The 214 baseball season will start this weekend, and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks will play two regular-season games in Sydney, Australia, more than a week before other teams officially play. Of course, Major League Baseball hopes to explain the popularity of American baseball in the world, but it has done bigger and better before. A century ago, before the end of an international tour, New York giants Chicago White Sox and Jim Thorpe, who are considered as the greatest athletes on earth, were happy to have a job. The related content "Kathy on the bat" left many unanswered questions
The planner of the global series, the most successful coach in baseball, John McGraw of the Giants and Charles Comiskey, the owner of the White Sox, all participated in the competition. One night in December, 1913, McGraw and Comiskey were drinking in the bar of Smiling mike coe Bate on the East Side of Chicago, and the idea of traveling around the world came into being. McGraw knows this business like the back of his hand-he is on a 16-week variety theater tour, and all he has to do is tell baseball stories at a high price of $3, a week. Comiskey is already rich, and McGraw has already arrived there, so making money is not the main motivation for traveling around the world. Both admired Albert Spalding's reputation for expanding the influence of his sporting goods company when he led the players on tour in New Zealand, Australia, Egypt and Italy from 1889 to 199. McGraw and Comiskey want to lead teams representing the two largest cities in the United States on a bigger and better tour. The 25th anniversary of Spalding's adventure is coming, so it's time to launch a new edition.
This trip was conceived by McGraw and Comiskey and will start as a national hiking trip after the World Series in 1913. After arriving at the west coast, the two teams and others who are allowed to follow (especially journalists) will board a ship to take them across the Pacific Ocean. The first stop of the tour group in a foreign country is Tokyo, from east to west, and the last stop is London. In between, travelers from China, the Philippines, Egypt, Ceylon, France and other countries with at least one basic stadium will touch the ground.
McGraw and Comiskey filled most of the existing giants' lists, while the White Sox were playing, but they cast a wider net for some famous and more colorful players. On board were future Hall of Famer Christie Mathewson, Speaker Terry, City Farber and Sam "Warhol" Crawford. Among them are James "Death Valley Jim" Scott, George "Hawkes" Wilts, "Rabbit" Hearn, "Turkey" Mike Tang Lin, and other nicknames that suit their personalities.
The most famous ones are Jim Thorpe. He was regarded as the greatest athlete at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Olympics, and by 1913 he was also the most notorious athlete in the world. In January of that year, the Worcester cable reported that Thorpe played professional baseball in the East Carolina League a few years ago and earned $2 a game. Subsequent headlines prompted amateur sports federations to start disciplinary action, which would lead to Thorpe being deprived of medals. Thorpe just got married and needed to make a living. He readily accepted a three-year contract from the New York Giants, paying him 6, Australian dollars a year. In 1913, most players got a salary of 2, Australian dollars or less. At the end of the season, the Giants topped the national league with a record of 11-51, and faced the Philadelphia track and field team in the 1913 World Series. As a world champion coach, McGraw has a dream of traveling around the world in his mind, but the track and field team won the championship in five games. The last 3-1 defeat was particularly irritating to McGraw, because according to * * *, McGraw's team made a "stupid mistake" and was ordered to suspend by the 4-year-old pitcher Plank.
However, the Giants are still big names in baseball. (White Sox t 78-74, ranked fifth in the American League) The highly anticipated tour finally started on October 18th, beating Cincinnati 11-2, just one week after the end of the World Series.
what profit can players get from it? No. According to James E. Elvers, the author's final account tour ends all tours, and players actually have to pay to participate. Elvers wrote: They had to pay hundreds of dollars to book their tourist attractions. When they boarded the Japanese Queen, the team members got their reserve fund, plus a matching tour fee-they had to pay $25 and then get $5. The money earned by this trip all over the world-and it is considerable-is divided into three parts after paying the expenses. Comiskey, McGraw and [Comiskey's confidant and promoter Jimmy "Nixie"] Callahan got all the profits. I'm sure the players think the trip itself is a bonus, but in the Chicago City Annual Series, the losing part, including some players on the tour, earned more money than they risked their lives all over the world. They stopped in Pioria, Springfield, Tulsa, Sioux City and El Paso to watch the game, and then went to the west coast, where they went all the way from San Diego to Seattle. Considering that the farthest Western Major League team at that time was the St. Louis Cardinals (losing 99 games in the 1913 season), the audience on the coast was particularly happy. The Los Angeles Times reported the game on November 8. "Many people were found struggling in a row, trying to separate themselves from money. The game has been going on until everyone has successfully done this, and no one may be disappointed.
On December 9th, the giant boarded the Japanese Empress and set sail to visit 13 countries, with a journey of more than 3, miles, mainly through waterways and railways. Decades later, wealthy owners flocked to private jets. The notorious thrifty Komsky provided most of the $9, for renting ships and brought a letter of credit of $121, to pay for additional travel expenses. Komsky is also a well-known shrewd businessman, and his return on investment will be high. ) For them, many players who have never left the United States before know that this is their only chance to see the world. Why not do it on a dime in Comiskey while missing the winters in new york and Chicago? But in Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library in Kuijpers, new york)
It's a group portrait taken in western Pacific and subcontinent countries. Players from these countries are fascinated as soon as they arrive there. On the way to Japan, they met a typhoon at the end of the season, which sent a huge wave 6 feet high on the ship. They were particularly happy to arrive in Tokyo, where 5 Japanese fans participated in the first game and 7 in the second game, all held in small stadiums. Elvers wrote: "The space is so superior that many fans sit on bamboo mats and squeeze into any open space." . "For Americans, all this is very exciting and overwhelming." Then, for China,
Thorpe proved a special attraction in front of the gate. For foreign fans, he is still the greatest athlete in the world. He is touted as the greatest athlete in the world in advertisements and newspapers. Few people know that in the 1913 season, he only participated in 19 Giants' games and played weakly. More romantic fans are excited that this is also a honeymoon trip, because Ina Thorpe is traveling with her husband. When the two teams of ships approached the pier in Shanghai, the waiting crowd shouted, "Thorpe! Thorpe! Thorpe! "The great baseball player with him is considered only a member of the king's court." After KDSPE“KDSPs "stops in Hong Kong-where doctors have to prove that no tourists have smallpox-travelers arrive in Manila. In a ghost article published in * * *, John McGraw experienced many exciting events in my B-ball-free days, which gave me real * * *, but I never felt so excited as when the gathering of world tourists came here yesterday. "They were welcomed by people who cheered warmly. Many Filipinos have never seen a baseball game before. Maybe they don't know why they cheered, but there are also many American soldiers present, and later they were at the baseball field.
The team was discovered in Brisbane, Australia in the New Year. A lost Sam Crawford, accustomed to the cold weather in January, said, "This is a beautiful city, if only it snows occasionally." A game was held there, and then the trouble of traveling put them in trouble: after two games in Sydney, on January 9, the Morning Post reported, "If the audience expected by more than 1, people at the Sydney Cricket Stadium is not worth mentioning, tourists don't have to worry about the success of their colorful adventures." Even McGraw was moved and shouted to the audience, "I love Australians!
Starting from Sydney, the team boarded the train to Adelaide in Melbourne, but due to the delay, the journey became an 18-hour journey. The game had to be cancelled so that the team could jump on Royal Mounted Police Orantes for India, prompting Adelaide advertisers to headline an article, "Bad tourists; Local baseball players are left out. "
A long voyage, including crossing the equator on January 2th, took the team to Ceylon, where the tea tycoon Sir Thomas Lipton greeted them. The game was held at Victoria Garden Racecourse, and a confused audience wanted to know why they didn't watch the cricket match. On January 23rd, the troupe went to the Middle East.
Two competitions were held in Cairo in February. For players, what is more exciting than the game itself is to visit the pyramids, especially the Great Sphinx. For the latter, what makes this visit unique is to watch Giants catcher Ivy Wingo throw a baseball on the Sphinx from 1 yards away, and then be caught by Sox outfielder Steve Evans on the other side. Afterwards, the tourists boarded the German liner Prinz Heinrich for Naples. After three days in Rome, the travelers met Pope Pius X there. They went to Nice and then to Paris. Rain washed away the game there, but without fear, McGraw, Comiskey and the players went to see it. In Rome, the players went to see the Pope. (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Kuijpers, new york)
England was the last stop. In front of 2, spectators, including King George V, England beat the Giants 5-4 in the 11th inning. When McGraw and Comiskey were introduced to the King, who wore a black derby and a dark suit and had never participated in a sports event at Chelsea Stadium, they cheered him three times, then accepted one of his goals and started the game. After the game, King George sent a message: "Tell Mr. McGraw and Mr. Comiskey that I enjoyed the game very much."
finally, on February 28th, it's time for tired travelers to go home. They did this in a very stylish way-they boarded the Lusitania, a luxury liner that will be sunk by a German torpedo the next year, killing 1,198 passengers. On March 7th, a banquet was held in new york to welcome the Traveler's Home. Three days later, Comiskey held a second banquet in Chicago.
have the players finally gone home? No, because spring training has already started. There is no doubt that in this successful and exhausting tour, the New York Giants ended their 1th and 5th season in 1914. The performance of the White Sox was even worse. The newly named new york Yankees, tied 7-84, finished sixth, 3 games behind the track and field team. However, as McGraw wrote after the last London game, "this game is very suitable for the great tour, and it has been a success in every game." In my opinion, the most noteworthy thing about this trip is that all the scenic spots we visited expressed the beautiful feelings of the nation.