The Cheap Seats: A Note from the Editor

Abstract

The Cheap SeatsA Note from the Editor Willie Steele Three years since my last visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame— with the annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball History and Culture being canceled in 2020 and shifted to online for 2021— I started writing this note from the deck of my hotel, overlooking Lake Otsego in June 2022. Twenty- four hours ago, I was sitting with my college roommate in the bleachers at Fenway Park, my first game at the iconic park, which opened in 1912. Red Sox fan and noted baseball writer Bill Nowlin gave us access to see the view from the top of the Green Monster in left field and took us to the press box where we listened to him and the Red Sox official scorekeeper reminisce about the games they’ve seen there, the most notable of which was Carlton Fisk’s home run in Game Six of the 1975 World Series. Five nights later, my niece and I were at Wrigley Field, where I finally got to watch my first game there. Sitting in a box above home plate, a friend turned to me and said, “Think of all the history here. Babe Ruth played on this field!” But when they played a video of Harry Caray singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh inning stretch, I was suddenly twelve years old watching a game on WGN during the few times a year when I could see my Pittsburgh Pirates play on television, singing along with the beloved announcer. It was fitting that my return to Cooperstown be bookended by trips to these iconic ballparks. The four days at the Hall of Fame reminded me of all that has changed in the world, and in baseball, since the spring of 2020. Several of the restaurants and businesses along Main Street have either permanently closed or are open for limited hours, I’m told having fallen victim to the limited visitors during the pandemic. But while the vibe in the village might be a bit different, the exhibits in the Hall of Fame both reassure me of baseball’s ability to survive difficult times and reflect some significant changes that continue taking place in the game. [End Page ix] While I might not be ready to embrace changes like the “ghost runner” rule or the universal designated hitter (that’s a reflection of me growing up a fan of the National League), seeing more women in front office and coaching roles is something that was long overdue. Now that I’ve returned from the trip and am organizing this issue of NINE, I’m reminded once again of how great the game’s history is, warts and all. In these pages you will read about baseball during World War I, various aspects of the Negro Leagues and Black players, the intersection of baseball and politics, and how former players turned visual artists provide a lens through which we can understand psychology. Alongside the traditional articles you are used to reading in this journal, we also include something new: “Loved It or Loathed It,” in which we allow two readers to provide their contrasting views of an iconic baseball book. The idea came from NINE board member and contributor Mitchell Nathanson and is meant to provide readers with a way of rethinking some of the more significant books in the game’s literary history. Our hope is that this new addition will be less like when the White Sox wore shorts as part of their uniform in 1976 and more like when the first major league game was broadcast on the radio in 1921. It will enhance something we think is already pretty solid. Back in Fenway, right about the time my friend and I started thinking the game had changed too much for our liking, a kid who was about eight years old and wearing a Xander Bogaerts jersey stained with chili from his hot dog looked down the row of seats at a random guy wearing a Yankees hat. The boy, leaning over a woman I assumed was his mom, yelled, “Hey! New York sucks!” Without missing a beat...