Near the end of this edition of his excellent (IMHO) *Tuesday Morning Quarterback * column, Gregg Easterbrook provides readers’ anwers to his weekly challenge, which in this case was to name an aspect of the NFL timeline that future space travelers should voyage backward in time to change. How would the Doper baseball fans out there change baseball history if they could?
I grew up following both the Orioles (because I lived in Washington) and the Red Sox (because I used to spend time in summers with my father’s parents, who lived about an hour south of Boston, when I was a child), and so will give a response for each team.
In Boston’s case, the knee-jerk reply of “I would change history so the team kept Babe Ruth” is so obvious that I’m tempted to say Sox fans are barred from making this choice, but I’ll leave it up to you. I’m going to say I’d change history so that the team was able to get the third strike it needed in Game Six of the 1986 World Series – man, that series was a gut-wrenching experience. A close second for me would be to alter things so that Bowie Kuhn did not void Charlie Finley’s sales of Rollie Fingers and Joe Rudi to Boston and Vida Blue to New York, an action that was indefensible, IMHO. (Kuhn’s, not Finley’s.) Yeah, that would have meant Blue going to the Yankees, but I think that Boston club could have been a monster if the sale had gone through.
As for Baltimore, I’d change things so the team was able to sign Reggie Jackson to a multi-year contract, rather than just a one-year deal, when he left Oakland after the 1975 season. Eddie Murray, whose lowest on-base percentage with the Orioles was .333, came to the majors in 1977 – just think about that Baltimore club of the second half of the '70s, which was damn good already, only with Eddie batting third and Reggie hitting cleanup. The mouth waters.
The DH rule is overwhelmingly voted down before it’s played in a single game, thereby ensuring that the AL will continue to play actual baseball.
Also, MLB installs a rigorous and comprehensive program for detecting and punishing the use of certain performance-enhancing drugs back when there was merely the hint of this kind of abuse.
Last but not least, Jim Fregosi has to leave Roger Mason (who had just retired 7 batters on 28 pitches) in during game six of the '93 series, avoiding the inexorable progression toward Mitch Williams hanging that pitch to Joe Carter. The Phillies, who had a lead in the 9th, force game 7 and beat the snake-bitten Blue Jays.
On September 29, 1919, eight members of the Chicago White Sox met with representatives of gambler Arnold Rothstein at the Warner Hotel in Chicago to arrange the fix of the 1919 World Series. The players held firm to their original demand for $10,000 each–for a total of $80,000–in cash before the Series began. The gamblers were unwilling to comply, and the scheme collapsed.
The Black Sox remained together to challenge the Yankees for American League supremacy during the 1920’s, and the intensity of the rivalry ensured that the Cubs would forever remain second in citywide popularity.
Great, you want to take away our one World Series appearance of the last 85 years.
Gotta go with the obvious one right from the get go, just like the others…
The color barrier is never introduced and that major leagues manage to enjoy the talent and full careers of Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell and all the others.
The introduction of the ‘3 out specialist’ closer never manages to take hold. Instead, experimental managers begin to think “Hey, if this guy is my best pitcher, why the hell am I wasting him in a meaningless ninth inning when we’re up by three? I could use him in the 6th when it’s tied and win a LOT more games.”
The first statistical analysis of baseball players takes hold immediately as executives and managers say ‘Hell! Why have I been paying top dollar for a guy with an OBP of .310, I’m crazy!’ and a revolution is born in which a different sort of meritocracy is created in baseball.
July 31, 2004 – Don Duqette gets cold feet and decides that the best trades are those you don’t make and doesn’t trade Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano. (Actually, Zambrano will probably be a good pitcher for the Mets, but the pressure isn’t worth it).
Winter 1947: Boston ownership drops their last-minute request for a minor league catcher to sweeten the deal, and goes through with the already settled Ted Williams for Joe Dimaggio deal. Dimaggio leads the Sox to the World Series in 1948. However, with the minor league catcher – Yogi Berra – added to the mix, the Yankees dominate the 50s (no change there). Playing with the right field porch in Yankee Stadium, Williams passes Babe Ruth’s lifetime home run record.
Dimaggio comes close to beating Ruth’s single-season record in 1948, but does set a record for doubles, bouncing balls off the Green Monster all season.
Connie Mack makes an investment in the worthless Beefstake Mines in 1910. In 1912, gold is discovered, and he becomes a billionaire. He can outbid the Federal League and keep his team intact in 1914, leading to pennants throughout the teens. His wealth gets him through the Depression so that he doesn’t have to disband his team – one of the greatest ever – in 1935, and the Athletics battle the Yankees for dominance throughout the 30s and 40s.
Since so many posters have already called for the disappearance of the color line, I’ll move on to a couple of other scenarios:
The Federal League in 1914, Mexican League in 1948 and Continental League in 1960 all succeed, making a total of five major leagues.
The Giants and Dodgers don’t move west. Instead, the American and National Leagues divide up the Pacific Coast League teams, dealing with westward momentum and expansion simultaneoiusly.
Mickey Mantle has healthy knees, Sandy Koufax never develops arthritis, Dizzy Dean doesn’t hurt his arm and Lou Gehrig doesn’t get ALS.
I’d prevent the original Senators from moving to Minnesota. It wasn’t until the 60s that the team got good, with Killebrew, Carew, etc. Kirby Puckett becomes a beloved Washington D.C. sports figure.
