Baseball and a Wedding-(Part 1)

So, I opened my newspaper this morning to an article written by Vin Mannix, and there was a picture of a local couple standing on the pitchers mound at McKechnie Field in Bradenton, the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They will be married at home plate on Saturday, February 6th. It seems the [...]

The 7th Inning Stretch (Part 5)

So, just when did “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” first get sung during a seventh inning stretch? Well, first we have to look at where it came from. A fellow named Jack Norworth was on a train in 1908 heading to Manhattan when the idea for the song came to him, and he jotted [...]

The 7th Inning Stretch (Part 4)

A third theory was dug up by baseball historians. It shows a manuscript dated in 1869, a full thirteen years before the “Perfect” Brother Jasper’s timeout. It seems to be documenting what can only be described as a seventh inning stretch. The letter was penned by a member of the first professional baseball team, the [...]

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) [...]

The 7th Inning Stretch (Part 2)

That was tradition number one. The second tradition that began that day was the first seventh-inning stretch. President Taft, as you may or may not know, was a very large man. At 300 pounds, he was the largest president our country has ever had. That opening day game between the Athletics and the Senators was [...]

The 7th Inning Stretch (Part 1)

Ever since I was a little kid and watching baseball, there has always been a seventh inning stretch. I never thought much about it, but then I began to wonder; was it always part of the game? Naturally, I had to do some research to see just when and where it all began. These are [...]

Statue Unveiled Honoring Mazeroski

It was a baseball game you would never forget if you had either seen it on TV or heard it on the Radio. Game 7 of the 1960 World Series featured the Pittsburgh Pirates and the heavily favored New York Yankees. It was the bottom of the 9th inning and Bill Mazeroski hit a game-ending, [...]

It’s Almost Spring Training Time

Now that I live in Florida, I still look forward to spring training, but not quite as much as I did as when I lived in the Chicago area. For those of you who live in the “frozen north” I feel your pain. Somewhere under all that “beautiful” snow, there are baseball diamonds just waiting [...]

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