Did You Know?
There are times when I come across answers to questions I never really pondered.
My usual reply is, “Oh, yeah. That makes sense. I never really thought of that before.”
The Uniontown Evening Standard printed an article on its sports pages 72 years ago today, that, at first, didn’t strike me as being particularly newsworthy.
“‘Twight’ Ball Big Success in Brooklyn,” said the headline.
The United Press dispatch from New York, indicated that the innovative Brooklyn Dodgers had played a game at 7 p.m. the previous night in front of 15,157 fans.
What made the game unique was that major league baseball’s night games had, until that game, been played completely at night.
“Twight” ball (an amalgam of “twilight” and “night,” and not to be confused with the term “Twi-night doubleheader – a late afternoon game, followed by an early evening game) was instituted by the Dodgers’ club president, Larry MacPhail, as a way to adhere to WWII outdoor lighting restrictions.
MacPhail had actually pioneered night baseball in Brooklyn on June 15, 1938, when the Dodgers took on the Cincinnati Reds at Ebbets Field.
That was true night baseball. They turned on the lights at 8:35, and they had to wait until they were completely lit, so that Dodgers pitcher Max Butcher could throw the first pitch at 9:45.
But after the 1942 “Twight” ball game, most teams around the majors started playing most of their games at 7 p.m.
The very first night World Series game, by the way, was Game 4 of the 1971 series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles at Three Rivers Stadium.
Every World Series game has been played at night since 1987.
Also, the Pirates once played in one of the few tripleheaders on Oct. 2, 1920 against the Reds.
The 7 p.m. start times have slowly been replaced by 7:05 start times.
I’d always wondered why, so I Googled, “Why do baseball games start at 7:05?” and I was surprised to discover that lots of people have asked that question.
Here’s the answer.
Since broadcasters operate on strict hour or half hour time periods, they need time to read starting line-ups; to pause for the singing or playing of the National Anthem, and to allow for a commercial or two, before pitchers take the mound.
Thus most Pirates’ games start at either 7:05, or at 1:35 on Sunday afternoons.
Back in June of 1908, there was a huge event featuring Fayette County residents at Kennywood Park.
“Fayette Will Send Many to Kennywood,” read the front page headline on the June 15, 1908 edition of the Uniontown Daily News Standard.
“A delegation of 1000 persons from Fayette county are expected to attend the fourth annual reunion and field day of the A.O.H. (Ancient Order of Hibernians),” it was reported.
“A large number will go from Uniontown and a larger number from the Connellsville region,” to take part in the festivities at the 10-year-old amusement park.
In that same day’s edition of the Daily News Standard there was a bit of good news because the crime rate had dropped.
“State police go,” was the headline atop an item that indicated that there had been so little crime there was no apparent need to maintain a state police presence in the area.
“Uniontown is to lose its squad of state police, since this section of the county has gotten so good. Last month the state constabulary made but one arrest. When they first came here there was a murder call and arrest once a week,” it was reported.
On this date 100 years ago today, it was reported on the front page of the Uniontown Morning Herald that 72 cars (and motorcycles) were entered in the second annual Hopwood to Summit Hill Climb races.
The following day, June 17, 1914, the races gained nearly full front page coverage.
“Drivers ready for start of big race,” read one headline.
It was reported that Uniontown was “Filled With Hundreds of Visitors to Witness Amateur Events on Mountain Today.”
But after the second and final day of the races, the winners and losers weren’t featured as prominently on the front page of the Morning Herald, because of the tragedies that had taken place.
“J.E. Shafer, Auto Racer, Dies of Hurts in Hospital; Dr. Jos. VanKirk, of Elizabeth, Dead From Excitement,” was the headline that greeted readers on June 19.
The 33 year-old race car driver from Pittsburgh, was driving his car from the Summit to the starting point of the race, when he was trapped beneath his car after it flipped over. He died several hours later at Uniontown Hospital.
The 55 year-old doctor from Elizabeth, had collapsed while he was watching one of the races, and he suffered a stroke.
He died a few hours later at the Summit Hotel.