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81-712: Entrepreneur and car dealer Charles Dancause created the Rex, which opened in 1933 in a renovated mill building, the old Prescott Division Plant of Mass Cotton Mills. The architect of the conversion was Harry Prescott Graves . Among the entertainments offered at the Rex was dining (the Rex Grille, which also offered floorshows), bars, a dancing ballroom, duckpin bowling (65 lanes), roller skating , pool (30 tables), and Turkish baths . There were five banquet halls; banquets, wedding receptions, and other events were held there. The Rex Center constituted an important part of Lowell social life in

162-588: A 279 game in 1992. John McGraw As manager John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants . He was also the third baseman of the pennant -winning 1890s Baltimore Orioles teams, noted for their innovative, aggressive play. McGraw was born into poverty in Truxton, New York . He found an escape from his hometown and

243-558: A Giants outfielder until shortly after McGraw became manager By the time the Giants returned from a road trip to meet McGraw at their home field, the Polo Grounds , they had a record of 22–50 and were in last place in the NL. Not all of them got to return. McGraw released four of them by telegraph to Cincinnati, and two more when they returned to New York. McGraw played occasionally, and spent part of

324-478: A bad family situation through baseball, beginning a quick rise through the minor leagues that led him to the Orioles at the age of 18. Under the tutelage of manager Ned Hanlon , the Orioles of the 1890s won three National League (NL) pennants; McGraw was one of the stalwarts of the team alongside Wee Willie Keeler , Hughie Jennings , and Wilbert Robinson . The Orioles perfected the hit and run play and popularized

405-431: A crisis in his professional life as Johnson sought to exclude him from the Orioles' move to New York, McGraw acted in a way that was "totally ruthless and unscrupulous". Baseball historian Fred Lieb , who knew both men well, wrote that McGraw and Johnson never spoke again. There is a story McGraw fired me the first day. That is a big lie. It was the second day. I hid in the clubhouse the first day. Jack Hendricks ,

486-620: A defunct publication called The Ducks , Wuerthele added the rubber band to increase scoring. The American Duckpin Congress was formed in the 1920s to govern the game of rubber band duckpins. The organization later became the American Rubber Band Duckpin Bowling Congress in 1945 and became an affiliate of the National Duckpin Bowling Congress. The rubber band game is now almost extinct, with most of

567-494: A full-time player, though he nominally remained on the roster until 1906. One stratagem used by McGraw was to have pitcher Dummy Taylor , who was deaf and could not speak, teach his teammates sign language , which both gave the team ways of communicating on the field and improved Taylor's relationship with his teammates. The Giants used sign language until Chicago's Johnny Evers detected and learned it. McGraw's knee gave way in 1903 spring training, effectively sidelining him for

648-417: A knee injury; recovery from that, suspensions and a deep cut from the sharpened spikes of a baserunner meant he played few games for the Orioles. The team drifted between fifth and seventh in the league, and there was widespread talk that at the end of the season, Johnson would shift the team to New York. Although being a manager and part owner of a New York AL team would be a major opportunity for him, McGraw

729-456: A major-league baseball player. McGraw described his new home upon his arrival as "a dirty, dreary, ramshackle sort of place." Barnie was unimpressed by the short stature of the player he had recruited unseen, but McGraw assured him, "I'm bigger than I look." During the short part of the 1891 season McGraw was with the Orioles, he hit .245. Initially he played shortstop, but his poor fielding (18 errors in 86 chances) caused Barnie, who quit before

810-512: A nickname he strongly disliked, by The Washington Post . The Orioles won their first pennant, besting the New York Giants and the Boston Beaneaters . Amid disputes over money, they lost the postseason Temple Cup series to the second-place Giants. After a brief visit to Truxton, McGraw spent the winter at St. Bonaventure. The Orioles' "Big Four" (McGraw, Jennings, Keeler and Joe Kelley ) held out to start 1895, but came to terms with

891-424: A personal record, and Pittsburgh owner Barney Dreyfuss sought to have McGraw disciplined after the manager shouted accusations at him after one ejection. The league Board of Directors refused to suspend McGraw, and when NL president Harry Pulliam suspended McGraw for 15 games for accusing Pulliam of being Dreyfuss's lackey, the suspension was overturned by a court. This time, the Giants had no objection to playing

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972-552: A postseason series against the AL champions, the Philadelphia Athletics , managed by Connie Mack . The 1905 World Series saw a great exhibition of pitching, as every game ended in a shutout , three of them pitched by Mathewson and one by McGinnity. The Giants won, four games to one. McGraw was rewarded with a new contract at $ 15,000 per year. The victory made the Giants heroes in a city that always admired winners, and McGraw one of

1053-475: A strong relationship with the new Giants owner, Brush, according to baseball author Cait N. Murphy, "the partnership clicked: Brush signed the checks and did as McGraw ordered". McGraw's new-look Giants got off to a hot start in 1903, and were in first place ahead of the two-time defending NL champion Pirates at the end of May, as crowds not seen in a decade flocked to the Polo Grounds. Still coming together as

1134-463: A team, they thereafter faded and finished second, 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 games behind the Pirates, but McGinnity won 31 games while Mathewson won 30 and led the league in strikeouts. As a player, McGraw appeared in 11 games and batted .273. The Giants' success, and the controversy the belligerent McGraw aroused, meant they attracted larger crowds not only at the Polo Grounds, but on the road as well. Leading

1215-598: A training center at the site in 1984, which in 1990 was purchased by Middlesex Community College and is now used as its Lowell campus. Duckpin bowling Duckpin bowling is a variation of the sport of bowling . Duckpin balls are 4 + 3 ⁄ 4 in (12 cm) to 5 in (12.7 cm) in diameter, weigh 3 lb 6 oz (1.5 kg) to 3 lb 12 oz (1.7 kg) each, and lack finger holes. They are thus significantly smaller than those used in ten-pin bowling but are slightly larger and heavier than those used in candlepin bowling . Duckpins, although arranged in

1296-407: A triangle identical to that used in ten-pin bowling , are shorter, slightly thinner, and lighter than their ten-pin equivalents, which makes it more difficult for the smaller ball to achieve a strike . For this reason, similar to candlepin bowling, the bowler is allowed three rolls per frame. Duckpin bowling has rules similar to ten-pin bowling. In a 10-frame game, bowlers try to knock down pins in

1377-645: Is that the sport began in Baltimore around 1900, at a bowling, billiards and pool hall owned by future baseball Hall of Famers John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson , both of the old (1882–1899) Baltimore Orioles . One such claim is reported in the Pittsburgh Press of March 3, 1929. However, research has since found references to duckpin dating to the early 1890s in New Haven, Boston and Lowell, Mass. Author Howard W. Rosenberg wrote in 2005 that his research showed

1458-512: The Baltimore chop ; they also sought to win by intimidating the opposing team and the umpire . The instability in MLB at the turn of the 20th century led to McGraw becoming manager of the Orioles at age 26 in 1899, and he was lauded for his leadership. The National League Orioles were dissolved after 1899, and McGraw spent one season with the St. Louis Cardinals before returning to Baltimore as player/manager of

1539-726: The National League and the American Association . He quickly became the best player on his school team. While in Goddard's care, he took a job delivering newspapers. As a paperboy , he met and struck up a friendship with Herman Pitz , who was then playing minor league baseball in Elmira . McGraw began carrying Pitz's bags and was adopted as a mascot by the Elmira team. Shortly after his 16th birthday, he began playing for his town's team,

1620-595: The Pittsburgh Pirates to manage the Orioles. The Orioles lost over 100 games, finishing last by a wide margin. Of the seventeen players Hanlon inherited, he kept only three: pitcher Sadie McMahon , catcher Wilbert Robinson and McGraw. According to baseball author Burt Solomon, "Hanlon saw that McGraw's value to the Orioles came less from his agility than from his intensity. He never gave up and had contempt for anyone who did, John McGraw could drive his teammates to another level of play." But little of that showed in

1701-407: The hit and run . Many of the players, including McGraw, lived in the same Baltimore boarding house, and talked baseball deep into the night. From such discussions arose the discovery that a runner on third had an excellent chance of scoring if he left at the pitcher's first motion and the batter bunted , originating the squeeze play . A reputation for dirty play led to McGraw being dubbed "Muggsy",

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1782-583: The 1892 season, in which McGraw hit .267 with 14 stolen bases while playing a variety of positions. During the 1892–93 offseason, McGraw attended Allegany College (soon to be renamed St. Bonaventure ), trading his skills as a baseball coach for the right to attend without paying tuition. In 1893, Hanlon secured Hughie Jennings from the Louisville Colonels , a shortstop whose acquisition caused Hanlon to displace McGraw from that position. The team finished eighth in 1893, while McGraw hit .327, second on

1863-602: The Cardinals, McGraw and Robinson were involved in meetings aimed at upgrading the Western League to major league status, and on November 12, 1900, they signed an agreement with Johnson giving them exclusive rights to form an AL franchise in Baltimore, securing financial backing from local figures. McGraw spent much of the winter seeking to sign players. Among them was Charley Grant, an African-American second baseman who McGraw alleged

1944-436: The NL record with 31 seasons managed. Additionally, McGraw finished his managerial career 815 games over .500, more than any other manager in MLB history. This is 23 games more than Joe McCarthy , who is second with 792 games over .500. McGraw is widely held to be one of the greatest managers in baseball history. He retired, ill, in 1932 and died less than two years later after making a final appearance in 1933 as NL manager in

2025-601: The National League Cleveland Spiders to play his team. McGraw hit three doubles in five times at bat , playing errorless ball at shortstop, and the reports of that game led several minor league teams to seek to sign him. Lawson acted as the boy's agent, and advised him to request $ 125 monthly and a $ 75 advance. The manager of the Cedar Rapids club in the Illinois–Iowa League was the first to wire

2106-505: The Orioles and possibly the AL. When McGraw returned to the lineup on June 28, he provoked the umpire into kicking him out of the game and, when he refused to go, forfeiting the game to Boston . This resulted in his indefinite suspension by Johnson. McGraw went to the directors of the Baltimore franchise, and demanded that either they reimburse the $ 7,000 he had advanced towards player salaries or that they release him. The team agreed to his release on July 8, and McGraw sold his interest in

2187-419: The Orioles as Major League Baseball made its return to Baltimore in 1901, but missed games due to injuries and because of a suspension by Johnson for abusing the umpire. The Orioles finished fifth, McGraw batting .349 in 73 games. The team lost money. On January 8, 1902, McGraw married for the second time, to Blanche Sindall, whose father was a Baltimore housing contractor. McGraw started the 1902 season with

2268-426: The Orioles remained close to Brooklyn in the pennant race through late August, when McGraw had to leave the team due to the illness of his wife. By the time he returned, after her death, Brooklyn had clinched the pennant; the Orioles finished fourth. Nevertheless, for getting the castoff Orioles to perform so well amid his personal tragedy, McGraw was hailed as a managerial genius in the newspapers. Syndicate baseball

2349-492: The Orioles won pennants, as violence on the field spread into the stands. The Spanish–American War of 1898 distracted the public from baseball, causing financial problems for the teams. Before the 1899 season, Van der Horst and Hanlon (a co-owner) bought half the shares in the Dodgers, while Brooklyn owners, led by Charlie Ebbets , bought a 50 percent interest in the Orioles. Brooklyn drew better attendance than Baltimore, and under

2430-545: The Rockford team's Bill Gleason , a former Oriole, for a recommendation, which according to McGraw biographer Charles C. Alexander must have been favorable, as Barnie then wired Hank Smith, another former Oriole who was playing for Cedar Rapids, asking if there was any chance Baltimore could acquire McGraw. Cedar Rapids agreed to give McGraw his release, and he left by rail for Baltimore. McGraw arrived at Camden Station in Baltimore on August 24, 1891, still only 18 years old, but now

2511-679: The Sherman pinsetter have been manufactured since 1973, so that anyone wanting to open a new bowling center must cannibalize parts. The absence of new pinsetter machines is thought to curtail growth of the sport, and spare parts must be scavenged or obtained from alleys that have closed. Only one company makes duckpins, and it only leases them. The executive director of the National Duckpin Bowling Congress said in 2016 that there were 41 congress-certified duckpin bowling alleys, down from nearly 450 in 1963. In comparison, there were about 4,000 ten-pin centers in 2018. The Baltimore Sun reported in 2017 that

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2592-502: The Spiders in four games. McGraw appeared in only 23 games for Baltimore, batting .325. After the season, the Orioles had planned an exhibition tour of Europe, but it was canceled over concerns poor weather would preclude too many games. The Big Four went anyway, as tourists, visiting Britain, Belgium and France. Following their return, in February 1897, McGraw married Minnie Doyle, whose father

2673-579: The Truxton Grays, making a favorable impression on their manager, Albert "Bert" Kenney. While he could play any position, his ability to throw a big curveball made him the star pitcher. McGraw's relationship with Kenney precipitated his professional playing career. In 1890, Kenney bought a portion of the new professional baseball franchise in Olean, New York . The team was to play in the newly formed New York–Pennsylvania League . In return for this investment, he

2754-416: The aggressive techniques of the old Orioles, stating years later, “It was a team of fighters. They thought they could beat anybody and they generally could." The team was never really threatened in its drive to a second consecutive pennant, and McGraw always stated this was the best team he ever managed. It won 105 games; the Pirates finished second, nine games behind. McGraw was ejected from games 13 times,

2835-432: The arrangement, known as "syndicate baseball", manager Hanlon and the better Oriole players would move to Brooklyn. McGraw and Robinson, who had financial interests in Baltimore, refused to go and before the 1899 season, McGraw was made player/manager of the Orioles. McGraw schooled his players in the Orioles system, and led by example, hitting .391 for the season. To Hanlon's surprise, attendance in Baltimore rebounded, and

2916-509: The bowler gets 10 points, with no bonus. A bowler's final score is the sum of the points earned over 10 frames (a spare or strike in the tenth frame earns one or two rolls respectively). The maximum possible score of 300 points, which is accomplished by rolling 12 strikes in a row, has never been achieved under official conditions. Duckpin bowling lanes are the same size as ten-pin bowling lanes, but with smaller gutters. The origin of duckpin bowling has been disputed. A commonly recited assertion

2997-479: The club in time for spring training. By 1895, McGraw had become controversial for his aggressive style of play. Some writers urged Hanlon to rein him in, but others argued that fans were flocking to the ballpark to see such play. In spite of the controversy, the Orioles won their second consecutive pennant, though they lost the Temple Cup again, this time to the Spiders. McGraw, suffering from malaria , missed part of

3078-428: The club to John Mahon , a team official and Joe Kelley's father in law. McGraw immediately announced he would sign to manage the Giants, which he did the next day. His salary of $ 11,000, equivalent to $ 387,369 in 2023, was the largest of any player or manager in baseball history to that point. Freedman then secured a controlling interest in the Orioles from Mahon, Kelley and others. Once he had done so, he directed

3159-494: The club to Robinson, and led the league in runs scored . He spent a second winter at St. Bonaventure, this time with Robinson as his assistant coach and fellow student. During the offseason, McGraw narrowly avoided being dealt to the woeful Washington Senators when a trade for Duke Farrell fell through. Deciding McGraw could handle third base, Hanlon traded two infielders for five-time batting champion Dan Brouthers and diminutive outfielder Willie Keeler . By 1894, McGraw

3240-680: The crisis might have destroyed the American League had not Johnson acted decisively to take over the Baltimore franchise, getting the other seven teams to contribute players to the Orioles, who finished last. After the season, the two leagues signed a peace agreement, and the AL replaced the Baltimore franchise with one in New York City. That team became known as the Highlanders and later as the New York Yankees . According to Alexander, given

3321-410: The end of the season, to try him at other positions. Despite his poor fielding percentage , McGraw was quickly signed to a contract for 1892 by club owner Harry Von der Horst . The American Association failed after the 1891 season, and the Orioles and other surviving franchises moved to an expanded twelve-team National League. Early in the 1892 season, Von der Horst hired outfielder Ned Hanlon of

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3402-423: The evening, drilled them on baseball's rules and possible ways of taking advantage of them. The innovations of the Orioles of the mid-1890s would include the Baltimore chop, hitting a pitched ball so it would bounce high and allow the batter to reach first base safely, and having the pitcher cover first base when the first baseman fielded a ball that took him away from the base, and though they probably did not invent

3483-450: The father became abusive , and the son ran away to a neighbor, Mary Goddard, who ran the local hotel. She persuaded John Sr. to let his son stay in her care. During his time in Goddard's household, John attended school and took on several jobs that allowed him to save money to buy baseballs and the Spalding magazines that documented the rule changes in the rival major leagues of baseball,

3564-453: The fewest rolls per frame. Bowlers have three balls per frame, instead of two as in ten-pin bowling, to knock over a set of 10 pins. If a bowler knocks down all 10 pins with their first roll in a frame, it is scored as a strike . If all the pins are knocked down in two rolls, the bowler has made a spare . If all the pins are knocked down in three rolls, it is scored as a ten , as in candlepins, with no bonus. If pins are still standing after

3645-507: The first All-Star Game . McGraw's father (also named John) emigrated from Ireland in 1856. He arrived before the Civil War , and served in the Union Army . He married, but his first wife soon died, leaving him with a young daughter, and he moved to Truxton, New York , in 1871, where he became a railroad worker. There, he married young Ellen Comerfort. The younger John McGraw, her first child,

3726-554: The following season. Thus, they would be free agents after the 1900 season. Injured for part of the season, McGraw hit .337 in 98 games as the Cardinals finished tied for fifth, but when manager Patsy Tebeau resigned in August, McGraw ruled out replacing him. Ban Johnson , president of the minor league Western League , sought to build a second major league, which would seek to attract fans wanting baseball without rowdyism or aggression towards umpires. McGraw and Robinson, centerpieces of

3807-482: The four games he played. His .466 career on-base percentage remains third-best all-time behind Ted Williams (.482) and Babe Ruth (.474). McGraw made few changes for the 1907 Giants. But by mid-July, the Cubs pulled away and New York finished in fourth place, 25 + 1 ⁄ 2 games behind. McGraw later stated, "It was in 1907 that I discovered my players were growing old and beginning to slip. Always I have made it

3888-644: The highest female duckpinner average. Barger won nine world championships, and, in 1961, became the second woman to be inducted into the Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1905 a variant called rubber band duckpins was introduced in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area by William Wuerthele, in which the pins are circled with hard rubber bands to increase rebound action in collisions, and therefore scoring. Wuerthele observed bowlers wasting their third ball as well as flying pins injuring pin boys, so, according to

3969-467: The hit and run, they were the first team to employ it as a regular maneuver. McGraw often took the lead in the discussions. When the team played in New Orleans, a local sportswriter called him "a fine ball-player, yet he adopts every low and contemptible method that his erratic brain can conceive to win a play by a dirty trick". This included shoving, holding, and blocking baserunners, at a time when there

4050-616: The hit-and-run, the Baltimore chop, the suicide squeeze, and the bunt single. They also led the league in unsportsmanlike conduct. Cait N. Murphy (2007). Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History , p. 18 The Orioles' 1894 spring training took place in Macon, Georgia , where Hanlon taught the players innovative plays that he had thought of during his playing career, and in

4131-484: The lane is shorter than a standard duckpin lane, and the width of the lane is not standard. While there has never been a sanctioned perfect game in regulation duckpin bowling, 300 games are said to be relatively common in mini duckpin play. The USBC reported that there were 55,266 certified 300 games in ten-pin bowling in the 2013–2014 season alone, but there has never been a certified 300 game in duckpin bowling. A Connecticut man named Pete Signore Jr. came closest with

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4212-565: The lanes located in private clubs, though there is one alley in the U.S. still open to the public in Glassport, Pennsylvania . As of 2018, rubber band duckpins was mostly limited to Québec , where it is called petites quilles. There have been perfect games bowled in rubber band duckpin, including the largest duckpin prize ever won on television, C$ 50,000 in 1994. Since it is easier to knock down pins in rubber band duckpin, its rules are identical to those of ten-pin bowling. In mini duckpins,

4293-415: The local teams in what was then a Spanish colony. McGraw, who played shortstop , became a favorite of local fans, who dubbed him " el mono amarillo " (the yellow monkey), referring to his speed, his diminutive size, and the color of his team's uniforms. McGraw fell in love with Cuba and returned there many times in later years. Lawson took his team to Gainesville, Florida , in February 1891, and persuaded

4374-516: The mid 20th century; the Lowell Sun described it as "one of Lowell's landmark spots" and "the sports and dining showplace of Lowell". The Rex Arena in the center seated 1,000 or 2,000 and hosted boxing matches, and also wrestling matches (featuring appearances by Jim Londos , Ed "Strangler" Lewis , The French Angel , Man Mountain Dean , Dropkick Murphy , Bull Curry and many others), particularly after

4455-545: The money, and McGraw signed with them. Other teams claimed that McGraw had also taken advance money from them (though McGraw maintained he returned it) and one even threatened legal action. This came to nothing, allowing McGraw to play with Cedar Rapids. By August, the league had financial woes but McGraw was hitting .275 and had become known as a tough shortstop. Billy Barnie , manager of the American Association's Baltimore Orioles , had heard about McGraw, and wrote to

4536-515: The most hated team in the league, McGraw stated, "it is the prospect of a hot feud, that brings out the crowd." Before the 1904 season, McGraw deemed his team the strongest he had ever led, and predicted the Giants would win the pennant. The team played accordingly, and opened up a 15-game lead on the Chicago Cubs by the start of September. With the Highlanders leading the AL for much of the year (though they ultimately were defeated by Boston), there

4617-470: The most prominent people in New York. Confident of a third-straight NL championship, McGraw put "World's Champions" on the front of his team's uniforms. But the drive for that was slowed by Mathewson getting diphtheria, and outfielder Mike Donlin broke a leg; The Giants finished second, twenty games behind the Cubs. McGraw played the last games of his playing career, going hitless in two plate appearances in

4698-586: The new Orioles of the American League (AL). He quarreled with AL president Ban Johnson and jumped to the Giants in 1902, taking several Orioles players with him. Through his just-short of thirty years managing the Giants, McGraw exerted control on players and team, and saw great success, winning ten pennants (matched only by Casey Stengel , who played for and learned from him) and three World Series . His 2,763 victories as an MLB manager ranks third overall behind only Connie Mack and Tony La Russa ; he holds

4779-645: The number of professional duckpin bowlers is down by more than 90 percent. In 1982, the Women's National Duckpin Association (WNDA) was formed, conducting tournaments for women to compete professionally, with Ladies Professional Duckpin Tournament (LPDT) events extending back at least as early as 1974. In 1999, Sports Illustrated named Elizabeth "Toots" Barger among the fifty top Maryland athletes of all time, Barger having claimed thirteen NDBC No. 1 rankings for having

4860-438: The old Orioles where such aggression was routine, were an odd fit, but as Johnson renamed his circuit the American League (AL) and sought to put franchises in abandoned NL cities like Baltimore, they became key to his plans. He was confident he could control them, since one of the requirements was that franchises grant the league an option to buy a majority stake and thus take them over if necessary. Even while under contract to

4941-501: The older Crescent Rink on Hurd Street burned down. Semi-pro basketball games were played there, and the Harlem Globetrotters appeared there. The Rex Center burned down on June 25, 1960. The huge fire raged out of control for several hours, and of the more than 300 firefighters from Lowell and 14 other towns, sixteen were injured. The derelict building was torn down in 1971 and replaced with a parking lot. Wang Laboratories built

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5022-466: The release of Orioles Joe McGinnity , Dan McGann , Roger Bresnahan and Jack Cronin , all of whom promptly signed with the Giants. Cincinnati Reds owner John T. Brush , who was also a minority owner of the Giants, was in on the deal; he signed Kelley as manager of the Reds and also outfielder Cy Seymour , both released by the Orioles. Baltimore was left with so few players it had to forfeit its next game;

5103-462: The season appearing in AL cities seeking to sign players, much to the discomfiture of the local team's management. The Giants finished last, and at the end of the season, Freedman sold the team to Brush (who had sold his interest in the Reds). With his knee injury robbing him of much of his skill, McGraw batted .286 in 20 games with Baltimore and .234 in 35 games with the Giants. It would be his last season as

5184-462: The season, but hit .369 in 96 games, with 61 stolen bases and 110 runs scored. McGraw again went to St. Bonaventure, returning to Baltimore when the fall term ended in mid-December. During 1896 spring training, McGraw fell ill with typhoid fever in Atlanta. By the time he had convalesced, in late August, the Orioles had nearly secured their third straight pennant, this time winning the Temple Cup over

5265-477: The season; he was also injured early in the year by a ball thrown by Taylor that broke McGraw's nose. The cartilage did not heal properly, contributing to respiratory problems that plagued McGraw for the rest of his life. During spring training, McGraw took pains to cultivate the team's star, pitcher Christy Mathewson , and the two men (with their wives, Blanche McGraw and Jane Mathewson) became so close that they shared an apartment in New York City. McGraw also forged

5346-431: The series to the AL champions, as the Pirates had in 1903. The Giants won the pennant, setting a major league record for victories (to that point) with 106. McGraw continued building his team in the 1904–1905 offseason, purchasing Sammy Strang from Brooklyn. As well as playing nearly every position, Strang pioneered a McGraw innovation, the pinch hitter ; part of his job was to bat for other players. He schooled them in

5427-774: The sport was around "at least as of 1894, and probably well before that", with former Duckpin News editor Stacy Karten stating in a 2016 publication that Rosenberg found an 1892 reference to duckpin in The Boston Globe. Duckpins was not an organized sport until the National Duckpin Bowling Congress (NDBC) was founded in 1927. In 1953, submarine designer Ken Sherman developed the first automatic duckpin pinsetter , its design having over 1,000 moving parts. Sherman's refusal to sell his patent to ten-pin competitor Brunswick caused him to lack corporate investment needed to manufacture large numbers of duckpin pinsetters. Further, no parts for

5508-410: The third ball, the bowler gets one point for each pin knocked down. In the case of a strike, the bowler gets 10 points plus the total number of pins knocked down with the next two balls rolled, for a maximum of 30 points. In the case of a spare, the bowler gets 10 points plus the number of pins knocked down with the next ball, for a maximum of 20 points. If it takes three balls to knock down all 10 pins,

5589-452: Was a diphtheria epidemic in the area. The disease killed Ellen McGraw and four of the McGraw children, including John's older half-sister. John Sr. never fully recovered from the trauma of the deaths. Father and son argued over the time young John spent on baseball, especially since the father had to pay for windows the son broke while playing. Later in 1885, after young John broke another window,

5670-543: Was a Native American, but Charles Comiskey , owner of the AL Chicago White Sox , was undeceived, thus ending McGraw's only attempt to break the baseball color line —McGraw, like many of the time who grew up in the rural North, had no strong views about African Americans. Thereafter, McGraw kept a file on talented African-American ballplayers, seeking to be prepared if the major leagues integrated, which did not happen in his lifetime. McGraw batted leadoff and managed

5751-518: Was a city official. McGraw and the Orioles both had seasons that disappointed them in 1897, McGraw hitting .325, and the team plagued by injuries as Baltimore lost the pennant to the Beaneaters, though the Orioles won the final iteration of the Temple Cup. In 1898, McGraw hit .342, but the Orioles finished second again, six games behind the Beaneaters. The Orioles' success on the field had not translated to increased attendance, which fell substantially as

5832-452: Was born in Truxton on April 7, 1873. The family was poor, with eight children, and there was no public assistance available. Young John had a love of baseball from an early age. By doing odd jobs, he was able to save a dollar and send off for one of the Spalding company's cheaper baseballs, which he used to practice his pitching . Tragedy struck the family in the winter of 1885, when there

5913-430: Was convinced Johnson planned to discard him in the process. According to Solomon, "so McGraw struck first. Any true Oriole would." On June 18, 1902, with the Orioles on a western road trip with Robinson as acting manager, McGraw (who was recuperating from the spiking) traveled to New York and met with Andrew Freedman , owner of the Giants. The two came up with a scheme not only for McGraw to switch leagues but to cripple

5994-471: Was insufficient to revive the finances of the National League, and before the 1900 season, four NL teams (including Baltimore) were ended. McGraw and Robinson were sold to the St. Louis Cardinals . They did not report until the season had begun, having secured increases in salary and a concession that their contracts would not contain the then-standard reserve clause that bound them to the signing team for

6075-486: Was intense pressure on McGraw and Brush to agree to a postseason series against the AL champions, what would later come to be known as the World Series , like the Pirates had the previous year. Both men refused, McGraw stating that there was nothing in the league rules requiring its champions to play a series against "a victorious club in a minor league". According to Alexander, both men disliked Ban Johnson and feared losing

6156-419: Was named Olean's player/manager, responsible for selecting and signing players. When approached by McGraw, Kenney doubted the boy's curveball would fool professional ballplayers. Persuaded by the assurance McGraw could play any position, Kenney signed him to a contract on April 1, 1890. McGraw would never return to live in Truxton, the place of his birth. Olean was 200 miles (320 km) from Truxton, and this

6237-501: Was often only a single umpire. One baserunner, anticipating that McGraw would hold him by the belt, loosened it and when he broke for home, McGraw was left holding the belt in his hand as the runner scored. McGraw usually batted leadoff for the 1894 Orioles, batting .340 and stealing 78 bases, second in the league. He would foul off pitch after pitch—a valuable talent in the pre-1901 era in which foul balls generally did not count as strikes —and, with Keeler, "elevated into an art form"

6318-408: Was settled in at third base. Under manager Ned Hanlon, an unerring talent spotter, the Orioles won three straight pennants, making them the second-best team of the decade. Boston, which won five pennants that decade, was better, but it is the Orioles who are remembered as the team of the '90s—not just for their skill, but also for their style. Aggressive and creative, the O's either invented or perfected

6399-453: Was the farthest the youngster had ever traveled from his hometown. He began the season on the bench . After two days, Kenney inserted him into the starting lineup at third base. McGraw later described his first professional game: [F]or the life of me, I could not run to get it. It seemed like an age before I could get the ball in my hands and then, as I looked over to first, it seemed like the longest throw I ever had to make. The first baseman

6480-475: Was the lowest of the minor leagues, and McGraw still struggled with his fielding. But during the 24 games he appeared in for the club, he hit with a batting average of .365, a glimpse of his later hitting prowess. After that first season, McGraw caught on with the offseason team of promoter Alfred Lawson . McGraw joined the team in Ocala, Florida , and the team sailed from Tampa to Havana, Cuba , where they played

6561-559: Was the tallest in the league, but I threw the ball far over his head. Seven more errors in nine more chances followed that day. Both the team and McGraw remained ineffective, and he was fired by Kenney after six games, though the captain gave him $ 70, equivalent to $ 2,374 in 2023, and wished him luck. He signed with a team in Wellsville, New York , who played in the Western New York League . The level of baseball played there

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