TELEPHONE 1908 STYLE

THREE FINGER BROWN

Mordecai Peter Centennial Brown, keystone of the Chicago Cubs pitching staff.

LUXURY AT SEA

Cunard's Mauretania, sister ship of the Lusitania launched in 1907 made the Atlantic crossing in May 1908.

TECHNICAL STUFF AGAIN

I am collecting pages from Proquest of the 1908 newspapers in order to check my lineups. I have done several autoplays and the database runs smoothly with real life transactions on. There will be some fine tuning necessary before the line insertion begins.

The statistics look quite good but home runs are up a bit, and league ERA's are also up, but I still think the replays will give a good idea of Deadball Era baseball.

For important figures I would want a 70% statistical agreement, we will do some more autoplays to check on this.

ED WALSH CHICAGO WHITE SOX

THE SPRINGFIELD RACE RIOT 1908

There was a harsh side to the USA in 1908, and for African Americans it could be a dangerous place.


The Springfield Race Riot of 1908 was sparked by Mabel Hallam's false accusation and fueled by economic and racial tensions already brewing in the black and white communities.

This riot also marked the last conflict between the races when the black people did not rise up as a group to defend themselves. As a possible result of the riots in the Great Emancipator's home town, an integrated group of concerned citizens gathered in the Big Apple, New York City. This group was seeking a solution to the growing problems between the blacks and the whites in America.

How could a city that prided itself on the home of the man who set the slaves free also try to run blacks out of their town?

If this could happen in Springfield, Illinois it could happen anywhere in the United States. Something had to be done. This idea gave rise to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Today as the most influential civil rights organization, it continues to strive for the civil liberties of African Americans.

MODEL T FORD 1909

NAPOLEON LAJOIE CLEVELAND NAPS

THE MEN WHO SHRUNK THE WORLD

WILBUR WRIGHT

ORVILLE WRIGHT

1908 IN THE AIR

Orville Wright demonstrates flight to the army at Fort Myers in 1908.

BIG IN PITTSBURGH

HARD MEN IN SUITS DETROIT TIGERS 1908

BIG IN NEW YORK

Matty and the Flatiron, the superstars of 1908 New York.

TROLLEYS AND MORE......

THE WAY TO TRAVEL

In the late 1800’s electric motor technology was perfected. The street railway industry immediately seized upon this new source of power, as a way to solve the many problems associated with operating horse cars.
The first successful electric street railway installation in the United States, was in Richmond, Virginia in 1887. It wasn't long, after the initial success in Richmond, that almost all of the horse car lines in North America were converted to electric power. The electric trolleys became so popular with the riding public, that the street railway industry, experienced explosive growth in ridership, almost overnight.

THE WORLD OF ELECTRIC TROLLEYS

In the first decade of the century the trolley was king.

BACKGROUND

With my database away at the DMB repair factory I will continue to post background and information about the era.

NEW YORK'S FIRST SKYSCRAPER

FLATIRON BUILDING 1902

RAGTIME

SPORTING LIFE

The Sporting Life covered baseball very well but was not taken seriously by some because of the coverage of shooting, billiards and other sports.
Unfortunately it became defunct before the lively ball period.

We could do with these important archives being digitised and put on line as part of the SABR subscription?

I hope this blog will give a flavour of the period rather than just being an account of the simulation, which will probably not start till 2008,at my present rate of progress!!

FINE BOOK ON SUPERSTAR OF THE ERA

TWO INSPIRATIONAL BOOKS ON THE 1908 SEASON

TECHNICAL STUFF update one

I have completed the opening day rosters and moved on to the transaction log, creating many of the missing players. I am not creating every single player but anyone who started a game. Some players had Moonlight Graham, or very similar appearances and I will not bother with these.

STAR PITCHERS OF THE AMERICAN LEAGUE RACE

CLEVELAND'S ADDIE JOSS AND CHICAGO'S ED WALSH

THE NATIONAL LEAGUE CONTENDERS 1908

THE FACE OF 1908

The man who was unfairly blamed for the Giants loss of the Pennant,Fred Merkle.

TECHNICAL STUFF

I have been lucky enough to get my database updated with an as played schedule by Luke Kraemer the DMB support guru.

Now I have to check the opening day rosters and create those players not on the database. I am not bothering with players who did not start, or only had one or two at bats, or pitched less than 10 innings. I don't have unlimited time!

My rosters have come from Mark Miller, another nice guy, who has also provided real life lineups, and a comprhensive transaction log!

CHRISTY MATHEWSON

1908

I am going to enhance the 1908 season created by Chris Joyce and hosted by Jamie Marshall on his Seasons Past web site.

As David Anderson stated in the subtitle to his book More than Merkle, it was the best and most exciting baseball season in human history.