The 7th Inning Stretch (Part 3)
Another theory was that Brother Jasper of Mary was given credit for bringing baseball to Manhattan College in the late 1800’s. Now, Brother Jasper was known as the “Perfect of Discipline,” (which means being in charge of keeping unruly students in line. This might have involved a baseball bat, but that is just my theory) as well as the coach of the team.
In 1882 during a game on a muggy day, the students were getting restless in the seventh inning, so the “Perfect” (man, I love that title) stopped the game and had everyone stand up and unwind. That worked so well that he did it every game. The Manhattan College custom spread to the majors after the New York Giants saw their first seventh inning stretch at an exhibition game, and the rest is history-or is it? Another theory…