CHICAGO TRIBUNE: `Casey' and the Cubs; Books that look at the creation of a baseball ballad and one of the 1st sports dynasties of the 20th Century - Cait Murphy allows the actual voices of the past to come through in "Crazy '08," a deeply researched, engagingly written account of what she calls "the best season in baseball history." Cubs fans, of course, will immediately recognize the significance of the year 1908, which nearly 100 years ago symbolized dynastic triumph (a second consecutive World Series victory) but has since become the benchmark for futility.  The joy of Murphy's book is that it transports us to a magical time in the history of baseball, when the sport was marching toward modernity (the rules were essentially the same as they are today, and some of the all-time greats roamed the field), but its rough-hewn 19th Century origins remained largely intact (ethnic Irish and German names filled the lineups, and players, umpires and fans routinely fought each other). Murphy provides concise accounts of such topics as ballpark design, the history of scoreboards and baseball as a business. And she reminds us that, for all the glory that was the times, "baseball in this era suffered a surfeit of psychic torment and premature death." From 1900 to 1920, some two dozen players committed suicide.
Failure, on the field and off, was commonplace, and too many players took refuge in alcohol. Asked if he drank during games, Mike Kelly said it "depends on the length of the game." Frank Chance, who managed the Cubs and played first base, "was usually the first to buy a round." But he was no failure, and neither was his team. "Crazy '08" takes the reader on side trips to various events in Chicago at the time, but at its heart the book is a paen to the 1908 Cubs. Those Cubs were the toast of Chicago and terror of the National League. Not Cubbies, but "grizzlies," as a Tribune sportswriter claimed in 1908. That season the uniform first featured the emblem of a bear holding a bat. Chance, known as the Peerless Leader (P.L. in the papers), anchored the famed infield double-play combination of Tinker to Evers to Chance.
They first turned two in 1902, and remained together 10 years. Tinker and Evers were the "Siamese twins of baseball," immortalized by Franklin Pierce Adams in "Baseball's Sad Lexicon." They also despised each other off the field and did not speak to one another for decades. In 1936, Evers said "Tinker and myself hated each other, but we loved the Cubs." (Note to Yankees Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter). Their main rivals were John Mc- Graw's New York Giants, and the two teams battled down to the wire. One of the most controversial games in baseball history took place Sept. 23 at New York's Polo Grounds. First place was at stake. With runners on the corners, the Giants got what appeared to be a game-winning hit, but Fred Merkle, on first at the time, failed to touch second. The Cubs retrieved the ball and stepped on second. The umpires ruled Merkle out and declared the contest a tie. Murphy lovingly describes the game and sorts through the conflicting testimony to explain how the umpires justified their decision. Merkle, a talented player in his first full year who went on to a respectable career, including several productive seasons with the Cubs, would forever be remembered, unfairly, for his "bonehead play."
The pennant race came down to one game, played Oct. 8 at the Polo Grounds. The Giants' Christy Mathewson (37-10) faced Jack Pfeister (league ERA leader in 1907), with Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown (29-8) ready to step in should Pfeister falter, as, inevitably, he did. The Cubs won, but the game is in the telling, and Murphy is a natural storyteller. After the excitement of the pennant race, the World Series, against Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers, turned out to be a bore. The Cubs triumphed four games to one (Chance hit .421), and expectations ran high for the next season (despite winning more than 100 games, they finished second in 1909). My only quibble with Murphy is that she overstates the case that 1908 was the greatest season in baseball history (see, for example, 1927, 1961, 1978). But exaggeration is also part and parcel of the game. "Crazy '08" is simply a delight, required reading for all fans of baseball in Chicago as they await Opening Day, when the Cubs new P.L. (Piniella, Lou) starts the season determined to avoid early hibernation.

- Louis P. Masur, director of the American studies program
at Trinity College and author of "Autumn Glory: Baseball's
First World Series.", March 18 Chicago Tribune

 

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