"jazz" (1912)--some thoughts

[Dave Wilton]

> 1) We don't yet know whether Ben Henderson's 1912 use of the term was
> a one-shot deal or whether he repeated the term throughout at least
> part of the season. And we don't yet know who, if anyone, picked up
> on the term. Checking the Portland newspapers (currently underway)
> should clarify these points.
>
> 2) I suspect that Henderson's "Jazz ball" represented a bit of humor,
> rather than an actual pitch such as a fork ball or spitter. The March
> 6, 1913 (p.16/2) San Francisco Bulletin mentions "some veteran or
> recruit [=rookie] inventing a double shoot [=breaking pitch which
> evidently breaks in two different directions] or a Tango twist or a
> curve that broke seven ways at the same time."
> Henderson's "jazz ball" evidently is cut from the same cloth as these
> humorous non-existent pitches. If the "Jazz ball" really was a new
> type of breaking ball,
> the pitch would have become the topic of considerable discussion.

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. The existence
of the 1912 citation does not necessarily contradict the Slattery/craps
angle. Both could be true. Perhaps Slattery was playing craps with other
sportswriters or players and heard the term used.

Finding a citation of "jazz" in a gambling context from 1912-14 would create
a real dilemma. Then we would have two plausible, but mutually exclusive,
hypotheses.