I know that certain people, who shall remain unnamed, think that where I'm from lacks any sports tradition or ethos, and I don't want to get into that argument again. What I do want is to draw your attention to an interesting article in the Sunday Bradenton Herald about the spring training history of both the Cardinals and the Red Sox in this area.
The following is an excerpt from the article They called Manatee home in the Sunday Herald.
ROGER MOONEY
Herald Staff Writer
They have faded into the history of the game. Guys like Ira Flagstead, Jack Rothrock and Spooks Gerber. They knew Bradenton way back when, when it was the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox.
This was before the ballpark on Ninth Avenue became McKechnie Field. Before the fall of the stock market. Before anyone realized there was a curse.
The Sox were 10 years removed from winning the World Series with Babe Ruth when they trained here in the springs of 1928 and 1929 for what amounted to a pair of miserable last-place finishes.
Then they left for Pensacola, leaving the door open for the return of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Cardinals were an upgrade, winning 92 games and the National League pennant in 1930 and 101 games and the World Series title in 1931.
The Gas House Gang was just warming up, and pitcher Dizzy Dean was beginning to spread his high-jinks among the locals. Dean would own a home in Palma Sola Park, a gas station on Fourth Avenue and 10th Street, and a place in the heart of anyone who came across the future Hall of Fame pitcher.
It was the same with all the players.
"Those were bad times, the Depression," said former Senator Ed Price, who grew up in Sarasota and lives in Bradenton. "All the players were good to the kids. Lefty Grove would leave us tickets."
The Red Sox and Cardinals opened the World Series in Boston on Saturday night in Fenway Park, a stadium that opened in 1912 and predates spring training in Bradenton by 11 years.
This is the third World Series meeting between the two clubs. The first two went the full seven games with the Cardinals winning both times.
This year's Fall Classic pits a pair of teams deep in history and tradition. Included in both is the jewel of a ballpark in Bradenton.
The Cardinals were the first, arriving to a marching band from Manatee County High School, an overflow crowd of 2,000, and a handful of local dignitaries, including R.M. Beall, a city councilman and the founder of Beall's Department Store. The day was March 16, 1923, and baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis flew in for the event.
Literally.
His open cockpit, World War I-era bi-plane circled the field before landing in the fenceless outfield.
It was a start of a long love-affair between Bradenton and spring-training baseball.
Posted by kathryn at Octubre 25, 2004 03:14 AM | TrackBack