eta: From Robert Edward Auctions

Can we even run this? 1898 Obscene Language Baseball Document – Not For Kids!

We were minding our own business, writing up lots, when a delivery arrived with a few odds and ends from the estate of baseball historian Al Kermisch. Almost all of his collection of circa 1900 era Baltimore baseball related memorabilia had already been sold in the May 2007 REA auction. A few additional interesting odds and ends were found for us to look at for potential auction. Among the items was the 1898 document pictured above, entitled “Special Instructions To Players,” regarding the use of obscene language by players at the ballpark, to intimidate umpires and opposing players, and to verbally battle with unfriendly fans.

Reading this document started out very drab for a sentence or two, but then quickly got our attention as the language used became very unexpected for an official Major League baseball document, let alone one devoted to demanding players not use “any indecent or obscene word, sentence, or expression.” It turned “blue,” and, well, got “bluer.” This piece is ironic as it provides many examples of exactly the kind of “brutal language” that was being outlawed. In fact, it is so over the top that at first we thought it was some type of a joke. But as we examined the paper, found that this language did exist in the 1890s, considered that general rowdiness and the use of obscene language by players were big issues in baseball in this era, and noted that the accompanying items were all from the same era, we soon realized that that this was not a joke at all. This was actually a fascinating and historically significant baseball document, distributed to National League players, that captures an aspect of professional baseball from the rough-and-tumble single-League 1890s era that is not well documented. Granted, in terms of language, it is also the most offensive official Major League baseball document that we have ever seen. That makes it all the more amusing to us, but we also recognize that maybe this is a piece that isn’t for the entire family. Truck drivers, yes, sailors, yes, ballplayers in the 1890s, obviously yes. But probably not everyone.

Article has scans of the document....

Ha! Tommyrot beat me to it -- I was too enraptured with the sheer Swearengenosity to remember to post the URL.

Must. Have.

[link]

the sheer Swearengenosity

I clicked on the link, mentally prepared to find a bunch of quaint oddities, like in a 30's era bloopers reel Hec once saw in which people like Carole Lombard and Rudy Vallee said things like, "Nuts!"... but the baseball doc -- that's not so quaint.

Well you don't often hear people compared to genitalia "lapping" canines anymore.

Bing Crosby was known for deliberately singing four-letter words when he messed up a take while recording, so that the record producer would have to destroy the tapes instead of keeping them for blooper records. Apparently, his language was truly filthy.

What, ridiculously romanticized and inaccurate stereotypes of the home country? Say it aint so! (Signed, "Celtic," as in the basketball team, pronounced SELL-tick, and used as a noun.)

Ha! I'm in the 4th generation of an Irish immigrant family, which is just close enough to the Mother Country to still have green eyes and be rightfully terrified of the cuisine.

People who say "How's it hanging?" as a greeting.

I only do that with old buddies of the regular and fuck- varieties.

Microbrew prices are about to go up like WHOA due to the hop shortage and malt/grain price increases-

yeah, NPR was reporting that Budweiser was going to increase their prices.

We have reached the point of Peak Beer!

Article has scans of the document....

Ah, baseball, the game of tradition. So nice to see it's stayed true to its roots.