The 1903 World Series was the first modern World Series to be played in Major League Baseball. It matched the American League (AL) champion Boston Americans against the National League (NL) champion Pittsburgh Pirates in a best-of-nine series, with Boston prevailing five games to three, winning the last four. The first three games were played in Boston, the next four in Allegheny, and the eighth (last) game in Boston.
Tyrus Raymond Cobb, nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the last six as the team's player-manager, and finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1936, Cobb received the most votes of any player on the inaugural ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 222 out of a possible 226 votes (98.2%); no other player received a higher percentage of votes until Tom Seaver in 1992. In 1999, the Sporting News ranked Cobb third on its list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players."
Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and advertise cigarette brands.
Riverside Park, located in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, was originally built in 1914 to serve as a spring training park for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1914 to 1917. Sometimes referred to as Tradewater Park, it is the only known baseball park in Kentucky to have hosted a major league team since the Louisville Colonels folded in 1899. While the original stadium was destroyed in a flood in the 1930s, it was later rebuilt in 1999. Like the original stadium, the rebuilt park is reconstructed out of wood. It is the only ballpark of its kind in Western Kentucky.
Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner, sometimes referred to as Hans Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner won his eighth batting title in 1911, a National League record that remains unbroken to this day, and matched only once, in 1997, by Tony Gwynn. He also led the league in slugging six times and stolen bases five times. Wagner was nicknamed "the Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage. This nickname was a nod to the popular folk-tale made into a famous opera by the German composer Richard Wagner. In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb's 222 and tied with Babe Ruth at 215.
Fred Clifford Clarke was an American Major League Baseball player from 1894 to 1915 and manager from 1897 to 1915. A Hall of Famer, Clarke played for and managed both the Louisville Colonels and Pittsburgh Pirates. He was a left fielder and left-handed batter.
Matthew Avery Modine is an American actor. He rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987). Other films include Birdy (1984), Vision Quest (1985), Married to the Mob (1988), Gross Anatomy (1989), Pacific Heights (1990), Short Cuts (1993), Cutthroat Island (1995), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and Oppenheimer (2023). On television, he portrayed Dr. Don Francis in the HBO film And the Band Played On (1993), the oversexed Sullivan Groff on Weeds (2007), Ivan Turing in Proof (2015), and Dr. Martin Brenner in Netflix's Stranger Things (2016–2022).
The 1909 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1909 season. The sixth edition of the World Series, it featured the National League champion Pittsburgh Pirates against the American League champion Detroit Tigers. The Pirates won the Series in seven games to capture their first championship of the modern Major League Baseball era and the second championship in the club's history. This Series is best remembered for featuring two of the very best players of the time, Pittsburgh shortstop Honus Wagner, and Detroit outfielder Ty Cobb.
Thomas Andrew Leach was an American professional baseball outfielder and third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball from 1898 through 1918 for the Louisville Colonels, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds.
T206 is a tobacco card set issued from 1909 to 1911 in cigarette and loose tobacco packs through 16 different brands owned by the American Tobacco Company. It is a landmark set in the history of baseball card collecting, due to its size and rarity, and the quality of its color lithographs. The first series of cards were issued beginning in 1909. From 1909 to 1911 cards of over 500 major minor-league players in 16 different cigarette brands. The set featured Honus Wagner, Eddie Plank and the error cards of Larry Doyle and Sherry Magee. Several of the cards are among the most expensive sports cards ever sold.
William Edward "Wid" Conroy was an American Major League Baseball player active during the first decade of the 20th century.
Honus & Me is a children's novel by Dan Gutman, published in 1997, and the first in the Baseball Card Adventures series. It was rejected by many publishers before HarperCollins finally accepted. It became a bestseller and was adapted into the made-for-television movie The Winning Season, starring Matthew Modine.
The 1909 Detroit Tigers won the American League pennant with a record of 98–54, but lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1909 World Series, 4 games to 3. The season was their ninth since they were charter members of the American League in 1901. It was the third consecutive season in which they won the pennant but lost the World Series. Center fielder Ty Cobb won the Triple Crown and pitcher George Mullin led the league in wins (29) and winning percentage (.784).
The 1901 Pittsburgh Pirates finished in first place in the National League, 7½ games ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Phillies. It was the first year that the American League operated as a major league, but there would be no World Series between the leagues until 1903.
The 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates won a second straight National League pennant, by an overwhelming 27.5 game margin over the Brooklyn Superbas. It was the Pirates' first ever 100-win team, and it remains the franchise record for best winning percentage at home (.789).
The 1907 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 26th season for the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise. It involved the Pirates finishing second in the National League.
The 1908 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 27th season for the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise. The team finished in a tie for second place in the National League with the New York Giants, one game behind the Chicago Cubs.
The 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 28th season for the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise, during which they won the National League pennant with a record of 110–42 and their first World Series over the Detroit Tigers. Led by shortstop Honus Wagner and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke, the Pirates scored the most runs in the majors. Wagner led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and runs batted in. Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss opened the Pirates' new ballpark, named Forbes Field, on June 30, 1909.
George Evans known as "Honey Boy" Evans was a Welsh-born songwriter, comedian, entertainer, and musician active in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Ban Johnson Park was a baseball stadium located in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It was also known as Whittington Park and McKee Park. The ballpark was located within today's Whittington Park Historic District and directly across from the still active Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo.
