July 6, 1915
Phillies vs. New York Giants
Athletics @ New York Yankees
Last night the Liberty Bell made a stop in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania on its way to the west coast.
The Harrisburg Telegraph said
that 15,000 people attended the showing.
A large parade was held, replete with representatives of the National
Guard and the Daughters of the American Revolution, that went from
Elizabethtown up to Second and Vine Streets in the state’s capital. All along the route people threw jewelry and
coins up on the car carrying the bell hoping they would be rubbed on the relic
for luck. Thousands of children were
afforded the opportunity to kiss the bell as it went by, including the 6-year
old John Bevan Pearson, the youngest descendent of the city’s founder John Harris. The event was called “one of the most
successful municipal celebrations ever held in this city.” It was Liberty Bell mania! But, sadly, all crazes over national symbols
of freedom must come to an end and the residents of Harrisburg bid the bell farewell
as it departed for Pittsburgh at 7:30 last night. There were fears in Philadelphia that the
jaunt would permanently damage the bell’s already fragile form, but so far they
were unfounded and its presence provided a surge of pride for the nation amongst
citizens that otherwise would not get the privilege to view it at Independence
Hall.[1]
The Seattle Star
had a front page for the ages today that gave a glimpse into life in 1915. There was a rash of tuberculosis from
drinking milk that caused debate about who should monitor bacteria in cow’s
milk. A new bill passed that mandated a
tuberculin test be administered before the milk is sold to the public, but a
heated battle was being fought over whether a government agent or the individual
dairy farmers should clear the milk for consumption. Also, a bill that would allow dancing in
hotels and cafes was postponed. The law,
as of printing, allowed for dancing only in rooms that did not house the main
bar of an institution. All dancing in
bars was strictly prohibited. In a
similar vein of strange entertainment ordinances, player pianos were banned
from performing in front of movie theaters, but don’t worry all you lovers of
self-playing musical instruments, there was an official protest lodged in hopes
of overturning this one. In national
news, the people on Seattle were concerned with public hangings that were to
take place in Mississippi. Apparently
they believed that holding “public picnics” while “thousands gather to see 5
men enter eternity” was crass. The
celebrations at a previous hanging had one citizen proclaim, “You would have
though the towns were holding a county fair or street carnival instead of
hangings. People came from every
direction. From Laurel, Miss., a dozen
miles or so from Bay Springs, an excursion train was run. It carried nearly 1,000 people.” These days we think of public hangings as
something from the far distance past or, at the very least, performed by
extralegal lynch mobs, but even 100 years ago Americans gathered around the
gallows as a form of entertainment in some sections of the country. Finally, there was news about Frank Holt, the
man that attempted to kill JP Morgan and his family (or, if you take his
account, just scare them a little
with weapons of war). Firstly, it
appears he was not the man that
poisoned his wife while at Harvard, so we needn’t worry about that
anymore. But, sadly for him, he did try
to slit his wrists with a jagged piece of tin while cooped up in his jail cell
last night, so it wasn’t his greatest day.[2]
In “Baseball Is Dying, You Guys” news that would be
published on Hardball Talk if it was written today, apparently the people’s
excitement about baseball was going the way of the buffalo. An author that only went by the name “Girard”
proclaimed in the Public Ledger that
attendance was down because baseball was no longer the national pastime and
will be dead within a few years. A
counterpoint in the Evening Ledger
made the argument that maybe, just maybe, Girard was a fool. See, Girard was in attendance for many
Athletics games at Shibe Park this season and notice that there weren’t as many
people in the stands as there was last year and the only possible reason for
this was that 1 + 1 = 3 and ohmygod baseball is dying. It couldn’t be that in the Athletics he
witnessed an outlier club or that teams that are 18 games below .500 tend to barely
draw at all. No, baseball is dying. But, back in reality where facts are
necessary to base arguments, attendance was actually up among professional
baseball games, and that did not even take into account the thousands of
independent teams that operated successfully all over the nation. Hell, if Girard walked the few blocks east of
Shibe Park to the Baker Bowl he would see the Phillies drawing better than they
had in 33 years!
The first two games of the Phillies series with the Giants
drew 22,000 fans, by far the largest draw for games played on Monday and
Tuesday (the next highest was 11,000), so obvious there was at least one team
in Philadelphia able to attract patrons.
The 6,000 that showed up for today’s game, however, left disappointed;
the Phillies were not able to capitalize on the momentum built from Grover
Cleveland Alexander’s near no-hitter the previous day. They didn’t even make it out of the first
inning before they were down and out.
Erskine Mayer, the starter for Philadelphia, was anything but the solid
ace he proved to be all season when he allowed four Giants to cross home before
he got the second out of the first inning.
After another run came across for New York in the third, manager Pat
Moran had enough. Mayer left giving up
five runs on seven hits in just three innings of work, by far the poorest start
for him on the year.
Mayer’s teammates seemingly decided that if the contest was
blown out so early, they didn’t have to keep their heads in the game. The Phillies banged 12 hits on Giants starter
Rube Marquard, but dumb base-running errors held the club’s run total to
one. There were guys thrown out trying
to take an extra base on balls hit right to the outfielders and guys that were
picked off because they weren’t paying close attention to the pitcher all day
long. Just unacceptable play after
unacceptable play. If Gavvy Cravath
didn’t blast his 12th home run of the year, it would have been a 12-hit
shutout for Marquard. As was the case,
they did get a single run, but it was probably the worst game the club played
all year; the 5-1 score didn’t do the embarrassing display justice. [3]
But, as the old cliché goes, the best thing about baseball
is that there is always a tomorrow.
Today’s tomorrow held a doubleheader for the Phillies and Giants, and
with it a chance to reclaim some ground lost to the Cubs. It was also a chance for Mayer to regain his
form because Moran tapped him to start the first game. I guess he figured Mayer didn’t really exert
himself too much by allowing the Giants to trounce him in three innings. It’s a strange move that would never be made
by a manager today, but maybe Moran was onto something. Maybe Mayer would pitch with a chip on his
shoulder that would set his team on the winning path and, with a little luck,
draw them to within only 0.5 games of Chicago.
This hanging out first place without ever taking it was getting
old. It was time for some action!
[1]
“Liberty Bell Kissed By Boys And Girls As They Pass Relic,” Harrisburg Telegraph, July 6, 1915,
accessed July 6, 2015, http://1.usa.gov/1J0tX6k.
[3]
“Increasing Attendance Proves Baseball Still ‘National Pastime,’” Evening Ledger, July 7, 1915, accessed
July 6, 2015, http://1.usa.gov/1G32Y81.
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