Politics & Baseball

On January 20th every fourth year a United States President is inaugaurated. It will happen again next January 20th. In that vein, let's look at some of the ways politics and baseball have become intertwined:

Former Philedelphia A's owner and manager Connie Mack's grandson, Connie Mack III, was a Republican congressman from Florida from 1983 to 1989 and U-S Senator from Florida from 1989 to 2001.

Former Arizona Congressman John Conlan is the son of former major league umpire Jocko Conlan who had a brief stint as a player for the Chicago White Sox.

Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was a dominant pitcher for most of his 17 years in the majors, mostly for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies. He finshed his career with a 224-184 record, 3.27 ERA, and is one of the few to throw no-hitters in both leagues.

Former New York Governor and presidential candidate Mario Cuomo had a promising baseball career cut short by a fastball. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates organization in 1951 and assigned to their Brunswick minor league team. Later that first season he was hit in the head by a fastball. It was so serious doctors advised he give up baseball, which he did, and went on to finish law school.

The Chicago Cubs' dominance of baseball attention in the Windy City may be on the wane. Not only is recently retired Mayor Richard Daley a life long White Sox fan, as was his father, the White House is inhabited by a Sox fan. President Barack Obama did not give the politically correct response to which team he favors when asked about it during the campaign 2008. This is what he told ESPN last August when asked who he'd root for in a Sox-Cubs World Series, "Oh, that's easy. White Sox. I'm not one of these fair-weather fans. You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer; beautiful people up there. People aren't watching the game. It's not serious. White Sox, that's baseball. South Side."

Outgoing President George W. Bush was principal owner of the Texas Rangers. His father, former President George H. W. Bush played baseball for Yale.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
ESPN
Mario Cuomo in the Minors

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Take a number

READING, PENNSYLVANIA - On this date in 1907 the manager of the Reading, Pennsylvania Red Roses of the Atlantic League decided he wanted numbers on his team's uniforms so fans would have some idea of who the players were.

No one recalls that ever having been done before. The numbers went from 1 to 15. Thirteen was skipped thinking no one would want it on the back of their jersey. The above information originates with an article in old The Sporting Life newspaper of April 27, 1907.

According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, numbered uniforms were experimented with off and on for decades. The Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees were the first teams to permanently use numbers starting with the 1929 season, though Cleveland had them only on home uniforms. Some players weren't crazy about the idea because they thought the numbers made them look like convicts, but the fans liked being able to tell the players with a scorecard. By 1934, all major league teams had numbers on their uniforms.

In the early days, numbers corresponded to the player's spot in the batting order; hence Babe Ruth was #3, Lou Gehrig was #4, etc.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
The Sporting Life, April 27, 1907
Baseball Hall of Fame (Dressed to the Nines)

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