Then and Now

[DOUGHBOYS]

There are a lot of differences between our game now and the game back then.
A few examples-

"He's such a smart pitcher, it's as if he has something up his sleeve, but we know he doesn't, don't we."-

Before reformed rules, pitchers would make cuts on their long sleeves. This was an attempt to distract hitters. Some pitchers would twirl their arm over their heads two or three times to get full effect of the sleeves twirling.

"I hope we bat through the lineup, so he has to come back to the dugout"-

Right Fielders when making an out, especially when making the second out of the inning, would continue down the right field line and lean against the bleachers or chat in the bullpen till their team made the third out.
This was done to save time from going to the dugout, then back out to right field.

"Hey, hit a home run, willya? I need a new hat!"-

The Babe got this a lot.
Back in the day, for prodigious or timely home runs, men would get excited enough to throw their straw hats or derbies onto the field.
Since most men wore a hat and most games were predominantly attended by men, there were usually a lot of hats to pick from.
Now, teammates gather at home while fans celebrate....with their hats on.

"This don't feel right!!!"-

Outfielders would leave their gloves lying in their positions instead of toting them back to the dugout. Sometimes the 'fit' didn't feel right when re-applying the glove the next inning and they would blame their counterpart for the ill fit.
They would sometimes purposely step on the other fielder's glove to 'even the score'.

"C'mon, pitch the ball already!"-

Today's batters like to step out of the box and go through gyrations before hitting.
A practice not allowed back in the day. If it were to happen, an umpire would invite the pitcher to quick pitch a hitter and no matter where the pitch landed, it would be invariably called a strike.
Pitchers however, would go through three or four 'pumps' or windups, or windmilling of the arms before delivering a pitch.
Mostly, just to deceive the hitter.

"He thinks he's smart, he went to college"-

Baseball players and actors have come full circle.
Both professions were looked down upon by the general public. Most men who went to college would never think about playing baseball for a career. It was thought of as a failure.
Lou Gehrig attended two years of college at Columbia to fulfill his parents wishes. Baseball was in his blood though and it took those two years to talk his parents into baseball as a career. For a long time, even into the 80's, Columbia was the leading producer of Hall of Famers (Only Gehrig and Eddie Collins), simply because a lot of Hall of Famers did not attend college.
Now, athletes and actors are spread across every newspaper and tv screen in America.
Idolized by most, go figure.

"It's like holding a tree trunk!"-

Today's bats are thin and light, bat speed is the rage.
Then, it was an embarrassment to strike out. Thicker bats, sometimes called 'bottle bats' for their likeness to a Coca Cola bottle was the bat of choice.
More 'tickers' or foul tips were produced with these bats.
The heavy hitters would have their hands all the way down to the bottom of these heavy bats, while the pesky hitters would choke up, using their bat as more of a wand.


"My word! What a place for a garden"-

We have ice anytime we want it. It's available everywhere.
Not so back in the day. Ice was an extravagance and freezers were not yet in most homes.
Cold water thought to be the only cure for a hot day.
Babe Ruth discovered that cabbage leaves placed upon cold water would retain coolness.
He would place the cabbage leaves under his hat for two or three innings,then replace them as the game wore on.
The quote above came from a patron near a writer at Yankee Stadium after Ruth hit a game winning home run and doffed his hat to the crowd.

"Doing the Lindy"-

NFBC'ers think of doing the Lindy as winning two overall Championships and winning a boatload of money.
In the 1920's, the Yankees had lost a heartbreaking 5-4 game in 12 innings....But almost every fan leaving Yankee Stadium went home happy.
During the game, it was announced that Charles Lindbergh had landed in Paris, the first to fly across the Atlantic.
The original 'Lindy'.
Train travel for all teams would turn to air travel for all teams.