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7/15/19

Reese Kaplan -- The History Of Baseball Exhibit



During the recent AAA Home Run Derby and All Star Game festivities they promoted the grand opening of a new exhibit at the El Paso Museum of History on Thursday night entitled, “Bases Loaded: El Paso and Beyond” which chronicled the history of the game from its civil war origins pre-Abner Doubleday up through the AAA San Diego Padres affiliate El Paso Chihuahuas and Southwest University Park being constructed here across the street from the museum.  On Sunday I took in the exhibit and was floored by how much they were able to pull together for a relatively small venue, much through the private collections of a local memorabilia enthusiast named Fernando Grado. 

Upon entering the exhibit hall, you are struck by the giant bat suspended from the ceiling to let you know you’d arrived in the right room. 



The first exhibit that was fascinating to see was a civil war era machine designed for the stitching of baseballs. 


Next was an exhibit showing the Civil War era baseball uniforms which surprisingly contained padding around the thighs which was probably more a testament to the tiny gloves and large number of batted balls that would hit the fielders rather than used as protection while batting or sliding. 


Next came an exhibit of those small gloves to let you know how challenging it was for the players at that time to try to catch the batted balls.


 After that were three examples of Civil War era baseball bats which were abnormally long by today’s standards.  They also were rather symmetrical without the narrow handle end and enlarged barrels that we now accept as the standard design.


The civil war era baseball shoes and catchers’ masks further accentuated the contrast in the game between then and now. 



No exhibit would be complete without significant photos, and this collection was no exception.  Here you see seated together legends Babe Ruth and Shoeless Joe Jackson




On loan was a shadow box containing various artifacts commemorating the Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig.


There was a small corner of the exhibit dedicated to the achievements of African-American ballplayers, with some signed jerseys from Hank Aaron and Jackie Robinson, as well as photos and baseballs.



El Paso’s own baseball history began with the El Paso Browns, so-named due to the amount of dirt ever present on their uniforms.  They were formed in the 1890s and played what was considered the equivalent of major league baseball against other clubs in the southwest region too far from the mostly East-Coast based National League.  Many famous ballplayers made their way out to play games against the El Paso team, including Christy Mathewson and Rube Waddell.  


During the great Black Sox Scandal of 1919 many of the suspended and banned ballplayers donned uniforms for El Paso who played the highest quality baseball and became part of the old Copper League of other southwestern teams throughout the 1920s.  Dudley Field in the central part of the city directly across from the border of Mexico was built in 1924 and served as home of all El Paso baseball teams until 1988.  (After it’s subsequent demolition the El Paso Zoo was built on the historic site). 


In the 1930s El Paso joined the Arizona/Texas League where they would remain until World War II caused all baseball here to be suspended for four years.  Dick Azar and Syd Cohen helped El Paso transition into the West Texas/New Mexico league in the 1950s where stars such as Mickey Mantle would play.  The later home of the El Paso Diablos was opened in 1989 – Cohen Stadium – was named to honor both Syd and his brother Andy who played and coached in the major leagues before becoming University of Texas El Paso’s longtime baseball coach. 


One famous face who came through and played for El Paso is perhaps better known for his career on the big screen rather than on the diamond.



The last reigning manager of the El Paso Diablos in their post-Dodgers iteration was former major leaguer Butch Henry who I had the pleasure of meeting last year in the clubhouse with then Las Vegas 51s and now Syracuse Mets manager Tony DeFrancesco.


There was also a nice pictorial exhibit of the origin of the El Paso Chihuahuas as well as another one highlighting their championships.



While El Paso is not exactly the hotbed of baseball activity that comes to mind when people think about the history of the game, National Geographic thought enough of the area that when they profiled life in the minor leagues they selected El Paso for the basis of their story.


All in all, it was a great way to spend a blazingly hot Sunday afternoon.


12 comments:

  1. Pretty fascinating stuff. Beats the Jackie Robinson Rotunda any day.

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  2. Great stuff, Reese.

    I've always been interested in pre-Cartwright (forget Doubleday) base ball. 1st half of the 19th century sports coverage as it was (in NY, Boston & Philadelphia anyway) was equally divided between Cricket Clubs & Base Ball Clubs. Some Cricket Clubs were actually called Base Ball Clubs. Cricket was the gentlemen's game played by doctors, lawyers & bankers and probably got more coverage. Base ball was the game of butchers, bakers & candlestick makers.

    Came the Civil War and guess who went to the Front (hint, not bankers & lawyers)? Baseball was played in the camps and quickly spread to the hinterlands after the war. Cricket Clubs became "Country" Clubs for golf, tennis & yachting (se today's Philadelphia Cricket Club).

    And no, Mac, I wasn't there to get "soaked."

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  3. I found a tidbit while researching El Paso baseball and the original "bases" were beer kegs :)

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  4. Hobie, interesting stuff - you and Reese ought to do a segment on the History Channel.

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  5. We need more 'history of the game... and team' posts instead of rambling on, loss after loss.

    On to the trading deadline and let's see if Brodie misses pitchers again.

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  6. Really cool stuff! Fascinating!

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  7. The big question right now in this game we call Major League Baseball is simply this one: "Are the high priced (30+ year old) veteran players really worth what they and their agents can get in the talent market today?"

    My truthful answer based upon observation alone is absolutely not. I cite Muchado and Harper as my lead evidence to my conclusion. And others who right now in their careers are just raking in their last paychecks and not much more.

    There is no way I would suggest any team make these kind of mistake acquisitions for basically veteran coasters. The wiser move to me, is building up a teams' scouting and drafting areas, then develop from within.

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  8. Let other teams trade for the veteran ball players. Guys like Bumgarner and Stroman, are they really at the top of their respective games.

    If you have pitchers and hitters at AAA who appear ready for the majors, why not provide them that opportunity first to see.

    The Yankees have like four MiLB pitchers currently who qualify for a look. You go out and get Bumgarner or stroman and that opportunity probably goes away.

    Tampa Bay is the team that impresses me the most so far in 2019. They rebooted their team in the off season, yet stayed younger overall. Their manager I heard in a recent interview and his intelligence for this game blew me away, it was so profound and unusual to what we are all use to.

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  9. The hardest thing for a new younger player to learn batting wise, once they get up to the MLB level, is how to break themselves free from a batting slump.

    The way we were taught was to forget the homerun power swing, but rather simplify your swing down to just simply making contact for a single. Then once you have your timing down for that, advance on to adding in more power. But without the sound mechanics for doing this, the power swing will never work for you. You will be swatting at flies and feeling worse for doing so.

    Singles, because it is your batting mechanics. watching videos of yourself pre-slump could help you out as well. Contrast now and then.

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  10. What I don't get with this 2019 NY Mets team is that there is no pressure here at all. There are like nine teams the Mets would have to jump over in the NL just for a wildcard bid. That's like standing outside in a thunderstorm and waiting to be hit by lightning almost. So why all the stress and pressure? Why not just relax and let your God given talent flow out of you. As humans we perform better relaxed and attentive. Stress and conceived pressure distract a person from that.

    The press almost always tries to become part of the story with the sports teams that they cover. Like any of them could play at that level. Oh please. Love to see that one time already. But lately it's been Amed Rosario criticism with them.

    Look, Amed has been here playing regularly like what a year and one half so far. He was a rookie in 2018, a good one with the ability to be amazing. Amed learned to play the game a little bit differently than most, but at a higher level than most as well. He does things from those ways he's learned back in the DR, naturally. That's actually how he got here, with those skills and ability.

    Yes, Amed does love to swing at the nightcrawler pitches on occasion. But then on the very next pitch, he can also hit doubles like the one we saw last night, and fly like Superman to second base.

    My advice here on Amed Rosario? Leave the man alone and let him play "his game" and become all that he can be and here as a NY Met. I have seen this same thing so many times before with other players over the years, that I know well this kind of excellent player.

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  11. Which brings me to Andres Gimenez.

    Last I looked at him at MiLB Mets he was not hitting that well. He is very young but may not be ready for the level that he is currently at.

    Don't rush people you want to move thru the system more rapidly. Let them dictate when they are ready to be moved up. It's better to move them too slowly than too quickly. You can lose talented kid players the latter way.

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  12. On Red Sox Cashner acquisition from Baltimore Orioles.

    Probably the worst move I have seen this Boston GM make. Cashner is at best a fifth starter/middle reliever in MLB. He has okay secondary pitches, a below average MLB fastball, but virtually no "out pitch" to make him better than a fifth starter/middle reliever.

    The Red Sox GM had Cashner on one of his prior teams and should have known this, in my opinion. But too, this Boston GM has been pretty close to perfect since he got to Boston really before this move with Cashner. And as a result Boston's GM deserves all out sincere respect despite this one move with Cashner.

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