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Although I can’t say I’ve been following all that closely, Barry Bonds just broke Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record. The only story I’m less interested in is whether or not Commissioner Bud Selig would be there to witness number 756 (he wasn’t). Before Hank was king, Babe Ruth’s 714 homers topped the charts. But from whom did Ruth inherit the crown?
I consider myself a somewhat serious baseball fan. I was at Yankee Stadium for Phil Rizzuto Day in 1985, when Chicago White Sox pitcher Tom Seaver upstaged Scooter by winning his 300th game. (Also, the Yankees gave Rizzuto a cow, which stepped on his foot and knocked him over.) I’ve done the Tomahawk Chop in Atlanta. And I was in attendance for Roberto Kelly’s Major League debut. (OK, I don’t have a lot of evidence to support my “somewhat serious fan” claim. But I am anxiously awaiting Mint, the book about the rise and fall of baseball cards by my good friend Dave Jamieson, who previously wrote “Requiem for a Rookie Card” for Slate.)
Anyway, I had never heard of Ruth’s record book predecessor. A former member of the Troy Trojans, New York Gothams/Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Browns, Roger Connor’s record of 138 home runs stood until Ruth surpassed him in 1921. Connor’s career ended in 1897. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. Maybe real baseball fans knew this. Here are three other things I didn’t know about Connor:
- Connor is said to have hit the first-ever grand slam, in 1881.
- According to George Vecsey of The New York Times, “In 1883, Connor was lured to New York, where he, Buck Ewing and John Montgomery Ward were so good that in 1885, their manager, Jim Mutrie, waxed rhapsodic about “my giants!” And that is how Barry Bonds’s current team got its nickname.”
- “In 1883, he hit a magnificent shot in his first game with the Giants that caused jubilant patrons to pass the hat and buy him a $500 gold watch in appreciation.” (BaseballLibrary.com)
On Monday, I promised a week’s worth of questions, to start discussions that would help get us through the hot summer afternoons. We’d still love to get your nomination for our “_flossiest Places to Live” list. But today, inspired by Connor’s overlooked greatness, let me ask about unsung historical figures. Who’s been unfairly forgotten?
Comments (8)
Comment
Henry Clay
He helped shape the fate of the United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was elected five times to the Speaker of the House, and made it the second most politically powerful position in the federal government, second only to the president. He brought Congressional approval for the Missouri Compromise and settled the Nullification Crisis, helping to keep the country unified in the early 1800s. His last effort to keep feuding sides peaceful was his involvement in the Compromise of 1850, staving off the American Civil War for over a decade.
This “Great Compromiser” ran for President five times, but never was able to win because of his strong anti-slavery and pro-American System economics policies.
Sure, he’s discussed in high school American History classes, but because he refused to sell out his beliefs he will always be lesser know than Zachery Taylor, or Martin Van Buren.
posted by PeteRepeat on 8-7-2007 at 11:23 pm
I wish people would (quite fairly) soon forget Barry Bonds* … If you can’t do that, please follow my lead and add an asterisk to his name.
posted by Sid Morrison on 8-8-2007 at 6:40 am
Nicola Tesla.
posted by Tim on 8-8-2007 at 6:59 am
My all time favorite historical figure and personal hero is James Madison. I doubt that I could argue he has been unfairly forgotten but I do wish more of his ideas lived on today.
His concerns about the mischief of faction in Federalist paper 10 are main concerns of current U.S. politics but mischief is on the rise. To cure mischief of faction Madison says that the check and balance system outlined in the Constitution should prevent any of these mischiefs. But over time the power of each government branch has increased dramatically to the point that the check and balance system is not working properly. Congress can’t even get people of the executive branch to testify after being subpoenaed.
A current person living, at age 79, that I believe is not remembered as often as he should be is Mr. Elie Wiesel. He authored several books, most notably “Night” and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. After surviving Auschwitz during the Holocaust he wrote about his experiences and has protested war ever since. He protests any international crisis that illustrates human suffering.
A brief quote from his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech:
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. The Talmud tells us that by saving a single human being, man can save the world. We may be powerless to open all the jails and free all the prisoners, but by declaring our solidarity with one prisoner, we indict all jailers. None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness. War leaves no victors, only victims. I began with the story of the Besht. And, like the Besht, mankind needs to remember more than ever. Mankind needs peace more than ever, for our entire planet, threatened by nuclear war, is in danger of total destruction. A destruction only man can provoke, only man can prevent. Mankind must remember that peace is not God’s gift to his creatures, it is our gift to each other.”
posted by Michael on 8-8-2007 at 7:50 am
Ernest Shackleton was an Antartic explorer. He tried to be the first to transverse the Antartic continent. He did not make it, but he and his entire crew survived more than a year stuck without resupply in the most inhospitable place on earth. His crews story of survival and his decision making was/were phenomenal. Consider that the first Briton to reach the South Pole, Robert Scott, died with his entire crew shortly after reaching the pole. Unfortunately Shackleton got home to England at the outbreak of WW-I and nobody was interested in his story. See the link above (posted as my website) for a brief summary of his exploits.
posted by Stew on 8-8-2007 at 8:39 am
Henry Ossian Flipper, an American soldier and the first black American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy (West Point)
Flipper was born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia on March 21, 1856, the eldest of five brothers. His mother was a slave of the Reverend Reuben H. Lucky, a Methodist minister, and his father, Festus Flipper, a shoemaker and carriage-trimmer, was slave of Ephraim G. Ponder, a wealthy slave dealer.
Flipper attended Atlanta University when Reconstruction began. There, as a freshman, Representative J.C. Freeman appointed him to attend West Point, where there were already four other black cadets. The small group had a difficult time at the academy, where they were rejected by the white students. Nevertheless, Flipper persevered and in 1877 became the first of the group to graduate, becoming a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army cavalry (and the first black commissioned officer in the United States). He was assigned to the 10th Cavalry Regiment[citation needed], one of the four all-black Buffalo Soldier regiments in the army, and became the first black officer to command troops in the U.S. Army (previously, even all-black regiments were led by white officers).
posted by Drew on 8-8-2007 at 9:34 am
I have no name to attach to the people I’m talking about (which is exactly what I’m talking about), but every Olympics, you see a few athletes (often swimmers) break the world record in an event, only to have someone break that record a few minutes later.
“Yeah, I was the world-record-holder for the 500 meter freestyle… for 5 minutes anyway…”
posted by Ryan on 8-8-2007 at 10:29 am
**Addition to Stew’s comment above.**
Read ‘Endurance’ by Alfred Lansing, an amazing account of Ernest Shackleton’s quest to cross Antarctica. The personalities and strength of those men is incredible, you would never find that type of person living in modern times.
posted by Mick on 8-8-2007 at 11:25 am