Book Review: The Big Scrum

Last November I wrote an article for The Boston Globe taking a look back at the crisis that faced football in the early 1900s because of the violent nature of the sport (19 players died as a result of gridiron injuries in 1905) and Teddy Roosevelt’s intervention in 1905 to get the leading colleges to reform the sport. It had been suggested to me that the subject would make a good book. The primary source material about TR’s role seemed thin to me, though, and I wasn’t sure how such a book could be structured.

Well, now I see how the project could have been executed. John J. Miller delves into this particularly timely topic, given the current spotlight on hard hits and concussions in the NFL, in his new book, “The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football.” Given the limited research materials on Roosevelt's actions in 1905, Miller’s work encompasses a broader timespan, taking a dual storyline of the evolution of football from its early days and the sporting life of Roosevelt from his days as a sickly youth.

Miller mentions early in “The Big Scrum” that he was surprised that the epic biographies of Roosevelt by Edmund Morris omitted any mention of his role in lobbying for college football reform, and I was as well when I was researching the subject. The book’s subtitle, “How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football,” however, is probably a bit of hyperbole. Miller himself writes this about Roosevelt on page 17, “It is probably too much to call him football’s savior.”

Still, as a TR buff and a football fan, “The Big Scrum” was an informative and entertaining read, and I definitely learned some new factoids.

"The Big Scrum" reaffirmed my belief that Roosevelt could not have been a mere mortal (Could anyone else have given a 90-minute speech after being shot in the chest?). President, author of 18 books, big game hunter, trust buster, Rough Rider. Did this guy ever sleep? From Miller’s book I learned that one day a young TR rowed across Long Island Sound from Oyster Bay, NY, on a 25-mile roundtrip. During his honeymoon, he scaled the Matterhorn. Screw the Dos Equis guy; Teddy Roosevelt is “the most interesting man in the world.”

Even though many say that football is our “new national pastime,” the history of the early days of football hasn’t gotten nearly as much ink as that of baseball. “The Big Scrum” helps to fill that void, and this may be the most engaging part of the book. Miller takes us all the way back to Medieval Europe, whole towns would play a form of football where large mobs played with an inflated pig’s bladder. Hence the term “pigskin.” The tradition continues at the Royal Shrovetide Football Match. Augusta National this is not, however, if you check out the YouTube video. The story of the 1876 Harvard-Yale game, which opens the book, with Roosevelt in the stands as a spectator is a cracker. Yale won 1-0. Touchdowns did not count for points; only the kicks after touchdowns counted if they cleared a clothesline strung between two poles 20 feet apart from 100 feet away.

The evolution of rules is fascinating as well. One season safeties did not count against teams. As Miller writes, “A safety mere let [the offensive team] put the ball on their own 25-yard line and start over.” In the 1880 Princeton-Yale game, Princeton took the ball in the second half, took 11 safeties, and never gave Yale the ball. Result: a 0-0 tie. Fun! Makes Ravens-Steelers seem like an AFL shootout in comparison.

One other fun factoid: the first Cal-Stanford game in 1892 was delayed for an hour because no one remembered to bring a football. Perhaps the Stanford band entertained the crowd in the meantime.

Stay thirsty my friends...

Click: Historic Boston Harbor Islands Photographs

One of the great things about the Internet for any history buff is the ability to access photographs and historical resources that were once buried deep inside archives and libraries. Case in point are the fantastic vintage photographs that the Boston Public Library posts on Flickr. The recent release of baseball photographs taken by Leslie Jones received considerable press, and deservedly so. (Check out this incredible shot of a Cubs player sliding into home at Braves Field.) But I was just as excited to see the recently posted vintage photographs of the Boston Harbor Islands.

Check out this photograph taken on Long Island sometime around 1930. It shows the contestants of the annual baby crib race down Long Island Head at the starting line. Gentlemen, start your cradles!

OK, just kidding. It's a photograph of some of the children who were being cared for at Long Island Hospital along with some of the nurses out getting some fresh air.

The cool breezes and the open air of the islands were thought to have salubrious properties. Thus, the Boston Harbor Islands were a place of healing for generations of sick children from Boston. In addition to the hospital on Long Island, the Burrage Hospital on Bumpkin Island provided care and treatment for poor children with physical disabilities between 1902 and the start of World War I. And if you've always been confused as to why the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center is fully landlocked, well, it's because that it dates back to the days when it actually did sail on Boston Harbor. For 33 years starting in 1894, the Floating Hospital sailed the harbor so that its patients could benefit from its supposedly healing breezes.

(Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library)

The First to Fall in Defense of the Union?

One of the exhilarating--and sometimes frustrating--aspects of history is that there are times when there are no definitive answers, only opinions, theories, interpretations, and reasoned debates. In that respect, it can be very similar to being a sports fan. Quick, who's the greatest athlete of all-time? Who invented baseball? Good luck coming to a consensus.

Well, with the 150th anniversary of the Civil War upon us, the question has been raised: Who was the first casualty of the Civil War? Who was the first to shed his blood for his country? The answer can be subject to interpretation. No soldiers were killed during the actual bombardment of Fort Sumter, but Private Daniel Hough, an Irish immigrant, was ironically felled during the formal surrender ceremony as a cannon misfired in the middle of a 100-gun salute as the United States flag was lowered. Some consider Daniel Hough the first casualty, albeit not at the hands of an enemy combatant.

A week after the guns blazed in Charleston Harbor, the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment was marching through the streets of Baltimore when they were attacked by a secessionist mob on April 19, 1861 (the 86th anniversary of the opening shots of the Revolution at Lexington and Concord), in what is commonly known as the Pratt Street Riot. This weekend, Baltimore will be holding a commemoration of the event. Along with approximately a dozen civilians, four soldiers were among the dead. While not killed on the battlefield, some historians consider these the opening casualties of the war.

The dead soldiers were all from my neck of the woods in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts, and here they rest today. For years, I drove by an obelisk in front of Lowell City Hall and never gave it a thought, situated as it is in the middle of a large intersection, seemingly a giant traffic island. Now I'm embarrassed at my oversight. The obelisk marks the graves of three of the victims of the Pratt Street Riot:  Luther Ladd, Addison Whitney, and Charles Taylor. When the obelisk was dedicated in 1865, Ladd and Whitney were interred there, so their names are inscribed on the base of the obelisk, which is often referred to as the "Ladd and Whitney Monument." Taylor was originally buried in Baltimore, but I've read some accounts that he was subsequently interred at the site in the early 1900s. There is a plaque in his honor, which calls him "The First to Fall in Defence of the Union." Fact? I don't think we'll ever know definitively.

As I said, the monument and gravesite are a bit lost in the hustle and bustle of today's car traffic. Check out this antique stereograph view of the monument. It was fenced off and surrounded by cannons, which gave it some context. The New York Public Library's digital collection has other terrific stereographs of commemorations at the obelisk, which to me seem drenched in the Victorian maudlin of the time. A massive arch in one of the stereographs says, "We strew with flowers the graves of our honored dead." Boy do they. Today, there is interpretive signage about the Baltimore riots, but it is caddy corner across Dutton and Merrimack Streets at Lowell National Historical Park, a little out of the way.

The fourth soldier to die was Sumner Needham. He passed away more than a week later from his wounds, so we can definitively say he was not the first to die for the Union. His body rests in Bellevue Cemetery in Lawrence. I tried unsuccessfully to find his grave marker, so I'll have to make another go of it.

This weekend in Massachusetts we will be commemorating Patriots Day and the start of the American Revolution with various ceremonies and re-enactments. Unfortunately, I haven't come across any commemorations in honor of this other band of American patriots who sacrificed their lives on an April 19. If anyone know of any that are planned, please pass along the information.

More photos of the Ladd and Whitney Monument here.

What's New at Fenway Park in 2011?

Good news: You can now get a good stiff drink at Fenway Park. Bad news: The way the season has been going, you’re going to need it.

On Friday afternoon, the Red Sox blissfully return to Fenway Park and hopefully benefit from some home cooking after a horrendous road trip to kick off the 2011 season. Friday’s home opener will mark the start of Fenway Park’s 100^th season, and just as they did for their first-ever game in the ballpark, the Sox will take on the Yankees. Hopefully history can repeat itself as Boston beat New York in Fenway’s inaugural game.

So what’s new at Fenway Park in 2011? Well, the biggest changes were supposed to be on the field with the additions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford and an overhauled bullpen. So far, the biggest change has indeed been on the field: losing. I’m confident (well, hopeful?), though, that they are simply getting the losing out of their system really early in the season.

There are changes at Fenway Park off the field as well that fans will see when they return to the ballpark on Yawkey Way:

New scoreboards. Perhaps the most notable will be three new high def, LED scoreboards. The biggest one will be directly above the bleachers in center field. It is 38 feet high and 100 feet wide. By comparison, the old scoreboard was 23 feet high and 30 feet wide. So it’s going to be a really noticeable difference. In fact, the huge screen makes it looks like our computer overlords have come into Fenway to keep an eye on things.

The previously existing hitters and pitchers board in left center field, which recorded pitch counts and speed, has been transformed into a 17 feet high by 100 feet wide video display. A third video screen, 16 feet high by 30 feet wide, will be above the bleachers in right field. These video systems will prominently feature real-time information such as batter and pitcher stats, pitch speed and type, box scores, and other messaging. Another element added beyond the right field bleachers is a large analog clock sponsored by security company ADT.

New right field seats. This off-season marked the completion of the repair and waterproofing of the concrete lower seating bowl, a project that started in 2007, with work done in right field. What fans will notice most from the project are new seats in the dugout, field box, loge box, and right field box sections. The new seats sport cup holders, and padding was added to field box seats. Grandstand seats in right field were refurbished and now have self-rising mechanism that allow seats to retract automatically when they are empty. Your knee caps will particularly appreciate that change.

Gate D improvements. The Sox made improvements to Fenway around Gate D, which is located near the corner of Yawkey Way and Van Ness Street. There are new and expanded concession and merchandise stands. And a walk-in team store! Can’t imagine where they came up with the space to get that done since the area around Gate D can oftentimes resemble a cattle call. There’s now a ticket booth at Gate D where will-call tickets for any gate will be available for pick-up. There are also new, big televisions in what is now dubbed the “Home Plate Concourse.” The concourse has also been freshly paved, so say goodbye to those discarded pieces of gum that have been stuck to the ground there since Ted Williams roamed left field. 

New concessions. Now about the new lineup additions that most fans care about: the food. Among the new concession items for 2011 are sushi from BASHO Japanese Brasserie and a Jamba Juice stand in the Big Concourse behind right field. In the new Home Plate Concourse concession stands there are brick oven pizza and a fishmongers dream: lobster rolls, fried clam rolls, Cajun shrimp rolls, fish sandwiches, and fish and chips. There will be season fresh fruit (didn’t see that one coming) along with saltwater taffy and assorted nuts (not of the Bill Lee variety). Out on Yawkey Way, a new “Wally’s Favorites” stand will sell fried dough, funnel cake, kettle corn, and cotton candy. The “Taste of Fenway” stand will have a menu comprised of different seasonal selection and offerings from Fenway’s restaurants such as the Absolut Clubhouse Burger. The popular Fenway Smokehouse will now have a picnic area by the NESN pre-game stage near Gate D.

Fans can get in on the action to finalize the menu by choosing one of two signature sandwiches: the Monster Roast Beef Sandwich (with sautéed onion and barbecue sausce) and the Turkey Gobble Sandwich (with cranberry sauce, hot stuffing and gravy). Both will be sold throughout the first half of 2011, and you can vote at www.redsox.com/sandwich. The winner at the All-Star Break will be called up to the big show for the rest of the season. The other, presumably, will be sent down to Pawtucket. If I were the Turkey Gobbler, I’d get ready for the chopping block.

Those looking for “lighter fare” will find vegetarian pizza, veggie dogs, and veggie burgers, and chef and garden salads among the new menu items.

Wally’s World. The family-friendly play area launched last July, and it will be back this year for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday home games from the 2nd inning through the 7th inning (weather permitting). Located on Yawkey Way, it includes games, activities and concession items targeted towards children, and an opportunity for kids to see Wally the Green Monster during the 3rd and 4th inning.

Mixed drinks. Finally, now it’s not just the hoi polloi who get to souse themselves on mixed drinks at Fenway. There’s a tentative agreement that could allow the Red Sox to sell mixed drinks at multiple locations throughout the ballpark starting next month. Sales would stop two hours after the game starts (beer sales currently shut down two-and-a-half hours after first pitch). The team said that the alcohol content of the mixed drinks would be no greater than the alcohol content of a beer, so don’t get too excited. While those in premium seats can get straight alcohol, either on the rocks or in shots. The rest of the park will still miss out. And mixed drink concessions will not be located in the bleachers. For some reason I guess they think bleacher creatures have a problem holding their alcohol. Hmm…wonder why.

For more on the changes at Fenway Park, visit the Red Sox web site. Plus, check out The Die-Hard Sports Fan’s Guide to Boston for more on Red Sox history and all you need to know to have a great day at Fenway, from where to eat and drink before and after the game to where to get tickets and autographs, and even how to snag a foul ball and get on TV.

King Philip's War Commemoration on Deer Island

The history of Deer Island in Boston Harbor abounds with many dark chapters. Over the centuries the isle has been home to a run-down prison, a quarantine station where hundreds of Irish immigrants passed away from contagious diseases contracted on their journeys to America, and a wastewater treatment plant that polluted the harbor.

By far the saddest chapter in Deer Island's past, however, occurred during King Philip's War in 1675 when the Massachusetts Bay Colony forcibly interned hundreds of Native Americans, known as "Praying Indians." Though the Praying Indians had converted to Christianity and pledged their loyalty to the English, the settlers feared they would join in arms with the enemy.

So on the night of October 30, 1675, hundreds of Native Americans from Natick and other "praying towns" around Boston were hurried onto boats along the Charles River in Watertown and ferried to Deer Island. Those interned on Deer Island were given few provisions and suffered great hardships during a brutal winter. They lacked adequate shelter from the bitter cold but were not allowed to cut firewood. Colonial settlers were authorized to kill any Native American found off Deer Island not accompanied by an English guard. John Eliot and Daniel Gookin visited the island in December 1675 and reported, "the island was bleak and cold, their wigwams poor and mean, their clothes few and thin." By the time they were released in May 1676, it is estimated that as many has half of the prisoners died from starvation or exposure. 

This Saturday (October 30), members of the Nipmuc tribe and other Native Americans will commemorate the events of 335 years ago by retracing the steps of their ancestors. The commemoration begins at 5 AM with a Sacred Run along Route 16 from the South Natick Dam to Watertown followed by a Sacred Paddle, beginning at 8 AM, in canoes down the Charles River and through Boston Harbor to Deer Island. There will be a Prayer Circle and commemoration on Deer Island beginning at 1 PM.

King Philip's War is an often forgotten piece of Boston--and New England--history, but one that shouldn't be ignored for the lessons that it can teach us. Click here for more information on this weekend's commemoration. There is more about the history of Deer Island and the use of other Boston Harbor Islands as internment sites during King Philip's War in Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands. 

Old Racetracks Around Boston

The Boston Globe had an interesting article last Thursday about the boarded-up buildings in Brighton that were once part of the Charles River Speedway. The speedway was an old race track that once lined the banks of the Charles River west of North Harvard Street and north of Western Avenue. Some of my favorite vintage photographs in the collection of the Boston Public Library are of the chariot races that were once held at the Speedway, which were perhaps fitting given that the Romanesque structure of Harvard Stadium was adjacent to the track and provided an appropriate background.

The Charles River Speedway is gone, but the former stables and headquarters still stand on Western Avenue near the interchange with Soldiers Field Road. Last week Preservation Massachusetts included the track's six standing structures to its annual list of the state's Most Endangered Historical Resources, and hopefully they can preserved and put to use in some capacity.

The remnants of the Charles River Speedway are relics of a bygone time in the late 1800s and early 1900s when horse and harness (and later bicycle, motorbike, and automobile) racing were popular pastimes in Boston, and numerous racetracks dotted the landscape around the city.

During the Victorian era, Boston Brahmins, whose bloodlines could be just as blue as those of champion steeds, enjoyed racing their equines. Racing enthusiasts formed driving clubs and trotting associations all throughout metropolitan Boston, and a host of tracks sprung up where competitors could race horse-drawn vehicles such as buggies, runabouts, and surreys. Crowds as large as 15,000 would fill the grandstands and line the rails of these tracks to watch field days, interclub races, and national championships.

One of the more popular tracks in the city was Beacon Park in Allston, which opened in 1864. The track was also used by Buffalo Bill to stage his Wild West Show when it came to town, and he quartered his buffalo and horses between performances in the nearby Brighton Stockyards. The owners of Beacon Park—Eben Jordan and Charles Marsh of Jordan Marsh fame—sold the land in the 1890s to the Boston & Albany Railroad for conversion to a rail yard that still exists on the site along the Mass Pike.

By the end of the 1800s, harness racing was among the most popular sports in the city and the country, and one of America’s premier tracks—the Readville Trotting Park—opened in the Hyde Park section of Boston in 1896. The oval at the foot of the Blue Hills and along the banks of the Neponset River was one of the most significant harness tracks in the history of the sport, drawing the country’s best owners, trainers, drivers, and horses, including the legendary Dan Patch. An historical marker unveiled in 2007 commemorating Readville Trotting Park is located at the intersection of Neponset Valley Parkway and Meadow Road. A chain-link fence at the end of Hyde Park Avenue marks the old entrance to the track, which was once graced by a magnificent gate replete with Corinthian columns.

The Dorchester Gentlemen’s Driving Club held field days at Readville until a racing oval was built in 1904 at Franklin Field, just off Blue Hill and Talbot Avenues. Two of Boston’s legendary politicians and mayors—James Michael Curley and John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, grandfather to John F. Kennedy—even participated in trotting races at Franklin Field Speedway.

Even The Country Club in Brookline, best known for hosting the U.S. Open golf tournament, has its roots in horse racing. The club was formed when a group of Boston’s most prominent gentlemen leased Clyde Park, a 100-acre horse farm with a half-mile racetrack and a farmhouse once owned by Daniel Webster.

Other tracks around Boston included the South End Park, Old Cambridge Park in Cambridge, and Mystic Park in South Medford. More about Boston's horse racing heritage can be found in The Die-Hard Sports Fan's Guide to Boston.


Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library 

New Visitor Center and Summer Shack on Georges Island

Last Friday was a beautiful summer day in Boston, a great day to explore the Boston Harbor Islands. In addition to the great weather, I was particularly enthused for this island adventure because it was my first opportunity to check out the brand new visitor center and Summer Shack eatery on Georges Island, home to historic Fort Warren.

After months of construction, the former mine storage building on Georges Island has been transformed into a new visitor center featuring a museum on the ground level. (A gift shop inside the center will open next year.) The museum’s exhibits focus not just on Fort Warren, but more broadly on the history of Boston’s coastal defenses from the birth of the Massachusetts Bay Colony through the Cold War. A number of the museum exhibits focus on a day in the life of the Union soldiers stationed at Fort Warren during the Civil War along with the Confederate prisoners who were held captive there. (Perhaps I missed it, but one subject I didn’t see covered was the fort’s infamous ghost—the Lady in Black.)

One of the most interesting items on display is a dinner table featuring six plates of food representing typical meals for the Confederate prisoners of war and the Union soldiers, varying by rank. Contrary to our modern-day concept of POWs, some of the Confederate prisoners dined much more sumptuously than their Union captors.

No doubt both Union and Confederate soldiers would have enjoyed the fare now being served on the island by the new outpost of Jasper White’s Summer Shack. The menu includes lobster rolls, fried shrimp, fried clams, and other summertime favorites. A new open-air pavilion offers great views of the Boston skyline along with a shady place to chill out.

There’s also a new children’s playground area that’s constructed to look like a section of the granite fort. Toddlers might enjoy the slide and peering out the narrow windows of the structure like one of the island’s former residents, but its features are limited compared to other city playgrounds.

After exploring the inside of Fort Warren, take a seat in one of the new teak Adirondack chairs that look out on Boston Harbor and some of the other islands. The captivating views are appropriate for this former island prison.

Go to the Boston Harbor Islands web site for ferry tickets to Georges Island, and be sure to tote along your copy of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands for a full history of Fort Warren.