The 1906 season ended like the previous ones with the Reds and the Blues winning their respective league championships. The Reds had a final tally of 114 victories, a 16 win dropoff from last year, when nearly every position player was injured at some point during the season. One exception was MVP Dexter Jones who posted a new walk record with an incredible 195 bases on balls. Pitching aces Lou Ellis and Tom Saunders had slight off years, but George Bentley came to the rescue with a 19-3 record and a 2.76 ERA and won the Best Pitcher Award. In the Blue League Herman Augustus of the Maroons won the HR and RBI title. Bradley Duckworth of the Leafs was the league's best pitcher with a 16-8 record and a 2.93 ERA. Curiously no single pitcher in either league won 20 games.
The Con Cup ended in a Reds' four game sweeo. Although all of the games were close, the result was never in doubt, as the Blues never led in any of the four games.
Dienstag, 14. Februar 2012
Dienstag, 7. Februar 2012
82.) May 1906, Montego Bay, A day in a park
My train arrived at Montego Bay Central at 2.30 pm. It was only ten minutes late and I had one hour left before the start of the game. Most of us know Montego Bay as 'the Golden City' and when you approach the city by train you cannot help finding it a very fitting moniker. There are lots of yellow and white buildings rimming the beachfront and spreading out from the sea inwards through the narrow gap between Long Hill and Green Pond (only heaven knows why a mountain had been named so). These two steep, wooded hills seem to guard the entrance to the city, or they used to when it was a small town. Now Montego Bay has a population of over 100,000 and is rapidly filling up the land beyond said mountains.
A lovely city it is, but when you head eastward from Central to the Mount Salem section you become aware of the grimmer side of Montego Bay with four or five-storey houses lining the streets. The bulidings are mostly in bad repair, dark, and with broken windows, that seemed like mournful eyes to me. But the streets were full of people, lots of families, children everywhere, and they, the people that lived here were in the same sorry state, impoverished and somewhat lethargic. Later I learned that only a couple of years ago this neighborhood, called East City, was very respectable one. Middle class people residing in those same houses, but by and by house ownwership changed and the new landlords found it more profitable to fill the houses with twice as many low income people, collect the same rent and save on the maintenance work.
Montego Bay has two senior league ballgame clubs; the Blue Sox in the Blue League and the Pirates in the Red League. Curiously both clubs' ballparks are within a quarter mile in Mount Salem which borders the East City section. Today's game was at Pirate Park, home of , (you guessed it!), the Pirates. It is the lesser of the two clubs, because Blue people outnumber the Reds in this city by about two to one. The Red-Blue conflict may haves mellowed in every day life during the last decades, but regarding the ballgame it is very much alive. Neither club has won any championship, but the little Pirates, for some reason, have been the better ballclub in most years since league play started in 1890.
Pirate Park, some Monteagans say, is to be either loved or loathed. There is a general shabbyness and carelessness in this place. Weed growing in the pavement cracks, garbage left between the seats from yesterday's game, broken benches, little things like that may annoy you when you watch a game here. For my part I have always liked the place and the today's game promised to be a good one. I happened to sit next to a gentleman, some 70 years old and dark-skinned and during the game we chatted a little about Pirate Park and the Pirates ballclub.
'I go to every Pirate game, son. I'm retired with lots of time on hand. It's a disease, an incurable one and when the Pirates are out of town I even go to Sox game now and then or take the trip to Lucea to watch the Maroons.'
He was accompanied by two ladies of the same age, one was his wife, the other her sister, as it turned out. They remained silent, while their male companion was quite talkative.
'There is one thing about the Pirates you've got to comprehend, son. It's all about the team. Name the best Pirate player ever, tell me one single name now! You hesitate? That's because there isn't any! Good players are send away and good young ones are picked up to replace them, every year the same and still we've got a respectable team here every season, it's like a miracle. The Sox burn their money and we got the wins. Funny isn't it? It amuses me to no end!'
Then he laughed which could easily be taken as coughing though.
Today game was against the Mandeville Railroaders. As everywhere the Railwaymen had a sizable number of supporters in this park. Railway workers all over New America felt a strong affinity to the team and came to support them wherever they played. They were easily recognizable by their gray caps, that were frantically waved when the team entered the playing field or scored a run.
The Pirates had a wonderful April, winning 17 games while losing only 9 and finding themselves in first place ('Wont last, son, trust me!' my neigbor warned me). And on this Wednesday afternoon an excellent crowd of 8323 was at hand. The grandstands were almost filled, as the park officially seats 10,000 patrons. They saw a neatly played game that the Pirates won 6-3. Spanky Nelson, the Pirate starting pitcher threw a clever game striking out 10 in eight innings, he gave up only 4 hits, alas 3 of them were homeruns. As a player I sometimes wondered if the Montego Bay fans cared about winning at all. The spectators' mood appeared to not change noticebly, win or lose.
When I mentioned this to my neighbor, he smiled: 'We don't want to finish last, that's all, that makes us happy and you want to be happy for the rest of your life, the Sox, they're happy if they win and therefore are the miserablest bunch you can imagine, understand me, son?'
I honestly tried to understand. Life, happiness, the ballgame, losing and winning, all this belongs together in a way that is more mysterious than you would conventionally assume.
And I'm still trying.
A lovely city it is, but when you head eastward from Central to the Mount Salem section you become aware of the grimmer side of Montego Bay with four or five-storey houses lining the streets. The bulidings are mostly in bad repair, dark, and with broken windows, that seemed like mournful eyes to me. But the streets were full of people, lots of families, children everywhere, and they, the people that lived here were in the same sorry state, impoverished and somewhat lethargic. Later I learned that only a couple of years ago this neighborhood, called East City, was very respectable one. Middle class people residing in those same houses, but by and by house ownwership changed and the new landlords found it more profitable to fill the houses with twice as many low income people, collect the same rent and save on the maintenance work.
Montego Bay has two senior league ballgame clubs; the Blue Sox in the Blue League and the Pirates in the Red League. Curiously both clubs' ballparks are within a quarter mile in Mount Salem which borders the East City section. Today's game was at Pirate Park, home of , (you guessed it!), the Pirates. It is the lesser of the two clubs, because Blue people outnumber the Reds in this city by about two to one. The Red-Blue conflict may haves mellowed in every day life during the last decades, but regarding the ballgame it is very much alive. Neither club has won any championship, but the little Pirates, for some reason, have been the better ballclub in most years since league play started in 1890.
Pirate Park, some Monteagans say, is to be either loved or loathed. There is a general shabbyness and carelessness in this place. Weed growing in the pavement cracks, garbage left between the seats from yesterday's game, broken benches, little things like that may annoy you when you watch a game here. For my part I have always liked the place and the today's game promised to be a good one. I happened to sit next to a gentleman, some 70 years old and dark-skinned and during the game we chatted a little about Pirate Park and the Pirates ballclub.
'I go to every Pirate game, son. I'm retired with lots of time on hand. It's a disease, an incurable one and when the Pirates are out of town I even go to Sox game now and then or take the trip to Lucea to watch the Maroons.'
He was accompanied by two ladies of the same age, one was his wife, the other her sister, as it turned out. They remained silent, while their male companion was quite talkative.
'There is one thing about the Pirates you've got to comprehend, son. It's all about the team. Name the best Pirate player ever, tell me one single name now! You hesitate? That's because there isn't any! Good players are send away and good young ones are picked up to replace them, every year the same and still we've got a respectable team here every season, it's like a miracle. The Sox burn their money and we got the wins. Funny isn't it? It amuses me to no end!'
Then he laughed which could easily be taken as coughing though.
Today game was against the Mandeville Railroaders. As everywhere the Railwaymen had a sizable number of supporters in this park. Railway workers all over New America felt a strong affinity to the team and came to support them wherever they played. They were easily recognizable by their gray caps, that were frantically waved when the team entered the playing field or scored a run.
The Pirates had a wonderful April, winning 17 games while losing only 9 and finding themselves in first place ('Wont last, son, trust me!' my neigbor warned me). And on this Wednesday afternoon an excellent crowd of 8323 was at hand. The grandstands were almost filled, as the park officially seats 10,000 patrons. They saw a neatly played game that the Pirates won 6-3. Spanky Nelson, the Pirate starting pitcher threw a clever game striking out 10 in eight innings, he gave up only 4 hits, alas 3 of them were homeruns. As a player I sometimes wondered if the Montego Bay fans cared about winning at all. The spectators' mood appeared to not change noticebly, win or lose.
When I mentioned this to my neighbor, he smiled: 'We don't want to finish last, that's all, that makes us happy and you want to be happy for the rest of your life, the Sox, they're happy if they win and therefore are the miserablest bunch you can imagine, understand me, son?'
I honestly tried to understand. Life, happiness, the ballgame, losing and winning, all this belongs together in a way that is more mysterious than you would conventionally assume.
And I'm still trying.
Montag, 6. Februar 2012
81.) Liberty City , Im Mai 1906, Eine Reise nach irgendwo
Mit der Saison 1905 ging auch mein Vertrag bei den Port Antonio Clippers zu Ende. Ich also wieder das, was wir hier 'free agent' nennen, das heißt ich gehöre keinem Club und kann selbst bestimmen bei welchen Club ich für die Saison 1906 unterschreibe. Das klingt gut, aber es stellte sich während der nächsten Monate heraus, daß es nicht gut war. Ich hatte keinen Vertrag und es gab niemanden, der mir einen Vertrag anbot. Nicht durch den Winter, nicht im Frühjahr, auch nicht zu Beginn des Frühjars-Trainings, und auch nicht zu Beginn der Saison im Aptril. Ich blieb arbeitslos.
Ich hatte einige Junior-Liga Angebote, die miserabel dotiert waren und ich sah nicht ein nochmal in der Unterliga zu vegetieren und darauf zu warten, daß sich im Mutterklub jemand verletzt und ich als Ersatz hochgerufen werde. Meine 1905 Saison war gut gewesen, ich bin ein Senior-Liga Spieler. Ich weiß es und ich kann es!
Keine Arbeit heißt kein Geld und viel Freizeit. Anne-Mary hatte seit einigen Jahren eine gute Stelle am Mathäus-Hospital in Liberty City, wir waren nicht arm, aber ohne meine Arbeit und mein Gehalt als Ballspieler mußten wir uns in vielen Dingen umstellen uns sparen. Und das ging nicht ohne Probleme. Es lag also eine gewisse Spannung in unserer Familie. Ich hatte natürlich viele Kontakte in den vielen Jahren in der Ballspiel-Liga gewonnen. Es waren Spieler und Manager uns Coaches, die ich besuchte oder denen ich schrieb, aber auch diese Bemühungen führten zu nichts.
Anfang Mai beschloß ich eine Reise zu unternehmen. Gegnüber Anne-Mary und gegenüber mir selbst, begründete ich sie damit alte Freunde zu treffen um vielleicht in persönlichen Gesprächen etwas zu erreichen. Mein Gott, ich war fast bereit auch einen Junior-Liga-Vertrag anzunehmen, aber auch dort waren nun im Mai alle Plätze besetzt. Ijn Wahrheit wollte ich den Spannungen zu Hause entgehen und ffür ein paar Wochen frei zu sein. Ich wollte durch Neu-Amerika reisen und mir die großen und kleinen Orte ansehen und Ballspiele als Zuschauer geniessen. Ich war in meiner Karriere unendlich vielm gerreist, wieviele Nächte habe ich in Zügen verbracht? Aber das waren gehetzte Reisen, als Mannschaft sind wir durchs Land geeilt von Einem Ballpark zum anderen. Um das Spiel drehten sich unsere Gedanken, das Ballspiel stand im Mittelpunkt und drum herum rotierte alles andere: die Städte, die Hotels, die Ballprks, die Gesichter in der Menge, die wie eine Masse schienen und nur manchmal nahm man sie als Menschen war. Mal ein enttäuschtes Gesicht und dort ein glückliches, dann ein verzweifeltes, ein spöttisches oder eines der Bewunderung.Wir Ballspieler, wir leben in einer immer länger sich hinziehenden Kindheit, einjer Zeit des Spiels und wir erzeugen Gefühle , wir bewegen die Herzen der Menschen, geben Freude und verursachen Trauer und wir Unschuldigen ahnen oft so wenig davon. Es ist unser Geschäft, unser Beruf unser Talent und unser Glück.
Am 2ten Mai bestieg ich in Liberty City den Zug nach Montego Bay.
Ich hatte einige Junior-Liga Angebote, die miserabel dotiert waren und ich sah nicht ein nochmal in der Unterliga zu vegetieren und darauf zu warten, daß sich im Mutterklub jemand verletzt und ich als Ersatz hochgerufen werde. Meine 1905 Saison war gut gewesen, ich bin ein Senior-Liga Spieler. Ich weiß es und ich kann es!
Keine Arbeit heißt kein Geld und viel Freizeit. Anne-Mary hatte seit einigen Jahren eine gute Stelle am Mathäus-Hospital in Liberty City, wir waren nicht arm, aber ohne meine Arbeit und mein Gehalt als Ballspieler mußten wir uns in vielen Dingen umstellen uns sparen. Und das ging nicht ohne Probleme. Es lag also eine gewisse Spannung in unserer Familie. Ich hatte natürlich viele Kontakte in den vielen Jahren in der Ballspiel-Liga gewonnen. Es waren Spieler und Manager uns Coaches, die ich besuchte oder denen ich schrieb, aber auch diese Bemühungen führten zu nichts.
Anfang Mai beschloß ich eine Reise zu unternehmen. Gegnüber Anne-Mary und gegenüber mir selbst, begründete ich sie damit alte Freunde zu treffen um vielleicht in persönlichen Gesprächen etwas zu erreichen. Mein Gott, ich war fast bereit auch einen Junior-Liga-Vertrag anzunehmen, aber auch dort waren nun im Mai alle Plätze besetzt. Ijn Wahrheit wollte ich den Spannungen zu Hause entgehen und ffür ein paar Wochen frei zu sein. Ich wollte durch Neu-Amerika reisen und mir die großen und kleinen Orte ansehen und Ballspiele als Zuschauer geniessen. Ich war in meiner Karriere unendlich vielm gerreist, wieviele Nächte habe ich in Zügen verbracht? Aber das waren gehetzte Reisen, als Mannschaft sind wir durchs Land geeilt von Einem Ballpark zum anderen. Um das Spiel drehten sich unsere Gedanken, das Ballspiel stand im Mittelpunkt und drum herum rotierte alles andere: die Städte, die Hotels, die Ballprks, die Gesichter in der Menge, die wie eine Masse schienen und nur manchmal nahm man sie als Menschen war. Mal ein enttäuschtes Gesicht und dort ein glückliches, dann ein verzweifeltes, ein spöttisches oder eines der Bewunderung.Wir Ballspieler, wir leben in einer immer länger sich hinziehenden Kindheit, einjer Zeit des Spiels und wir erzeugen Gefühle , wir bewegen die Herzen der Menschen, geben Freude und verursachen Trauer und wir Unschuldigen ahnen oft so wenig davon. Es ist unser Geschäft, unser Beruf unser Talent und unser Glück.
Am 2ten Mai bestieg ich in Liberty City den Zug nach Montego Bay.
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