Cubs Historic Photos: 25th In A Series
With spring training approaching, I thought I'd post this photo -- this was a drill done in spring training on Catalina Island in 1934.

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Using my handy dandy reference book...
“Cubs by the Numbers” of course…I’m going to guess some of the players in the photo are…..
7 CharlieGrimm
5 Riggs Stephenson
21 Roy Joiner
61 Babe Phelps
4 Babe Herman
9 Gabby Hartnett
8 Billy Jurges
18 Pat Malone
Or did they use different uniforms and/or numbers during ST?
"Fasten those seatbelts"-Pat Hughes
Al needs those numbers to write his long, detailed explanation of when this picture was taken.
;)
Who cares if he's a Cubs fan? This is a football forum! He is a PACKER fan as well. So, from now until March, I’m sure he’ll dedicate a lot of his time here. In late March, then we can be enemies during the baseball season. Besides, the Cubs have perhaps the most loyal baseball fanbase in the country. You have to respect that.
Go Pack!
by Jabooty on Jan 25, 2010 2:58 PM EST
by Vermont Cubs Fan on Feb 6, 2010 4:51 PM CST up reply actions
Are you sure it isn't the dead ball era?
"A waist is a terrible thing to mind." - Terry 'Fat Tub of Goo' Forster
@Twitter as @brommmietze
by eths on Feb 6, 2010 8:20 AM CST via mobile reply actions
Which reminds me...
in a book I just recently read I saw some photographs of old advertisements from the 1870’s for balls and bats. I was surprised the that ball ad read “Carr’s Professional $1.00 Dead Ball”. I hadn’t realized the balls were actually called dead balls. I thought that was just a nickname for the era because of how the game was played.
"Fasten those seatbelts"-Pat Hughes
I found this link to about the 19th Century baseballs. I hope I post it correctly
Here’s an article about the ball
One of Lee Elia's 15%
Never heard of an actual ball being advertised as "dead" either.
So it looks like the term, originally used to describe a variety of ball, came to describe an entire era. But the era generally means the first two decades of the twentieth century when, compared to the Babe Ruth dominated era of more power hitting starting around 1920, games were low-scoring and emphasized defense. The two words “dead” and “ball” are often combined to form a new adjective for the period — Deadball Era. Here’s an article about the “Era” (as opposed to the ball) at Baseball Reference:
One of Lee Elia's 15%
Yeah. That is more or less what I thought of as the "deadball era".
"Fasten those seatbelts"-Pat Hughes
Thanks!
That’s an interesting article. I love stuff like that. A couple of summers ago our family went to see a baseball game at Midway Village in Rockford, IL that was using 1860’s rules, umpiring, etc. It was so cool. If I see they are doing that again this summer, I’ll post about it because I think a lot of people here would be interested.
Midway Village also has an ongoing exhibit about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League because the Peaches were from Rockford. That’s pretty good as well.
"Fasten those seatbelts"-Pat Hughes
Sounds great.
They also hold “historic” games at the site of the Cubs’ 1908 ST — West Baden, Indiana. When I hear of the date, I’ll post it. Here’s what it looked like 100+ years ago. The domed building peeking above the structure in the background is the West Baden Springs Hotel — a gorgeous place that has been restored as a hotel again. At the time, the dome was the largest in the world.

One of Lee Elia's 15%
by waiting4cubs on Feb 6, 2010 10:22 AM CST up reply actions
Reminds me of the old game "telephone".
Everyone is in a big circle. Person #1 looks at a sentence or short story written on a card. They then whisper what they read into the ear of person #2, who then whispers what they heard to person #3 and so on around the circle until the last person then tells what he/she heard and it is compared to what was originally written on the card. Most times, it’s not remotely close to being correct.
Now only 12,859 on the "Cubs Season Tickets Waiting List"...
that is what i was thinking also
btw sorry about Illinois
Wait for it....POUND SAND Without me this board is Al Yellon talking to himself.....................by BLou
Well, we're still a game up.
Gotta get Lucas healthy ASAP. And Green is an emerging star…
Now only 12,859 on the "Cubs Season Tickets Waiting List"...
You'd think that a major league team...
….could afford TWO medicine balls so that you didn’t have 19 guys standing around waiting for a touch. But maybe I’m putting too much expectation on the “training” part of spring training!
"I tried to let Ryan know that [jumping over the dugout railing] was a thing that maybe just athletes should stick to." -- Ted Lilly, 28 July 2009
by CaughtInTheVines on Feb 6, 2010 10:27 AM CST reply actions
You mean like a trust fall into the arms of Babe Herman?
From Wikipedia:
Herman developed a self-deprecating attitude about his shortcomings; when informed by a local bank that someone had been impersonating him and cashing bad checks, he said, “Hit him a few flyballs. If he catches any, it ain’t me.”
"I tried to let Ryan know that [jumping over the dugout railing] was a thing that maybe just athletes should stick to." -- Ted Lilly, 28 July 2009
by CaughtInTheVines on Feb 6, 2010 3:24 PM CST up reply actions
Perfect timing-
as I was looking at this thread my husband just gave me the book “Chicago Cubs 1926-1940-Images of Baseball” as a gift. It looks pretty cool. Lots of good photos like the one above. Did I ever tell you guys I have the best husband in the world?
"Fasten those seatbelts"-Pat Hughes
Al, to your knowledge,
What did the players think about having ST on Catalina Island?
Who cares if he's a Cubs fan? This is a football forum! He is a PACKER fan as well. So, from now until March, I’m sure he’ll dedicate a lot of his time here. In late March, then we can be enemies during the baseball season. Besides, the Cubs have perhaps the most loyal baseball fanbase in the country. You have to respect that.
Go Pack!
by Jabooty on Jan 25, 2010 2:58 PM EST
by Vermont Cubs Fan on Feb 6, 2010 12:40 PM CST reply actions
I honestly have no idea.
In some ways, they probably liked it, because they were put up in first-class accomodations owned by the Wrigleys. On the other hand, they were isolated on an island and didn’t get to play other teams for a month.
Have not read any first-hand reports from any of the players of that era about spring training.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Makes sense.
Who cares if he's a Cubs fan? This is a football forum! He is a PACKER fan as well. So, from now until March, I’m sure he’ll dedicate a lot of his time here. In late March, then we can be enemies during the baseball season. Besides, the Cubs have perhaps the most loyal baseball fanbase in the country. You have to respect that.
Go Pack!
by Jabooty on Jan 25, 2010 2:58 PM EST
by Vermont Cubs Fan on Feb 6, 2010 12:52 PM CST up reply actions
I'm just guessing
but since players of that era were generally not treated very well by management, getting put up in a first class resort probably made them pretty happy. If they had complaints, it was probably about Jolly Charlie Grimm and not anything about the location.
As far as playing other teams, I don’t get the sense that was a big deal in the 1930s.
you should call them in for an interview
Wait for it....POUND SAND Without me this board is Al Yellon talking to himself.....................by BLou
Here's an exerpt from the book "Wrigleyville" by Peter Golenbock:
Woody English: " For my first Spring Training to Catalina, I took the train from Colombus, Ohio to Los Angeles, then a two-hour boat ride to Catalina. William Wrigley owned the island lock, stock, and barrel, and everything on it except a few homes. He had a little bank. Everything belonged to Mr. Wrigley."
" Mr. Wrigley’s home was up on a cliff, a beautiful, big estate, and he owned a nice big hotel there where the players stayed, and he had a bird aviary on the property, and there was a golf course. You couldn’t see one flag from the tree. And he had a lot of quail, and they’d feed the quail everything behind the big hotel. There were hundreds of those quail."
" We changed clothes in what we called the bathhouse down on the ocean there on the dock, where the ships docked and then we walked up maybe three blocks to the ballpark, and it had a nice fence around it, a huge place, although the stands weren’t large. And I remember there were palm trees out by the fence."
" We didn’t play a lot of exhibition games. There weren’t too many teams training on the coast. The New York Giants were about the only team who played over there."
“I had never been to a place like that before (Catalina Island). It seemed like I had always heard about Honolulu, Hawaii and that’s the first thing that entered my mind. The water was so clean and blue it really struck me. I thought, I must be in heaven.”
United we stand and united we'll fall......down on our knees when we win it all!
by Bricks and Ivy on Feb 6, 2010 1:50 PM CST up reply actions
Sounds like they enjoyed it. It was probably like a vacation for some of them who didn't own much before they played ball.
United we stand and united we'll fall......down on our knees when we win it all!
by Bricks and Ivy on Feb 6, 2010 1:51 PM CST up reply actions
Thanks for posting that.
I have read Golenbock’s book, but a long time ago. Did not remember that specific passage.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Which, really, was probably most of them
"I tried to let Ryan know that [jumping over the dugout railing] was a thing that maybe just athletes should stick to." -- Ted Lilly, 28 July 2009
by CaughtInTheVines on Feb 6, 2010 3:27 PM CST up reply actions
Thanks for answering that question.
Maybe the veterans would teach some of the youngsters how to get ready for the season on Catalina.
Who cares if he's a Cubs fan? This is a football forum! He is a PACKER fan as well. So, from now until March, I’m sure he’ll dedicate a lot of his time here. In late March, then we can be enemies during the baseball season. Besides, the Cubs have perhaps the most loyal baseball fanbase in the country. You have to respect that.
Go Pack!
by Jabooty on Jan 25, 2010 2:58 PM EST
by Vermont Cubs Fan on Feb 6, 2010 4:52 PM CST up reply actions
mmmm quail is tasty
thanks for the post, that is a good insight to it
Wait for it....POUND SAND Without me this board is Al Yellon talking to himself.....................by BLou
Great pic Al
There’s so much I like about this picture. The historicalness (word?) of the great Cubs teams from the 30’s, the joy on the players faces in carrying out a simple training drill, and obviously you gotta love the hope that comes with Spring Training. And look at #21 (Joiner), #61 (Phelps), and #4 (Herman). It’s almost like, give them a glove and they are ready to field a grounder. And then of course there’s Gabby Hartnett. One of the greatest to ever play. Certaintly one of the greatest to put on a Cubs uniform. I forget, didn’t he end up winning the MVP that year (1934)? Anyways, lovin’ the old Spring Training pics, Al!
by blakethesnake77 on Feb 7, 2010 11:41 PM CST reply actions
I like "historicalness".
If it wasn’t a word before, it should be.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

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