Bring Back the Old Names… Sports Stadiums Losing Their Charm…

January 15, 2024 by · Leave a Comment 

Guaranteed Rate Field, M&T Stadium, Oracle Park… do any of these names ring a bell for you? Perhaps if they are housing “your team” they seem familiar however, for the rest of us (or maybe just me) they seem boring and generic.

Let’s try again with their classic names… Cominskey Park, Camden Yards, Candlestick. Ahhh, now that feels right. The other day I was talking with some friends and mourning the loss of the classic names for sports stadiums.  As I am sure you are aware, these days the name is offered to the highest bidder.  How long, we wondered, till Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, Dodger Stadium, Fenway Park are no more? Thankfully, we have record of these gems in Newspapers: THE NEW YORK TIMES, Sept. 14, 1920 … The top of page 13 has a column headed: “Terms Agreed Upon For Yankees’ Park”

Once again, history is preserved in newspapers of the day. Ok, so it may not be as critical to humanity as the founding of our nation but, to a baseball fan, it is still pretty sweet!

The Sounds of Summer and the Crack of the Bat…

October 28, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

What makes summer feel like summer? Hazy evenings where light still lingers until after 9… Fireflies flitting across the grass… Children laughing as they romp in the neighborhood yards or… the crack of a bat at the local little league field? We at RareNewspapers have a particular fondness for baseball – not only because our Phillies made it to the World Series… or that our founder (Tim Hughes) has served for decades on the board of Little League International… or that the Little League World Series is played each year within a few blocks of our archives in PA, but also because baseball captures the essence of summer, America and apple-pie (with vanilla ice-cream), and we each have a fondness for all three.
To join our baseball enthusiasm a bit, take a look at some of our best baseball issues including one from the current catalog … a CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE, Sept. 29, 1920 covering the Black Sox Scandal. Even America’s pastime has a skeleton or two in its closet.

“Take Me Out to the Ball Game” – Historic Baseball Coverage…

August 12, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

One of the popular subsets of the Rare & Early Newspapers hobby is the collecting of historic baseball reports (as well as detailed coverage of favorite teams and players from the past). As of the writing of this post, more than 1,000 such issues were available for browsing and/or collecting at:

Baseball Reports and Headlines

One of our staff recently gathered a few issues together and created a one-minute video which we hope you will enjoy:

YouTube player

Snapshot 1932 – Babe Ruth’s famous “called shot”…

June 17, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

Whether it’s a famous battle, a noteworthy feat, a tragedy, etc., in nearly every instance a report from the location in which a notable event occurred is significantly more desirable (therefore, more valuable) than a similar report within newspapers from other locations. One such case involves the report of Babe Ruth’s famous “called shot” during the 1932 World Series found in the October 2nd issue of the Chicago Sunday Tribune. In nearly 50 years we have only held one in our hands, and for those of us who respond enthusiastically to such a tactile experience, it truly is a great item. Some might wonder why a New York Times wouldn’t be more collectible, after all, Ruth played for the Yankees. However, the game was against the Chicago Cubs, and the historic moment transpired at Wriggley Field, Chicago. A photo of a portion of the front page is shown below, but if you are unfamiliar with his called shot, you may find the story quite interesting: Babe Ruth’s Called Shot (Wikipedia)

 

They Put It In Print (1941)… World Series – Cardinals vs. Yankees…

October 7, 2019 by · Leave a Comment 

Typically, the day after a MLB team is defeated in the World Series, an acknowledgement along with a few humble, congratulatory remarks are the focus of the losing team’s hometown newspaper. However, after the New York Yankees eliminated the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1941 World Series, the St.Louis Post-Dispatch decided to ignore decorum and instead, predicted that the following year, the Cards would return to defeat the Yankees in the 1942 World Series? How do we know they made such a bold prediction? They put it in print – and, Nostradamus would  have been proud. The following year both teams returned to the World Series, and the Cards defeated the Yankees in only five games.

 

 

The beginning of a great career… The Traveler…

October 1, 2018 by · Leave a Comment 

A few days ago I journeyed to New York City by the way of The New York Times dated September 29, 1918 where I noticed the small report: “Notre Dame Beats Case,” which included in part, “…Notre Dame to a standstill in the two opening periods, the Case eleven and Notre Dame won 26 to 6… Coach Rockne immediately pulled out two members of his backfield and sent in Bahan and Gipps… with Gipps in the stellar role ripped through the Case defense for two more touchdowns. Another tally came in the final period.”

This was Knute Rockne’s first game as head coach at Notre Dame. The report was probably not significant as Notre Dame was not yet the powerhouse team as they are today.

~The Traveler

World Series bound… Before the “Curse of the Bambino”… The Traveler…

September 3, 2018 by · Leave a Comment 

Today I journeyed to New York City by way of The New York Times dated September 1, 1918, where I found that the Boston Red Sox had won the American League Pennant. “The Two Rival Managers & Their Shock Troops Primed for the World’ Series Clash This Week.” “Boston clinched the American League pennant by winning the first game of today’s double header from Philadelphia, 6 to 1, with Ruth holding the visitors to three hits… (Babe) Ruth’s all around play, including his terrific double to deep centre field, which just missed entering the bleachers, was the feature of the first game.”

Babe Ruth would end up being traded to the New York Yankees in December, 1919, in a very controversial trade. This would also be the last World’s Series that the Red Sox would win until 2004, sometimes dubbed “The Curse of the Bambino.”

~The Traveler

Women and baseball… Have things changed?

January 29, 2018 by · Leave a Comment 

Even when when baseball was in its infancy the connection between women and baseball was worthy of comment in the Porter’s Spirit of the Times” newspaper of Sept. 6, 1856.

Under the heading “Base Ball” which has much on a game played, are comments: “…and the attendance at each was not only very large, but made brilliant by great gatherings of ladies, whose interest in the sport seemed to be not at all short of that experienced by the most occupied observers of the other sex. We are inclined to think too, that this feature of these occasions has no little effect in inspiring the players in the games, and that the last energy of every contestant is taxed by the consciousness that he must win or lose in the minds of an exceedingly keen and scrutinizing class of lookers on. We are much pleased to see the beautiful and fair of this city lend the charm of their presence to the healthful out-door sports and exercises, and we have a shrewd opinion that more than one of them attends to ground with the view of sharply measuring among the players the qualities of what might make a serviceable future husband…”.

 

The Traveler… NCAA champions breaks new barrier…

March 21, 2016 by · Leave a Comment 

Today I traveled to Springfield, Massachusetts, by the way of The Springfield Republican dated March 20, 1966. There I found a small report “Texas Western Tops Kentucky In NCAA”, upsetting Kentucky who had won for the previous four years. Blog-3-21-2016-Texas-WesternHowever, the significant of this game is noted on the website: “ESPN Classics” with: “Walking toward the red “M” at center court, in their orange uniforms and white Converse All-Stars, are the five starters for Texas Western. They are all black. Until that moment, at the height of the civil-rights era, no major-college team had ever started five blacks in an NCAA championship game. In fact, until Texas Western coach Don Haskins did it earlier that season, no major-college team had ever started five blacks in ANY game. For the first time that night, on the edge of the Mason-Dixon Line, a major American sports championship would be contested by one team that was all-white and another whose starters were entirely black.” As history would tell, and as reported in this newspaper, Texas Western would go on to win.

This newspaper is also from the founding city of basketball as well.

~The Traveler

Cigarettes… Fitness you can…

February 25, 2016 by · 2 Comments 

While pairing the concept of superior athleticism with cigarette smoking as an advertising ploy would come across ridiculous in today’s “enlightened” culture, there was a time when this was not the case. In fact, professional athletes promoting cigarettes (see the ad from a NYT, October 1, 1941 shown below) was as common in early-to-mid 1900’s as the same promoting energy and “health” drinks is today. I wonder if our children’s children will look back on today wondering how we could have been (dare I say) duped by such connections. Are health drinks really healthy? Time will likely tell.Blog-2-25-2016-Joe-DiMagio-Camel-ad

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