Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Excerpt from "The Encyclopedia of American Sport: 1789-1998", 1999 (DeLeon: Cultural Revolution Press)
Major League Baseball (Pre-Revolution)
[...]
The 1919 World Series, between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds, would soon embroil the entire game in scandal. Eight White Sox players, including Chick Gandil, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, Buck Weavil, and Lefty Williams, were indicted in a plot to throw the World Series on behalf of a consortium of gamblers led by gangster Arnold Rothstein. The "Black Sox Scandal", as it was termed by the press was front page news in the midst of the Bienno Rosso, and the outrage landed squarely on Major League Baseball's failure to prevent it.
As inquiries were made into the increasing connection between gamblers and players and grand juries convened to investigate the players involved (whereupon the eight players were convicted), the team owners, already dissatisfied with the conduct of the National Commission [ruling body of Major League Baseball, consisting of the Presidents of the National and American Leagues and a chairman] made a play to heavily reform the system. Albert Lasker, Chicago business and minority stakeholder in the Chicago Cubs, proposed to replace the Commission with another three-person panel with people who were unconnected financially with baseball. The plan gained the backing of National League President John Heydler, and it was accepted by the owners, on the condition that there be a strong figure among the three to lead the Commission. After going through several candidates, including former President William Howard Taft, the new Commission would consist of former Vice President and Secretary of Navy Theodore Roosevelt, federal judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, and, as the leading strongman of the Commission, General John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing.
Pershing was a war hero in the Spanish-American War, which allowed him to rise through the ranks of the US Army, and in 1914, he was tapped to lead the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, becoming the supreme commander of American forces during World War I (and was promoted to General of the Armies, the highest position possible in the US Army). The owners argued that, with the moral decay of the game exemplified by the Black Sox Scandal, that the only person who could whip it back into shape was a General, especially the man who led America into victory during the war.
Pershing agreed, though with the stipulation that he also maintain his duties as General of the Armies for his time in active service (up to his retirement in 1925).
Pershing's first order was to formally ban the eight players convicted in the Black Sox scandal from participating in Major League Baseball.
True to the intentions of the owners, Pershing then enacted a code of conduct for the players to follow. It required players to be in good physical shape through the season, to have good "moral character", and especially banned any affiliations or contact with sports gamblers. Violations of the latter two were grounds for ban from the Major Leagues permanently.
[...]
The Roaring Twenties would see the rise of heavy-hitters, whose record-shattering hits would fit the exuberance and excess of the era. With the new rule changes with regards to the ball (making it easier to see), the number of home runs would increase. Players like Lou Gehrig (of the Yankees), Hank Greenberg (Detroit Tigers), and Roger Hornsby (St. Louis Cardinals) would take full advantage, racking up records never before seen. Towering above them was George Herman "Babe" Ruth, of the Boston Red Sox. His record 714 Career Home Runs (including 60 Home Runs in a single season) made him one of the biggest stars of the 1920's. His larger-than-life persona both on and off the field made him a perfect fit for the period.
[...]
With the slow dismantling of Jim Crow laws in the 20's, the issue of integration would soon reach Major League Baseball, which had an unofficial color line since the 1880's
Pershing was partial to integration, having led a segregated regiment in the 1880's (his nickname was a reference to that) and implemented de facto integration in the Army during the First World War, but the issue was delayed until 1929 (likely due to the opposition of fellow Commission member Kennesaw Mountain Landis), when the Commission announced that teams can now scout among the Negro Leagues.
The results of this were seen almost immediately, with former Negro Leaguer Satchel Paige pitching the St. Louis Cardinals to victory in the 1930 World Series.
[...]
Dynamo League
The Dynamo League were the baseball clubs operated by various unions affiliated with the socialist movement between 1922 to 1933.
Inspired by the Soviet Dynamo clubs, they were operated as part of larger sports clubs for union members, open to the general community as well. The first Dynamo club opened as the Vulcan Sports Club by the Steelworkers' Union in Pittsburgh in 1922. Slowly, it spread to other cities, and eventually, to other unions throughout the country.
The various sports clubs would eventually organize leagues and tournaments that would counter the capitalist sports leagues, and friendly competition, focused on more solidarity and fitness than capitalist promotion.
As a contrast to the capitalist Major and Minor Leagues, the Dynamo Leagues were largely run by the players, as a subsidiary of their respective union. They would play on local fields or rent out stadiums from the Minor Leagues.
As a counter to the World Series, the International Series was first held in 1924, with the main teams being the Steelworker Vulcans and the Textile Hardshirts.
[...]
Major League Baseball (post Revolution)
Pershing decided to stay neutral during the Civil War, declining an offer by his one-time protege Douglas MacArthur to join the White forces.
Shortly after the war ended, Pershing and Roosevelt (Landis was arrested for his actions against anti-war activists during the First World War) joined in a meeting with representatives of the players of various teams (now organized) and the Minor and Dynamo Leagues, presided over by the Cultural Secretariat's Secretary of Sports Nicholaas Steelink.
The meeting dealt with the future of baseball. Most of the Major League owners had fled abroad, while the players mostly stayed behind. With the new emphasis of democracy and unionization, the role of the owners would instead placed in an elected leader amongst the players, while the union (now representing Minor Leagues as well) would be the political part of the org.
Given that the various teams had become beloved institution and parts of their respective communities, dismantling the teams and the leagues was dismissed shortly into discussion. Instead, the structure of them were modified. While Pershing and Roosevelt (and as-of-yet undetermined third member) would retain their seats, if vacated, the new Commission seats (now referred to as the Troika) would be elected. The Leagues and the World Series would also open up to the Minor Leagues and the Dynamo Union Teams, and the MLB would no longer determine the terms of the game across all teams.
With this, the basic structure of Major League Baseball and of most teams remained mostly intact, and would be the only such sports league to do so. The third Commission seat would be filled by Raymond Cannon (a former ballplayer and attorney for some of the Black Sox players)
After being cancelled due to the fighting, the 1934 World Series would signal this new era, with the Detroit Tigers beating the Cincinnati Reds 4 games to 3, with the Internationale being sung at the beginning of the game instead of the National Anthem.
With the Dynamo Leagues now allowed into the World Series, the International Series was folded, its final game in 1932.
