"jazz" (1912)--Its limited use

[Dave Wilton]

> At 11:04 PM -0400 8/12/03, Dave Wilton wrote:
> >A lack of other cites of "jazz ball" would not necessarily
> be conclusive.
> >Instead of being a direct antecedent of Gleeson's uses the
> next year, the
> >1912 citation indicates the term was in the vocabulary of West Coast
> >sportswriters and baseball players in the 1912-13 timeframe.
>
>   At present there's no evidence that "jazz ball" as spoken by
> Henderson was generally in the vocabulary of West Cost sportswriters
> and baseball players in the 1912-1913 time frame. It wasn't even
> mentioned in any of the San Francisco Bulletin baseball articles I've
> read through (1913: mid-Feb. through June--in detail; Sept. - mid
> Oct., all articles skimmed with a determined search for "jazz")--and
> this despite the constant searching of the sports writers for
> anything interesting/novel to report on, especially during spring
> training season.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I meant that "jazz", not "jazz ball", was probably in
(limited) use by Pacific Coast League sportswriters and baseball players in
1912-13. I agree that Henderson's "jazz ball" (unless it is found in the
Portland newspapers) was probably a one-time use, a variation on the root
"jazz." Both Portland and San Francisco were among the original six teams in
the league and the players would be familiar with one another and rapidly
adopt each others' expressions and turns of phrase. The appearance of "jazz
ball" in 1912 and the Gleeson quotes of the next year would seem to be the
first instances of the term, which was in limited spoken use, appearing in
print.

I just don't think that the appearance of "jazz ball" by a Portland player
quoted in an LA paper a year prior to the previously first-known use of
"jazz" can be dismissed easily. The idea that "jazz" had a limited currency
among PCL players in 1912 is a reasonable inference from the evidence.