Monday, November 18, 2013

He ain't heavy... Oh, wait. Yes he is.

Looking through some Knoxville newspapers this weekend yielded this nugget, which must have been sent out on the wires.
Palestine Daily Herald - July 5, 1910

That "is some heavy".  How much heavy?

TeamWeight
Pygmiestotal weight4827
average weight536


Here's another claim to be the biggest and heaviest team.

Rock Island Argus - June 21, 1910

That also "is some heavy".

TeamWeight
Fat Mentotal weight3715
average weight413


Let's compare that to a modern team.  I've selected the Boston Red Sox starting nine for the 6th game of the 2013 World Series.

NamePositionWeight
Jacoby EllsburyCF195
Dustin Pedroia2B165
David Ortiz1B250
Jonny GomesLF230
Daniel NavaRF200
Xander Bogaerts3B185
Stephen DrewSS190
David RossC230
Jon LesterP240
total weight1885
average weight209


2013 weight info from Baseball-Reference.com.

Monday, November 4, 2013

The Yellow Kid and Baseball

John Thorn, the Official Historian of MLB, shared a photo on facebook of a pin featuring The Yellow Kid holding a baseball bat.  That sparked me to research what other baseball and The Yellow Kid connections there were.  I found a few.

Tacoma Daily News - December 31, 1898

Apparently Hogan's Alley was popular enough to be spun into a theatre production.

Tacoma Daily News - December 31, 1898

A bit about the origin of "The Yellow Kid" from an article titled: Something About the Comic Artists Who Draw the Funny Pictures in the Sunday  Papers

Evansville Courier and Press - June 4, 1905

Several non professional teams around the nation used the nickname of  The Yellow Kids.

The Herald (New Orleans) - April 18, 1912