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"Price Competition"
Hero building in Sporting Life, an early baseball journal
Lori Amber Roessner
The University of Georgia
15 Jacksons Walk
Jefferson, GA 30549
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706-367-2601
(cell) 706-254-2763
Candidate for the AEJMC History Division
"Next to religion, baseball has furnished a greater impact on
American life than any other institution." –President Herbert Hoover
________________________
Abstract
By the turn of the twentieth century, organized baseball had emerged
as America's national pastime with larger-than-life heroes enshrined
in mythic lore. Early sportswriters engaged in a symbiotic
relationship with organized baseball, promoting the sport, its
leaders and players, yet all the while profiting from the game's
success. This paper examines how early sports journalists crafted
sports heroes through primitive and advanced means by analyzing
Sporting Life, one of the earliest sports journals, from 1912-17.
"Next to religion, baseball has furnished a greater impact on
American life than any other institution." –President Herbert Hoover
________________________
Abstract
By the turn of the twentieth century, organized baseball had
emerged as America's national pastime with larger-than-life heroes
enshrined in mythic lore. Early sportswriters engaged in a symbiotic
relationship with organized baseball, promoting the sport, its
leaders and players, yet all the while profiting from the game's
success. This paper examines the Sporting Life in the mid-1910s
before the rise of noted sports mythmakers of the 1920s such as
Grantland Rice. This study analyzes content such as short
biographies, box scores, poems and adages, obituaries, photographs,
full-length feature articles and gossip columns included in Sporting
Life. One question will serve to guide the narrative: How did the
Sporting Life craft heroes from 1912 to 1917? By using a constructed
year and month, the study systematically analyzes selected issues
from each quarter, as well as the issues following the 1912-1916
World Series, of every year during the time span.
By the turn of the twentieth century, organized baseball, which
originated in the late 1830s, was firmly entrenched as America's
national pastime, heaped in mythic legend and lore. 1 Early baseball
journalists (many of whom were former amateur players) made a
significant impact on the game's success, acting as promoters,
advisors and record keepers. 2 These sports journalists acted as a
part of an "intricate system of supportive personnel" surrounding
baseball, according to sports historian and sociologist Allen
Guttman. 3 Their work came at just the right time. As the game's
popularity soared, fans eagerly sought news about favorite players
such as Christy Matthewson (New York), Ty Cobb (Detroit), and Cy
Young (Boston). The nation's sportswriters, numbering into the
thousands by 1912, were only too happy to oblige, churning out column
after column, story after story about baseball's cast of
heroes.4 Treatment in the popular press, alongside alternative media
such as radio, movies, vaudeville shows and songs, served to
mythologize baseball players by touting their super-human speed,
strength and agility. 5
Early sportswriters engaged in a symbiotic relationship with
organized baseball, serving to promote the game and its players while
commodifying sport heroes to sell more newspapers.6 From 1871 until
the early 1900s, early sports magazines and newspapers promoted the
sport to the level of the national pastime; sports writers then
turned their full attention to crafting heroes that exemplified the
embodiment of America's democratic ideals from mostly working class
baseball players. 7 This paper examines how early sports journalists
crafted sports heroes through both primitive and later more advanced
means. It analyzes the usage of box scores, sayings, adages, short
biographies, obituaries, photographs, gossip columns and full-length
articles about players and leaders in the Sporting Life, one of the
earliest sports journals, from 1912-17. The purpose is to show how
early baseball publications such as Sporting Life began hero-building
before the more often recognized sports journalists such as Grantland
Rice and Paul Gallico, who did so in the sport's golden age from the
1920s to the 1950s.
America and Baseball in the Industrial Age
From 1880-1920, America's second industrial revolution vastly
transformed the country's landscape, creating large metropolitan
cities with skyscrapers and a mounting mass workforce. During this
era, local economies became increasingly tied to a national economy
that engaged in the selling of goods and services both locally and
abroad. With the need for mass labor force, millions of Americans
migrated from rural areas to cities with the promise of economic
prosperity.8 With the onslaught of urbanization came higher standards
of living for some and increased leisure time, providing a captivated
audience for the newly-formed professional baseball league. 9
In 1871, the National Association of Professional Baseball
Players (the forerunner of the National League) was formed in New
York City. 10 For a decade, the National League—composed of eight
teams—controlled organized baseball, establishing territorial rights
to curtail rival clubs and creating a reservation rule, which
mandated that players were property of a club until traded, sold or
released. 11
During the ensuing decade, the American Association, a rival
league, formed, permitting Sunday games and installing an affordable
gate price of 25 cents. In 1883, delegates from the National League
and the American Association formulated the National Agreement, which
promised mutual respect of all rosters and minimum player salaries.
12 For nearly a decade, the two leagues co-existed, despite several
player wars such as the Player Revolt of 1889, in which a group of
players, led by former second baseman of the New York Giants and
Columbia law graduate John M. Ward, denounced the reserve contract.
13 In 1891, the embattled American Association merged with the
National League, forming one unified league composed of twelve clubs. 14
As baseball moguls forged a profitable business model in the 1880s
and 1890s, several subsequent economic and social factors led to the
game's rise to the level of national pastime. Improvements in
transportation allowed professional baseball teams to tour the
county, while improvements in communication such as the telegraph and
the rotary press allowed newly-acquired fan base to follow every
inning through magazines and newspapers. 15 As pollution and health
problems arose in burgeoning cities, men of the Victorian era began
to actively promote sport as a healthy activity. "The evolution of
the new sports" promoted "values and behaviors of the middle class"
such as "the new positive sports creed," which emphasized
sportsmanship and teamwork. 16 Menial factory jobs occupied mostly
by men led to the questioning of traditional gender roles and what it
meant to be a man. Sport became a male rite of passage, 17 and
baseball thrived. Perhaps, sports historian David Voigt best sums up
why baseball so resonated with the American public:
It was as if Americans needed new rituals to unify and sustain
themselves in a new world of city and factory…baseball met both
challenges by providing fans with a tension-relieving
spectacle…played by skilled new heroes. Beyond this hope of becoming
a player offered poor boys a bit of the American dream of cash and glory.18
In 1900, after a decade of unprecedented growth, organized
baseball transformed into its current system. Ban Johnson formed the
American League, offering more lucrative salaries and better playing
conditions. And, in 1903, the newly-elected National League president
Harry Pulliam granted the American League's status as an equal
institution. 19 Pulliam formed a three-man National Commission,
composed of the two league presidents and one chairman, to rule
professional baseball. 20 By the early twentieth century,
professional baseball had emerged from numerous league and player
wars that plagued its formative years. With the formation of two,
eight-club leagues, organized baseball prospered in its "Silver Age"
(1900-1920). 21 As the legacy of baseball became cemented into
American culture, sports journalists began touting baseball stars as
heroes in the 1910s and 1920s.
Heroes in the Industrial Age
The sports icon became a new kind of American hero. Scholars
have explored the changing notion of the hero in American society. By
the turn of the twentieth century, the notion of great man had
evolved. The old-fashioned American hero—someone who exemplified
admirable qualities—became the celebrity, a renowned well-known
person. 22 Thanks in part to a changing nineteenth-century press,
the concept of heroism transformed into a mass-circulated and
produced celebrity in the twentieth century. 23 As Robert Cathcart
asserts, "all Americans, no matter how humble their origins, how
lacking in physical and intellectual qualities, could aspire to
notoriety and fame…"24
While Hollywood starlets and popular personalities were simply
known for being known, media depictions of sports celebrities
retained a bit of traditional heroic flair in the early twentieth
century. 25 Sports heroes, after all, were known for their brute
strength and speed which were touted in a similar manner as Greek
heroes and great warriors. Sports writers like Grantland Rice argued
that athletes had natural ability that they refined and honed for
hours on end. 26 Sports writers also emphasized that the sports
hero's mental and moral attributes set him apart from the average.
But, most importantly, the sports hero played the game not for glory
or monetary rewards but for the love of the game. 27
Thus, sports players enjoyed traditional heroic portrayals
mixed with celebrity-style coverage, becoming what Susan Drucker
terms as pseudo-heroes.28 Drucker asserts that the media craft sports
heroes through the usage of "stadia, photography, news, publicity,
radio and television."29 Though, many scholars have examined how
sports journalists crafted heroes in the "Golden Age of Baseball"
(1920-1960), only limited research exists on how early sports
journalists at the turn of the century crafted heroes through more
primitive methods.
Sports media in the Industrial Age
By the mid-nineteenth century, new technologies such as the
telegraph and the rotary press transformed communication and the
press. 30 During this era, the cheap, mass-circulating dailies and
magazines began publishing human-interest stories with more
traditional interviews. 31 The development of the news wire and the
professionalization of reporting changed the concept of news. 32 By
the 1870s, the modern interview format with the interspersing of
direct quotes became employed at most major newspapers. 33
Between 1880 and 1900, the number of dailies rose from 850 to
nearly 2,000 newspapers.34 New developments in photography led to the
inclusion of photographs in many newspapers and magazines. 35 Also,
during this era, the newspaper circulation wars between Joseph
Pulitzer (the New York World) and William Randolph Hearst (the San
Francisco Examiner) gave rise to yellow journalism, the term given to
sensationalistic news accounts. 36
It was within this context that sports journalism emerged.
Sports journalism dates back to the 1820s, when newspapers provided
accounts of certain sport activities such as cricket, horse racing
and prize fighting. 37 John Stuart Skinner's American Turf Register
(1829, monthly) and William Porter's The Spirit of the Times (1831,
weekly) were the first two journals devoted exclusively to sport.
38 These two early sports magazines relied on their readers
for much of the copy. 39 Despite the presence of these early sports
publications and short newspaper accounts, not until the advent of
the penny press did newspapers begin devoting any lengthy coverage to sport. 40
In the 1870s, the nation's first sports departments emerged,
and by the 1880s, the leading daily newspapers had sports
departments. 41 These accounts provided Americans with "a steady diet
of (sports) information." 42 The emergence of sports beats led to
more colorful accounts about every aspect of baseball from training
camps to player profiles. During the 1880s, several mass-circulating
sports magazines such as the Sporting Life and the Sporting News were
created by business-savvy individuals who saw that the public was
primed for constant, in-depth sport coverage. 43 The widespread
prevalence of sports coverage emerged as editors saw that sport "was
good copy." 44 More importantly, it boosted circulation, attracting a
large male readership that craved sports news. 45
Early sports journalists enjoyed a mutually-beneficial
relationship with sports magnates and players in the newly-emerging
sports world. The sports coverage provided developing sports leagues
with publicity, and the copy sold newspapers and created lucrative
careers for sports journalists. 46 As Ponce de Leon notes:
Sportswriters recognized that heightened public interest in sports
was good for them too, creating a huge audience of people who had no
choice but to turn to the daily press for coverage of events that
they were unable to attend in person. Accordingly, many journalists
joined forces with athletes and promoters, producing articles that
were vital to the fortunes of the industry. 47
Sports writers "spread the cult of baseball among the masses" and
contributed to the establishment of "the business as a commercialized
entertainment" converting it "into an integral part of the American
social scene. 48
Francis Richter was one such prominent early sports journalist
who wielded a significant impact upon baseball. Because of his former
career as an amateur baseball player, he understood the integral
aspects of baseball and sought to elevate the game. 49 Richter began
his journalism career working for several hometown newspapers in
Philadelphia. In 1872, he began his career with the Philadelphia Day,
and when the paper folded eight years later, he had already
established his reputation as a successful managing editor. He began
writing for the Sunday World and started the nation's first sports
department of the era while working at the Public Ledger. 50 From
this post, he influenced prominent leaders of the National League and
American Association to create clubs in Philadelphia.51
In 1883, Richter founded the Sporting Life, a weekly magazine
devoted to the coverage of all sports with an emphasis on baseball,
and began editing the journal, which became the mouthpiece of the
national game. 52 Within the first year of publication, his journal
had a circulation of 20,000; three years later, the publication had
risen to 40,000. By 1890, the Sporting Life had sixteen pages, cost
ten cents per copy, and boasted "the largest circulation of any
sporting or baseball newspaper." 53 The motto for the Sporting Life,
taken from Abraham Lincoln's creed, was: "devoted to base ball men
and measures, with malice towards none and charity for all."
As editor of Sporting Life, Richter advocated rule changes and plans
to end league wars. Most notably, Richter argued for the lengthening
of the pitcher's mound to 60-feet, 6-inches in order to balance
offense and defense. In 1893, the rule was enacted after much
lobbying from Richter. 54 But, perhaps, Richter is best remembered
for advocating the Millennium Plan. He attempted to elevate his
"Millennium Plan" as a solution to major league exploitation of the
minors. When the minor leagues became members of the National
Agreement under the "Articles of Qualified Admission" in the early
1880s, they were subjected to exploitation by the majors by not
receiving the protection and benefit of the reserved clause. As a
result, players could be taken legally by major league clubs when
their contracts expired at the end of each season. Thus, without
property rights, many minor leagues folded due to lack of players.
The plan sought to change the reservation and drafting system
employed in the minors, advocating "the extension to all of the minor
leagues the reservation privilege" through a "long and hard fight."
55 The measure was finally considered and granted in 1888 by the
National League and American Association. 56
Subsequently, Richter was offered the presidency of the
National League in 1907, but turned it down because of his work with
Sporting Life. 57 In addition to his work with Sporting Life, Richter
served as the official score for the World Series for numerous years
and edited the Reach Guide, an annual baseball guide featuring stats
and player profiles, from its inception in 1901 until 1926. 58
The research regarding the relationship between early sports
journalism and baseball has been minimal. While book upon book has
explored the impact of legendary sports journalists such as Grantland
Rice, 59 little research exists about the impact of earlier sports
journalists such as Francis Richter.
Baseball historians such as Seymour and David Q. Voigt mention
early sports journalists' impact upon the promotion of the sport, yet
they fail to examine sports journalists as mythmakers. And,
historians such as Charles Ponce de Leon examine the crafting of
sports heroes during the 1920s, but fail to examine the phenomenon at
the turn of the century.
Methodology
This paper examines the Sporting Life in the mid-1910s before
the rise of noted sports mythmakers of the 1920s such as Grantland
Rice. This study analyzes content such as short biographies, box
scores, poems and adages, obituaries, photographs, full-length
feature articles and gossip columns included in Sporting Life. One
question will serve to guide the narrative: How did the Sporting Life
craft heroes from 1912 to 1917?
By using a constructed year and month, the study
systematically analyzes selected issues from each quarter, as well as
the issues following the 1912-1916 World Series, of every year during
the time span. Overall, twenty-five issues and 205 articles of the
Sporting Life were examined.
Though the Sporting Life never acquired the circulation base
of a major newspaper such as the New York World, it is important to
examine its content because it was one of the most influential sport
journals of its day with a prominent editor that wielded a
significant impact on the national pastime at the turn of the century.
This research will add to the body of knowledge on the
theoretical concept of heroism by examining how American sports
heroes were crafted at the turn of the century. It will also add to
our knowledge in terms of understanding the relationship between
journalism and baseball, which until now has been more stated than
corroborated. In addition, it will provide additional context about a
prominent sports journalist and publication that has been overlooked
by many scholars.
Primitive Methods
Analysis of primitive methods revealed how sports writing and
hero building evolved in the mid 1910s. In this analysis, primitive
methods were defined as brief recounts of athletic feats either in
statistical or editorial form. Primitive methods focus on athletic
feats such as pitching and hitting records or athletic virtues such
as sportsmanship. Short biographies were operationalized as
biographical accounts ranging in length from 75 to 200 words. Box
scores, recaps and records were defined as statistical accounts of
sporting events, while poems and adages were defined as poetic
devices or sayings.
Short Biographies
The Sporting Life ran short biographies (from 75-200 words)
about prominent baseball players on every cover in the sample from
1912 to February 1915. These short biographies accompanied by large
portraits provided readers with everything from physical descriptions
of players to descriptions of their baseball career and baseball
records. These articles often described players as "the brilliant
young first baseman" or "the most sensational player of the age" or
as "rapidly develop(ing) into a star." 60 In describing their skill,
the biographies often include descriptions such as "hard hitter,"
"fast fielder," "smart ball player" or "high-class batt(er)." 61 Ty
Cobb and Rube Marquard were the two most prominent baseball players
profiled in the sample. Cobb was described as "the most sensational
player of the age. The short biography told of his youth and minor
league background. It culminated with a description of Cobb as "one
of the great stars of the American League," "a mainstay of the
Detroit team" and "the most sensational performer of this generation"
with "apparently no limit to his ability and endurance." 62
Marquard's biography describes his heroic journey from only winning
five games in 1909 to winning 19 straight in 1912. He was described
as "the sensation of the 1912 season." 63 These short biographies
with laudatory descriptions sought to transform baseball players into
legends.
Box Scores, Game Recaps and Records
Each of the issues sampled contained box scores and game
recaps similar to what one might find in any contemporary sports
page. In the recaps, baseball players were identified as "whipping
the ball to first" 64 to end a scoreless inning, "pitching almost
perfect ball," 65 or winning the game with "a homer in the eighth."
66 Also in the recaps, the at-bats of sports stars such as Rube
Marquard were given special attention with vivid details. 67 At the
end of recaps, player's hitting and fielding statistics for the day
are enclosed.
Due to meticulous record keeping initiated during the 1870s by
sports writer Francis Chadwick, baseball journalists kept fans
abreast of season records in pitching, fielding and hitting. At
season's end, special attention was given to final standings among
pitchers and hitters. In 1912, Chicago second baseman Johnny Evers
was credited with only striking out 18 times and receiving 74 walks
in 143 games 68; while in 1916, New York pitcher Ferdie Schupp is
credited with the lowest earned run average (ERA) in the major
leagues. 69 The Sporting Life often ran articles on pitching records
during the height of the Dead Ball Era (1900-19), known for low
batting averages and impressive pitching. On July 20, 1912, it
published several articles about pitcher Rube Marquard's 19 straight
victories during the season, which tied a major league record set in
1888, 70 and in June 1916, the Sporting Life touted New York pitcher
Charley Radbourne, who won 18 games in a month as "beyond all competition. 71
Poems and Adages
The Sporting Life also often included poetry about baseball and its
players. Christy "Matty" Matthewson, one of the era's most famous
pitchers, is often lauded in poetry. In "Spring Has Almost 'Came,'"
William F. Kirk wrote: "Matty is looking great; sh Devore is fat;
Doyle was one day late; Feeling fine at that…," touting Matthewson's
ability. 72 while in another poem entitled "When 'Matty' Was a
Boy," Kirk wrote:
Of course you kids love Matty and the deeds that he can do:
He's just your big blond idol, and your father's idol, too.
Long years of brilliant triumphs gave this athlete real renown,
And so today in "Our Matty" is a pet in New York Town.
You think your chance of winning fame is far away and slight,
And so you envy him by day and dream of him by night.
But when you think life's battle hard, let this though bring you joy:
Success was just as hard to win when Matty was a boy. 73
The Sporting Life published "Sayings of Great Men" on its editorial
page. Notable baseball legends such as Ty Cobb were quoted: "If you
would get there with both feet use your head." 74 Connie Mack, former
major league player and manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, was
often quoted in these sections. He said "intuition is merely a
remarkable faculty possessed by a good guesser." 75 These adages put
prominent baseball players and managers on a pedestal by making them
appear wise beyond their years.
In addition to poetry and wise sayings, the Sporting Life began
publishing humorous anecdotes on the "characters" of baseball in
1915. These columns included snippets about baseball players such as
Christy Matthewson and Hans Wagner. One such column claimed that
"Hans Wagner's idea of culture is five hits out of five times at bat
and 15 chances without an error." 76 Another column made jest about
Joe Jackson's tendency to blame scorers for his not hitting as well
as Ty Cobb. 77 The usage of poems and adages served to elevate
sports players as personalities, celebrities and some might say mythic gods.
Contemporary Methods
Analysis of contemporary methods revealed how sports writing
and hero building evolved in the late 1910s. In this analysis,
contemporary methods were defined as lengthy accounts of a player,
manager or owner's feats in baseball or personal lives. Obituaries
were operationalized as biographical accounts of a player, manager or
owner's life ranging from 75-1500 words. Photographs and were defined
as still life or action photos ranging in size from a small portrait
to a large team photo or cover shot of a player in action.
Full-length feature articles were defined as lengthier articles
(500-1500 words) highlighting the feats of one player, manager or
owner, while gossip notes and columns were defined as editorial
content that focused on alleged or factual points about players,
managers or owner's outside lives.
Obituaries
On 37 occasions in the sample from 1912-1917, recently
deceased players, managers, writers and magnates were eulogized in
the Sporting Life. Often times, these eulogies were short death
announcements listed in the "Latest News By Telegraph Briefly Told."
For instance, when Eddie Heydon died on October 8, 1913, a 58-word
announcement ran, explaining that the former catcher from the
Indianapolis baseball club died due to spinal problems suffered
during his career.78 Enoch "Jersey" Bakley's death announcement
appeared in the Sporting Life on February 27, 1915, emphasizing his
career as a pitcher of the Philadelphia Athletics in the mid-1880s.79
League magnates and managers also received significant coverage upon
dying. On October, 23, 1915, an article and accompanying photograph
about Federal League financial backer Robert Ward's death appeared
nearby a tribute to deceased manager Fred Clarke.80 The tribute
called Clarke a great player and manager with "ideal character." The
"fighter on the field('s)" passing gave a "hard blow to the sport."
81 When team owner John T. Brush died in 1912, the Sporting Life
emphasized his contributions to the game. 82 Each of the obituaries
focused on the player, manager and magnates contributions to baseball.
But, it was Albert Spalding's death in September 1915 that
wielded by far the most coverage of any death in the sample. A
front-page banner headline said "Heroic Figure Passes from the
Stage." 83 A death announcement, full-length article written by
Sporting Life editor Francis Richter, large mug photograph and
editorial followed. The article described Spalding as someone who did
more for baseball than "any other man living or dead." 84 He was said
to be a "potent figure" in every area of baseball from player and
league organizer to manager and business owner. 85 The following
editorial emphasized the loss: "when the grim reaper took Albert G.
Spalding he removed forever from the domain of sport an heroic
figure" that "wrote his name large and indelibly upon every page of
its history." 86 The editorial went on to highlight his heroic
journey from his "humble start" to his playing career as the
"greatest pitcher of his generation" to his management "winning the
first pennant of the National League" to his position in the sporting
goods industry to his role as the "first power" in the National
League and savior of baseball. 87 The editorial emphasized his heroic
attributes such as his work ethic, his genial attitude and personal
integrity, culminating by espousing Spalding "as the game's chief
constructive genius and as its greatest missionary."88 Thus, Spalding
was touted as a baseball god. From this article, one can see
hero-crafting in its most blatant state.
Photography and Cartoons
Photography was utilized in every issue of Sporting Life sampled.
Often mug shots of star players accompanied articles, numbering 4 or
5 per page. The mug shot of Ty Cobb was one of the most prevalent in
the issues sampled. From 1912 to 1915, Sporting Life published large
photos of uniformed players such as Ty Cobb and Rube Marquard in
accompaniment with short biographies featured in the middle of the
front page. 89 Later, from mid-1915 to 1917, the sporting journal
used a mix of action and still life photos on their covers. 90 Action
photos often featured players throwing, fielding and batting. In the
weeks following the World Series, Sporting Life published large team
photos of the champion and large mugs of the series' heroes. 91 The
mugs of players often featured cutlines such as "Arthur Fletcher: the
Infielder Who Alone Starred For Giants" and the covers of these
issues often featured cutlines such as "Duffy Lewis and Harry Hooper:
Batting Heroes of the 1915 World Series." 92 Also of note, several
issues sampled featured opportunities for readers to purchase team
and individual pictures of championship teams and rising heroes. 93
In addition, two cartoons appeared in the issues sampled. One
featured a group of kids playing baseball, while the other featured a
humorous stance on Ty Cobb's holding out for a larger salary. 94
Photographs and cartoons within the Sporting Life provided readers
with a method of memorializing and idolizing sports stars. Sports
heroes photos could be clipped from the section or purchased from the
journal and pasted onto the wall of an admiring child.
Full-length Feature Articles
Many early full-length feature articles that centered solely on
athletes in Sporting Life focused on whether Deadball Era players
were greater than the first generation of major leaguers. An article
that appeared on March 9, 1912, argued that in the past five years
"big men" were better hitters than "men of small stature," citing
batting averages of players like Nap Lajoie and Hans Wagner that were
over .300. 95 Another article in the same issue argued that Charles
Comiskey, the current owner of the Chicago Cubs, was the best first
baseman to have ever played the game. 96 In a similar manner, the
journal included an article that discussed the "heroic stuff" of a
former player turned manager of the Naps, Joseph Birmingham, who
taught his players self-sacrifice. 97
Later that year, the journal featured a full-length,
front-page article about Rube Marquard's 19 consecutive victories.
The article blamed his first loss on a woman in the tree that
hollered so and "proved to be a jinx," according to Marquard. 98 The
writer argued that Marquard "cannot rightfully be accused of pitching
anything but high-class ball." 99 The following November, a similar
article discussed the virtues of Christy Matthewson, "the famous
veteran pitcher" credited with more shutouts than any other pitcher. 100
In subsequent years, the journal began increasingly running
full-length feature articles about players, managers and magnates.
And, by 1916, the player feature story was a common occurrence. In
week's following the World Series, feature articles about players
seemed to increase. But, in the sample, one player received the
lion's share of feature articles—Ty Cobb. An article in May 1912
discussed Cobb's exploits with an angry fan. After being suspended by
American League President Ban Johnson, his Detroit team went on
strike, an unheard of event. Despite Cobb's sometimes bad-boy antics,
the press portrayed him in a positive light, arguing that the irate
fan had crossed the line. 101 Other articles portrayed "the Detroit
star" in a more negative light, focusing on Cobb's actions of holding
out for larger salaries. 102 Some articles discussed his off-season
hobbies, featuring him as a expert hunter. 103 But, no matter what
the situation, the journal depicted him as one of the generation's
greatest ball players. In an article on July 8, 1916, Sid Keener
argued that Cobb is the best "batsman" in the game's history. He
asserted that Cobb, with a lifetime batting average of .369,
surpassed former greats such as Pop Anson due to batting rule changes. 104
Gossip Notes and Columns
Gossip snippets were often featured in Sporting Life's notes
sections. In National League and American Association Notes, player
predictions and news of illnesses were often noted. In June 1914, one
National League Note informed readers that Billy Sunday approved of
Hans Wagner's home for old ball players.105 Other game gossip in the
National League and American League Notes included word that Jim
Thorpe was attempting to "master the spit-ball" and that Joe Jackson
was in a "batting slump." 106
More personal gossip was often related to readers in columns
like "American League News in Nut-Shells" and "Local Jottings." One
such column relayed information on the holiday plans of Joe Jackson
and Eddie Cicotte and yet another announced the honeymoon of John
Williams in Honolulu and the terrible plight of former player Rube
Waddell, who was "picked up wandering the streets…exhausted and
suffering from consumption." 107 Other individual columns told of
Cobb's ambition to best Hans Wagner's batting record or his
opportunity to act as "the hero of a six-reel film drama written
especially for him." 108 Rube Marquard's off-season work as an
insurance salesman was reported in one gossip column while a lengthy
column discussed Joe Jackson's love of rural life and his final
payment of his farm near Greenville and recent purchase of 50 more
acres. 109 By 1916, the Sporting Life devoted a whole page to
baseball gossip under the title of "Worthwhile News Notes of Base
Ball." The page highlighted Cobb's career as a movie star, the
marriage announcement of catcher Alfred J. Walters, the appearance of
"Dutch" Leonard as a guest of honor at a hotel in Fresno, Calif., and
the business dealings of pitcher Walter Johnson.110 Sporting Life
initially provided baseball gossip then individual gossip in note
form; later, the journal published full-fledged gossip columns that
functioned in much the same manner as columns about Hollywood
celebrities in the popular press. Thus, the journal provide the
"inside dope" about player's lives, creating a mystique about players.
Conclusions
At the turn of the twentieth century, journalists began
actively creating heroes as opposed to simply discovering them. 111
As prominent historian Barry Schwartz eloquently noted "like truth,
the great man is created, not discovered."112 This study reveals
that the Sporting Life engaged in both primitive and more
contemporary methods of hero crafting in the mid-1910s.
Earlier, more primitive methods such as short biographies, box
scores, records, poems and adages elevated players to a heroic status
by contextualizing their greatness in relation to baseball. As this
study highlights, baseball records and box scores, featured in each
sampled issue, provided readers with a gauge of greatness. Readers
knew that Rube Marquard was a truly "great" man when he won 19
consecutive victories; just as decades later hitting and pitching
records served to gauge the greatness of sports heroes such as Joe
DiMaggio and Nolan Ryan. 113 This study serves to legitimize
Drucker's claim that "a hero's deeds, in the record book, might be
enough to create a hero" 114 On the other hand, short biographies
often revealed the player's heroic journey from separation to
initiation to return. For instance, Ty Cobb's short biography
outlined his path to greatness from his short stint in the minor
league to his status as the "most sensational player of the age." 115
These short biographies emphasized the American dream by revealing
that with enough athletic talent and a measure of hard work anyone
could become a successful baseball star. While the short biography
laid the foundation for a player's claim to greatness, poems and
adages in Sporting Life cemented those claims. Sports writers such as
William F. Kirk waxed poetic to emphasize moral virtues like hard
work in players such as Christy Matthewson. 116 Each of these methods
attempted to place star baseball players on a pedestal.
Later, more contemporary methods of hero crafting also served
to contextualize greatness. Similarly to short biographies,
obituaries in Sporting Life emphasized the athletic and virtuous
feats of players, managers and owners. Perhaps the greatest example
in the issues sampled, Albert G. Spalding is identified as a heroic
figure not only for his baseball deeds but for virtues such as
integrity and hard work. 117 In a similar manner, photographs
provided readers with an image of their heroes. The ability to
purchase team and player photographs from Sporting Life allowed
readers to idolize their favorite baseball heroes at all times. These
cultural artifacts added to the prevalence of the baseball hero in
American society.
But, contemporary methods of hero crafting in Sporting Life
also served to create what Drucker terms pseudo-heroes. 118 Similar
to the trend in the mainstream media, the Sporting Life began
focusing on the personal lives of baseball players in the mid-1910s
as distinctions between public and private personas blurred.
119 Thus, full-length feature articles and gossip columns provided
the "inside dope" on the private lives of baseball players. Gossip
tidbits such as marriage and divorce announcements and injury reports
and full-length feature articles on off-season habits of baseball
players focused less on the heroic qualities of baseball players and
more on in-depth knowledge of their private lives.
In addition, this study reveals who was not crafted as a hero
by Sporting Life. Only white men were depicted as heroic by the
Sporting Life. Minorities such as women and African Americans were
not crafted as heroic. This may be due in part to the lack of
involvement of women and African Americans in major league baseball.
This study adds to the body of knowledge of the theoretical concept
of heroism by analyzing how the Sporting Life crafted heroes in the
mid-1910s, before the rise of noted mythmakers of the 1920s such as
Grantland Rice . It reveals both primitive and more contemporary
methods of hero building still in practice by modern journalists. In
addition, it reveals the segue between the construction of sports
stars as traditionally-defined heroes (as exemplars) in the early
1910s and the construction of sports stars as pseudo-heroes (a mix of
celebrity known for being known and hero) in the late 1910s. Based on
this study, one might argue that the Sporting Life depiction of
baseball heroes transformed from a Victorian concept of heroism to a
modern concept of heroism.
Notes
1 David Voigt, American Baseball: from Gentleman's Sport to the
Commissioner System (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966),
5-7, 278. The development of baseball provides a prime example of
such lore. After more than a half a century of debates, in 1907,
sporting goods manufacturer Albert Spalding organized a panel to
derive the inventor of America's national pastime. The panel found
that Abney Doubleday invented the game and devised the rules in
Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1839. After the panel's decision was issued,
Henry Chadwick, known as the "Father of Base Ball," asserted that
this story was but a myth and that baseball emerged from a number of
English folk games including cricket, rounders and a children's game
called One Old Cat; Another example of such mythic lore is the fact
that Moses Fleetwood Walker, not Jackie Robinson, was the first
African American to play major league baseball. From 1883-84, Walker
played for the Toledo Blue Stockings. After a run-in with one of the
National League's most influential players Cap Anson and a subsequent
decision by the American Associations to uphold the National League's
unwritten rule banning black players, Walker was released from the
club at the end of the 1884 season.
2 Harold Seymour. Baseball: The Early Years. (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1966), 69.
3 Allen Guttman. From Ritual to Record: The Nature of Modern Sports.
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1978), 38.
4 Francis C. Richter, The History and Records of Base Ball: The
American Nation's Chief Sport (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 1912), 428.
5 McGimpsey, David. Imagining Baseball: America's Pastime and
Popular Culture. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000).
6William A. Harper, How You Played the Game: The Life of Grantland
Rice (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999), 9.
7William A. Harper, How You Played the Game: The Life of Grantland
Rice (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999), 9.
8 www.wikipedia.com
9William A. Harper, How You Played the Game: The Life of Grantland
Rice (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999), 4.
10 David Voigt, American Baseball: from Gentleman's Sport to the
Commissioner System (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966), 35.
11 Harold Seymour. Baseball: The Early Years. (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1966).
12 David Voigt, American Baseball: from Gentleman's Sport to the
Commissioner System (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
1966); Harold Seymour. Baseball: The Early Years. (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1966).
13 Glenn Moore. "Ideology on the Sportspage: Newspapers, Baseball and
the Ideological Conflict in the Gilded Age." Journal of Sport
History, 1996, 239.
14 David Voigt, American Baseball: from Gentleman's Sport to the
Commissioner System (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
1966); Harold Seymour. Baseball: The Early Years. (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1966).
15 Allen Guttman. From Ritual to Record: The Nature of Modern Sports.
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1978), 98.
16Steven Reiss, "Sports and the Redefinition of American Middle-Class
Masculinity," International Journal of the History of Sport, 6.
17 Steven Reiss, "Sports and the Redefinition of American
Middle-Class Masculinity," International Journal of the History of Sport.
18 David Voigt, American Baseball: from Gentleman's Sport to the
Commissioner System (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966), 4.
19 Charles Alexander, Baseball Feudalism and the Rise of the American
League. (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1991), 81.
20 Harold Seymour. Baseball: The Early Years. (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1966).
21 David Voigt, American Baseball: from Gentleman's Sport to the
Commissioner System (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966).
22 Susan Drucker, "The Mediated Sports Hero," American Heroes in a
Media Age, 83, 85.
23 Joshua Gamson, "The Assembly Line of Greatness: celebrity in 20th
Century America," Critical Studies in Mass Communication 9 (March 1992), 1-24.
24Robert S. Cathcart, "From Hero to Celebrity: the Media Connection,"
American Heroes in a Media Age, 43.
25 Susan Drucker, "The Mediated Sports Hero," American Heroes in a Media Age,
26Charles Ponce de Leon, Self Exposure: Human-Interest Journalism and
the Emergence of Celebrity in America, 1890-1940 (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 252.
27 Charles Ponce de Leon, Self Exposure: Human-Interest Journalism
and the Emergence of Celebrity in America, 1890-1940 (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 252.
28 Susan Drucker, "The Mediated Sports Hero," American Heroes in a Media Age,
29 Susan Drucker, "The Mediated Sports Hero," American Heroes in a
Media Age, 82.,
30 Joshua Gamson, "The Assembly Line of Greatness: celebrity in 20th
Century America," Critical Studies in Mass Communication 9 (March 1992), 3.
31 Charles Ponce de Leon, "The Man Nobody Knows: Charles A. Lindbergh
and the Culture of Celebrity" Prospects 21 (1996), 349.
32 Joshua Gamson, "The Assembly Line of Greatness: celebrity in 20th
Century America," Critical Studies in Mass Communication 9 (March 1992), 3.
33 Charles Ponce de Leon, Self Exposure: Human-Interest Journalism
and the Emergence of Celebrity in America, 1890-1940 (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 43.
34William A. Harper, How You Played the Game: The Life of Grantland
Rice (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999), 11.
35 Charles Ponce de Leon, "The Man Nobody Knows: Charles A. Lindbergh
and the Culture of Celebrity" Prospects 21 (1996), 349.
36 Charles Ponce de Leon, "The Man Nobody Knows: Charles A. Lindbergh
and the Culture of Celebrity" Prospects 21 (1996), 349.
37William A. Harper, How You Played the Game: The Life of Grantland
Rice (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999), 2.
38William A. Harper, How You Played the Game: The Life of Grantland
Rice (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999), 6-7.
39William A. Harper, How You Played the Game: The Life of Grantland
Rice (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999), 6-7.
40Charles Ponce de Leon, Self Exposure: Human-Interest Journalism and
the Emergence of Celebrity in America, 1890-1940 (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 242.
41Charles Ponce de Leon, Self Exposure: Human-Interest Journalism and
the Emergence of Celebrity in America, 1890-1940 (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 242.
42Charles Ponce de Leon, Self Exposure: Human-Interest Journalism and
the Emergence of Celebrity in America, 1890-1940 (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 242.
43 David Voigt, American Baseball: from Gentleman's Sport to the
Commissioner System (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966), 194-5.
44William A. Harper, How You Played the Game: The Life of Grantland
Rice (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999), 8.
45Charles Ponce de Leon, Self Exposure: Human-Interest Journalism and
the Emergence of Celebrity in America, 1890-1940 (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 242.
46Charles Ponce de Leon, Self Exposure: Human-Interest Journalism and
the Emergence of Celebrity in America, 1890-1940 (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 244.
47Charles Ponce de Leon, Self Exposure: Human-Interest Journalism and
the Emergence of Celebrity in America, 1890-1940 (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 244.
48 Harold Seynour, Baseball: The Early Years. (New York: Oxford
University Press), 351.
49Thomas Richter (1926). "Obituary of Francis C. Richter." The Reach
Official American League Guide, 244; Philadelphia Inquirer. (1926
February 13). "Obituary of Francis C. Richter."
50 Thomas Richter (1926). "Obituary of Francis C. Richter." The Reach
Official American League Guide, 244; baseballlibrary.com
51 Thomas Richter (1926). "Obituary of Francis C. Richter." The Reach
Official American League Guide, 244; baseballlibrary.com
52 Thomas Richter (1926). "Obituary of Francis C. Richter." The Reach
Official American League Guide, 244;
53 Harold Seynour, Baseball: The Early Years. (New York: Oxford
University Press), 350.
54Thomas Richter (1926). "Obituary of Francis C. Richter." The Reach
Official American League Guide, 244; Philadelphia Inquirer. (1926
February 13). "Obituary of Francis C. Richter."
55 Francis C. Richter, The History and Records of Base Ball: The
American Nation's Chief Sport (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 1912), 156.
56Harold Seynour, Baseball: The Early Years. (New York: Oxford
University Press); David Voigt, American Baseball: from Gentleman's
Sport to the Commissioner System (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966).
57 Thomas Richter (1926). "Obituary of Francis C. Richter." The Reach
Official American League Guide, 244; baseballlibrary.com
58 Thomas Richter (1926). "Obituary of Francis C. Richter." The Reach
Official American League Guide, 244; baseballlibrary.com
59 GIL Universal Catalog. A simple search of a library catalog
reveals books with titles such as Grantland Rice and His Heroes and
How You Played the Game: The Life of Grantland Rice about Rice's life
and career as a mythmaker.
60Sporting Life, March 9, 1912, 1; May 25, 1912, 1; June 6, 1914, 1.
61Sporting Life, August 15, 1914, 1; February 27, 1915, 1; May 25, 1912, 1.
62Sporting Life, May 25, 1912, 1.
63 Sporting Life, May 25, 1912, 1.
64 Sporting Life, May 25, 1912, 12.
65 Sporting Life, April 26, 1913, 10.
66 Sporting Life, June 6, 1914, 5.
67 Sporting Life, September 6, 1913, 8.
68 Sporting Life, December 14, 1912, 12.
69 Sporting Life, December 2, 1916, 12.
70 Sporting Life, July 20, 1912, 9.
71 Sporting Life, June 24, 1916, 7.
72 Sporting Life, March 9, 1912, 3
73 Sporting Life , December 14, 1912, 2.
74 Sporting Life, March 9, 1912, 3.
75 Sporting Life, July 20, 1912, 6.
76 Sporting Life, February 27, 1915, 15
77 Sporting Life, January 17, 1914, 13.
78 Sporting Life, October 18, 1913, 2.
79 Sporting Life, February 22, 1915, 10.
80 Sporting Life, October 23, 1915, 8, 12.
81 Sporting Life, October 23, 1915, 12.
82 Sporting Life, December 14, 1912, 9.
83 Sporting Life, September 18, 1915, 1.
84 Sporting Life, September 18, 1915, 1.
85 Sporting Life, September 18, 1915, 1.
86 Sporting Life, September 18, 1915, 4.
87 Sporting Life, September 18, 1915, 4.
88 Sporting Life, September 18, 1915, 4.
89Sporting Life, March 9, 1912, 1; May 25, 1912, 1; December 14,
1912, 1; September 6, 1913, 1; January 17, 1914, 1; June 6, 1914, 1;
August 15, 1914, 1; October 17, 1914, 1; October 31, 1914; February 27, 1915.
90Sporting Life, October 23, 1915, 1; March 25, 1916, 1; June 24,
1916, 1; July 8, 1916, 1, 1; October 21, 1916, 1; December 2, 1916, 1.
91Sporting Life, October 18, 1913, 1; November 22, 1913, 4; October
23, 1915, 4; October21, 1916, 4-5.
92Sporting Life, October 18, 1913, 1; October 23, 1915, 1.
93Sporting Life, March 9, 1912, 15.
94Sporting Life, November 22, 1913, 10.
95 Sporting Life, March 9, 1912, 8.
96 Sporting Life, March 9, 1912, 13.
97 Sporting Life, December 14, 1912, 16.
98 Sporting Life, July 20, 1912, 1.
99 Sporting Life, July 20, 1912, 1.
100 Sporting Life, November 22, 1913, 12.
101 Sporting Life, May 25, 1912, 1.
102 Sporting Life, February 2, 1913, 11; April 26, 1913, 6.
103 Sporting Life, September 18, 1915, 27.
104 Sporting Life, July 8, 1916, 4.
105Sporting Life, June 6, 1914, 7.
106Sporting Life, April 26, 1913, 11; Sporting Life, May 25, 1912, 13.
107 Sporting Life, December 14, 1912, 10; November 22, 1913, 3, 17.
108 Sporting Life, April 10, 1915, 2; October 21, 1916, 3.
109 Sporting Life, December 14, 1912, 10; February 15, 1913, 17.
110 Sporting Life, December 2, 1916, 7.
111 Betty Houchin Winfield and Janice Hume, "The American Hero and
the Evolution of the Human Interest Story," American Journalism
(Spring 1998), 88.
112 Barry Schwartz, "Emerson, Cooley and the American Heroic Vision,"
Symbolic Interaction VII (Spring 1985), 110.
113 Nick Trujilo and Leah R. Vande Berg, "From Western Prodigy to
AgelessWonder; The Mediated Evolution of Nolan Ryan," American Heroes
in a Media Age, Chapter 15; Anthony A. Yoseloff, "From Ethnic Hero to
National Icon: The Americanization of Joe DiMaggio," International
Journal of the History of Sport; 16:3 (1999), 1-20.
114Susan Drucker, "The Mediated Sports Hero," American Heroes in a
Media Age, 89.,
115Sporting Life, May 25, 1912, 1.
116 Sporting Life , December 14, 1912, 2.
117 Sporting Life, September 18, 1915, 4.
118Susan Drucker, "The Mediated Sports Hero," American Heroes in a
Media Age, 89.,
119Robert S. Cathcart, "From Hero to Celebrity: the Media
Connection," American Heroes in a Media Age, 37.