Al Spalding: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1939

Born: September 2, 1850

1865: Played with the Rockford Pioneers (youth team)

1866-67: Played for the Forest Citys

1868: Joined the Chicago Excelsiors

Big league debut: May 5, 1871 (Boston Red Stockings)

1871-76: Led the league in wins each year

1872: Won 38 games

1873: Won 41 games

1874: Won 52 games

1875: Won 54 games

1876: Helped organize the National League

1876: Jumped to the Chicago Cubs

1876: Won 47 games

1876: Cubs won the pennant

1877: Began a sporting goods store in Chicago

1877: Began a baseball magazine (Baseball Guide)

1878: Retired from baseball; owned the Cubs

1888-89: Took players on a world tour

1890: Player’s League formed; Spalding worked to destroy it. He succeeded.

1900: Appointed commissioner of the Summer Olympic Games by President McKinley.

1905: Spalding involved in the commission to determine who created baseball

1907: Commission declared Abner Doubleday the founder of baseball

1908: Wrote the first history of baseball

Died: September 9, 1915

1939: Elected to the Hall of Fame by Old Timer’s Committee

Accomplishments:
252-65 record

.795 win percentage (1^st all time)

2.13 ERA

279 complete games

1.193 WHIP

Led league in wins: 6x

30+ wins: 5x

40+ wins: 4x

50+ wins: 2x

Led league in win percentage: 4x

54-5 record in 1875

Led league in games: 3x

Led league in game starts: 2x

Led league in games finished: 2x

Led league in complete games (1874): 65

Led league in innings pitched: 2x

200+ innings: 6x

400+ innings: 5x

500+ innings: 3x

617 1/3 innings in 1874

As a hitter:
.313 average (1959 at bats)

Presidential Legacies: The Gilded Age 1881-1901

The Gilded Age Presidencies are generally defined by their laissez faire administrations. This reputation is only partially deserved. America changed at such a pace, it was difficult for government to change with the times. The presidents did push for change. However, the party bosses still had a lot of power. That power would not be completely crushed until the advent of the primary system. Even then, it took almost the entire century to rid the system of the party bosses. The first two presidents of this era battled the party bosses and scored some victories. However, one was assassinated by an insane office seeker while the other was shoved aside by the bosses for being too reformist.

James Garfield (1881): Garfield spent his transition period working on a cabinet designed to pacify all his party’s factions. His last appointment angered New York Party Boss and U.S. Senator Roscoe Conkling. The feud peaked when Garfield nominated Conkling’s enemy to be Collector of the Port in New York. This was a highly coveted and highly lucrative post. Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling and the boss decided to resign from the Senate in order to vindicate himself. His home state refused to send him back to the Senate. Garfield won a complete victory. By September of 1881, Garfield would be dead.

Chester Arthur (1881-1885): Garfield’s assassination led to Chester Arthur’s ascension. In the aftermath of the assassination, Arthur pushed a reform agenda. The Pendleton Act created the Civil Service Commission and ended the old spoils system. Garfield was murdered by a disgruntled office seeker. Pendleton took federal job appointments away from the politicians and led to less cronyism and more professionalism in government. Like Garfield, Arthur refused to play ball with the party bosses. It cost him the Republican Nomination for President in 1884.

Grover Cleveland (1881-1885, 1893-1897): Cleveland was the first Democrat since James Buchanan in 1857 to be elected president. He would be the last until Woodrow Wilson in 1912. Cleveland’s first term was rather successful. He pushed for several reforms and was a solid economic manager. When he ran for re-election, he won the popular vote. However, his opponent, Benjamin Harrison, won the electoral college. Cleveland swore he’d return. In 1888, he defeated Harrison and then experienced one of the worst economic downturns in history. Cleveland is the only man to be elected to two non-consecutive terms.

Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893): Harrison’s economic policies helped bring about the Panic of 1893. Harrison supported the McKinley Tariff which dramatically raised tariffs. He supported the Sherman Silver Purchasing Act which led to inflation. Harrison also passed a Civil War Pension which dramatically depleted federal funds. The combination of inflationary government policy, higher taxes in the form of tariffs, and the pension payments combined with railroad failures to send America into it’s worst economic downturn of the 19th Century. Ironically, the current administration is attempting to replicate the economic policies of the Harrison Administration with high spending, high taxes, and inflationary monetary policy.

William McKinley (1897-1901): America’s economy rebounded under McKinley. However, his legacy is entwined with the Spanish American War. McKinley did not want war. He fought in the Civil War and did not want to put people through that again. However, he had no choice once the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor. Americans blamed Spain. The war was on. America clubbed Spain and conquered Guam, The Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. Cuba was later granted their independence, but America negotiated the right to lease Guantanamo Bay in perpetuity. Interestingly, historians rank James K. Polk higher than McKinley despite the fact the two men had similar accomplishments.

The Goods (part 2)

Here is the second part of the list of good presidents:
They are listed chronologically.
1. Chester Arthur (1881-1885): He took over when Garfield was assassinated. While in office, he racked up a considerable (for the time) list of reforms. Arthur proved uncontrollable, so the party bosses had to get rid of him. He lost the nomination in 1884 to James Blaine. Blaine lost the election.
2. Grover Cleveland (1885-1889, 1893-1897): Grover Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms. He is the only Democrat to be elected to office between 1860-1912. The most important piece of legislation passed under him was the Interstate Commerce Act which became the basis for all government regulation. He also pushed for a sound economy and anti-inflationary measures.
3. William McKinley (1897-1901): William McKinley was the GOP's James K Polk. He oversaw the Spanish-American War and the acquisition of overseas colonies. McKinley opposed going to war with Spain until The USS Maine blew up in Havana Harbor. Everyone blamed Spain and the war was on. The US acquired Guam, The Philippines, Gitmo, and Puerto Rico.
4. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963): Domestically, Kennedy did not get much done legislatively. He did help the Civil Rights Movement and aided James Meredith integrate Ole Miss. Kennedy also stopped the USSR from depositing missiles in Cuba. Had he failed, you would not be reading this and he'd be a failure. Kennedy had two major failures in foreign policy. One was the Bay of Pigs mistake and the other was his first summit with Khrushchev. Overall, his record was solid.
5. George H. W. Bush (1989-1993): A decade ago, he'd have been a rung down on this ladder, but his stock has improved amongst historians and even his enemies. He stopped Iraqi Aggression in Kuwait and did not get the country bogged down in Iraq. When Panama declared war, he finished it. Bush also passed the last real piece of civil rights legislation with the ADA. On the other hand, the country underwent a slight recession and he lost the 1992 election because of Ross Perot.
Tags: The Presidency, Politics, Chester Arthur, Presidents, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Spanish American War, John F. Kennedy, Cuban Missile Crisis, George HW Bush, Bush 41, Iraq

The Square Deal and Beyond: 1904 & 1908

William McKinley was dead and his Vice President, Teddy Roosevelt, was president. In 1904, Roosevelt decided to run in his own right as he was wildly popular. The Republican Party bosses hated him since they could not control him. He won the nomination anyway and the bosses had to wait another four years for a more pliable candidate.
The Democrats would have to wait another four years for a shot at the White House. They had no chance and nominated Judge Alton B Parker. Parker was the most boring candidate in history. The contrast could not be more striking. Roosevelt was a force of nature while Parker was a tree stump.
T.R. became the first vice president to ascend to the presidency and then win a term in his own right 56% to 37%. Socialist Eugene Debs won 400,000 votes. After winning, Roosevelt promised not to run again in 1908. He was not going to go against the two term tradition. When 1908 came around, T.R. wished he had not made that pledge.
As 1908 approached, both parties searched for the candidate most like Roosevelt. T.R. picked William Howard Taft to run. The Democrats chose William Jennings Bryan. The campaign came down to who would be the most like Roosevelt. The Democrat Bryan was a two time loser. The Republican Taft was Roosevelt's hand picked successor. Taft won big.

The Cross of Gold vs. William McKinley

William Jennings Bryan is the grandfather of the modern Democratic Party. His initial candidacy for the presidency in 1896 laid the groundwork for the left-leaning policies that have come to dominate Democratic policies today. His candidacy incorporated the Progressive Party into the Democratic coalition.
There was no clear front-runner at the 1896 Democratic Convention. Grover Cleveland was retiring. William Jennings Bryan electrified the convention with his "Cross of Gold" Speech. He believed that remaining on the gold standard hurt the economy and the little guy. He wanted to use silver as well as gold to back currency and lower tariffs. Bryan's oratorical skills combined with the incorporation of the populists led to his nomination.
The Republicans decided to nominate Governor William McKinley of Ohio. McKinley was a solid conservative, backed the gold standard, and supported a high tariff. While in Congress, he helped pass the McKinley Tariff. This raised tariff rates considerably. McKinley had the backing of GOP party boss Mark Hanna. Hanna was the Karl Rove of his day and had many business ties that helped McKinley raise a record amount of money.
Once the general election began, Bryan would travel the country campaigning while McKinley sat home on his porch and let people come to him. It was a major contrast in styles. McKinley was older and a Civil War vet while Bryan was 36 and very energetic. Bryan's rhetoric scared big business and money came pouring McKinley's way.
In the end, Bryan was dragged down by three factors. First, his radical rhetoric scared voters to McKinley. This would be a hallmark of late 20th century elections when Democratic extremism scared many voters to the Republicans. Second, the Republicans outspent the Democrats by a wide margin. Third, the country was in a depression and the Democrats were the party in the White House. The depression was not Cleveland's fault, but he did little to stop the suffering and got the blame.
Four years later, the Depression was over and America was a world power for the first time. The same two candidates went at it. Bryan ran on the same issues as 1896 even though they were outdated. He also campaigned against the popular Spanish-American War and wanted to give back America's gains. Most Americans disagreed. On the other hand, McKinley campaigned on the strong economy and new prestige abroad. He promised "Four More Years of a Full Dinner Pail" which sounds remarkably similar to the Reagan Campaign of 1984. Additionally, the GOP placed war hero Theodore Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt was a force of nature and campaigned as vigorously as Bryan. The Democrats had no chance.
McKinley extended his electoral victory from 1896. Bryan was a two time loser, but his ideas took hold in the Democratic Party and would come to fruition in the Wilson campaign. Also, Bryan's Progressivism is eerily similar to today's so-called "Religious Right." He tied moralist themes, religion, and liberalism into a potent message. Bryan would remain on the scene well into the 1920's while McKinley would be assassinated by an anarchist in late 1901.