August 18, 2011

Reading Room

Paul Lukas, ESPN:
Uni Watch On The Confederate Flag

As America marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War this year, the Confederate battle flag continues to be a highly charged symbol. ...

But whether you consider the Confederate flag to be a racist affront, a symbol of cultural pride or just something to wave at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert, there's one place you probably haven't seen it before: on a baseball uniform.
The Columbus (Georgia) Confederate Yankees (AA) wore the Confederate flag on their uniform sleeves from 1964-66. Lukas asked several members of that team, including Roy White, what they thought about it.
Example
The Muddy Chicken Hits It Big
Loud swing, louder mouth, even louder results: That's the story of Dustin Pedroia writ small. In a lineup of stars, nobody has played a larger role in the success of the Red Sox - or inspired better nicknames - than their 5'8" second baseman
(Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated, August 15, 2011)

The Polio Vaccine, Cold Fusion, and Advanced Pitching Stats
Only one scientific advance will tell you if your team is about to make a terrible signing
(Jonah Keri, Grantland, August 8, 2011)

He Does it By the Numbers
The esoteric equation on the Royals' scoreboard in Kansas City is only one of the far-out findings of deep-thinking baseball statistician Bill James
(Dan Okrent, Sports Illustrated, May 25, 1981)

A Diamond in the Ashes
(Robert Lipsyte's critical essay on the rennovated Yankee Stadium, Sports Illustrated, April 26, 1976)

Nix Flicks Sticks in Box for Sox in Rox
(Tom Shieber, Baseball Researcher, August 9, 2011)
If I told you that this photo was copyrighted in 1903, could you tell me the date and the inning of the game during which it was taken? The Baseball Researcher can!

4 comments:

Brad said...

top of the 5th, Sept. 22, 1903 at the Huntington Avenue Grounds - vs. CWS.

What a great site you led me to... I plan on checking in there often.

Very interesting. Thanks for the fun of researching this.

Jere said...

I had one issue with his conclusion re: the photo. The shadows on the left side differ greatly from those on the right. I couldn't tell you how much time went by, but the right half would be from much later in the game. So the scoreboard in the left half doesn't tell you what inning it is in the right half.

I commented over on his site, I'm still waiting for him to approve it though.

laura k said...

Thanks for the links! I want to read the Lipsyte story, and about the confederate flag.

Tom Shieber said...

Thanks to "Jere" for a good question. These panoramic photos can often be a bit confusing. It's important to remember that a panoramic photo is a flat representation of a curved scene. For this reason, straight lines can appear to be curved and parallel lines (in this case, shadows) appear not to be parallel. I've addressed Jere's concern at the bottom of my blog.