The Crowd Takes the Field
A crowd that stole the show, the first October showdown, a rookie who flipped for the fans, and a clock to keep the show moving.
Ed. 10.01.26
The Crowd Takes the Field (1866)
The Athletics of Philadelphia and the Atlantics of Brooklyn met in a series billed as the championship of baseball. Philadelphia expected a crowd. It had no idea. An estimated 30,000 people swamped the grounds at 15th and Columbia and pushed out onto the field. Police could not clear them, and the game was called almost before it began. When the Athletics hosted Brooklyn again three weeks later, a new fence ringed the field. The fans had been the main event all along.
The First World Series Game (1903)
Two years after the American League arrived, the two leagues' champions finally met. Game 1 drew 16,242 to Boston's Huntington Avenue Grounds. Pittsburgh hit Cy Young for four runs in the first, and in the seventh Jimmy Sebring hit the first home run in World Series history. Deacon Phillippe struck out 10 in a 7-3 Pirates win. Boston took the series five games to three, but Pittsburgh will always own Game 1.
The Wizard Takes Flight (1978)
On the last day of his rookie season, Fan Appreciation Day in San Diego, the Padres asked Ozzie Smith to do a backflip for the crowd. He obliged. That afternoon's win capped the first winning season in franchise history, but the flip is what stuck. It followed Ozzie to St. Louis, where it became an Opening Day tradition, and all the way to Cooperstown. Plenty of shortstops dazzled with the glove. Ozzie found a way to dazzle before the first pitch.
Baseball Starts the Clock (2014)
MLB announced it would test pace-of-play rules in the Arizona Fall League, including a 20-second pitch clock posted in the dugouts, behind home plate, and in the outfield. The funny part: the rulebook already told pitchers to deliver within 12 seconds with the bases empty. The clock just made everybody count. Double-A and Triple-A got one the next season, and the majors followed in 2023. The game always had a clock. Somebody finally hung it on the wall.
