Dead at age 44

July 28, 1909 Harry Pulliam, the National League President, committed suicide. Most say he was an a huge influence in growing baseball and getting it to were it is today. He was a hard worker and cared about his job. He was under a lot of stress and it is believed that he turned a gun on himself and shot himself in the head.

Here are some other things to consider. The previous year during a tied baseball game between the Cubs and the Giants a controvercial call was made. The teams were also tied for first in the standings. Known as the "Merkle Boner", the call aloud the Cubs to advance to the World Series. The Giants had two outs and runners on 1st and second in the ninth inning. Fred "Bonehead" Merkle was on 1st. The Giants batter singled and the runner on third scored. But a little known rule at the time was not followed. During the ensuing madness of Giants fans and players on the field, Merkle didn't touch second base. He just walked away. The Cubs noticed this got the ball and stepped on second. The umpire called him out on a force out. It was appealed, of course, all the way to Harry. Harry had to make the final decision on that call. Although it was the right call, it was unpopular. By the way the Cubs would go on to win the World Series, the last one they have won.

Other things were going on as well. The AL and NL rivalry was a new brewing pot of competion and he was caught smack dab in the middle of that. He was somewhat unpopular with the NL owners because they believed the AL president was more powerful and getting what he wanted at each turn. Harry did not handle the pressure well. With these details it is easy to see why some rumors have been around for years that he was murdered and didn't kill himself.

"Why is Harry Pulliam so important to the Pirates?", you might ask. Well that dates back to 1899 and earlier. He was part of the Louiville Colonels organization and newspaper writer. He helped signed Honus Wagner and other players to this team. The team was disolved and owner, Barney Dreyfuss bought contolling interest in the Pittsburgh Pirates. Alot of the Louisville players were deciding what to do. Harry talked some players into coming to the new team. This included two hall of famers. These two are none other the Fred Clarke and Honus Wagner.

Forbes Field

In the middle of the 1909 season the Pirates moved into their brand new state of the art ball park, Forbes field. At the fields opening day game was issued a pendant to fans entering the park.

The park was named after John Forbes. Forbes was a British officer that is credited for naming Pittsburgh after William Pitt. John Forbes also lead an expedition during the French and Indian War in the Pittsburgh Area.

Forbes Field was preceded by Exposition Park. Exposition Park was the home to the Pirates for the first ever MLB World Series where they lost to the Boston Americans later known as the Boston Red Sox. The primary problem with Exposition Park is that it often flooded and was primarily made of wood. Other professional ball clubs would call Exposition Park home. The Alleganies and the Rebels which are part of Pirates baseball history played there. These clubs will be discussed in future posts. Another team that played at the park was the Western University of Pennsylvania which is now known as the Pitt Panther football team. The location of the park would now be between PNC Park and Heinz Field.

Forbes field was the Bucco's home from 1909 until 1971 when it was replaced by Three Rivers stadium. Forbes field saw a lot of great players from Honus Wagner to Willie Stargell to Mickey Mantle to Ty Cobb. When it opened it seated 25,000 and was expanded to 35,000 a couple decades later. It cost $1 Million to buy the land and build it. It was constructed in 4 months from primarly steel.

The Great "H" Controversy

From the founding of the great city until present day the debate lives on. Should Pittsburgh end in an "H" or not. The history of this debate sometimes gets muttled and stems off into many tributaries. The understanding to be found is as follows.

The founding family of the state, The Penns, originally called the city "Pittsburgh". Burgh is derived from the word borough which also ends in an "H". So why the controvercy? Well due to spelling errors, federal regulations of the 1800's, and different national decents the "H" was left off for a time.

The town was named after William Pitt. He lived from 15 November 1708 – 11 May 1778. William Pitt was a great British Stateman and has several cities and towns in the U.S.A. named after him.

Dating all the way back to the late 1700's the first typing or spelling errors can be found. Copies of the original charter for the city are missing the "H" but the original has the "H".

Some of the problem comes from the different national decents. Pittsburgh had a large German population which preferred the h-less version. But the English that modified "borough" to "burgh" choice to name it with the "H"

The decision by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1891 to standardize city names made it official. There will be no "H". This was wildy unpopular in the city. Many pittburghians wanted the "H" because is was unique for one but also because it was the intent of the founders of the city to have it. So after many years of wrangling they got what they wanted. In 1911 the official declaration was that the city will be known as "Pittsburgh".

Now for collectors of memorabilia this presents a chance for great discussion. You can see on different baseball cards from the pre-war periods both being used. If you look at the famous T206 card of Honus Wagner for example. It has no "H". It was produced in 1909. But if you look at all of the Tip Top bread cards, produced in 1910, they have the "H".

Ham Hyatt

I am currently working on a checklist of Robert "Ham" Hyatt baseball cards. He played various postions during his career. The legand is that he could hit good but not field so well, hence the name "Ham" or "Ham Handed". Either way he was a contributer to the Pirates 1909 season and victory in the World Series. This is what I have so far:

1903-11 W600 Sporting Life Cabinets
1910 E286 Ju Ju Drum Candy Chips
1910 E90-2 American Caramel
1910 D322 Ward-Mackey Co. Tip-Top Bread
1910-11 M116 Sporting Life
1910 E104-2 Blanke-Wenneker Candy
1911 T5 Pinkerton Tobacco Co. Cabinets
1912 T207 American Tobacco Co. Brown
1913 Pirates Voskamps
1914 B18 Egyptienne Straights
1921 PD3-1 Bastian Bros. Co
1921 E137-7 Collins-McCarthy Co. Zeenuts
1922 E137-8 Collins-McCarthy Co. Zeenuts
1972 Classic Cards

Honus Wagner was by far the best baseball player of all time. He could hit, field, and run the base paths better than most that have ever play. No one could put them all together like he could. Oh and he was a champion.

Day One

Ever wonder what happened to the good ole past time of baseball. I have decided to forget about what is going on in 2008 and live in the past. I want to live the 1909 Pittsburg Pirate season, you know when things seemed simpler. There weren't performance enhancing substances. If you were talented and worked harder than the other guy you usually won.

1909 didn't have a lot of people hitting the big bombs and they didn't look like todays freaks of nature. I wonder what Dot's Miller was like or Fred Clarke. How about Honus Wagner or Babe Adams. Just want a chance to sit on the bench for one of those games.

I have been trying to amass a card collection of the team. It is slow going because they are expensive. But the callenge is fun. I will post more later. I will also post some pictures.