Baseball is known as a classic American sport to many. Being one of the most watched sports today, you probably hear about the sport occasionally. And with such a big and old sport, there are many myths and curses around it. So I’m here to highlight some things which I have found interesting.
The creation of baseball has no specific date. Over the years, there have been many proclaimed creators, and they have all been disputed about. A popular theory is that Abner Doubleday, a later on Civil War hero, invented it during a summer in 1939, although this theory is one that I have significantly seen disproven and declared a myth. One thing that is agreed on is that the sport was created in the 19th century while originating from earlier games. I’ll settle with knowing that MLB (Major League Baseball) was founded in 1903 and that the Cincinnati Red Stockings were the first all-professional team in 1869.
Like myths, curses are obscure things that have happened over history, except curses usually seem more coincidental whereas myths are normally highly debated about. One of the most famous curses is the “Curse of the Billy Goat.” This curse was placed upon the Chicago Cubs on the fateful day of October 6, 1945, when Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis was asked to leave the stadium due to complaints about his goat’s smell (yes, he brought a goat to a ball game). William Sianis is said to have been made and declared that the Cubs would win no longer. The Cubs were playing at home against the Detroit Tigers that day while having a 2-1 game lead against them. They proceeded to lose that game and all World Series afterward (including the 1945 one), that is until they won the 2016 World Series and the curse was declared to be lifted. Although the curse was placed in 1945, the Cubs had not won a game since 1908, making it 108 years since their last game. Many other courses are in baseball lore, some even connected to players like famous Babe Ruth. On that note, here are some popular baseball players:
Babe Ruth: One of the most famous baseball players, George Herman “Babe” Ruth Jr. played in the Major Leagues from July 11, 1914, to May 30, 1935. He played for the Boston Red Sox from 1914-1919 and the New York Yankees from 1920-1934. He also played for the Boston Braves in 1935; it is the twilight of his career. Babe Ruth gained most of his fame being in the Yankees, where he had finalized his position as a batter and outfielder, although mostly having played as a pitcher earlier in his career. Babe Ruth currently holds 3rd place in career home runs as well as 3 of the longest standing records. Babe Ruth is one of the five initial Baseball Hall of Fame members and had his number, 3, removed from the Yankees’ playable numbers.
Jackie Robinson: Famously known for breaking the color line, Jackie Robinson played in Major League Baseball under the then Brooklyn Dodgers (Now Los Angeles Dodgers) from April 15, 1947, to October 10, 1956. The color line was a barrier made apparent in the early 20th century where professional teams wouldn’t make contracts with people of African descent. Robinson’s story wasn’t all happy, to no one’s surprise. Playing during a time where the United States was greatly racist and still had segregation laws was no easy feat. He had to go through things from name callings to death threats, but he couldn’t retaliate. Jackson had agreed with Branch Rickey, the Dodgers’ General Manager (who hired him), to not retaliate against any people abusing him, at least for his rookie year. Other than breaking the baseball barrier, Robinson was also a great player and won the first-ever Rookie of the Year award. After baseball, Robinson continued his life as a member of the NAACP, is a social activist, and helping lead and build businesses like the now-closed Freedom National Bank.
There are many movies about baseball, and it’s players, but one of the most popular ones is The Sandlot. The movie is based on the summer of 1962 and follows new kid Scotty Smalls’ struggle to establish his life and the adventures he has with his eventually found friends. The movie, made in 1993, was a quick classic and continues to get attention even today. In fact, the MLB Network will be airing it next Sunday (1/27/19). Although being a sports-comedy film, it is also a coming-of-age story that captivates “the good times” in someone’s life while hiding bigger troubles. The story it describes is a one that welcomes you into a world of nostalgia, which is probably the reasons many people love it today. And there’s always the memes.
Thanksgiving is a great holiday which was established in the 19th century to commemorate the first harvest of the pilgrims. Having had many struggles, the pilgrims had many things to be thankful for, including the help of the Wampanoag indians. Without them, they may not have been able to be able to survive, since they helped teach them how to live in the Americas.
The holiday is celebrated by many, and it has a great idea behind it, but even if it is highly celebrated, the holiday just seems forgetful at times. Sure, Thanksgiving is probably better as a quieter holiday, since it’s about giving thanks, but that idea is sometimes masked. Black Friday usually clouds the idea of Thanksgiving because stores have started sales earlier throughout the years, and they have reached the point where they have started selling items on Thursday, sometimes even the whole day. This causes many people to lose time to celebrate Thanksgiving, although some buyers may have been non-celebrators. People have even started to use the name Grey Thursday or Black Thursday at times (not to be confused with other uses of Black Thursday).
There are many foods commonly associated with thanksgiving. These foods include those such as mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and turkey. Although these are now considered traditional, they weren’t always like that. Mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce did not exist at the time of the first feast, and it is estimated that they did not eat Turkey as well, but most likely other birds. Even so, these foods give Thanksgiving more of an image, which allows more people to connect with the foods and not just the act of giving, and therefore making the holiday bigger.
Even though the food helps attract more people to the holiday, it is missing something which other major holidays do have. Other holidays have decorations that people buy or make to celebrate them, which gives them a bigger image and exposure to people. Thanksgiving does have decorations, but those are mostly indoor decorations, which are nice and all, but are still bought less. Most websites that (Here’s One) find the costs of Thanksgiving pay attention to only food and travel costs, or at least highlight them. But even if not much decorations are bought, Thanksgiving has traditions that accompany it, making the holiday more enjoyable to many.
A tradition done during Thanksgiving, is that of the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation. This tradition, which’s ceremonies first started in 1947 with President Harry S. Truman, happens every Thanksgiving where the president is presented a turkey. Although always presented, these turkeys weren’t always pardoned or received by the president (Jimmy Carter), as they are today. Since 1989 during President George H. W. Bush’s presidency, the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation was added on with the National Thanksgiving Turkey Pardoning. This addition is when the president pardons the Thanksgiving Turkey, meaning that it would be left to live without risk of being killed by humans. Not only is the Thanksgiving Turkey pardoned, for it’s alternate is pardoned as well. In addition to being pardoned, both turkeys are named. The last lucky turkeys were named “Peas” and “Carrots”. Although both are pardoned, only one is chosen as the National Thanksgiving Turkey. Done by a fair online election, the turkey to win the title was Peas. Once pardoned, the turkeys are sent to Gobbler’s Rest, owned by Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech cares for the turkeys with students and vets of it’s Animal and Poultry Science Department. Although potentially formally formed because of protests from animal rights activists, the tradition holds strong because of the comedic and educational aspects of it.
To add final thoughts, Thanksgiving is a great tradition that brings many people together as well as providing historical value to the United States. The holiday will hopefully live on and enjoyed by many. Although, who doesn’t like a break?
-By: Juan Lopez-