1913 baseball column--query
Gerald Cohen
gcohen at UMR.EDU
Wed Aug 1 17:15:55 UTC 2001
Bingo. Frank Abate is surely on the right track. I just checked
Bill O'Neal's _The Pacific Coast League, 1903-1988_ (Austin: Eakin
Pr., 1990), and on page 21 I find: "[1911 Portland] Center fielder
Buddy Ryan won the batting and home run titles (.333 with 23 homers),
and with an improved offense Portland clinched a second straight
pennant."
Page 249 comments again on Ryan's winning the batting and home
titles in 1911 and then adds: "Ryan and shortstop Peckinpaugh went up
to Cleveland, and Portland lost 100 games in 1912."
So, Buddy Ryan of the major-league Cleveland Naps in 1913 must
have been the same Buddy Ryan who batted so effectively in the
Pacific Coast League two years earlier. What "Mac" in his 1913 _S. F.
Bulletin_ column is saying is: Buddy Ryan is making good in the
majors, and considering who he is (*the* Buddy Ryan, the great
Pacific Coast slugger of just two years ago) his batting achievements
in the majors are no surprise.
My thanx to everyone who responded to my query.
---Gerald Cohen
>Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001
>From: Frank Abate <abatefr at earthlink.net>
>Subject: Re: 1913 baseball column--query
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>Was there another hitter of the era or earlier with the same first or last
>name?
>
>Frank
>Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001
>From: Gerald Cohen <gcohen at umr.edu>
>Subject: 1913 baseball column--query
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
> Would anyone be able to see what I am missing here? It's from a
>light-hearted, eclectic sports column in the 1913 newspaper _San
>Francisco Bulletin_ ("Sporting Tit-Bits by 'Mac'"), May 31, 1913,
>p.10, col. 5. This is the entire item:
>
> "If you will notice, 'Buddy' Ryan is doing quite a business
>with the big stick [= baseball bat] for the 'Naps' [Cleveland's major
>league team], but how could he help it with a name like his?"
>
> I don't understand what Ryan's name has to do with his hitting
>well. What am I missing?
>
>---Gerald Cohen
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