Cool Papa Bell: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1974

Born: March 17, 1903

1921: Signed with Compton Hill Cubs as a pitcher, but the team disbanded

1922-31: St. Louis Stars

1924: Began to move away from pitching; he learned the outfield and how to switch hit

1928, 1930-31: Stars win League Championship

1929-41: Great Depression

1932: Detroit Wolverines

1932-4: KC Monarchs

1933-38: Pittsburgh Crawfords

1937-41: Played abroad

1942: Memphis Red Sox

1942: Chicago American Giants

1943-46: Homestead Grays

1943-4: Grays win Championship

1950-70: Managed, Scouted, worked as security and custodian at St Louis City Hall

1974: Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame (Negro League Committee)

Died: 1991

1999: All Century Team

Accomplishments:

5x Champion

8x All Star 

.337 Average

St. Louis Cardinals erected a statue of him outside Busch Stadium

Zack Wheat: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1959

Born: May 23, 1888

Debut: September 11, 1909 (Dodgers)

1912: In an unusual move for the era, he held out for more money and won

1916: Dodgers win Pennant

1918: Won Batting Title

1920: Dodgers win Pennant

1925: Served as player-manager while Wilbert Robinson temporarily assumed front office duties. However, his stint never made it into the record books and he never managed again.

1927: Signed with Phillies

1927: Retired

1932: The Great Depression forced him to sell his farm

After 1932: Ran a bowling alley and worked as a police officer

1936: Got into a car accident chasing a suspect. He spent five months in the hospital. After, he opened a hunting and fishing resort.

1959: Elected to Hall of Fame

2006: Zach Wheat Memorial Highway in Missouri is named after him

2008: Featured in an Iroquois exhibit in New York

Accomplishments:

.317

1918 Batting Champ

Hit .300: 11x

132 Home Runs

10+ Home Runs: 4x

100+ RBI: 2x

Led league in games (1910): 156

125 runs (1925)

1289 Runs Scored

476 doubles

30+ doubles: 6x

40+ doubles: 2x

172 triples

10+ triples: 11x

650 walks-572 strikeouts

.400+ OBP: 2x

Led league in slugging (1916): .461

.500 slugging: 3x

4100 TB

Led league in TB (1916): 262

Postseason: .283, 0, 3 .696 OPS (2 series)

Sci Fi History: War of the Worlds (1938)

H.G. Wells wrote War of the Worlds in 1898. Forty years later, Orson Welles broadcast a dramatization of the novel on radio. Many panicked believing the program real. Some attribute the hysteria to worries about Nazi Germany. Whatever the cause, Welles became a star and soon produced Citizen Kane. Meanwhile, the classic broadcast demonstrated the power of mass media, mass hysteria, and science fiction!

Sci Fi History: Superman debuts (1938)

The world needed a hero in 1938. Nazism marched through Europe and America remained locked in the Great Depression. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster developed a super villain with telepathic powers hell bent on global domination. Later, they changed the character completely turning him into a hero and modeling him on Douglas Fairbanks. Then, the pair developed an alter ego for the hero. Later, they incorporated mythological concepts into the character. Eventually, Samson and Hercules combined with Fairbanks to create Superman. By the end, Superman stood for truth, justice, and the American way. Siegel and Shuster’s creation spawned many comic books, pulp magazines, graphic novels, comic strips, movies, television shows, and radio programs. In the end, Superman may be the king of the superheroes.

Star Trek Timeline: 20th Century

1903: The Wright Brothers

1914-18: World War I

1915: Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

1917: Russian Revolution

1929: Great Depression begins

1930: Kirk, Spock, and McCoy travel to old Chicago where they meet Edith Keeler and have to ensure her death to save the world.

1932: Redjac kills 7 women in China

1933: Hitler assumes power in Germany

1937: Amelia Earhart and 300 humans are kidnapped by the Briori and transported to the Delta Quadrant to work as slaves.

1930s: Xindi Civil War

1939-45: World War II

1944: In an alternate timeline, Archer stops Vosk in the temporal cold war.

1945: A-Bomb ends World War II

1945-1992: Cold War

1947: Ferengi shuttle crashlands at Roswell, New Mexico

1950s: Border dispute between Vulcans and Andoria begins

1957: A Vulcan ship crashes at Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania. The crew remain on Earth for a time.

1957: Sputnik

1958: NASA founded

1967: Timeship Aeon crashes in the High Sierras. Henry Starling finds the technology and creates the computer age.

1968: Gary Seven sabotages an orbital nuclear weapons platform

1969: The Enterprise is accidentally hurdled back to 1969. Spock figures out how to send them back to the 23^rd century.

1969: Apollo 11 reaches moon

1969: Quinn attends Woodstock

1974: Redjac kills 5 women in Kiev

1976: NASA unveils the space shuttle prototype, Enterprise

1986: Admiral Kirk and crew travel to 20^th century Earth to find humpback whales to talk to the whale probe in the 23^rd century.

1991: U.S.S.R. dissolves. American President George H.W. Bush declares the Cold War over a few months later in 1992.

1992: Khan Noonien Singh seizes power

1993: Eugenics Wars begin when a group of “supermen” seize power. The war is a covert action that somehow the world’s leaders managed to keep out of the news. History records the events much later.

1996: Eugenics Wars end. Khan goes into exile aboard SS Botany Bay after an encounter with Gary Seven.

1996: Evidence of life on Mars

1996: Voyager thrown back in time by Captain Braxton. The crew stops Henry Starling from accidentally destroying Earth.

1997: Mars Rover launched

2000: International Space Station inaugurated

Presidential Legacies: Hoover and Roosevelt

This is a continuation of the examination of the Post-Progressive Presidents. These are the presidents that served between the end of World War I and the end of World War II. Their policies were either a reaction to or influenced by the Progressives that ruled between 1901 and 1921.

Herbert Hoover followed Coolidge. He could have been a Democrat, but joined the more popular of the two parties. Shortly after assuming office, the economy collapsed. The main cause of the collapse was under consumption of products. In other words, people stopped buying goods. As a result, credit collapsed, people lost their jobs, and the stock market collapsed. Hoover should have been the right man for the job. He led European relief efforts during World War I. He seemed overwhelmed and inadequate. On the other hand, Hoover did attempt to use government to fix the economy. He failed. He does not get credit for what he did try because his efforts were dwarfed by the New Deal. Hoover became synonymous with poverty. New words entered the vernacular under Hoover's watch. Hoovervilles were shanty towns. A Hoover blanket was a newspaper. This combined with his dour personal image doomed his re-election effort.

Franklin Roosevelt came in like a breath of fresh air. He instituted the New Deal. This was a massive governmental effort to end the depression. Some programs worked while others failed. The idea was to try something. Roosevelt’s greatest success was saving the banks and saving capitalism. Upon entering office, he declared a bank holiday and closed the banks. People were taking everything out of the banks. FDR stopped them and thereby stopped the bank failures. When the banks reopened, deposits far exceeded withdraws.

FDR never scrapped capitalism. In fact, today’s leftists, liberals, and progs resent him for not instituting socialism. While some of his policies were antithetical to laissez faire capitalism, they did manage to save and restore capitalism. In an age where fascists and communists were eliminating freedoms worldwide, and some in this country advocating these types of policies, this is no small achievement.

Despite saving the system, the New Deal did not end the Depression. Instead, it was World War II that got people working again. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the unemployment rate collapsed. People were back to work. However, it would not be until the Eisenhower Years that the economy would truly recover.

As commander-in-chief, Roosevelt would save the world and his historical legacy. By leading the “arsenal of democracy”, he supplied the allies with wartime materiel. By pushing the Atlantic Charter with Winston Churchill, he offered an alternative to Nazism and Communism. By leading the coalition, choosing the military leaders, and allowing the generals to do their job, he liberated Western Europe. In the end, Roosevelt saved capitalism, democracy, and the world.

In sum, each of the Post-Progressive Presidencies were influenced by the Progressive Era. Warren Harding wanted to return America to normalcy, end the aggressive foreign interventions of Woodrow Wilson, and work on arms control. Calvin Coolidge operated a minimalist government with the only reform being in the tax code. Herbert Hoover attempted an unprecedented governmental response to the Great Depression. Roosevelt was Hoover on steroids. However, his economic policies ended up creating a barter economy not unlike Medieval Europe. Roosevelt’s saving grace was his leadership through World War II.

MLB All 1930s Team

C- Mickey Cochrane- A’s/Tigers
C- Bill Dickey- Yankees
1b- Jimmie Foxx- A’s/Red Sox
1b- Lou Gehrig- Yankees
1b- Hank Greenberg- Tigers
2b- Charlie Gehringer- Tigers
3b- Pepper Martin- Cardinals
SS- Arky Vaughn- Pirates
OF- Mel Ott- Giants
OF- Al Simmons- A’s
OF- Joe Medwick- Cardinals
OF- Joe Dimaggio- Yankees
RHP- Dizzy Dean- Cardinals
LHP- Lefty Grove- Red Sox
SP- Red Ruffing- Yankees
SP- Carl Hubbell- Giants
SP- Lefty Gomez- Yankees

US Economic Downturns 1929-2009

Event: Great Depression (1929-1941)
Cause: Worldwide collapse, US Banking Collapse, Over extension of Credit, Overproduction of consumer goods
Government Response: The Hoover Administration attempted to pump money into businesses, raised taxes (income tax hit 63%), and raised tariffs. FDR launched the New Deal which included massive government spending, income tax rates up to 89% and new excise taxes on things ranging from gas to movie tickets.
Results: Hoover made the depression worse. FDR’s programs saved the banks, but the New Deal may have prolonged the depression. People began using a barter economy to escape taxation.
How it ended: Japan bombed Pearl Harbor

Event: Recession of 1937-1939
Cause: A series of labor strikes crippled the economy.
Government Response: More spending & a rhetorical campaign by FDR
Results: The stimulus failed.
How it ended: The economy began to recover with the increase in military expenditures and an end of the labor strikes.

Event: Recession of 1953-1954
Cause: End of the Korean War led to a cut in industrial production & fed policy
Government Response: None
Results: Economy recovered on its own
How it ended: Economy recovered and began to boom.

Event: Recession of 1957-1958
Cause: Worldwide downturn; Fed policy
Government Response: None
Results: Economy recovered on its own
How it ended: Economy recovered on its own

Event: Recession of 1960-1961
Cause: Fed Policy
Government Response: V.P. Nixon pushed for a looser fed policy to increase credit; Ike refused. JFK cut taxes.
Results: Long period of growth
How it ended: Tax cuts and later military spending led to a boom.

Event: Recession of 1973-74
Cause: Arab oil embargo, end of military expenditures with end of Vietnam War, stagnated wages as a result of the Great Society
Government Response: Wage and Price Controls
Results: Led to stagflation
How it ended: The economy came around, but remained sketchy for the remainder of the decade as a result of a number of factors including the energy crisis, government action under Ford and Carter, and The Great Society.

Event: Recession of 1979-1982
Cause: Iranian Revolution led to an energy crisis, fed monetary policy, the cost of Great Society programs, and general government mismanagement.
Government Response: Carter attacked the American people in the malaise speech, deregulation, tight fed policy, increased social spending. Reagan cut taxes and increased military spending.
Results: Carter’s policies led to hyperinflation and the misery index. Reagan’s led to an economic boom.
How it ended: Deregulation under both Carter and Reagan worked. Both deserve credit for saving Chrysler Corp. Reagan’s tax and military policies led to a boom. The energy crisis ended as the Middle East stabilized following the Iranian Revolution.

Event: Recession of 1990-1991
Cause: Cuts in military spending, a tax increase, spike in oil prices due to Gulf War, and S&L Crisis.
Government Response: Bush raised taxes and put the country on the course for a balanced budget. The private sector adapted.
Results: The recession was over relatively quickly, but the general public did not realize it until mid-1993.
How it ended: The private sector adapted. Tech boom.

Event: Recession of 2000-2001
Cause: Tech bubble burst, a series of business scandals, and 911
Government Response: Clinton did nothing. Bush cut taxes.
Results: The economy survived and boomed for a short time.
How it ended: Tax cuts kept the economy afloat.

Event: The current downturn (2007-present)
Cause: Collapse of housing market, bank failures, over extension of credit due to government interference, high energy prices, and a worldwide downturn.
Government Response: Under Bush, Fed loosened monetary policy, bailouts, and stimulus plans. Under Obama, increased government spending and tax increases.
Results: Thus far, the recession has deepened and since Obama’s election, the stock market has lost 20% of its value.
How it ended: ????

The Greats

There are three presidents that deserve to be in a category all their own. They are the saviors. Each one faced a crisis that could have destroyed the country and steered the country through. At various points in their presidencies, America could have ceased being America. They are listed chronologically.
1. George Washington. When Washington took office, no one was sure what the Constitution meant. He put the skin on the skeletal document. On top of this, his force of will kept people in line. He was not dictatorial. Instead, people worshiped and respected him. When Jeffersonian clubs threatened to tear the country apart, he told them to disband and they did. When Whiskey Rebels threatened the government's authority, he put down their revolt (and then pardoned them). Washington was no king. Instead of serving for life, he stepped down after two terms. On his way out, he warned against factionalism and foreign alliances/entanglements. Had Washington not been president, there was a real chance the U.S. would have broken up into 13 countries.
2. Abraham Lincoln. The South left the Union and Lincoln forced them to come back. Along the way, he freed the slaves, limited states' rights, modernized government, and centralized federal power. If someone else had been president during the war, the U.S. and C.S.A. would have been two countries. Many wanted to let the South go. Lincoln said no and used everything in his power to keep them from leaving.
3. Franklin Roosevelt. FDR faced two crises. The Great Depression ravaged America and the government seemed helpless. His New Deal did not end the depression, but it gave people hope, modernized government, saved capitalism, and staved off revolution. While Germany produced Hitler, America produced Roosevelt. FDR was quick to recognize the Nazi threat and mobilized as best he could for war. When it came, he put the full force of the United States into winning it. His advocacy of basic human rights and stance against fascism helped save the world.

FDR's Golden Sombrero

Franklin Roosevelt was elected to the presidency four times. None of the four elections were close because of FDR's personality and the nature of the times. In each election, Roosevelt ignored his opponent, concentrated on what he wanted to do, and attacked the Republican Party as a whole for the Great Depression. Ironically, FDR was a Democrat because Theodore Roosevelt had so many sons, that FDR believed he could not compete with them. They did not enter politics, but FDR did not know that. Had he known TR's sons were going to stay out of politics, he would have been a Republican.
1932: The country was in the middle of the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover was the incumbent. Hoover got the blame. His name became synonymous with poverty. Any chance he had of being re-elected came to an end when Douglas MacArthur unleashed tanks on a tent city full of World War I vets. FDR won big.
1936: The Depression had not ended. The GOP ran Governor Alf Landon from Kansas. He attacked the New Deal as wasteful and ineffective. The polls showed a Landon landslide, but pollsters only talked to people with phones, so a large swath of the electorate was ignored. FDR won a monster victory as people felt he was on their side.
1940: World War II had begun in Europe and the Depression still hampered America. The Republicans nominated Wendell Wilkie. Wilkie was a moderate and his nomination signaled the beginning of moderate domination of the GOP. Essentially, voters could choose New Deal or New Deal light. Wilkie ran a spirited campaign and the GOP attacked FDR for not ending the Depression, warmongering, and the third term. FDR won as people did not want to FDR to leave with World War II at their doorstep.
1944: FDR was dying. The Democrats knew it, but ran him again. They dumped incumbent vice president Henry Wallace from the ticket because he was too far to the left and was involved in weird mysticism. They replaced Wallace with Harry S. Truman of Missouri. Truman had gained national attention and acclaim rooting out wasteful wartime spending. The GOP nominated Thomas Dewey of New York. With World War II waging, Dewey could not hit Roosevelt without looking bad. As a result, Roosevelt won again. He died five months later.

The Roaring 20s

America was tired of Woodrow Wilson. Like George W. Bush, he had a successful and progressive first term, he was re-elected by the skin of his teeth, the economy was in recession, he led America into a ridiculous conflict, and then into a massive conflict which the public grew tired of. In 1919, the country experienced a Red Scare, a series of race riots, and the government suspended the constitution to go after radicals. The GOP smelled victory.
In 1920, the GOP nominated Senator Warren Harding of Ohio for president. Harding was not qualified, but was likeable and the girls swooned over him. Harding promised a return to normalcy. (Thus far, 2008 resembles 1920). The Democrats thought about running Wilson again, but he had suffered a stroke and the country despised him. They nominated newspaperman James Cox. The election came down to whether or not people wanted to be involved in world affairs and progressivism. Did people want "A Return to Normalcy" or a continuance of progressive policies and Wilsonian (Bush-like) foreign policy? Harding won with 61% of the vote. Voters wanted an end of Bush...er Wilson.
Four years later, Harding was dead. He died of a massive stroke as a major scandal rocked his administration. Harding the candidate resembled Barack Obama while Harding the president resembled Bill Clinton.(Lessons for today!) The Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge, assumed the presidency and was well liked and untainted by scandal. He ran for election in his own right. The Democrats battled and haggled and settled on former Congressman and Diplomat John Davis. Meanwhile, the Progressives re-emerged and nominated the narcissistic Robert La Follette. With the economy doing great, America modernizing, and a popular incumbent president, Coolidge won in a landslide. 54% to 28% for Davis and 17% for La Follette.
In 1928, Coolidge decided not to run. He was a successful president and would have been re-elected. The Republicans turned to Secretary of Commerce and World War I relief hero Herbert Hoover. Hoover decided to enter politics at the beginning of the decade and decided to join the GOP because the Democrats were not popular. Hoover promised a "chicken in every pot" and ironically believed poverty would soon be at an end. The Democrats nominated Al Smith of New York. Smith was a Catholic and against Prohibition. He was the party's sacrificial lamb. The only excitement came from Franklin Roosevelt's nominating speech. The Democrats were crushed again 58%-40%.Four years later, America would be in it's deepest crisis since the Civil War and FDR would be the man they would choose to save the country.