Rhode Island Baseball: The Early Years

by Rick Harris

Woonsocket native Gabby Hartnett set the world record by catching a baseball thrown from a blimp eight hundred feet above him. Then he did it again. Rhode Island Baseball possesses the same knack for astonishing you time after time with stories of baseball legends you thought you knew (like Nap Lajoie) and teams you might never have heard of (like the OSRC: Orcutt's Sure Rheumatism Cure). As you slide back into an era when men and women played professional ball barehanded and a rabbit hole could change a game, you will discover how large a role America's smallest state played in the nation's favorite pastime.

Genres: Baseball

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 13, 2008

Reviews

[Matthew Szewczyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an interesting look at the early years of organized baseball in Rhode Island. Not written chronologically, the book is presented in three parts; the origins and development of baseball in RI, the players and the teams. Each one feels like a separate work collected in book form.

There was plenty of interesting material presented including Babe Ruth playing for the Providence Gray's, old cigarette cards and the way the game used to be played barehanded.

I did have a few issues with the book, the first part which talks about the origins of the game is rather slim. There are intriguing images in the book such as a Warwick Mills team photo from the 1800's which is not discussed or referenced at all. The history if the Providence Grays was presented in different sections of the boom and the author states gives differing dates of the teams end. He says that the team was bought out and dissolved by the Red Stockings in 1885 (page 73) he later states Babe Ruth played for them in 1914 (page 138) and they played until 1949. Finally he has the habit of ending sections with what I took to be a segue which is never continued. For example, chapter 14 ends with a paragraph stating that Woonsocket would not get another baseball team until Trotters which holds the distinction of being the only team ever to have a losing season, zero to one, without playing a game. The interesting story behind that team is never explained and left me scratching my head over its tantalizing inclusion.

If you live in Rhode Island and have an interest in baseball I think that you will find this to be an interesting look into the states history with the national pastime. I hope that the author continues the series with more recent events and teams as well.