“Good guys” of the dead ball era?

[Eric72]

Connie Mack strikes me as the type of "good guy" you're looking for. Here's a Code of Conduct he created for his players:

I will always play the game to the best of my ability.
I will always play to win, but if I lose, I will not look for an excuse to detract from my opponent's victory.
I will never take an unfair advantage in order to win.
I will always abide by the rules of the game—on the diamond as well as in my daily life.
I will always conduct myself as a true sportsman—on and off the playing field.
I will always strive for the good of the entire team rather than for my own glory.
I will never gloat in victory or pity myself in defeat.
I will do my utmost to keep myself clean—physically, mentally, and morally.
I will always judge a teammate or an opponent as an individual and never on the basis of race or religion.

[Snapolit1]

Cool thread.

I wouldn't necessarily blame this on moden trends for bios to spin negative; there was plenty of negative press at the time these guys played and built their reputations. Does seem to be premium in those days on very hard ass play, take any advantage you can get sort of play, willingness to throw punches when required.

[packs]

Rube Waddell was a hell of a guy when he had his wits about him. Didn’t he die as a result of saving a town from a flood?

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by packs

Rube Waddell was a hell of a guy when he had his wits about him. Didn’t he die as a result of saving a town from a flood?

I think they attribute a bad case of pneumonia to that, but he died from tuberculosis a couple of years later.

[Yoda]

Certainly Tris Speaker until he got involved with Cobb betting on games that was pretty much swept under the rug.

He went out of his way to help his old teammate and roommate Joe Wood when Joe blew his arm out, bringing him to Cleveland where Joe played a very decent center field.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Yoda

Certainly Tris Speaker until he got involved with Cobb betting on games that was pretty much swept under the rug.

He went out of his way to help his old teammate and roommate Joe Wood when Joe blew his arm out, bringing him to Cleveland where Joe played a very decent center field.

Speaker went out of his way to train Larry Doby to become a centerfielder. But his association with the KKK and his dislike of his Catholic teammates is a black eye.

[Casey2296]

I have a hard time judging any players fron that era when we give a pass to current /recent players for mudering their girlfriends or a member of their posse, raping hotel staff, and brandishing firearms in a public bar.

Seems a bit hypocritical to me.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Cool thread.

I wouldn't necessarily blame this on moden trends for bios to spin negative; there was plenty of negative press at the time these guys played and built their reputations. Does seem to be premium in those days on very hard ass play, take any advantage you can get sort of play, willingness to throw punches when required.

Newspapers have always known that sleaze sells best. Biographies at this time period were usually one of two types, the kind still influenced by the German objectivity movement and the laudatory biography, a Christian overtoned version of Plutarch where the subject is used as a example of proper living and to instill values.

Today most of what is said about the old time players come from the biographies written of them long after they retired, not primary sources directly. These books skew to a more modern philosophy of biography, some in the sleazier 'juice sells' group like Cramer's Dimaggio and Stump's straight up fictional Cobb as an early example of it, and some with a softer approach and more meticulous fact checking but a similar philosophy. Laudatory has given way to its opposite, trying to bring down the figure instead of raise them up (neither of which is usually very accurate), and the ideal of objectivity is long dead. Biographers tend to focus on scandal, on misconduct, on things the subject said or did that is not in line with what is popular thought today. A new juicy claim sells books and pre-publication attention, not a fairly reported accounting of a decently lived life without much scandal.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by Eric72

Connie Mack strikes me as the type of "good guy" you're looking for. Here's a Code of Conduct he created for his players:

I will always play the game to the best of my ability.
I will always play to win, but if I lose, I will not look for an excuse to detract from my opponent's victory.
I will never take an unfair advantage in order to win.
I will always abide by the rules of the game—on the diamond as well as in my daily life.
I will always conduct myself as a true sportsman—on and off the playing field.
I will always strive for the good of the entire team rather than for my own glory.
I will never gloat in victory or pity myself in defeat.
I will do my utmost to keep myself clean—physically, mentally, and morally.
I will always judge a teammate or an opponent as an individual and never on the basis of race or religion.

...but he'd have been cancelled in a heartbeat today for his infamous comment when he first saw Jackie on the field.

[boneheadandrube]

Dode Paskert rescued a bunch of people from a burning building in 1921, does that count?

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dode-paskert/



1916 M101-5 Famous & Barr Paskert SGC 4.5.jpg

[Kenny Cole]

Originally Posted by boneheadandrube

Dode Paskert rescued a bunch of people from a burning building in 1921, does that count?

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dode-paskert/



Attachment 576232

So did George Davis.

[boneheadandrube]

Originally Posted by Kenny Cole

So did George Davis.

Lol, I guess lots of building fires back in those days!

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by boneheadandrube

Lol, I guess lots of building fires back in those days!

So did Waddell - carrying a stove out of a crowded department store.

The reason there were so many fires is that just about everything was built from wood, and the buildings were heated mostly by contained fire.

[drumback]

Waddell assaulted and seriously injured his in-laws when they kicked him out of their house for not paying his rent. He then left town in a hurry to avoid arrest. I believe this disqualifies him.