All Entries in the "Pastor Paul “Sermons”" Category
Holiday Base Ball
The earliest accounts of base ball playing by grown men were usually on special occasions such as the end of bringing in the fall crops, barn raising, or holiday celebrations. The following is the best early eyewitness account of a game, in 1838, observed by a Dr. Ford in Beechville, Ontario, Canada. The Beechville Club v. Zorras [...]
IGNORING HISTORY CAN HAVE PERILOUS CONSEQUENCES
The recent filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the McCourt “led” Dodgers has seeds from the past covering the coffin. It is the latest example of short-term management decision-making; decisions based upon a complete ignorance of, or at best, disregard for the lessons that history tries to impart. Unfortunately, very few in positions [...]
FAIR AND BALANCED: BASEBALL’S EVERLASTING PURSUIT
The early years of base ball (it was two words in those days) witnessed typical scores like 87-36, 94-77, etc. The New England version of playing often required a team to score 100 runs in order to claim victory! With no gloves for fielders and the pitcher required to toss the ball underhanded to the preferred location [...]
BASE BALL BECAME THE NATIONAL PASTIME IN 1856?
Weekly newspapers were the primary disseminators of cultural, theatrical, and sporting news. There were three weeklies during the 1850s with the phrase “Spirit of the Times” as part of their masthead. As base ball emerged alongside the already established game of cricket, editors learned that base ball news sold newspapers, so conversely, newspapers pushed hard [...]
SOME RIVALRIES HAVE VERY DEEP ROOTS
When the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was formed in 1856-57, it consisted of a mere handful of greater New York City area teams. By this time, New York City was becoming the center for the dispersal of trade, communication, wealth, and cultural influence in the United States. This fact did not wear well on the part [...]
The Gospel of Sport
In “The Creation of American Team Sports,” George B. Kirsch states: “The most influential champions of the new ideology of sport were the prominent molders of public opinion in antebellum America – namely, journalists, public officials, educators, businessmen, and ministers. It is not surprising that the editors of the national sporting weeklies . . . [...]
Wheaton Father
INDULGENCE, IN MODERATION, IS ACCEPTABLE I awoke with that “originitis” itch; the desire to declare somebody “the father” cannot be suppressed. However, I am prepared to lay a foundation for my declaration and will make it within very strict parameters. Previously, we have discussed the social problem ‘gentlemen’ had in playing base ball. To be [...]
Are You a Member?
The “Church of Base Ball” is established to celebrate our great “National Pastime”. Each of you undoubtedly has an allegiance to a team; this is good. For the moment, this loyality may be a little league, high school, college, minor league, or professional team. We do not want to supplant these affections – but – [...]
In the Beginning
“For although the game of baseball had many distant ancestors and was influenced by a variety of factors, it claimed one primary cultural midwife – the Puritans of colonial New England. Early baseball games of varying types and with varying numbers of participants reflected basic folkways of the Puritans. . . . It has been [...]
THE COST OF THEIR TOYS
There was a mass movement from the farm to the city during the mid-19th century. Unhealthful crowding led to a dire concern for the lack of fresh air and exercise to these new city-dwellers. Unlike the farm, where one’s work was never done, city labor often involved shift work dictated by the clock. This led [...]
BASEBALL’S IRONY: EVOLUTION OR CREATION
George Will, in his wonderful book Bunts, states the following: “In the Church of Baseball, the mere absence of conclusive evidence is no impediment to belief. Baseball fans are forever in the grip of originitis, a mild mental illness that manifests itself in a powerful craving for usually unattainable knowledge of when this or that [...]
Starting Your Library
What’s a “bookie”? Contrary to the first thought that probably went through your mind, it is, according to my five-year-old son, Ben Boy: “A man who goes to the library a lot!” Ben Boy plays the part of my five-year-old son in the video series beginning May 16, 9:30 EST on our youtube channel – [...]
“PREPARE FOR A WRECK – HERE COMES MR. VEECK!”
Organized base ball, beginning with the 19th century (baseball was two words back then), has always had a cadre of executive decision-makers in a camp I am labeling as “traditionalists”. In a positive vein, they feel that the game is grand enough to stand on its own merits and traditions. They are the incessant guardians [...]
Econometrics and Stewardship
STEWARD: A person put in charge of the affairs of a large household or estate. The effective utilization of one’s resources is always one of the accountability tests in any “religion”. In professional sports, a double burden is placed upon team owners. They operate a business which must remain profitable in order to continue in [...]
Who Says History Can’t Be Fun?
The only way to get started with a new web site is to put some words on the computer! How’s that for a deep thought-provoking beginning? This initiates our journey into the sport which contains more parallel social and cultural U.S. history than any other. As Samuel Langhorne Clemens (aka Mark Twain) said in April [...]