The National Game by Alfred Henry Spink
NORMAN ELBERFELD--Norman Elberfeld, third baseman of the Washington club of the American League, is called "The Tabasco Kid." This is due to the life and ginger he puts into the game, he being an unusually wide-awake and active player. Elberfeld was born at Mason City, W. Va., April 13, 1876. He s lone as a catcher and short-stop when quite young, and broke into professional baseball with Detroit of the Western League in 1897 and continued with that team the next season and in 1899 with Cincinnati.
From that club Elberfeld went to Washington, where he is playing now. The name of Elberfeld—the Tobasco Kid —has been a household word for aye these many years, that is, in every home where baseball has been discussed. One would think the kid was 40 years old. He was playing with Lajoie at Philadelphia before the year 1900 rolled around. He was with Detroit, New York and is now with Washington. The latter may be his last stand, but the Kid expects to play baseball for seven or eight years to come, for he is only 33 years old and is as lively as a cricket and as energetic on the ball field as at any time in his career.
It is sixteen years since Elberfeld broke into the game as a professional. He went from his home to Clarksville, Ky., and, according to his own story, he was a sorry looking spectacle when he reported to the manager. There had been a wreck the night before and instead of making the trip in a few hours the Kid was on the road all night. He was sleepy, dirty and hungry, as a youth of 17 can become over- night. He wore knee trousers and the manager looked at him askance when he walked up and said: "Are you the manager? Well, I'm Norman Elberfeld, your new player." A few minutes later the '''Kid''' heard the manager confide to one of the old players that "that half pint of cider will never do." However, he gave the '''Kid''' a chance that very day and he won the game for Nat Clarksville. The same evening as they were walking along the main street, the manager turned to the Kid and after looking him him over from head to foot, said: I. "I guess you are a ball player all right, Kid, but if you stay with this team you will have to wear long trousers." "I'm willing, boss," replied Elberfeld. "You buy them for me. You see, I'm dead broke and couldn't buy a shoe lace."
Elberfeld is a little bigger to-day than when he started on his long career sixteen years ago. His earthly belongings. however, amount to considerable more than in 1894. When the Kid reported at Clarksville he was the proud owner of a baseball cap and a pair of shoes. To-day he is well off in this world's goods. You would be surprised to see the '''Kid''' in action. lie is a different ball player than when he helped shoulder the burden with Clark Griffith at New York and later carried it all himself. He is the equal of any third sacker in the major leagues and he has instilled light and ginger in the Washington club that is really good to be- hold. Nobody knows any more baseball than Elberfeld and the younger members of the team are only too happy to receive the many valuable tips from the Kid.
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Product Information
The national game by Alfred Henry Spink (Author)''' Originally published in 1910 (with a second, revised edition in 1911), The National Game by Alfred H. Spink is the first important history of baseball, predating Albert G. Spalding’s better-known America’s National Game by a year. Dedicating the first edition, Spink spells out his lofty goal: “I want this book to live forever, so that the names of those who helped to build up and make base ball the greatest of outdoor sports may never be forgotten.” That goal was postponed, however, as Spink’s The National Game has been out of print since 1911. While Spalding comes down firmly on the side of the owners, telling how the courageous and honest magnates triumphed morally over greedy and crooked players, Spink celebrates the accomplishments of the great players who helped to bring the game into the prominence it enjoyed in the first decade of the twentieth century.
Spink provides a history of baseball before 1910; position-by-position biographies of every current major league player and of former players; sketches of managers, magnates, journalists, and umpires; the line-up of every championship team from 1871 to 1910; and a complete record of all games played for championships from 1884 to the 1910 World Series. In his foreword, Steven P. Gietschier, director of historical records at the Sporting News, details Spink’s career as a St. Louis journalist and as secretary and press agent for the St. Louis Browns until he left the team to start a weekly newspaper devoted entirely to sports: “The Sporting News, eight pages long, hit the streets for the first time on St. Patrick’s Day, 1886.”
From that club Elberfeld went to Washington, where he is playing now. The name of Elberfeld—the Tobasco Kid —has been a household word for aye these many years, that is, in every home where baseball has been discussed. One would think the kid was 40 years old. He was playing with Lajoie at Philadelphia before the year 1900 rolled around. He was with Detroit, New York and is now with Washington. The latter may be his last stand, but the Kid expects to play baseball for seven or eight years to come, for he is only 33 years old and is as lively as a cricket and as energetic on the ball field as at any time in his career.
It is sixteen years since Elberfeld broke into the game as a professional. He went from his home to Clarksville, Ky., and, according to his own story, he was a sorry looking spectacle when he reported to the manager. There had been a wreck the night before and instead of making the trip in a few hours the Kid was on the road all night. He was sleepy, dirty and hungry, as a youth of 17 can become over- night. He wore knee trousers and the manager looked at him askance when he walked up and said: "Are you the manager? Well, I'm Norman Elberfeld, your new player." A few minutes later the '''Kid''' heard the manager confide to one of the old players that "that half pint of cider will never do." However, he gave the '''Kid''' a chance that very day and he won the game for Nat Clarksville. The same evening as they were walking along the main street, the manager turned to the Kid and after looking him him over from head to foot, said: I. "I guess you are a ball player all right, Kid, but if you stay with this team you will have to wear long trousers." "I'm willing, boss," replied Elberfeld. "You buy them for me. You see, I'm dead broke and couldn't buy a shoe lace."
Elberfeld is a little bigger to-day than when he started on his long career sixteen years ago. His earthly belongings. however, amount to considerable more than in 1894. When the Kid reported at Clarksville he was the proud owner of a baseball cap and a pair of shoes. To-day he is well off in this world's goods. You would be surprised to see the '''Kid''' in action. lie is a different ball player than when he helped shoulder the burden with Clark Griffith at New York and later carried it all himself. He is the equal of any third sacker in the major leagues and he has instilled light and ginger in the Washington club that is really good to be- hold. Nobody knows any more baseball than Elberfeld and the younger members of the team are only too happy to receive the many valuable tips from the Kid.
-------
Product Information
The national game by Alfred Henry Spink (Author)''' Originally published in 1910 (with a second, revised edition in 1911), The National Game by Alfred H. Spink is the first important history of baseball, predating Albert G. Spalding’s better-known America’s National Game by a year. Dedicating the first edition, Spink spells out his lofty goal: “I want this book to live forever, so that the names of those who helped to build up and make base ball the greatest of outdoor sports may never be forgotten.” That goal was postponed, however, as Spink’s The National Game has been out of print since 1911. While Spalding comes down firmly on the side of the owners, telling how the courageous and honest magnates triumphed morally over greedy and crooked players, Spink celebrates the accomplishments of the great players who helped to bring the game into the prominence it enjoyed in the first decade of the twentieth century.
Spink provides a history of baseball before 1910; position-by-position biographies of every current major league player and of former players; sketches of managers, magnates, journalists, and umpires; the line-up of every championship team from 1871 to 1910; and a complete record of all games played for championships from 1884 to the 1910 World Series. In his foreword, Steven P. Gietschier, director of historical records at the Sporting News, details Spink’s career as a St. Louis journalist and as secretary and press agent for the St. Louis Browns until he left the team to start a weekly newspaper devoted entirely to sports: “The Sporting News, eight pages long, hit the streets for the first time on St. Patrick’s Day, 1886.”
