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DEKES PLAYED PIVOTAL ROLE IN BASEBALL FOR NEARLY TWO CENTURIES: BROTHERS OF THE DIAMOND
THEY PLAYED, COACHED, BROADCAST, ADMINISTERED THE GAME AND CONTRIBUTED SO MUCH TO THE NATIONAL PASTIME
By: Barry Milavsky, Phi Alpha, University of British Columbus, '72
In my early twenties, during my first function at the DKE Club of New York, I knew no one and was intimidated by the older brothers who filled the room. I wondered if we had anything else in common.
In the first group I approached, one brother was pontificating on baseball. I felt some connection and stood there listening when he suddenly turned and asked, “Do you know anything about baseball, kid?”
Startled, I nodded. “You heard of Bobby Thomson’s shot heard ’round the world, the famous home run. So, kid,” he continued, “who was on deck?”
I had no clue, but thought the on-deck hitter might be someone fast – perhaps a centerfielder. I blurted out “Willie Mays.” The speaker gave me a surprised look, a nod, and said, “OK kid, you can stay.”
With that I was introduced to the DKE Club and Brother Henry Berry who had just written “A Baseball Century: The first 100 years of the National League.” A long history and one which featured many Dekes.
While Dekes didn’t invent baseball, our brothers have played a significant role in its evolution. Today’s catchers can be grateful for their teeth, thanks to Brother Frederick Thayer (Alpha - Harvard) who invented and patented the first catcher’s mask. Thayer, the manager and third baseman for Harvard, adapted a fencing mask in 1877 for a baseball game between Harvard and the Live Oaks of Lynn. The mask was quickly accepted and widely used by the 1880s.
The “League Ball” adopted by the National League in 1880 and American Association of Professional Base Ball Clubs by 1892 was made by the A.G. Spalding Company. This ball was used through 1976 with Spalding’s Reach brand on American League balls, and the Spalding trademark in the National League. Spalding’s longtime president was Julian Curtiss (Phi – Yale). Brother Curtiss also pioneered the introduction of golf in North America.
In baseball’s early days, sport was only for those who could afford it. Playing didn’t pay well, if at all. Many early players were men who had excelled on their college teams, but almost every professional player had a “real job” away from baseball.
Long before major league baseball, Albert Bishop (Phi – Yale 1853) played centerfield for the champion Buffalo Niagaras of 1859. He went on to become a trustee, then president of the University of Arkansas from 1873-75.
Eddy Andrews (Beta Chi - Western Reserve now Case Western) joined the Philadelphia Quakers of the National League in 1884. He also played for the Indianapolis Hoosiers, Brooklyn
Ward’s Wonders, and Cincinnati Kelly’s Killers. Brother Andrews, nicknamed “Old Judge,” was involved in the earliest formation of a players’ union, the Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players, and in 1898 was credited with authoring a code of rules for National League umpires.
Fred Brown (Pi – Dartmouth) was an early Deke major leaguer for the Boston Beaneaters of the National League in 1901 and 1902. The Beaneaters became the Doves, then Rustlers, then Braves, and moved, as the Braves, to Milwaukee, then Atlanta. Brother Brown moved on after baseball to become a lawyer, then governor, then U.S. Senator from New Hampshire and finally Comptroller General of the United States in 1939. He clearly had a solid back up plan to baseball.
Clinton W. Blume (Mu – Colgate) was an All-American pitcher who played for the New York Giants. He was part of their 1922 World Series championship team. Clint later became prominent in real estate and in the 1950s became president of the Real Estate Board of New York .
In 1936, All-American baseball and football player Larry Kelley (Phi – Yale) was the second winner of the Outstanding Player in College Football award, which would be renamed the Heisman Trophy. Kelley turned down an offer from the St. Louis Cardinals to become a high school teacher and coach. He said “I don’t ever want to be known as a professional. I don’t like the word.” We’ve come a long way from the day when there was greater glory as a high school coach than a professional player.
Dr. Bobby Brown (Sigma Rho – Stanford) excelled not just as a player winning four World Series for the New York Yankees over eight years, but also in completing his medical degree. After a distinguished career as a cardiologist, Brown served as president of the American League for a decade. He is remembered for giving his future wife advice on how to introduce him to her parents: “Tell your mother that I’m in medical school studying to be a cardiologist; tell your dad that I play third base for the Yankees.”
One Deke never played in the Majors but did play against MLB talent. While still U.S. Vice President in 1984, George H.W. Bush (Phi –Yale) hit a line drive single off Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn in an old-timer’s game. In 1990, Topps Chewing Gum produced a baseball card specifically for then President George H.W. Bush, honoring his achievement as the only U.S. president to play in the College World Series, which his Yale team won twice. President is also a good fallback job to baseball.
As fewer college men played Major League baseball, Dekes became more prominent in other roles. Everett “Eppy” Barnes (Mu-Colgate) was the first President of the American Association of College Baseball Coaches after playing professionally with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He is in the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
Broadcasting brought huge value to the players and owners. John Poor (Gamma Phi – Wesleyan) ran RKO’s Mutual Broadcasting’s network that, through its affiliates, helped bring baseball to a broader audience across the country.
Broadcaster John Rea (Phi Alpha - UBC) managed Canada’s Telemedia Radio Network bringing the Toronto Blue Jays games coast to coast. Rea was in the broadcast booth in Atlanta when the Blue Jays, the first team from outside the US, won their historic World Series in 1992.
Brother Sam Winslow (Alpha – Harvard) captained Harvard’s baseball team before becoming a congressman. In 1888, his best friend, Earnest Thayer, while employed by William Randolph Hearst (Alpha – Harvard) at the San Francisco Examiner, wrote the most famous of all baseball poems, “Casey at the Bat.” He was inspired by Winslow’s play on the field.
This poem helped popularize the game everywhere except in Mudville.
One early team owner was Charles Taft (Phi - Yale) who became part owner of the Chicago Cubs in 1905. He then bought into the Philadelphia Phillies. He sold his interest in the Phillies to buy sole ownership of the Cubs in 1912, while his half-brother, William Howard Taft, served as U.S. president.
Within a few years Brother Taft sold the Cubs to a group that by 1918 was headed by William Wrigley Jr. William Wrigley III (Phi - Yale) inherited the Cubs from his father.
The Deke influence remains today. Currently, Jed Hoyer (Gamma Phi – Wesleyan) serves as the President of Baseball Operations for the Cubs. He previously served as assistant general manager of the Boston Red Sox.
George W. Bush (Phi – Yale) gained high visibility as a co-owner of the Texas Rangers before becoming Governor of Texas and then U.S. President.
One of the highest profile baseball owners was undoubtedly George Steinbrenner (Epsilon - Williams) From a successful shipping business in Cleveland, Steinbrenner and his partners made a timely $8.8 million purchase of the Yankees in 1972, just as team values skyrocketed. Under Steinbrenner’s colorful and controversial leadership, the Yankees won seven World Series championships and 11 American League pennants.
One position higher than league president is Major League Baseball Commissioner. After being appointed as the youngest President of Yale University, Bart Giamatti (Phi – Yale) said, “All I ever wanted was to be president of the American League.” Instead, Giamatti took on the role of President of the National League in 1986. He was selected to be Commissioner in 1988; however, his untimely death from a heart attach at age 51 limited his term.
Dekes have helped grow organized baseball for a century and a half in many capacities: as players, coaches, broadcasters, owners, and even commissioner. They are certainly dedicated fans, as well, who enjoy watching games on TV at the Deke House with their brothers.
