Infographic: The history of betting

This infographic is not entirely baseball-specific, but still very relevant.  I knew that betting on sports has been around awhile, but it still has existed far longer than I ever imagined.  The development of television, internet, and other forms of media obviously revolutionized betting.  There is no longer a need to actually be present at a sporting event — we can place our bets from afar.

history of betting

Misquoted

The 1952 World Series featured a matchup between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees.  Brooklyn’s right-handed pitcher Billy Loes had concluded the season with a 13-8 record that included four shutouts and a 2.69 ERA.  Prior to the start of the World Series, Loes was asked in an interview how the Dodgers would fare.

After the interview, Dodgers’ manager Charlie Dressen cornered Loes, demanding to know why he predicted that the Yankees would win the Series in seven games.  Loes protested, “I was misquoted.”  He then clarified, “I picked them in six games.”

Loes’s mishaps continued into the Series itself.  During the seventh inning of Game 6, Loes became the first pitcher in World Series history to commit a balk when the ball slipped from his hand while going into his windup.  He later explained, “Too much spit on it.”  Then, with two outs in the inning, Yankees pitcher Vic Raschi hit a grounder that bounced off Loes’s leg and into the outfield for a single, allowing a run to score.  Afterward, Loes said he lost the ground ball in the sun.  The Yankees won that game, 3-2.

The pre-Series quote printed by the papers ended up being more accurate than Loes’s actual prediction, as the Yankees won the Series in seven games.

 

Billy Loes
Billy Loes, 1953 (Bowman Gum)

 

This day in baseball: Jumbo butter fingers

Jumbo Davis of the Kansas City Cowboys committed five errors in a game against St. Louis on June 25, 1888.  Over the course of the sesason, Davis committed 100 errors in 628 chances at shortstop and third base, giving him a .841 fielding percentage for the year (his lifetime fielding percentage would be .825).  Kansas City lost the game to St. Louis, 10-3.

Jumbo_Davis
Wikipedia

“7th Game : 1960 Series,” by Paul Blackburn

 

paul blackburn
Paul Blackburn (Wikipedia)

This piece by Paul Blackburn provides an abridged look at Game 7 of the 1960 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Living in New York, he describes the experience of Yankees fans, and there is something almost mystical about the City That Never Sleeps quieting down for a baseball game.  I imagine that silence must have continued for a few days after that blast by Bill Mazeroski, the only winner-take-all walk-off home run in World Series history.

 

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Nice day,
sweet October afternoon
Men walk the sun-shot avenues,
                          Second, Third, eyes
                          intent elsewhere
ears communing with transistors in shirt pockets
                 Bars are full, quiet,
discussion during commercials
                            only
Pirates lead New York 4-1, top of the 6th, 2
Yankees on base,   1 man out
What a nice day for all this  !
Handsome women, even
dreamy jailbait, walk
                     nearly neglected :
men’s eyes are blank
their thoughts are all in Pittsburgh
Last half of the 9th, the score tied 9-all,
Mazeroski leads off for the Pirates
The 2nd pitch he simply, sweetly
                                CRACK!
belts it clean over the left-field wall
Blocks of afternoon
acres of afternoon
Pennsylvania Turnpikes of afternoon . One
                  diamond stretches out in the sun
                          the 3rd base line
                  and what men come down
                  it
                  The final score, 10-9
Yanquis, come home