Last fall, the Paterson Museum posted some digitized black and white baseball photos on their Facebook page, accompanied by a request for help with identification. Identifying old baseball images can be a needle in the haystack type process, but this time, fortuitously, it was relatively simple. Although it took more than one step, the key clue was the baseball socks worn by an unidentified New York City major league team. A visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame’s always helpful "Dressed to the Nines" online exhibit revealed that only one New York team wore such socks – the 1917 National League champion Giants. That discovery opened the door to the story of how two brothers, Ray and Henry Doherty, offered an incredibly rich baseball experience to fans in Paterson and surrounding communities.
Except for the 1917 New York Giants team picture, all photos are the property of the Paterson Museum – some like the above have been cropped for enhanced viewing. Click on the photos for an enlarged view.
While the individual pictures are interesting in their own right, collectively they tell, and preserve, a larger story about baseball over a century ago. Ironically, at a time when major league baseball was the country's most popular sport, access to it was limited. Not only were there just ten cities with major league teams, most games were played during fans' regular working hours. This was especially true in the sabbath observing East, the only day most people had off from work. It must have been frustrating for fans, especially younger ones, who loved baseball, but had little opportunity to see it in person. Such, however, was not the situation in the greater Paterson area. Thanks to the Dohertys, fans not only saw major league teams play, they experienced the full depth and breadth of early twentieth-century baseball.
The Doherty brothers were the sons of Henry Doherty (1850-1915) an English immigrant who came to Paterson to work in the silk industry. By the early twentieth century, his main business was the Henry Doherty Silk Company. In 1909 Doherty built a new mill in neighboring Clifton. The building was reportedly the largest of its kind “under a single roof,” employing 700-800 workers. While no longer a silk mill, the building still stands today. Henry Sr. died in early 1915, leaving sons, Henry, or Harry as he was commonly known, and Ray, not only in charge of the silk business but also with the opportunity to pursue their passion for baseball. While both men were involved, Harry was reportedly the leader.
Later that year, the two brothers built a baseball field with a wooden grandstand on an adjacent piece of property that became known as Doherty Oval. Initially, the brothers fielded a typical company team, but a year later, they upgraded to a higher level of semi-pro baseball, calling the team, the Doherty Silk Sox. Most of the games were played on Sundays when fans could attend. Offering semi-pro baseball to the local community was important, but the Dohertys didn’t stop there. They provided top-level baseball by spending the money necessary to attract high-level competition.
To give a sense of the baseball experience at Doherty Oval, the museum has kindly agreed to share some of the images, beginning with pictures of the park itself.
The above picture shows the covered wooden grandstand on the first base side. Note the fire extinguisher on the far left, mandatory equipment for a wooden ballpark. Also interesting is the wire netting, protecting the fans from thrown or batted balls. The second tier of seating behind home plate was added early in the 1917 season. Although located outside of Paterson, the field was readily accessible to city residents since “all Main Street cars and jitneys” passed the ballpark. The band that played at most Sunday games was from the 5th Regiment, a unit preparing for service in World War I.
Other than a few women in white in the first row of the second tier, the fans in this cropped version of the grandstand are almost entirely white males
This view of the left field stands is taken from the third baseline. As was common at major league ballparks during this period, overflow crowds were permitted to stand or sit on the field in the deepest part of the outfield. Unlike the major leagues, however, there weren’t any ropes to prevent them from interfering with the game. Note the vendors, both in the stands and on the field.
This cropped version of the left field stands gives a sense of the crowd, again almost all male, white and well dressed, probably in their Sunday best.
Game action, against the Brooklyn Bushwicks on May 26, 1917. In addition to the fans in the stands and on the field, a few boys were watching from trees behind the center field fence. The Silk Sox players are Otto Rettig, pitcher, Shad Lewis, catcher, Fred Wherel, center field, Pete Grant, second base and Bobby Baxter, shortstop.
This cropped version of the prior photo shows the quality of the infield grass at Doherty Oval.
A pre-game parade before the game with the Bushwicks. The picture also offers a view of the right field stands, one level of covered seats with both a roof and a wire screen.
During the 1917 season, the Dohertys gave their fans the chance to see the full range of professional baseball – major and minor league teams, Black clubs as well as top semi-professional teams. Notable in the last category were the Brooklyn Bushwicks who visited the Oval on Sunday, May 26 and were soundly defeated by the home team, 7-0. In addition to the Bushwicks, the Silk Sox also hosted top semi-pro teams from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
This picture, taken in the top of the eighth, shows an unidentified Bushwick player recording one of the team’s five hits. Note the lack of uniform numbers which didn’t become the norm until the 1920s. The picture also shows the scoreboard on the outfield fence. The Silk Sox players are Bill Estes, first base, Otto Rettig, pitcher and Fred Wherel, center field.
A pickoff attempt at first base. Eddie Girard is the Bushwick pitcher and Denny Mark is the first baseman. While the runner is unidentified, the picture gives a good sense of the team’s uniform including the Doherty name.
Two weeks before the game with the Bushwicks, another Brooklyn team, visited Doherty Oval – the Brooklyn Royal Giants, a prominent Black club. In promoting the game, the Paterson Morning Call acknowledged, some 30 years before Jackie Robinson, that “It is only their color that keeps them out of the big show.” That was especially true of Louis Santop, the Royal Giants catcher, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. According to the Hall’s website, Santop was the “first Negro superstar.” The star catcher hit .397 in 1917 for a team that according to the Seamheads database was the third best among the Eastern Independents. Unfortunately, as good as he was, Santop’s play that day, made little difference in an 8-1 Silk Sox win.
This wasn’t local fans' only opportunity to see Black clubs. The Silk Sox also won two of three games from the Cuban Stars, the team ranked right above the Royal Giants. Although it wasn’t on Sunday, fans able to attend Saturday games also got to see the best of the Eastern Independents, the Lincoln Giants on two occasions. One game ended in a tie, but the second, unsurprisingly, was a defeat at the hands, or arm, of the Giants star pitcher Cyclone/Smokey Joe Williams, like Santop a future member of the Hall of Fame. A 1952 poll taken by the Pittsburgh Courier, ranked Williams as the top Negro Leagues pitcher, slightly ahead of Satchel Paige. By the end of 1917, Paterson baseball fans were well aware of what Black players could do on the baseball diamond.
The Royal Giant batter is unidentified, the Silk Sox catcher is Artie Pickering.
The picture offers a front view of the Royal Giants uniform which appears to have Brooklyn across the chest. The player is unidentified. The Silk Sox in the picture are first baseman Bill Estes and second baseman Pete Grant.
While the semi-pro and Black opponents were talented, the most important attraction offered by the Dohertys was the opportunity to see major league teams in person. During the 1917 season, local fans had the chance to see five of the sixteen major league teams with three National League and two American League teams making an appearance. Four of the five, Boston and Pittsburgh from the senior circuit and the Athletics along with the Yankees from the American League were second-division teams. But Paterson fans did get to see the National League pennant-winning Giants not once, but twice.
Needless to say, the second-division teams didn’t bring a lot of stars. However, the fans did see Ping Bodie, Stuffy McInnis and Home Run Baker at the end of their careers. They also saw Wally Pipp before he, and almost anyone else, had heard of Lou Gehrig. There was also the opportunity to honor Honus Wagner, one of the game’s greatest players and a local hero. About to retire from baseball, Wagner and the Pirates visited Doherty Oval so the city could pay homage one more time to the Hall of Famer who once wore a Paterson uniform. According to Wagner, he enjoyed his time in the city so much that “nobody can knock Paterson when I’m around.” Over 5000 fans turned out for the occasion and Wagner was presented with a 72-piece silver set. While the Silk Sox managed only one win against the major league clubs, they did so in dramatic fashion beating the Yankees 5-3 on Bill Estes' grand slam home run in the bottom of the ninth.
It was understandable that the Silk Sox lost both meetings with the National League champion Giants, but the New York club had learned the hard way not to take the local team for granted. Late in the 1916 season, the day after the end of the Giants' 26-game winning streak, a record that still stands, Silk Sox pitcher Otto Rettig shut out the New Yorkers 2-0. Of the two 1917 games, the more important was the July 8th contest. Sportswriter, Sam Crane, a former major league player, used the occasion to raise money for Paterson's Jim McCormick, a great nineteenth-century pitcher who was in poor health. With the Giants playing “gratis” and the Dohertys paying all the other expenses, the admission paid by 9000 fans generated a “tidy sum” for McCormick, reportedly just over $1600, no small amount at the time.
1917 New York Giants
The above floral wreath of an “American flag worked out in flowers” was presented to the Doherty brothers before the July 8th game with the Giants. It was presented by Madison, New Jersey in thanks for allowing the Silk Sox to represent that community in the Tri-County League of semi-pro teams.
George Burns, Giants left fielder, hit .302 in 1917, the second-highest average on the pennant-winning team. He led the National League in runs scored (103) and walks (75).
Germany Schaefer, a Giant coach in 1917, was renowned for entertaining the crowd with his comic antics. After the Giants' May visit to Doherty Oval, the Morning Call observed that Schaefer “had the fans laughing from the time he arrived until he departed.”
Although only a small part of the Sunday experience at Doherty Oval, these pictures capture the spirit of the baseball seen there at a time when attending a game in person wasn't that easy. Those weekly adventures generated priceless memories for countless greater Paterson residents. It’s a part of baseball history that deserves to be preserved and remembered. Thanks to the Paterson Museum for doing that important work.
Great work, John! Enjoyable read.
ReplyDeleteThe Doherty's were my grandmother's family. Thanks for the article.
ReplyDelete