They sell a product based on lies. The saddest part are the kids who follow the sports and the "stars" who are overpaid and too often void of basic moral standards. It's not going to change no matter who they point the finger at. It's a business and it's sad.

All of this of course says nothing about the actual sports. The sports can still be played for fun and not profit, their purest form. But let's admit that even Little League games can be full of ego and ugly behavior, mostly by the parents who themselves have forgotten it's just a game and for some reason see their kid out on the field as a victim or, in some maniacal way, playing at the level of the "show."

Here we have a group of guys, probably sometime after 1911, who formed a team.


Click on image to see it larger.

I'm curious about the two players dressed in uniforms. Were they on pro teams and just playing a pickup game with these guys? We'll never know because there's no information written on the back. They look like old fashioned baseball cards. I once worked for a fellow who bought a Honus Wagner card with Wayne Gretzky. I think it was at that moment I understood that some ephemera could be worth a lot of money; just a simple piece of paper.



And the only way I dated this image was by looking at the logo on the bat on the left. It was made by J. F. Hillerich & Sons in Louisville, Kentucky, famous for making the Louisville Slugger.



Whenever I find vintage photos of baseball “teams” they’re always adults; I never find photos of kids with teammates. This isn’t to say I don’t find them with the tools of baseball. In one of my maternal grandfather’s class photos he is holding a baseball glove sometime around 1910. I never saw this photo until after he'd passed so I never got to hear stories of the games he played.

8 comments:

  1. I agree - once the "big money" pushed out the "it's just a game," I've lost all interest in watching anymore. The most wrenching "loss" is the "professionalization" of the Olympics. The USA basketball team at the Olympics is simple ugliness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm with you. I can no longer watch the Olympics. I find the way they're presented to be appalling. It's like eating a bad meal with people you dislike. It's just nauseating to watch.

      Delete
  2. That's a fine photo with great clarity. Here's a website with lots of details on baseball uniforms, in a database with pictures, and a timeline that describes little details on collars, lettering, patterns, etc.

    http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/timeline.htm

    ReplyDelete
  3. You do realize that if overpaid stars made less, then owners would make more? Do people like Bruce McNall really need to skim off even more profit? I'd rather the money go to players.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree that nobody is worth the money that is being paid. The owners don't deserve and the majority of players don't deserve it. It's all out of proportion with what their true value is to society. And when you get the owners at the trough of public funds for stadiums I see red.

      And Bruce, what can I say about Bruce? I used to walk into his gallery on Rodeo Drive and wonder where the things came from that were for sale by appointment only. Items that should have been in museums that were going to the private homes of the wealthy. I found out it was better to not ask those questions.

      Delete
  4. Good research on the bat. Sometimes the smallest clue will help.

    And unfortunately, some of the words you use to describe the sports corporations also fit descriptions for most corporations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indeed and isn't that a shame. It all gets more and more out of control.

      Delete