The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
1892 Cleveland Spiders had memorable ride
1892 squad had four future Hall of Famers
The Spiders became a piece of Cleveland sports lore as a long-forgotten championship contender.
Even with the national pastime closer to its birth than its stride in 1892, professional baseball was not lacking in bravado.
One afternoon early in the season, a fan in St. Louis decided to approach Chicago’s Hall of Fame manager and first baseman Cap Anson.
The fan was chiding Anson for his squad losing several recent games to another National League outfit, the Cleveland Spiders.
Anson gracefully gave the fan some leeway ... until, that is, he predicted the Spiders would finish ahead of Anson’s squad, in that era nicknamed the Colts.
Anson reached into his wallet, pulled out a $100 bill daring him to bet — and the fan quickly stopped.
Much to the chagrin of the National League that season, though, the Spiders never stopped, as they became a piece of Cleveland sports lore as a long-forgotten championship contender.
The Spiders came into 1892 not lacking in talent, with three future Hall of Famers on its roster in outfielder Jesse Burkett, third baseman George Davis — and their ace, a 25-year-old righthander named Cy Young.
Then there was second baseman Cupid Childs, catcher Chief Zimmer, the elder statesman of the team at 31, and a surprising rookie pitcher in George Cuppy.
But the tone was set for the squad by their confident and opinionated third baseman Patsy Tebeau, who doubled as the Spiders’ manager.
Jan. 11, 1892, Tebeau spoke to Sporting Life magazine about his vision for a “strong” baseball player.
“Exercising in gymnasiums is too much of a strain for a ball player and is apt to harden the muscles too much,” Tebeau said. “The only kind of gymnasium work that does a player any good is hand ball, which is comparatively light, active and trains the eye to become correct.
The Fox team is still finalizing its approach, but expects to use instant messaging with crews to glean the critical information Gordon and Joy need to properly call a race.
Gordon and Joy spent the last two months calling iRacing events from a studio, so they have some experience with broadcasting remotely. Still, they will be winging some things as they adapt to watching the race on monitors instead of describing what’s unfolding right in front of them at the
track.
“I’m just excited that the opportunity is there for NASCAR and motorsports,” Gordon told The Associated Press. “We are always comparing our sport to others but now we really get to really talk about the uniqueness of our sport and showcase that, because that is what is giving us this opportunity when other sports are going to be more delayed.
“Motorsports is fortunate to have this opportunity. I am more excited to see that in action, but I think everybody is nervous. Normally in a broadcast we have practice, we have qualifying, we get to
work some things. This is going to be ‘Boom,’ just like the drivers and the teams. They are going to get in the car and drop the green flag and it is on, and for us it is going to be the same thing.”
NASCAR’s return will be conducted in just one day, with qualifying and practices canceled for a consolidated schedule. A random draw will be used to help set the field at Darlington — positions 1-12 will be set by a random draw from teams in those positions in owner points, followed by a draw for teams in positions 13 through 24, and finally another draw for teams
ranked between 25th and 36th. The final four slots will go to non-chartered teams based on order of owner points.
The field will be frozen for a competition caution on Lap 30 and only the top 20 cars will be allowed to pit on that lap. The other 20 cars will pit on the next lap.
Gordon, a four-time NASCAR champion ranked third in all-time victories, applauded the new approaches the sanctioning body is taking as it attempts to restart the season. There are at least two Wednesday night races coming up, with the field May 20 at Darlington set
by the finishing order of Sunday’s race — with a twist: The top 20 finishers Sunday will be inverted for Wednesday’s starting lineup.
With so much happening and NASCAR being the first major sports league with a nationally televised event, Gordon recognizes the responsibility he and Joy have to set the right tone. Gordon was a driver in NASCAR’s first race back after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. won in Dover, Delaware, and set an iconic image for the nation by waving the American flag out his window during his celebration.
“These are unique and challenging times and I hope that people that tune in are tuning in because they recognize the importance that sports play in our every day life,” Gordon said. “I think it can show hope. I think there’s going to be a lot of eyeballs on this event to see how it’s going to play out and how it’s going to be able to continue after this, and what that means for our country as people are trying to figure out how they are going to get back to work or normalcy or school and what life is going to look like over the next year. If a sporting event like this can happen, then, what’s the next step?”