May 1, 1911 – by Ronald Schmidt Philadelphia is worried. Things are not going according to plan. The self-declared goal at the beginning of the season was to rebuild and strengthen efforts to lower the average age of the organization. The Philadelphia Brewers are now fighting for a qualifying spot in the postseason. Just before…
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The Break-Out Gang: The Story of the 1910 Pittsburgh Oilers
“We may have been meager for my first year as team Manager, but just you wait until the next, we’re gonna surprise everybody” was what New General Manager Tyler Saylor of the Pittsburgh Oilers said after the end of his first season after the Pittsburgh Oilers finished with a respectable 66-54 record last year in…
A Study in Scarlet, Part III (The Final Part)
TO: Dr. Robert J. Matthews (Robert.j.Matthews@ABS.gov) FROM: Anthony R. Perry (Perry.a@UVA.com) Bob, Thank you for the expedient reply. Nothing quite compares to sharing memories of baseball with an old friend. Researching that 1910 Legacy Cup, I can’t help but feel that those must have been some of the very best days for a Richmond Rifles…
A Study in Scarlet, Part II
A STUDY IN SCARLET: THE 1910 LEGACY CUP PART II TO: Anthony R. Perry (Perry.A@UVA.com)FROM: Dr. Robert J. Matthews (Robert.j.Matthews@ABS.gov) Tony, What a joy to hear from an old cobble-stumbler from UVA. Annie sends her best, of course, and is particularly curious about what the illustrious old professor has been up to at our beloved…
A Study in Scarlet, Part I
A STUDY IN SCARLET: THE 1910 LEGACY CUP PROLOGUE TO: Dr. Robert J. Matthews (Robert.j.Matthews@ABS.gov)FROM: Anthony R. Perry (Perry.a@UVA.com) My dear friend Robert, I hope Manhattan in the fall is keeping you well—downtown Richmond is nearly unrecognizable from our college days. I’ve thought often of the Poe Museum and our exploits in Carytown. What a…
The Bat Boy and the Whale
The Red Rebels of Richmond dealt a fatal blow to their oldest cross-division rival, the Brooklyn Whales, in an exciting five-game series that concluded in late-inning heroics by a relatively unknown pinch hitter. When Rifles pinch hitter Okey Sibthorp approached the plate in the top of the ninth inning on August 31st, his name was…
New Leadership, New Horizons: The 1909 Pittsburgh Oilers under their new Manager
It was a quiet afternoon in the office of the new General Manager of the Pittsburgh Oilers, inside the office was the desk where the General Manager, Mr. Saylor sat. To the left of him was some shelf of what looked to be old memorabilia some items of note on that shelf were a white…
Once (Again) Upon A Time in Brooklyn
Sometimes, you have to take the long way to get back home. Two local boys who won a high school state championship in the shadow of the Field of the Whales will get the opportunity to live out their dream and play for the local pro club. The first is a clairvoyant wizard with the…
Brewers Select Duerden in First Round of the 1909 Draft
July 1, 1909 – by Ronald Schmidt The 1909 draft is over, and the Brewers faithful look at the results with mixed feelings. Last season’s draft left a bitter taste after two first-round picks left unsatisfying results. Philadelphia always stared at the draft with suspicion. Successful seasons meant lower positions in the draft order. But…
Protests Distract Whales, Delay Ballpark Construction
During the 1909 off-season, the GM/Manager of the Brooklyn Whales, Marques Williams, made the calculated decision to trade star centerfielder Hyman Rickward to the Western League. The decision may have made sense from a baseball perspective–CF Elroy Soame has dazzled with the glove in his debut as a regular starter in Brooklyn–but one group of…