Baseball at the Abyss

In this episode, we talk about some baseball history. Author Dan Taylor has recently written a book on an interesting story from Major League Baseball in the 1920s with the subject matter of scandal, home runs, Babe Ruth, and some sports business innovation in the title of Baseball at the Abyss: The Scandals of 1926, Babe Ruth, and the Unlikely Savior Who Rescued a Tarnished Game. Dan joins us in this episode to tell the tale.

The folks that have taken the time to do the sometimes painstaking research, interviews, and countless hours at a keyboard to bring us the knowledge and entertainment from their books. These people are experts from the fact that they spent the time to learn about or even experience their subject matter. We enjoy reading their work and picking their brains if given the opportunity, and we now share this woth you.

May 4, 2023, 2:46 pm

Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is a sports historian, author, and a former award-winning television sportscaster who is currently the
television broadcaster for the Fresno Grizzlies. He is the author of five books, most recently Lights, Camera, Fastball:
How the Hollywood Stars Changed Baseball and Walking Alone: The Untold Story of Football Pioneer Kenny
Washington. Taylor is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research and contributes to their biography
project. He is also a member of the Pacific Coast League Historical Society. He resides in Fresno, California.

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The story centers around one of Baseballs's all-time greats, Scandal, what many consider the best MLB team ever assembled, and major innovation in professional sports.

Dutch Leonard, a former Detroit Tigers star pitcher who bought farmland near Fresno, California, reveals a shocking secret from his past in the Big Leagues a few years after the 1919 Black Sox World Series Scandal. It is about a game-fixing scheme he was involved with during the 1919 season, organized by Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, two of baseball's biggest stars. This information could bring the reputation of the MLB down to the levels of wrestling and horse racing at the time, not a good position to be in in the public eye.

With millions of dollars on the line in the form of ticket sales, Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis was dispatched to the Leonard Winery Farm for details on the Scandal and what he could do in damage control. Little did anyone know that the saving grace of Pro Baseball would be in the form of an aging, broke star ball player and an unemployed newspaperman.

The story inculdes history of the game in the 1927 New York Yankees, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and a guy named Christy Walsh, perhaps the initial modern sports agent and business manager.

The game of baseball has a long and storied history of its players, teams and managers. The stats, the championships, pitching duels and so much more make this one of the most interesting items to study and watch.

May 4, 2023, 2:53 pm

Baseball at the Abyss - The Scandals of 1926, Babe Ruth, and the Unlikely Savior Who Rescued a Tarnished Game

A book by author Dan Taylor - Baseball at the Abyss:The Scandals of 1926, Babe Ruth, and the Unlikely Savior Who Rescued a Tarnished Game

The story centers around the alleged scandal of MLB legends Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, who were accused of fixing and betting on games and the scandal surrounding them and baseball. They were acquitted by the voice of an unlikely person, — Christy Walsh, the 1st modern sports agent and business manager for Babe Ruth.

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Here is some further onformation on some of the subject matter to tide you over while you await the arrival of your book order of Baseball at the Abyss: The Scandals of 1926, Babe Ruth, and the Unlikely Savior Who Rescued a Tarnished Game.

These people, teams, plays, and eras of the game of baseball that may not be in the Hall of Fame but are significant enough to have influenced the game. The actions and events have changed baseball enough that we rememebr them here as legends, legacy, and maybe even in infamy, but historic all the same.

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More Trouble in Mudville ‣ 1926 MLB Scandal

The 1926 gambling scandal that involved baseball legends turned managers, Tris Speaker and Ty Cobb rocked the baseball world. MLB 1926 Scandal

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Bill Burgess records info on the gambling scandal ‣ 1926 MLB Scandal

The Baseball Guru fills us in on the 1926 scandalous Leonard, Ty Cobb, and Tris Speaker Affair by Bill Burgess. MLB 1926 Scandal

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Baseball

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Christy Walsh

Born December 2, 1891, Christy Walsh was educated as a lawyer, but began his career with the Los Angeles Herald as a reporter and cartoonist. His newspaper experience would serve him well later in life. After he lost his job, between 1921 and 1938, Walsh built and ran a successful ghostwriting syndicate of thirty-four baseball writers representing at first Babe Ruth and other mainstream celebrity figures. He is known for acting as Babe Ruth's agent and is considered the first baseball sports agent.

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Babe Ruth

Born February 6, 1895, in Baltimore maryland, was babe Ruth. He was best known as a professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", he began his MLB career as a star left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, but achieved his greatest fame as a slugging outfielder for the New York Yankees. Ruth is regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture and is considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time. MLB Jersey 3

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Banner image is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of Babe Ruth at bat in Dugdale Park, Seattle, October 19, 1924. George Herman "Babe" Ruth was well-known for being "the captain of the home run industry" and for his swaggering style. Upon Ruth's retirement in 1935, no one had hit half as many home runs as his record of 714 -- a record that stood for almost four decades. In this photograph from his visit to Seattle in 1924, Ruth is batting during a game at Dugdale Park.

Caption information sources: HistoryLink.org, The Baseball Page.com. Date photograph was published supplied by Seattle Post-Intelligencer staff: October 19, 1924. Date on sleeve indicates later article published in 1931.

We thank Dan Taylor and the good folks at Rowman-Littlefield Publishing for providing us a complimentary copy of the book to prepare for the discussion.