Of Bats and Bat Bags

Many years ago, my father, Hank Zinn, came across Mark Twain's alleged claim that "When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."  I'm not sure how old I was at the time, but I couldn't understand why my father enjoyed the quote so much.  Eventually, however, I became a father and better understood his reaction.  Like most adolescents, there were certainly times I had my doubts my father knew what he was talking about, but that never applied to baseball.  Thinking about it so many years later, I can't think of a single thing I learned from him about how the game should be played that proved to be incorrect. One such lesson came indirectly from the below article about sports superstitions in the Montclair State student newspaper including how Henry Zinn refused to allow the bats to be put away until the game was over.  

Montclarian - date unknown - 1930s

Superstitions have been defined as beliefs about things we must do (or not do) in order to succeed (or avoid failure), even though there is no tangible connection between the actions and the end result.  How, for example, can packing up the bats before the opposition's final at bat is over, have any impact on the game's outcome?  Clearly there is no direct relationship, but the potential problem is that packing the bats up doesn't just violate a superstition, it also sends the message that one team thinks the game is over before the last out has been made.  It's a non-verbal form of what today is called "trash talking," something that can have disastrous consequences. A case in point is a July 28, 1886 game between the Chicago White Stockings (today's Cubs) and the Boston Beaneaters (today's Atlanta Braves).  The two teams dominated the National League's first decade, winning eight of the first ten pennants, but in 1886, Chicago was competing for the pennant while Boston was eleven games under .500 and out of the race.

Chicago White Stockings

Chicago was led by Hall of Famer Adrian "Cap" Anson, justifiably condemned today for his racism, especially his part in erecting the unofficial, but no less real, barrier that for far too long prevented blacks from playing major league baseball.  Anson was also, by any standard, a great player and team leader, ably assisted by another Hall of Famer, Mike "King" Kelly.  Neither man had what could be considered "shrinking violet" personalities, although Kelly was good natured and enjoyed verbal exchanges with fans and opposing players alike.  The two doubtless took some satisfaction from Boston's subpar season and wouldn't hesitate for a moment to rub in the difference between the two team's 1886 records.  This game at Boston's South End also featured a Hall of Fame pitching matchup between Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn and John Clarkson which unsurprisingly produced a low scoring game that Chicago led 2-0 after eight innings.

Boston Beaneaters

Chicago didn't score in the top of the ninth, but, according to the Boston Globe, even though only two runs ahead, the visitors were so "confident of victory," they put "all their bats" in the bat bag before taking the field.  It's possible, of course, that this was done innocently enough, but given Anson's and Kelly's style, it seems more likely this was a less than subtle message to the Boston club and its fans that the game was over.  A number of Boston fans must have agreed since "they started to leave in disgust."  With one out, Ezra Sutton was called safe at first on a hit that went only about five feet from the plate leaving Clarkson "white with anger" over the call.  After the next batter struck out, Sam Wise hit one towards right field and Mike Kelly, filling in at second base, went after it.  Kelly had just made a brilliant play on a similar hit for the first out and once again came up with an "impossible stop."  This time, however, the Boston runner beat the throw or so ruled umpire John Egan.  Anson and Clarkson got so caught up in arguing the play, they ignored Sutton who crossed the plate with Boston's first run.  

Boston's South End Grounds

Boston's last hope was catcher Con Daily who improbably hit another ball to the right side.  Kelly tried to reach it, but as the Globe noted "two such stops were enough for one game" and the ball went into right field allowing Wise to score the tying run.  It was the writer claimed "almost impossible to describe the scene" as "three thousand people rose to their feet," throwing "hats, handkerchiefs and umbrellas into the air" and generating "a hurricane of hullaballoo" that lasted ten minutes.  While the noise level probably subsided somewhat when Chicago retired the side without further scoring, the observant crowd didn't forget the White Stockings arrogant behavior with their bats.  According to the Globe writer the visitors "were greeted with derisive yells as they unstrapped the leather bat bag."  Perhaps the bats themselves were jinxed as Chicago went out without incident in the top of the tenth and Boston came to bat with a chance to win an unlikely victory.

1937 Montclair State Baseball Team - Hank Zinn is fourth from the left, second row

John Morrill led off for Boston with a triple to left center and the winning run was only 90 feet from home plate. Billy Nash then delivered what appeared to be a sacrifice fly to score Morrill and the "crowd poured out on the diamond" to celebrate.  The celebration proved to be premature, however.  Anson wrestled the ball away from Morrill, ran over to third, tagged the base and claimed the Beaneater runner had left too soon.  Unfortunately for the fans and Boston, umpire Egan agreed. After order was restored, Chicago retired the side sending the game to the 11th.  Mike Kelly, who had earned some "unwilling applause" from the Boston fans for his brilliant ninth inning defensive plays, led off for Chicago.  This time, however, Kelly received "hisses" rather than applause unwilling or not.  That was nothing, however, compared to Anson who was given "50 hisses for every one Kelly got."  The two Hall of Famers were retired, but Chicago put runners on second and third before Boston got out of the inning without allowing a run.

The bats where they belong until the umpire "cries out his final "three out" in the ninth inning" - photo courtesy of Lauren Marchese Nunn Optimum Photography. All rights reserved

In the bottom of the 11th, Boston's Tom Poorman was on second with two out.  Wise hit a line drive which bounced off Chicago shortstop Ed Williamson's hands and into the outfield.  Poorman ran for home, "his short legs going like piston rods on a high engine." It was a close play, but the call was safe at home producing "pandemonium" in the stands. Predictably Chicago argued the decision, but to no avail.  In closing his account of "the game of the season," the Globe reporter couldn't resist a final shot at Chicago's bat bag antics, noting that the visitors "sadly packed up their bats" and boarded their coach for an unpleasant ride back to their hotel. On the verge of victory when they tried to rub a not yet accomplished result in the face of their opponents, the White Stockings not only saw Boston rally, but had three umpire's calls go against them.  Anson, Kelly and the rest of the White Stockings had plenty of opportunity to regret the lost opportunity since they didn't clinch the 1886 pennant until the very last day of the season. It's impossible, of course, to know for sure whether their defeat was due to violating a superstition, waking up a sleeping opponent or just clutch play by Boston.  But one thing is certain, Hank Zinn would have found their loss well deserved!