Weird thoughts...

[71buc]

I think baseball is far too ingrained in our history and culture to worry about it. My third grade daughter came home from school today asking me about Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, and Branch Rickey. She is learning about the Negro Leagues and was very interested to know more. She also asked if I had any Toni Stone cards. I said who? She then explained to me that Toni Stone was a female second baseman who played for the Clowns after Hank Aaron left the Negro Leagues. I learn from my children everyday. She asked if she could take my Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, and Paige cards to school to share with her class. I swallowed hard and agreed to let her do so. I showed her the cards and she asked me why the Paige had brown stains on it unlike the others that were in much better condition. I explained how I had traded three chocolate milks for it in the fourth grade and accidently spilled my own milk on it. She immediately said that made the card much better. I asked her why and she said because it came from when you were a kid like me. Baseball is a large part of who I am and she knows that I am passionate about all things baseball. Because of this she knows that the game and it's history is important to me so she is interested as well. I doubt she knows a homer from a touchdown. However,she does listen with interest to my incessant ramblings about Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente. Thankfully she knows more about who they were as men more than who they were as players. If you ask her she will tell you Aaron was brave in the face of prejudice and that Clemente died helping others. It is up to those of us who love the game and it's history to share our passion with the next generation. Nonetheless, I will likely tag along with her and my cards for my own peace of mind as she habitually loses her own shoes

[Runscott]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. This definitely was an issue generations back, but we've got too many interviews with old players for it to be an issue anymore. Pick up a copy of the 5-disc "Glory of Their Times" set - you will feel much more assured of this after listening.

One of the things I found very interesting about those interviews was one of the 't206-era players' describing what babies "today's" players are (meaning players in the early '60s), compared to the early nineteenth century players. And of course, we think the players of Koufax' day were much tougher than today's.

Can you imagine what men who were part of the 10-player teams of the mid-1800s would have thought of the wimps wearing gloves in the early 1900's? Those guys knew that if they left the game due to something as minor as a twisted ankle or broken toe, they might likely lose their spot to the 10th player.

As far as today's history buffs, it's obvious from conversing with guys on this board that those qualities begin at a very early age. My kids had no interest in baseball, and believe me - I tried to get them into it. But they do remember me taking them to see Nolan Ryan when they were around 4.

[perezfan]

I think that the lack of TV clips and available footage serve to enhance the legend of the truly great early players (LaJoie, Cobb, Ruth, Gehrig, Mathewson, Johnson, Young, etc.)

But it hurts the more marginal players and non-HOFers. This is a fascinating topic, and I think about it all the time. There's no question that many of the mid-tier players of the 40s - 80s are already long-forgotten. There's just no vehicle for keeping their names and images top-of-mind (other than to the most hard-core fans and historians).

As 71buc states above... they are keeping the names of Paige, Robinson, Reese and Rickey relevant and alive. But the less "storied" players and non-Hall of Famers will inevitably fade into obscurity. There's not much we can do to stop that, and it makes me sad.

It's true of the entertainment industry as well. Few people under 20 can identify John Wayne, but they all know Lil Wayne. My kids and their friends (who I've tried to educate) probably cannnot identify Bob Hope, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, WC Fields, The Marx Bros, or either of the Hepburns. Not to mention the character actors and lesser stars of the day.

It's pretty sad that Snookie, The Situation, Simon Cowell and the Kardashians are better known today than any of the legends listed above. The only consolation is that they'll be forgotten upon the next generation. Guess that's my rant for the day

[steve B]

Excellent question!

My own experience has been that I had little interest in baseball till 5th grade. My father coached track and basketball at the highschool, and also little league baseball. My interest was mainly going to the games and playing on the playground stuff. Or a real treat, carrying the equipment bag to the house next door where it was kept. The best thing was dragging the mesh thing around to smooth the infield before the game.

Then I moved to a new town, just in time for the end of the 73 season. Last year for Mays, Aaron chasing the HR record, Ryan striking out pretty much everyone....74 I went to my first Major league ballgame, plus the Hank Aaron specials showed me there were older cards and what they looked like.

77 - moved to another new place. Near Boston, and with a store in town that sold mostly sports memorabilia. Then the 78 Red Sox season, with Fenway right nearby!

It was all timing I suppose, had the first move been a couple years later I probably would have missed the excitement. Had the second move been later or elsewhere I'd have missed more, and without exposure to the hobby.

Would I have eventually picked up some baseball history and become a fan? Probably, dads a big Red Sox fan, and a fan of all sports, so I'd have gotten intersted at some point, but maybe not in the same way. (One of my early memories is of him calling me in to watch figure 8 stock car racing on tv and telling me I'd probably never see it again since it was so crazy and a fading sport)

Everyone has to come to baseball history their own way. Somewhere out there is a kid looking up who this Reggie guy was that hit 3 in a WS game before Pujols, and Ruth? And the other stuff, Matsui he knows, but Molitor?

That's how it begins, and how it continues.

Steve B