Laura Marie Yapelli
Professor Rung
Final Paper
12/8/2016
Baseball in The Great Depression
On October 29th, 1929 the stock market crashed and sent the United States into a severe economic disaster marking the start of the Great Depression. The effects of the crash were extreme and affected the living and working conditions of Americans across the Country. People and families were not the only ones affected by the Great Depression. Many companies and organizations were feeling the effects as well. Baseball and the MLB were no exceptions. Many Americans did not have the even 50 cents to spare on leisurely activities so ticket sales and attendance decreased. In attempt to increase attendance to major league baseball games, the MLB came up with a few tactics that could help their cause such as the All Star Game, night games, and broadcasting games on the radio.
Even though the Great Depression struck hard and fast throughout the nation, it seemed to have a delayed reaction to major league baseball. “In 1930 attendance in the majors reached an all time peak of about 10.1 million, but from then on the hard times that had already hit most other segments of the economy caught up with all of baseball. The early thirties brought sparse crowds, deficits, a dramatic contraction in major
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It took three years for a 2nd city to install lights in the stadium but finally Macphil brought the light to The Dodgers. Even though the Dodgers finished in 7th, they gained more fans throughout that season. “Although MacPhil had laid out hundreds of thousands of dollars for ballpark improvements, lights, and players, the Dodgers posted and operating deficit of only $11,000, a vast improvement over earlier years” (Tygiel, 104). Eight more teams would trail the success of night games in the two years following boosting attendance and interest in the
The lack of use of their talent gave them the power to set their own earnings. With the support of Rothstein—who would go on to place $270,000 on the Reds—the eight men were setting their sights on defeat (Goetsch, 2011). Sports reporters issued warnings of the organized manipulation prior to game one as rumors spread. After the series concluded, some would write articles detailing an honest upset while others closely eyed wary pitches and suspicious plays concluding, “that seven of them [games] were ‘highly suspect’” (Anderson, 2001, p. 107).
1920’s baseball’s golden age. Two words describe why the 1920s stake a claim for baseball’s golden age: Babe Ruth. George Herman Babe Ruth known as ‘’Babe Ruth”, this man had stadiums build after him, just so he can play on it do what he does best (play the beautiful game baseball). He was born February 6th, 1895 in Baltimore Maryland, Babe Ruth was often referred to as the greatest baseball player of all time, he was famous for is very successful career where he broke many records such as getting 714 home runs in 22 seasons.
During the late 1940’s and the early 1950’s, it became evident that Ebbets Field was no longer a convenient place for the Dodgers to play. The structure was becoming insubstantial, and the plumbing was poor. The confined aisles and seating capacity of only 32,000 were not the great aspects a baseball stadium was supposed to have. The location was also unsuitable, located way off of major roads. The parking was
In the year 1929, the biggest economic crisis in U.S history would take the United States by storm. This economic crisis would drastically change the lives of Americans for decades after. The stock market crash in 1929 signaled the beginning of the great depression. This would result in high unemployment rates, issues with poverty, homelessness and would bring hunger to millions. It also affected farms and agricultural businesses resulting in even bigger problems later on.
Night baseball games are pretty common nowadays but that wasn't always the case. Naturally, human beings tend to take for granted things that are common today but were practically a luxury in the past. That’s what this article is about: to show the evolution of this wonderful sport and how lighting technology played a crucial role in allowing baseball to remain one of the most popular sports in the country! The first baseball night game(s)
Church or ritual ceremonies are seen as a form of entertainment that many are devoted to going to on a weekly basis. A devoted baseball fan finds it by any means necessary to watch the game on television or attend it live because they find it entertaining, Every religion has different rituals that are followed throughout the year, and during baseball season you have fans and players following specific rituals they believe will help their team win. Baseball is sport has the long season of any sport of a 162 games in the regular season; it takes a big commitment by a player to consistently be able to perform at a high performance day in and day out. The body does not rest; in the off-season players continue to work on how to better themselves. The dedication for the sport in seen through grueling training.
In 1929, the U.S. was hit with the worst economic crisis in the history of the country, the Great Depression. The Great Depression left millions of people unemployed and cost millions their life's savings. The Depression lasted for ten long years for the American people. Since the Great Depression ended, people have studied it, trying to figure out what happened that started it all. The problem was, in fact, the poor economic habits of the people at the time, such as speculation, income maldistribution, and overproduction.
The Roaring 20’s brought many great changes to America. New technology, economic boom, and cultural change strived. George Herman “Babe” Ruth Jr., an American baseball player, was one of eight children born to a saloon keeper. He was taught at St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, where his love and passion for the game, began. Little did anyone know, soon, America would be home to the legend of baseball.
According to Jonathan Mahler, "These include the millions of boys and girls who join thousands of youth, scholastic, collegiate and American Legion baseball teams, along with the men and women who play baseball and softball in industrial and semiprofessional urban and rural leagues, and the continuing interest in the history and cultural meaning of baseball, as measured by the sale of baseball books, the popularity of baseball films like “The
The experience that the majority of urban and rural Americans shared together during the depression was a flat out lack of income. The differences were very few, but in the cities, the depression was more prominently visible because of a higher percentage of the population (Schultz 2014). Besides the lack of income and employment, most Americans underwent periods of time being extremely hungry. In the cities, people spent hours waiting in breadlines and were losing their homes to only end up living on the streets in communities referred to as "Hoovervilles" nicknamed after the president (Schultz 2014). In the country, families suffered because of unusual droughts of the 1930 's that caused crops to fail miserably meant the already indebted farmers commonly lost their properties.
The 1920’s were a very exciting and well remembered time era for the changes the way sports are played today. During this time period watching as well as playing sports became much more popular as a method of relaxation or a way to spend some free time having fun, just as it is today. Babe Ruth’s outstanding skill and dedication changed the game of ball since people of all races and colors would watch his games, and was a huge role model to many young kids, giving them a dream to someday become a great player just like him. Babe Ruth’s record setting performances brought a whole new social life to people in the 20’s.
Baseball was an essential part of American society in the 1920s.
In 1880 the Chicago tribune et al Abrams reported that the captain of the Cincinnati Red Stockings was ordered to, “slow-up play between innings so as to allow the crowd to drink more beer,” the profit which was important source of revenue for the club. In 1881 Hulbert, the NL commissioner, kicked the club from Cincinnati out of the league for violating the NL’s alcohol ban, annual revenue of three-thousand dollars for the club, and renting out its stadium on Sundays. The Cincinnati club’s expulsion helped lead to the creation of an alcohol friendly league that would come to be known as the “whiskey and beer” league. Cincinnati’s 1881 expulsion from the National League opened the door for the creation of the American Association, a league that was to become the NL’s greatest rival, and was given the nickname “The Beer and Whiskey League”. The nickname was appropriate considering many of the team owners businesses were involved in alcohol sales, the owners sought out the patronage of the working class masses.
Imagine you are sitting at a baseball game eating cracker jacks or at a football game yelling because your team scored or you could be yelling at the refs because they made a bad call. There are many people that love sports but there was also a lot of people that loved sports when they became popular in the 1920’s. Sports have came a long why since then. They have became more competitive, the skill levels have improved a lot, and they are also easier to watch and keep up with because of how far technology has came. Who doesn’t love to watch baseball in the summer?
The Great DepressionTopic: the great depressionQuestion: How did the great depression affect americans?Thesis statement:The great depression affected americans because it destroyed their economy. Millions of families lost theirs savings as many banks collapsed in the 1930’s. The Great Depression was the worst economic drop of all times in the industrial world1. The Great Depression began because of a stock market crash in 1929 and came to end ten years later in 1939, around 15 million americans were unemployed and about half of the American banks failed. It was one of the darkest era in the United States.