the national pastime, 2024

The 2024 issue of The National Pastime celebrates and explores baseball in and around Minnesota, the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

A ＂Peaceful War of Baseball＂ by Bill Staples, Jr.

When Waseda University arrived in Minneapolis on May 25, 1911, to play the University of Minnesota, the team boasted a respectable 8-6 record. The community was buzzing with anticipation for the arrival of the Waseda nine. The local Issei (first-generation Japanese Americans) were especially thrilled. More than two weeks before the games, the Morning Tribune reported that some Japanese workers at downtown hotels had ＂already filed notice with the clerks and their employers that their grandmothers will die or be buried on Friday and Saturday when the two big games come off.＂ A bellboy at the Nicollet Hotel added, ＂We go to the game any way possible. Not miss it for much--job, money, or life.＂

＂Joe Mauer: A First-Ballot Hall of Famer Without Question＂ by Sam Sundermeyer

Catchers are underrepresented in the Hall of Fame, as well as among first-ballot inductees, leading many to assume Joe Mauer would not be elected on this first ballot because his career longevity did not match that of players like Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk. But Mauer’s prime, 2006-13, represents one of the greatest stretches of play from a catcher in baseball history. During those eight seasons, Mauer won three Gold Gloves and five Silver Sluggers, was named to six All-Star teams, and received MVP votes in five of the eight seasons, winning in a landslide in 2009 with 27 of a possible 28 first-place votes. In the twentieth century, most writers wouldn’t vote for a player in his first year of eligibility unless they thought he was on par with the original ＂first ballot＂ class of 1936: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson. The next players who made it in on the first ballot didn’t come until 1962--Jackie Robinson and Bob Feller. The mystique had since faded somewhat, but it hasn’t disappeared. It still means something to go in on the first try.

＂The Nights the Lights Went on in the Twin Cities＂ by Stew Thornley

By 1937, the Millers and Saints were the American Association’s only teams still playing exclusively day games at home. Finally, they joined the others and put in lights at Lexington Park in St. Paul and Nicollet Park in Minneapolis. As installation of the equipment began in May, both teams set their night debuts for games in which they would be playing each other on back-to-back evenings in mid-July, first in St. Paul and then in Minneapolis. The St. Paul Pioneer Press described the arrival of night baseball at Lexington Park as ＂more of an occasion than the annual opening day, coming for the first time in all the history of baseball in St. Paul.＂ The lights drew fans like moths. More than 9,000 packed the stands at Lexington Park July 15. Lake City and Mankato brought large delegations, the latter group arriving on a special train.