Good Night at the Fitzgerald Theater

I enjoyed a nice night at the Fitzgerald Theater with Garrison Keillor and John Thorn.  Who is John Thorn?  He is the official historian of Major League Baseball.  He has written a new book, Baseball in the Garden of Eden:  The Secret History of the Early Game. 

Garrison came out first and told about his experience with the game of baseball.  It was before the game of soccer had been introduced to Minnesota and was a time when he and his friends got together and made up any number of games that were baseball related.  "We benefitted from great neglect," he smiled explaining that there was not an adult anywhere in sight. 

Then came John Thorn.  Keillor questioned him about the origins of baseball and Thorn expained how neither Abner Doubleday nor Alexander Cartwright invented baseball.  He told how the clubs in New York and the Massachusetts area played different kinds of "baseball" and how the New York rules eventually won out. 

Thorn said that baseball started in America because people wanted more exercise.  "It was part of a sanitary movement," said Thorn because the people of New York were so alcohol dependent and disease ridden. 

After discussing the history for about 45 minutes during which Thorn showed his humor and adamant opinion that "History Matters," Keillor went down to the theater floor and opened the evening up for questions.  There were sizeable contingents of Northwest Umpires and SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) present and it made for a lively question and answer period. 

Thorn turned a little cranky when he didn't understand a question or maybe it was because he thought it was just a poor question, but he was glib and fun when the subject was one he wanted to expound on.  It brought images of Tom Kelly to me from his radio show when they used to go the the callers and Tom thought the callers were asking stupid questions.  (Of course that was before the Twins sent him to Charm School). 

Thorn drew a loud response when he said that he would have preferred that the Massachusetts rules had won out because he loves Chaos.  Under those rules there was no foul ground and batters would sometimes turn around and hit the ball away from the diamond.  He went on to say that the essential elements of baseball are "randomness and risk" and the more they are involved the more entertaining the game.  He didn't think that instant replay had any place in the game and thought the real "hayday or golden era of baseball" was from 1909-1925.  When asked what could kill the game of baseball, he responded that "nothing could kill this game."  

A questioner asked Thorn what the best non-fiction baseball books were and he replied that the Glory of Their Times:  The Story of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, by Lawrence Ritter and Jim Bouton's Ball Four are the best.  "If you haven't read the Glory of Their Times, you should go home and start reading tonight," said Thorn.