"He instinctively can find the shining greatness of our American culture and does a good job of highlighting it (although he also does have those rare lapses when he writes about hockey, but that is something caused by impurities in the Eastern waters or something)." Erik Keilholtz
Under the patronage of St. Tammany
Mark C. N. Sullivan is an editor at a Massachusetts university. He is married and the father of three children. Email
July 20, 1914: Defeated the Pirates, 1-0, at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh. (Starters: Lefty Tyler vs. Wilbur Cooper) Boston's fourth win in a row moved the Braves (37-43) into sixth place in the National League, 10½ games out of first. (Via Baseball Library)
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While the 1914 Braves batted .251 with 35 home runs, very respectable Deadball Era numbers, their stellar pitching staff led the Miracle Braves in the second half. Following their return from Cincinnati, the Tribe's bats became relatively silent. Now their incredible triumvirate of Lefty Tyler, Bill James, and Dick Rudolph took turns posting goose eggs. In Pittsburgh, the three posted four shutouts in five games. One of those victories should be attributed to Rabbit Maranville.
The score was 0-0 and the bases were loaded. "Get on somehow, even if you have to get hit," Stallings told his shortstop. Babe Adams, the Pittsburgh twirler, tossed two straight strikes. Rabbit inched closer to the plate and took one for the team, on his forehead! Umpire Charlie Moran questioned Maranville's attempt to avoid the ball.
"If you can walk to first base, I'll let you get away with it," Moran offered. Rabbit got his most painful of 78 RBIs that year, and the Braves held the Pirates scoreless in the bottom of the inning to notch a 1-0 victory. (From "Baseball's Miracle Boys")
"For a quarter of a century I've been playing baseball for pay," he wrote in 1936. "It has been pretty good pay, most of the time. The work has been hard, but what of it? It's been risky. I've broken both my legs. I've sprained everything I've got between my ankles and my disposition. I've dislocated my joints and fractured my pride. I've spent more time in hospitals than some fellows ever spend in church. I've ridden on railroad trains until a steam shovel couldn't lift the cinders I've combed out of my hair. I've eaten lousy food and slept on lousy beds. I've been socked with fists and pop bottles and insults. I've been awakened out of bed in the middle of the night by fat-headed bums who only wanted to know what Pop Anson's all-time batting average was. I've lost a lot of teeth and square yards of hide. But I've never lost my self-respect, and I've kept what I find in few men of my age--my enthusiasm."
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