Posts Tagged ‘First’
Hockey Notes – The Real First All-Star Game
In a discussion regarding the origins of today’s annual All-Star Game, some hockey historians point to the 1934 Ace Bailey benefit game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and stars from the rest of the NHL. Others trace the All-Star tradition back to the first “official” match in 1947, when the NHL’s stars duked it out with the Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs. But the first hockey game ever to follow an All-Star format pre-dates the NHL. On January 2, 1908, a benefit game was held in honor of the Montreal Wanderers’ former star cover-point Hodgson “Hod” Stuart.Stuart was one of the finer athletes ever to come out of Canada. He starred in hockey, lacrosse, football and track and field. In hockey, he was a superlative defenseman. He skated, set up seemingly impossible plays, rushed, and was as hard as cold steel. Sadly, he drowned near Belleville, Ontario in the summer of 1907, only months after leading the Montreal Wanderers to the Stanley Cup title. Before the beginning of the 1908 Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association season, Ed Sheppard and William Northey from the Westmount Arena came up with the idea of holding a benefit, with the proceeds going to Stuart’s widow. The game would be played at the Arena, the former home of the Wanderers, and Montreal would play against stars selected from the rest of the league.The lineups:WANDERERSRiley Hern – GoalArt Ross – PointWalter Smaill – Cover-pointPud Glass – RoverErnie Johnson – Left WingErnie Russell – CenterCecil Blachford – Right WingALL-STARSPercy LeSueur – GoalRod Kennedy – PointFrank Patrick – Cover-pointGrover Sargent – RoverJack Marshall – Left WingJoe Power – CenterEddie Hogan – Right WingSmaill was filling in at cover-point for the Wanderers’ Bruce Stuart, who was banged up from a game out west. On the league side, Patrick stood in for Jack Laviolette. Patrick, the former McGill University team captain, was given a Montreal Victorias uniform to wear.By game time, there were about 4,000 fans rocking the Westmount Arena rafters. Proceeds from the game were expected to hit the $2,000 mark.The first half belonged to the Wanderers. The stars looked out of sync, wholly unfamiliar with each other. Forwards got into tangles and many rushes which should have resulted in scoring chances were broken up. On the other hand, Montreal’s forward line was firing on all cylinders. Their skating was strong and their attacks were ever so clever. Patrick opened the scoring five minutes in on a dazzling rush from deep in his own end. This goal seemed to set the tone and the Wanderers took a whopping 7-1 lead into the intermission. The only penalties handed out in the first half were to Patrick and Glass for their part in a bumping bee behind the Montreal goal. They’d be the only infractions in the entire game.When the All-Stars lined up to start the second half, Grover Sargent switched places with Jack Marshall on the front line, a move that seemed to work wonders. The league luminaries played hard, aggressive hockey, scrapping back as if they had a gun to their heads. Kennedy cashed in the first goal of the second half — the first of five in a row for the All-Stars — and the Wanderers fell back on their heels. Marshall’s tally at the 26-minute mark made the score 7-6 and brought the crowd to its feet. At this point the Wanderers resolved to tighten the bolts and, in a four-minute span, Blachford bagged his second and third goals of the night. The W’s came out on top by a gaudy 10-7 count.Referees Bob Meldrum and Tom Melville had an easy time handling this match. Offsides were infrequent and both teams played squeaky-clean hockey. Apart from the Glass-Patrick shoving match, there was no monkey business.The Hod Stuart benefit raked in just over $2,100 for Stuart’s widow. Warm wishes were extended to the players and to the Westmount Arena staff, who lent the rink for free, and to Ed Sheppard and William Northey for their “diligence in organizing and carrying out all of the details associated with the match.”
Love at First Strike-baseball in Latin America
Baseball in the United States dates back to the 1840s, but many other countries picked up and played the sport soon after. In Cuba, students who enrolled in the United States educational system returned home to the island nation with a bat and a ball. The popularity of the game in Cuba was so high as to be considered part of the identity during the war for independence during the late 1800s.
The Spaniards assumed that the baseball practice and teams were just a cover-up for the preparation to go to war. Throughout the Caribbean region, Cuban players spread their newfound knowledge which increased the popularity of the game. It was two Cuban brothers who carried the game to the Dominican Republic and Cubans in the country of Venezuela along with Venezuelan nationals who had matriculated in the U.S. brought the sport to Venezuela, beginning in 1895 and to the island of Puerto Rico in 1897.
In Mexico, it was also Cubans who had fled from the island during its struggles for independence that brought baseball to Mexico. The Cubans in Mexico were assisted by U.S. merchant marines and railroad workers. Various regions of Mexico were converted to the sport during the years from 1877 to 1899. In terms of popularity, the sport of baseball is number one in Cuba, Dominican Republic and Venezuela with a strong showing in Puerto Rico.
Mexico still places football as the dominant sport. In Central America, baseball is also very popular. In the United States, players from Latin America and Puerto Rico have become a growing force in major league baseball. There are professional leagues organized in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
As in the rest of the world, football (soccer) is unquestionably the most popular sport in Latin America. Yet, it is also true that in much of the Caribbean basin, baseball is the number one sport. In fact, where U.S. imperial power spread throughout the world, and in Latin America specifically, the influence of baseball was the strongest. During a military occupation, many countries were introduced to American baseball.
It has been said that if Fidel Castro had been a better baseball player, the history of the Cold War might have played out very differently. Castro is an avid fan and once played the game. The reverse is also true: Orlando Hernandez “El Duque” left Cuba in 2000 and played for the New York Yankees in the World Series.
Baseball season in Latin America stretches from October to January. The winners of the four national leagues meet in February to play the Caribbean Series. Mexican players participate in a summer minor league that has connections with the U.S. Minor League Baseball governing body. Mexico has been given Triple A status. There are also Dominican Republic and Venezuelan summer rookie leagues that are affiliated with Minor League Baseball.
Although professional baseball existed in Cuba from 1878 until 1961, it was abolished by the Cuban government at the professional level. The Cuban national team now dominates the world amateur competitions, winning gold medals at Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996.
About 30 percent of the major league players in baseball today are connected to Latin America in some fashion. Either they are from Latin America or are descendants of Latin Americans who grew up in the U.S. In the general population, only eleven percent of the people are from Latin America. Latino baseball players overwhelmingly are foreign born and claim Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic as a birthplace.
Unfortunately, some of the major teams have gained a reputation for an almost sweatshop approach to baseball academies in the Latin American region. Young boys with talent are signed and sent to these training regimens where life is harsh in the hopes of winning a contract with one of the major clubs. Many of these players travel to Latin America to play the winter league baseball games in the Latin American leagues.
The countries in the Caribbean basin that are baseball enthusiasts send national teams with championship titles to participate in the Caribbean World Series each year since 1949. For players of Latin American descent, the opportunity to play in Major League Baseball is high success and tremendous financial gain.
Beginning in 2006, the World Baseball Classic between the United States, Puerto Rico, Japan, Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, was held. Nicaragua did not attend, but Cuba did send a team. The tournament was won by Japan, which was a tremendous surprise to many if not most of the observers.