Page 2, Wednesday, duiy l4th, 1971, WHITBV FREFE PRESS BmASEr.*BALL UN WHITBY 61 YEARS AGO Rem ember the Greysf TheW\Vh 1t<by Greyswasa t ru e amateur club in every respect. Each and every pi ayer wNas a permanent resident, and ail wvere native born Whitby boys. They played basebal strictly for the love of the game and so pr o udl1y represented their own home town in competition with severai other out-of-town teams, including a number of Toronto teams. The Greys home games wvere al1 played in (Brock Street) DIAMOND PARK, now named Centennial Park mostly on Saturday afternoons and on public holidays. Upon looking back today, no need for me ta wonder why so many fans crowded three s ides of the park peri - meter. Those days were long before aur greatmaney infiationary period. They Just Passed The Hat The pnice of admission ta mos t games was ni 1. They just passed the hat and the loyal spectatars gener- o u s1y donated a c c rding tatheir means. 1 do not recal 1 any seriaus pro- bl1em expe i enced by the Greys i n the f i n a nc ingofthe club's expenseS. t3ear in mind also that the Automo- tive Age of car-trailer-bus-boat & hi ghway mode as weknow i ttoday was st111 f ar off; hence. the 1Iow spectator at t en dance at hockey and basebali1 is much lowver in 1971, even wîith a popul1ation five times greater than in 1910. it is doubtful if organized sparts coul1d exi s twvithout the suppan t of aur great Service Clubs, since estab- 1lis h ed througho ut Canada, in the smaller towns. The fol lowing brief history of that greatest of ail summertime spectator team sports, basebal , Mi11 help our many junior players anid fans ta in- crease their knawledge of basebali as it was in the beginning, covering r e c or d s af the great major league t eam s a nd pl ayers. . both past and present. KEEP IN THE SWIM WITH WATER SAFETY The WVHITS3Y FREE PRESS Box 206, VVhitbY Publ isher WIVil1i am A. Durkee Editor, Jdt A. Durkee Circulation 7Darry Schroeder tDspl1a% Adver:;sk,-I;George Hood M M- m %%' OLD TYMERON ThF Iv% WH 1i T 1Y GREYS 1bA.FBýAt1 iCLUB Ir,"', Pictured is the memorabie not personal ly acquainted wi th every WhitbyGreys Basebali team and 0f- active player and officer of the elec- ficers. There were few residents in tric Greys. Whitby during that period, who were ~ ~ A AA A 4-Ab~~t- ~ x1x MAJOR T Hz PopuLau TRADIION that baseball was lniented by Abner Doubleday at Coop- erstown, N. Y., ln 1839, bas been enshrined in the Hall of Famne and National Museum of Bazebail erected ln that town, but re- search bas proved that a game called "Base Bal" was played lnu tUs country and Eng- landi before 1839. However, the fIrst team baseball as ves)cnow it was played at the Elysian Fields, Hoboken, N. J., on June 19, 1846, between the Knickerbockers and the New York Nine. There was a graduai growth of basebali and an Improvement of equipment and playlng skIll ID the next flf ty years. Historians have It that the firet pitcher to tbrow a curve vas William A. (Candy) Cam.mings in 1867. The Cincinnati Red StockIngs were the first al-professienal team and iD 1869 they played 64 gamnes without a lose. The standard bail ef the same size and welght, stili the rule, was adepted iD 1872. The fIret catcher's mask wau worn ln 1875. The National League vas organized ln 1876. The firet cheat pro- tector was douned iD 1885. The three-strike rule was put on the books in 1887 and the four-bal], ticket to firet base came in 1889. The pitching distance, formerly sherter, was lengthened te 60 feet 6 inches ln 1893 and the rules have been only slightly modIied since that time. The AmerIcan League,, under the vigor- eus leadership of B. B. Johnson, blossomned forth as a major league in 1901. Judge Kenesaw Mountain Lanclis, by action ef the two major leagues, became CommIs- sioner of BasebaU Iln 1921 and, upon hie death (1944), Albert B. Chandler, former United States Senater from Kentucky, vas elected te that office (1945>. (Chandler failed te ebtain a new contract, and he was succeeded by Ferd C. Frick (1951), the National League president. Frick retlred a!- ter the 1965 season and Williama D. Eckert, a retired Air Force lieutenant general, vas named to eucceed hlm. Eckert resigned under pressure lu December, 1968. Bewie Kuhu, a New Yorkc attorney, became In- terim commissioner for eue year lu Febru- ary. His appointment was made permanent wth a seven-year contract lu August, 1969. LEAGUE RECORDS Larsen's Perfect Game in '56 World Series Don Larsen of the New Yorkc Yankees Brooklyn Dedgers at the 'yankee Stadlum pitched the only no-run no-bit game lu in the flfth game before 64,519 on Oct. 8, World Series history iD 1956 and hurled a Larsen retired 27 batters lu a row. The perfect game ID se doing. Faclug the Yankees won, 2 te 0. Longeet Game A 26-inning tie between the Bro>oklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves on May 1. 1920. was the longest game ln major league history. Played at Braves Field, Boston, the game was called because of darkness with the score 1-1. Both etarting pitchers, Lieon Cadere o! Brooklyn and Joe Oeschger, were in the Majors stil inI the gamne at the end, 3 heurs and 50 minutes a! ter It had begun. The longest game iD point o! time, 7 heurs and 23 minutes, was played by the New Yerk Mets a.nd the San Francisco Giants on May 31, 1964, in New 'York. The Giants won lu 23 innings, 8-6. Baseball's Triple Crown Winners (Playera leading leagiie for season in bstting, rune batted in and home rune) Twe-Time Wlnners Others (Cent.) Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis (N. L)-1922, 1925 Chuck Kein, Philadelphia (N. L.)-1933 Ted Williams, Boston (A. L.)-1942, 1947 Lou Gehrig, New York (A. L.)-1934 Others Joe Medwick, St. Louis (N. L.)-1937 Ty Cobb, Detroit (A. L.)-1909 Mickey Mantie, New York (A. L.)-1956 Ileinie Zimmerman, Chicago (N. L.)-1912 Frank Robinson, Baltimore (A. L.)-1966 Jimmy Foxx, Philadelphia (A. L.-1933 Carl Yastrzemski, Boston (A.L.>-1967 LIFETIME WORLD Most Hits-71, Yogi Berra, New York A. L., 1947, 1949-53, 1955-58, 1960-63. Most Runs-42, Mickey Nantie, New York A. L., 1951-53, 1955-58,1960-64. Most Runs Batted ln--40, Mickey MantIe, New York A. L., 1951-53, 1955-58, 1960-64. Most Home Runs-18, Mickey Mandie, New York A. L., 1951- 53, 1955-M, 1960-M4. SERTES RECORDS Most Basfts on Bals-43, Mickey Mantie. New York A. L., 1951-53, 1955-58, 1960-64. Most Strikeuts-54, Mickey Ma ntie, New York A. L., 1951-53, 1955-58,1960-64. Most Victories, Pitcher-lO, Whitey Ford, New York A. L., 1950, 1953, 1955-58, 1960-64. Most Times Member of Winning Team-1O, Yogi Berra, New York A. L., 1947, 1949-53, 1956, 1958, 1961-62. MAJOR LEAGUE ATTENDANCE RECORDS Single game-78,672, Son Francisco at Los Angeles (N. t.), Season, road-2,216,159, New York (A. L.), 1962. Apr. 18, 1958. (At Memnorlai Coiisoum.> Sason, Iesgue-15,015,471, National League, 1966. Doubehader-84,587, New York at Cleveland (A. L.). Sept. World Serles, single game-92,706, Chicago (A. L) et Los 12, 1954. Angelet (N. L.), Oct. 6, 1959. Nlght-78,382, Chicago et Cleveland (A. L.>, Aug. 20, 1948. World Serins, ail gameés (6)>-420,784, Chilcago (A. L.> and Saison, home-2,755,184, Lot Angelot (N. L.), 1962. Lot Angeles (Nl. L.), 1959.