>> A FEW WEEKS BACK, A COUPLE OF THE LAWS OF THE BASEBALL DATING3
TO THE LATE 1950s, SOLD AT AUCTION FOR MORE THAN 3 MILLION.
SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSOR, AND
SPORTSWRITER MARTY DOBROW, SAT DOWN WITH ME TO TALK ABOUT WHAT
THIS DOCUMENT TELLS US ABOUT THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL, AND HIS
REACTION TO THE RECORD PRICE PAID FOR IT.
>> I GUESS IT SHOWS THE PLACE THAT BASEBALL IS IN AMERICA.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HISTORY, PART OF OUR AMERICAN HISTORY,
AND OTHER GAMES, CERTAINLY, WE SEE BASKETBALL, AND FOOTBALL,
AND VERY PROMINENTLY IN OUR CULTURE, AND BASEBALL DID NOT
STAND ALONE.
IN AMERICA, BUT IT IS STILL HAS A WHOLE, A HOLD ON THE PULSE OF
THIS COUNTRY.
>> THERE'S BEEN NO RUMORS OR SPECULATION.
WHO PUT DOWN 3.3 MILLION?
>> THEY HAVE DONE A GREAT JOB OF KEEPING THIS UNDER WRAPS.
I KNOW JOHN THORN, WHO IS THE OFFICIAL BASEBALL HISTORIAN, AND
FOR ALL RIGHTS SHOULD BE BASEBALL'S POET LAUREATE, AS
WELL.
HE'S BEEN PUTTING FORTH THE CASE OF THIS DOC ADAMS, WHO IS
CREDITED FROM THESE LAWS OF BASEBALL, AT BEING A SHAPING
INFLUENCE.
IN SOME SENSE, THIS VINDICATES THE GREAT WORK.
HE'S REALLY A MESMERIZING SPEAKER.
I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR HIM KEYNOTE AND ADDRESS ON BASEBALL,
IN AMERICAN CULTURE, THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME ABOUT FIVE
YEARS AGO, AND SO, IF IT'S GOOD FOR JOHN THORN, GENERALLY
SPEAKING, IT'S PRETTY GOOD FOR ME IN TERMS OF HISTORY.
>> LET'S TALK ABOUT THAT, THESE LAWS OF BASEBALL CAN BE DATED
PRECISELY TO 1857, AND AGAIN, THAT'S THREE YEARS EARLIER THAN
FOLKS WITH THE LAWS OF BASEBALL WERE SET DOWN, AND BRINGS IN
THIS -- I SHOULD NOT SAY NEW GUY BECAUSE HE'S BEEN KNOWN BUT NOT
WELL-KNOWN, DANIEL LUCIOUS ADAMS, DOC ADAMS, NEW HAMPSHIRE,
A NEW HAMPSHIRE GUY, BASEBALL PLAYER, AND NOW, APPEARS HE
PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE KEY THINGS, THE MEASUREMENTS OF
THE BASES, BASELINES, AND THE NUMBER OF INNINGS AND PLAYERS,
AND WE'RE LEARNING, WE DID LEARN SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT, IT SEEMS,
WITH THESE LAWS.
>> I THINK WE DID.
BASEBALL DOES NOT HAVE A BIG BANG.
IT DOES NOT HAVE A MAGNA CARTA.
WE HAVE THAT FOR BASKETBALL, WE HAVE IT RIGHT HERE IN
SPRINGFIELD, AND YOU KNOW, THE STORY OF DR.
SMITH, THE ORIGINAL DR.
JAY, WITH THE BASKET, RIGHT HERE IN SPRINGFIELD, AND THAT'S
A GREAT STORY, AND IT'S RATHER INDISPUTABLE.
YOU DON'T HEAR OTHER ALTERNATIVES VERSIONS OF THE
CREATION OF THAT SPORT.
BASEBALL, YOU DO.
AND THERE IS A LOT OF MYTHOLOGY THAT'S BEEN ATTACHED TO IT,
HISTORICALLY, AND CERTAINLY, THE DOUBLE DAY STORY, WHICH WAS PART
OF THIS COMMISSION, THE MILLS COMMISSION, I THINK IT WAS, IN
1905, WITH -- WAS SET OUT TO FIND HOW DID THE GAME BEGIN.
THEY SPUN THIS CAPTIVATING STORY ABOUT THE DOUBLE DAY, THE UNION
GENERAL, AND THE CIVIL WAR, AND INDISPUTABLY A GREAT WAR HERO,
BUT SEEMINGLY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH BASEBALL.
WE HAVE DOUBLE DAY FIELD, WE HAVE THE DOUBLE DAY HALL OF FAME
IN COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK, BASED ON THIS.
I THINK THAT WE HAVE STARTED TO PIECE SOME OF IT TOGETHER.
I THINK THE STORY OF DOC ADAMS GIVES US SOME PIECES OF THAT.
THOSE DETAILS ABOUT THE DIMENSIONS OF THE GAME, THE
NUMBERS OF BASEBALL TO, ME, THAT'S ALWAYS A FASCINATING
STORY. 90 FEET.
IT MATTERS THAT IT'S THE 90.
IF IT WERE 85, FROM HOME TO FIRST, PEOPLE WOULD BE SAFE ALL
THE TIME.
IF IT WERE 95 FEET, PEOPLE WOULD BE OUT ALL THE TIME.
IT WOULD DISTORT SO MUCH OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT BASEBALL.
AND 60 FEET AND SIX INCHES, IT SEEMS AN ODD DISTANCE FROM THE
PITCHER RUBBER TO THE PLATE.
WHY THAT AMOUNT OF DISTANCE?
WELL, THE HUMAN ARM, BASICALLY, YOU CAN THROW A BASEBALL, THE
TOP PITCHERS THROW 95 TO 102 AND 103 MILES PER HOUR.
AND NO MORE THAN THAT.
DOESN'T SEEM LIKE A HUMAN ARM AT THIS POINT CAN THROW ANY FASTER
THAN THAT.
THAT GIVES A BATTER STANDING 60 FEET AND 6 INCHES AWAY
SOMEWHERE ABOUT .4 OF A SECOND TO REACT.
THAT'S ABOUT AS MUCH TIME AS YOU CAN REACT AND STILL BE ABLE TO
ADJUST TO IT.
SO THERE IS A PERFECTION IN THESE NUMBERS, THAT ALLOWS THE
PRECISION OF THE GAME TO PLAY OUT.
>> THAT'S THE AMAZING THING BECAUSE TODAY, THERE IS ALL
KINDS OF BIOMETRICS THAT YOU COULD SEE BE USED TO MEASURE AND
FIGURE THAT OUT, WHAT REACTION TIME YOU ARE GOING TO NEED, AND
WHAT TIME YOU WILL NEED TO GO FROM THE EYE TO THE BRAIN TO THE
ARM AND THEY DON'T HAVE ANY OF THAT.
>> NONE OF THAT WAS AVAILABLE.
>> THEY HAVE COME UP WITH THIS PERFECT SATURATION.
>> IT IS REALLY REMARKABLE, SO THE NUMBERS ABOUT BASEBALL ARE
SO EXQUISITE, THE DISTANCES, AND OBVIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, THE
HALLOWED HISTORICAL NUMBERS, AND THEY MATTER.
WHEN YOU SAY, YOU KNOW, EVEN RECORDS THAT HAVE BEEN ECLIPSED
IN THE STEROID YEAR OF IT, YOU KNOW, YOU HEAR TOTALS LIKE 60
HOME RUNS OR 61 HOME RUNS, OR 714 HOME RUNS, AND THOSE STILL
MATTER TO BASEBALL PEOPLE.
A 300 BATTING AVERAGE, YOU KNOW. 300 WINS.
THOSE NUMBERS HAVE SIGNIFICANCE AND SIGNIFICANCE ACROSS TIME.
I THINK THAT THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT AVOWS FOR THE
CONTINUITY OF BASEBALL IN THE PUBLIC EYE.
>> THERE IS SOME REASON AND INDICATION TO BELIEVE THAT
SOMETHING LIKE WHAT WE CALL BASEBALL GOES BACK MUCH, MUCH
FARTHER, THE GENTLEMEN WE KNOW, BRIAN TURNER, BASEBALL HISTORY
IN NORTHAMPTON.
SAID HE'S FOUND REFERENCE THIS IS EARLY TOWN HISTORY,
PITTSFIELD IN THE LATE 1700 AND 1791, AND IN NORTHAMPTON, TO
TURN PEOPLE TO BASEBALL, FIRST TIME IN THE TOURNAMENT, WAS EVER
USED, THAT THEY CAN FIND, WAS IN PITTSFIELD.
IT IS NEAR THE TOWN MEETING HALL.
THE WINDOWS GET BROKEN AND IT'S COSTING MONEY TO FIX THEM.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE CALL BASEBALL, IT EXISTED QUITE SOME TIME AGO.
>> PRESUMABLY SO.
WE HAVE YOU KNOW, THE TECHNOLOGY FOR RECORDING HISTORY IS SO MUCH
DIFFERENT NOW, AND IT'S EVOLVING IN REAL-TIME, I JUST READ
SOMETHING ABOUT A CONTACT LENS THAT'S BEING TESTED, THAT'S
GOING TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO VIDEOTAPE EVENTS OUT OF THEIR
OWN EYES, AND YOU THINK ABOUT JUST HOW THAT CAN TRANSFORM
PERSONAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY.
YOU GO BACK YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY TO THE 1790'S, OR YOU GO BACK TO
1857 OR ANY OF THESE DATES.
WE DID NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO RECORD HISTORY OTHER THAN, YOU
KNOW, PARCHMENTS AND INK, AND QUILT PENS, AND WE RELY ON THE
GOOD FAITH EFFORT OF HISTORIANS, AND SOMETIMES, WE CAN PIECE IT
TOGETHER REASONABLY WELL AND SOMETIMES NOT.
AND CLEARLY, THERE WAS A LONG HISTORY OF THE WORLD THAT
PREDATED THE UNITED STATES.
THERE WAS A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES THAT PREDATED
BASEBALL.
SOMETIME IN THE 19th CENTURY, THERE WERE GAMES THAT WERE
PLAYED, THAT WERE BASEBALL.
SOMETIMES, PERHAPS, BEFORE THEN, YOU KNOW, WE HAD SOMETHING LIKE
THAT, BUT IT'S A RECENT PHENOMENON.
>> IT SEEMS TO ME, AS I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS, AND HOW YOU
SAID TO ME THE OTHER DAY, WE WERE PLANNING ON YOU COMING IN,
AND WE MENTIONED HERE TODAY, WE DON'T HAVE THAT BIG BAG MOMENT,
WE KNOW WHEN THE DOCTOR SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT, WE NEED TO DO
SOMETHING DURING THE WINTER, TO STAY IN SHAPE, LET'S HELP SOME
PEOPLE TAKE OUT THE BOTTOM.
WE DON'T HAVE THAT WITH BASEBALL.
IT LOOKS LIKE WE NEVER WILL, UNLESS TIME TRAVEL HAPPENS, SOME
DAY IN THE FUTURE, AND SOMEBODY GOES BACK AND LOOKS.
THERE IS A CERTAIN BEAUTY TO THAT, AND THE MYSTICISM OF
BASEBALL, THAT WE DON'T KNOW, IT JUST CAME SOME HOW TO US.
>> I LIKE THAT APPROACH TO IT, AND IT'S IRONIC THAT BASEBALL IS
A GAME THAT IS MOST CONNECTED TO OUR HISTORY.
IT'S A GAME THAT WILL BE RESURVIVORS ON HISTORY, AND THE
HISTORY OF THE GAME, ITSELF, IS A MYSTERY.
SO IT'S -- I THINK THAT THERE IS A CERTAIN IRONY IN THAT, AND
PERHAPS YOU KNOW, A MYSTICAL SENSE THAT WILL FOREVER PLAY OUT
AND BE PART OF THE APPEAL OF A GAME THAT SO MANY OF US STILL
LOVE SO MUCH.
>> MARTY DOBROW, ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO SEE YOU AND THANKS
FOR COMING IN AND GETTING YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON THIS.
>> THANK YOU VERY MUCH.