billsportsmaps.com

January 24, 2023

NFL 1964 season, map with helmets/jerseys & final standings + offensive stats leaders; champions: Cleveland Browns.

Filed under: NFL> 1964 map/season,NFL/ Gridiron Football,Retro maps — admin @ 6:53 pm

nfl_1964_map-with-helmets_1964-standings_offensive-stats-leaders_home-jerseys_cleveland-browns-champs_post_d_.gif
NFL 1964 season, map with helmets/jerseys & final standings + offensive stats leaders; champions: Cleveland Browns



By Bill Turianski on 24 January 2023; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-1964 NFL season
-1964 NFL Championship Game (en.wikipedia.org).
-1964 NFL season (pro-football-reference.com).

1964 NFL title game: Cleveland Browns 27, Baltimore Colts 0.
In 1963, Blanton Collier replaced the Cleveland Browns’ 17-year head coach Paul Brown. Owner Art Modell had fired Paul Brown, after the team went 7-6-1 in 1962. This came about because by the early 1960s, Paul Brown had hardened into an autocratic leader unwilling to work with the owner, or to let others share the limelight. The power struggle between Modell (the owner), Paul Brown (the head coach and team founder), and the star player (Jim Brown) could only end one way, and that was for Paul Brown to go.

Collier had been an assistant coach under Paul Brown from 1946 to 1953, back in the glory days of the Browns in the AAFC (winning all four AAFC titles) and then in the NFL (winning the 1950 title in the Browns’ first NFL season). Circa the early 1950s, Blanton Collier had been the first coach in the NFL to utilize film analysis. Collier went on to coach the University of Kentucky Wildcats from 1954-61. Collier then went back to Cleveland in 1962, as offensive assistant. One year later, Collier was the Browns’ new head coach.

As head coach, Blanton Collier was a patient perfectionist who brought calm to the Browns’ locker room.
•In 1963, the Browns under Collier went 10-4, finishing 1 game behind the Giants in the NFL East.
•In 1964, the Browns under Collier went 10-3-1, finishing 1/2 game above the Cardinals, and winning the NFL East.

1964 NFL Championship Game, Sunday December 27 1964.
Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, OH. Attendance: 79,544 [overflow-capacity of 101.7%]. Game-time temperature was 32°F (0°C), with a strong 20-MPH wind off of Lake Erie, and occasional light snow flurries. The Baltimore Colts were heavily-favored. Oddsmakers had the Colts favored by 7 points, and virtually everyone in the national media - and the local Cleveland media - predicted a huge Colts victory. The Colts were led by second-year head coach Don Shula and QB Johnny Unitas, and featured the league-leader in TDs, HB Lenny Moore. The Colts had coasted to the Western Division title, going 12-2 and clinching their post-season berth with 3 games to spare, and had the highest-scoring offense and the least-scored-upon defense. Meanwhile, the Browns had struggled to win the Eastern Division, and squeaked into the post-season with only a half-a-game lead over the surprise St. Louis Cardinals. The Browns were led by second-year head coach Blanton Collier, QB Frank Ryan (the league-leader in TD passes), FB Jim Brown (the league-leader in rushing and in yards from scrimmage), and WRs Gary Collins and rookie Paul Warfield. This was the Browns’ eighth NFL championship game appearance since joining the NFL in 1950, but it was their first in seven years.

The first half went scoreless, with both teams unable to move the ball. Late in the 3rd Quarter, with the Browns up 3-0, Jim Brown broke open for a 46-yard run {see photo below}. (Jim Brown ran for 114 yards in the game.) That run set up the Browns’ first TD, on the next play: an 18-yard pass from Browns QB Frank Ryan to WR Gary Collins {see photo below}. Then late in the 3rd quarter, Ryan found Collins again, on a 42-yard pass. That gave the Browns a 17-0 lead {see photo below}. In the 4th quarter, Ryan found Collins yet again, on a 51-yard pass play that carried Gary Collins into the end zone standing-room-only crowd {see photos below}. Gary Collins’ 3 TD pass receptions in an NFL title game is a record that still stands (as of 2022). The Cleveland Browns’ 1964 title was the only NFL title that Jim Brown won. It was the Browns’ 4th NFL title. And 58 years later, it is still the last NFL title that the Cleveland Browns have won.

cleveland-browns_1964-nfl-championship-game_municipal-stadium_browns-27_colts-0_blanton-collier_frank-ryan_gary-collins_jim-brown_f_.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
Screenshot of exterior of Municipal Stadium’s “Home of the Cleveland Browns” banner, from video uploaded by jstube36 at youtube.com. Interior shot of Municipal Stadium for 1964 NFL title game (Sunday December 27, 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio), shot from upper deck before game, photo unattributed at goldenrankings.com/nflchampionshipgame1964. Blanton Collier and Jim Brown [photo circa 1963], unattributed at fold3.com/[Blanton Collier]. Photo of Blanton Collier and QB Frank Ryan, unattributed from Cleveland Browns (II) at artsci.case.edu. Jim Brown running for 46-yard gain, photo unattributed at brownswire.usatoday.com. Screenshot of WR Gary Collins catching his 1st TD pass in end zone, from video uploaded by Cleveland Browns at youtube.com. Screenshot of WR Gary Collins catching his 2nd TD pass in end zone, from video uploaded by Cleveland Browns at youtube.com. Gary Collins after his record-setting 3rd TD pass reception, emerging from standing-room-only section behind endzone, photo unattributed via dawgsbynature.com/2019/12/26/21038201/where-are-your-former-browns-now-wr-gary-collins. Jim Brown immediately after the game, swarm by congratulatory fans, screenshot from video uploaded by NFL Films at youtube.com.




Browns players on map page,
Frank Ryan [photo circa 1965], unattributed at thedelite.com. Dick Schafrath [1965 Fleer card], from vintagecardprices.com. Jim Brown [photo from 1964], photo by Neil Leifer via pinterest.com. Paul Warfield [1965 Fleer card], from psacard.com. Gary Collins [photo from 1964 NFL Championship Game (Dec. 27 1964)], unattributed via dawgsbynature.com/2019/12/26/21038201/where-are-your-former-browns-now-wr-gary-collins. Brownie the Elf with crown (1964 NFL title-winners), photo from worthpoint.com.
Game-worn mid-1960s Cleveland Browns helmet (Paul Warfield), photo from helmethut.com/Browns/Warfield. Lou Groza [photo circa 1963], unattributed at gamedaysportsmemorabilia.com. Jim Houston [1962 Post Cereal card], from footballcardgallery.com. Dick Modzelewski [photo circa 1964], unattributed at clevelandbrowns.com. Bill Glass [photo from 1962], photo by Neil Leifer via gettyimages.com. Bernie Parrish [1965 Fleer card], from maaravamall.com. Segment of NFL-logo-themed playing cards [from 1964], from grayflannelsuit.net/blog.

Offensive stats leaders on map page,
Bart Starr QB (Packers) [photo circa 1963], 1964 Packers Yearbook from ebay.com
Charley Johnson QB (Cardinals) [photo from Jan. 1965], photo by Walter Iooss Jr via gettyimages.com.
Frank Ryan QB (Browns) [photo circa 1963], photo from Getty Images via pinterest.com.
Jim Brown FB (Browns) [photo circa 1964], photo unattributed at brownswire.usatoday.com.
Johnny Morris FL (Bears) [image from 1963], screenshot from video at chicagobears.com/video/chicago-bears-decade-series-1960-s.
Lenny Moore HB (Colts) [image circa 1965], screenshot from video uploaded by NFL Films at youtube.com/[#94: Lenny Moore | The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players]
___

Thanks to all at the following links…
-Blank map by anonymous US federal government employee, at File:StatesU.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Thanks to the contributors at pro-football-reference.com
-Thanks to the contributors at NFL 1964 season (en.wikipedia.org).
Special thanks to Tim Brulia, Bill Schaefer and Rob Holecko of The Gridiron Uniform Database, for giving billsportsmaps.com the permission to use football uniforms illustrations from Gridiron Uniform Database {GUD}.

May 31, 2022

Billsportsmaps’ 15th anniversary throwback: NFL 1920 to 1960 [hand-drawn map].

Filed under: 15th anniversary maps,NFL/ Gridiron Football,Retro maps — admin @ 7:40 pm

By Bill Turianski on the 31st of May 2022; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-National Football League (en.wikipedia.org).
-Gridiron Uniforms Database: gridiron-uniforms.com.
-Sportslogos.net: sportslogos.net/[NFL].

    Billsportsmaps.com will have its 15th year anniversary, on the 17th of August 2022.

So to mark the 15th anniversary of my site, I am posting a series of maps from the early days of this blog. Here, I am re-posting my first-ever post {originally, here}. It is a hand-drawn map of the early days of the NFL. This map shows the prominent NFL teams of the period from 1920 to 1960.

    NFL 1920 to 1960 [hand-drawn map]

    nfl_chop2.gif

    There are 35 teams shown on the map. The criteria I used to determine which teams to include on the map, and which teams to leave out, was this: a team (franchise) had to have played at least 4 NFL seasons. So the map shows every NFL team which was established between 1920 and 1960, and which existed for at least 4 seasons.

    Franchise shifts are shown as well, with arrows indicating the franchise relocations. Those franchise relocations I showed on the map are:
    1) 1921: Decatur Staleys move from central Illinois, up to Chicago, to eventually become the Chicago Bears in 1922; 2) 1934: Portsmouth Spartans move from southern Ohio, up to Detroit, to become the Detroit Lions; 3) 1937: Boston Redskins move from Massachusetts, down to the nation’s capital, to become the Washington Redskins; 4) 1946: the reigning 1945 NFL champions the Cleveland Rams move all the way out to the West Coast, to become the Los Angeles Rams; 5) 1960: the Chicago Cardinals move down to Missouri to become the St. Louis football Cardinals.

    The evolution of the football helmet is depicted at the top of the map. The 6 helmets shown at the top of the map are, from left to right:
    1) a generic plain leather football helmet from the late 1910s/early 1920s; 2) Green Bay Packers yellow/gold-painted leather helmet (with multiple round air vents) circa late 1930s; Chicago Bears navy-blue-painted padded leather helmet from the 1940s; 4) Detroit Lions silver-painted plastic-shell helmet from the early 1950s; 5) Cleveland Browns orange plastic helmet with white center-stripe from the early 1950s; 6) Philadelphia Eagles green plastic helmet with silver eagle-wing decal and facemask circa late 1950s.

    Other images of note on the map:
    Helmets shown on the map:
    A) New York Giants dark-blue leather helmet with red-painted sunburst design from 1929; B) Philadelphia Eagles green leather helmet with wavy silver/white painted top section [aka the feather helmet], from 1942 to ’48; C) Los Angeles Rams dark-blue leather helmet with yellow/gold hand-painted rams’ horns design (made and painted by Rams’ Halfback Fred Gehrke) [which was the first helmet-logo in gridiron football history], from 1948; D) Washington Redskins burgundy plastic helmet with white-&-pale-red feather decal on the back-center of helmet, from 1958 to ’64; E) Dallas Cowboys first helmet, a white plastic helmet with a plain dark-blue star decal and two thin dark-blue center-stripes, from 1960 to ’63.

    Players shown on map:
    Inset-map of northeastern Ohio at the top of the map: Jim Thorpe in his Canton Bulldogs gear circa 1920, based on a famous photo, seen at his Wikipedia page, here. Central Illinois: George Halas in Chicago Staleys gear in 1921. This is an anachronism I was not aware of when I drew this map: a few years ago the Gridiron Uniforms Database unearthed the fact that the early Staleys/Bears teams wore red, and not navy-blue-and-orange until 1922. The uniform I have on the map wasn’t in use until 1928, and you can see that by scrolling through the first decade of the Bears’ uniform history, here. And finally, the player tossing the ball in the Packers’ logo on the map is not a particular player, but a generic player, and that is based on the team’s primary logo from the late 1950s, here.

    The list of the 35 teams shown on the map can be found at the foot of this post.




    The American Professional Football Association was formed in 1920, in Canton, Ohio. The APFA changed its name to the National Football League in 1922. Today, only two of the original 1920 franchises, the Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears) and the Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals), remain as NFL franchises.

    The early days of the NFL were marked by franchise instability and public indifference. College football was far more popular, and club finances were further eroded by the onset of the Depression in the early 1930s. Many teams came and went. In fact, there wasn’t a balanced schedule until 1936. In other words, for the first 16 seasons of the NFL, some teams played more games than other teams, and scheduling games was left to the teams themselves (and not the league). The roster of defunct NFL teams would startle the average NFL fan of today. Very few fans who cozy up to their TV each autumn Sunday to watch pro football know that in the early 1930′s, New York City boasted three NFL teams: the New York football Giants, the Brooklyn football Dodgers, and the Staten Island Stapletons (NFL, 1929-32). Or that the list of teams that have won an NFL title include the Frankford Yellow Jackets, of Philadelphia, in (1926), and the Providence Steam Roller in (1928). Or that the Detroit Lions, est. 1934, began as the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans (1930-33). The league soldiered on through the Depression in the 1930s, and by the end of World War II, the NFL was poised for its future success. The post-War era saw the end of leather helmets in the late 1940s. And the post-Wa era also saw a more emphasized passing game, which helped gain more fan interest. By the late 1950′s, television coverage began turning the NFL into the sports entertainment juggernaut it is today.

    To see a list of defunct NFL teams that played for at least 4 seasons, click on the following:
    nfl_defunct-teams_that-played-at-least-4-years_1920-60_17-teams_post-c_.gif
    Chart by billsportsmaps 2022; Canton, Columbus, Dayton, Duluth, Frankford logos drawn by gridiron-uniforms.com/[Defunct Teams]; Milwaukee logo by Darth_Brooks at reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/Revising Defunct NFL Teams




    To see a list of all NFL teams (past and present) shown on the map, scroll down to the foot of this post, under the enlarged map below.

      NFL 1920 to 1960 [hand-drawn map]

    nfl-1920-1960map_b.gif

      The 35 NFL Teams on the map (which includes every NFL franchise established between 1920 and 1960 which existed for at least 4 seasons)…

    [Teams below listed by: years played, alphabetically, with {NFL titles up to 1960 listed} (and with franchise-shifts noted).]
    1920 APFA (NFL): 10 franchises est. 1920 on the map…
    •Akron Pros, of Akron, OH (1920-26; 1926 as Akron Indians {1920 APFA title}.)/ Defunct.
    •Buffalo All-Americans, of Buffalo, NY (1920-29; 1924 & ’25 as Buffalo Bisons; 1926 as Buffalo Rangers; 1928 team suspended operations {1921 disputed APFA title}./ Defunct.
    •Canton Bulldogs, of Canton, OH (1920-26; in 1924: played in Cleveland, OH as Cleveland football Indians {1922, 1923 NFL titles}.)/ Defunct.
    •Chicago Cardinals (1920-59; 1960: franchise moved to St. Louis, MO as the St. Louis football Cardinals (NFL, 1960-87) {1925, 1947 NFL titles}.)/ Present-day Arizona Cardinals (NFL, 1988- ).
    •Columbus Panhandles, of Columbus, OH (1920-26; 1923-26 as Columbus Tigers.)/ Defunct.
    •Dayton Triangles, of Dayton, OH (1920-29; 1930: franchise moved to Brooklyn NY, as Brooklyn football Dodgers (NFL, 1930-43; 1944 as Brooklyn Tigers.)/ Defunct.
    •Decatur Staleys, of Decatur, IL (1920; 1921: franchise moved to Chicago, IL as Chicago Staleys)./ Present-day Chicago Bears (NFL, 1921- ).
    •Hammond Pros, of Hammond, IN [Greater Chicago, IL]/ traveling team (1920-26.)/ Defunct.
    •Rochester Jeffersons, of Rochester, NY (1920-25.)/ Defunct.
    •Rock Island Independents, of Rock Island, IL (1920-25.)/ Defunct.
    1921 APFA (NFL): 2 new franchises and 1 relocated franchise est. 1921 on the map…
    •Chicago Staleys, of Chicago, IL (orig. est. 1920 as the Decatur Staleys (1920)/ 1921: franchise moved to Chicago, IL as the Chicago Staleys (1921); 1922: changed name to the Chicago Bears {1921, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1943, 1946 NFL titles}.)/ Present-day Chicago Bears (NFL, 1921- ).
    •Green Bay Packers, of Green Bay, WI (1921- {1929, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1939, 1944 NFL titles}.)/ Present-day Green Bay Packers (NFL, 1921- ).
    •Minneapolis Marines, of Minneapolis, MN (1921-24.)/ Defunct.
    1922 NFL: 1 franchise est. 1922 on the map…
    •Milwaukee Badgers, of Milwaukee, WI (1922-25.)/ Defunct.
    1923 NFL: 1 franchise est. 1923 on the map…
    •Duluth Kelleys, of Duluth, MN/ primarily a traveling team (1923-27; 1926: changed name to Duluth Eskimos.)/ Defunct.
    1924 NFL: 1 franchise est. 1924 on the map…
    •Frankford Yellow Jackets, of Frankford, a section of NE Philadelphia, PA (1924-31 {1926 NFL title}.)/ Defunct.
    1925 NFL: 3 franchises est. 1925 on the map…
    •New York football Giants, of Manhattan, NYC, NY (1925- {1927, 1934, 1938, 1956 NFL titles}.)/ Present-day New York Giants (1925- ).
    •Pottsville Maroons, of Pottsville, PA (1925-28 {1926 disputed NFL title}.)/ 1929: franchise moved to Boston, MA as Boston Bulldogs (1929)/ Defunct.
    •Providence Steam Roller, of Providence, RI (1925-31 {1928 NFL title}.)/ Defunct.
    1929 NFL: 1 franchise est. 1929 on the map…
    •Staten Island Stapletons, of Stapleton, NE Staten Island, NYC, NY (1929-32.)/ Defunct.
    1930 NFL: 1 new franchise & 1 relocated franchise est. 1930 on the map…
    •Portsmouth Spartans, of Portsmouth, OH (1930-33 {1932: lost 1st-ever NFL playoff game to Chicago Bears}.)/ 1934: franchise moved to Detroit, MI as the Detroit Lions (NFL, 1934- )./ Present-day Detroit Lions (NFL, 1934- ).
    •Brooklyn football Dodgers, of Brooklyn, NYC, NY (orig. est. 1920-29 as the Dayton Triangles of Dayton, OH/ 1930: moved to Brooklyn, NYC, NY as the Brooklyn football Dodgers; 1944 as Brooklyn Tigers.)/ Defunct.
    1932 NFL: 1 franchise est. 1932 on the map…
    •Boston football Braves (1932-36; 1934: changed name to Boston Redskins. )/ 1937: franchise moved to Washington, DC as the Washington Redskins (1937-2019; 2020-21:Washington Football Team)/Present-day Washington Commanders (1932- ).
    1933 NFL: 2 franchises est. 1933 on the map…
    •Philadelphia Eagles, of Philadelphia, PA (1933- {1948, 1949, 1960 NFL titles}./ Present-day Philadelphia Eagles (NFL, 1933- ).
    •Pittsburgh football Pirates, of Pittsburgh, PA (1933- ; 1940: changed name to Pittsburgh Steelers)./ Present-day Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL, 1933- ).
    1934 NFL: 1 relocated franchise on the map…
    •Detroit Lions, of Detroit, MI (orig. est. as the Portsmouth (OH) Spartans (1930-33)/ franchise moved to Detroit, MI in 1934 as the Detroit Lions (1934- {1935, 1952, 1953, 1957 NFL titles} .)/ Present-day Detroit Lions (NFL, 1934- ).
    1937 NFL: 1 new franchise & 1 relocated franchise est. 1937 on the map…
    •Cleveland Rams, of Cleveland, OH (1937-42; ’44-45) {1945 NFL title}/ 1946: franchise moved to Los Angeles, CA as the Los Angeles Rams (1946-94; 2016- ) {1951 NFL title}/ 1995: franchise moved to St. Louis, MO as the St. Louis Rams (1995-2015)/ 2016: franchise moved back to LA as the Los Angeles Rams)/ Present-day Los Angeles Rams (NFL, 1937- ).
    •Washington Redskins, of Washington, DC (orig. est. 1934-37 as the Boston Braves/Redskins/ 1937: franchise moved to Washington, DC (1937-2019; 2020: changed name to Washington Football Team; 2022: changed name to Washington Commanders {1937, 1942 NFL titles}.)/ Present-day Washington Commanders (NFL, 1934- ).
    1944 NFL: 1 franchises est. 1944 on the map…
    •Boston Yanks, of Boston, MA (1944; ’46-48)/ 1949: franchise moved to New York City, NY as the New York Bulldogs (1949; 1950: changed name to New York Yanks (1951-51)/ 1952: franchise moved to Dallas Texas as the Dallas Texans (1952/ Defunct).
    1946 NFL: 1 franchises est. 1946 on the map…
    •Los Angeles Rams, of Los Angeles, CA (orig. est. 1937 as the Cleveland Rams (1937-42; ’44-45) {1945 NFL title}/ 1946: franchise moved to Los Angeles, CA as the Los Angeles Rams (1946-94; 2016- ) {1951 NFL title}/ 1995: franchise moved to St. Louis, MO as the St. Louis Rams (1995-2015)/ 2016: franchise moved back to LA as the Los Angeles Rams)/ Present-day Los Angeles Rams (NFL, 1937- ).
    1950 NFL: 2 franchises est. 1950 on the map [AAFC/NFL merger of 1950]…
    •[AAFC-merger team] Cleveland Browns (1950-1995; 1999- {1950, 1954, 1955, 1964 NFL titles}.)/ Present-day Cleveland Browns (NFL, 1950-1995; 1999- ).
    -[AAFC-merger team] Baltimore Colts (I) (1950./ Defunct.) [Not shown on the map.]
    •[AAFC-merger team] San Francisco 49ers (1950- )/ Present-day San Francisco 49ers (NFL, 1950- ).
    1953 NFL: 1 franchises est. 1953 on the map…
    •Baltimore Colts (II) (1953–1983 {1958, 1959 NFL titles}./ 1984: franchise moved to Indianapolis, IN as the Indianapolis Colts (1984- ).)/ Present-day Indianapolis Colts (NFL, 1952- ).
    1960 NFL: 1 new franchise & 1 relocated franchise est. 1960 on the map…
    •Dallas Cowboys, of Greater Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (1960- .)/ Present-day Dallas Cowboys (NFL, 1960- ).
    •St. Louis football Cardinals (est. 1920 as the Chicago Cardinals (1920-59 {1925, 1947 NFL titles}/ 1960: franchise moved to St. Louis, MO as the St. Louis Cardinals (1960-87)/ 1988: franchise moved to Greater Phoenix, AZ (1988- ), as the Phoenix Cardinals; 1994: changed name to Arizona Cardinals.) / Present-day Arizona Cardinals (NFL, 1920- ).



    ___

April 21, 2022

1969 MLB Location-map with Jersey-logos & Attendances, featuring the ’69 World Series champions: the New York Mets; & AL and NL Stats Leaders.

Filed under: Baseball,Baseball-1969 MLB season,Retro maps — admin @ 12:56 pm

mlb_1969_map-of-mlb-1969_24-teams_ws-champions-new-york-mets_1969-mlb-attendances_1969-mlb-stats-leaders_post_f_.gif"
1969 MLB Location-map with Jersey-logos & Attendances, featuring the ’69 World Series champions the New York Mets & AL and NL Stats Leaders




By Bill Turianski on the 21st of April 2022; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-1969 MLB season (en.wikipedia.org).
-1969 MLB (baseball-reference.com).
-Year in Review: 1969 American League (baseball-almanac.com).
-Year in Review: 1969 National League (baseball-almanac.com).
-1969 MLB logos (sportslogos.net).

1969 MLB Location-map with jersey-logos with 1969 attendances, featuring the ’69 World Series champion New York Mets.
This is my third in a series.
Here are links to the first two posts in this series:
1967 MLB Location-map with Jersey-logos & Attendances, featuring the ’67 World Series champions: the St. Louis Cardinals;
1968 MLB Location-map with Jersey-logos & Attendances, featuring the ’68 World Series champions: the Detroit Tigers.

The map shows the locations of the 24 Major League Baseball teams of 1969.
At the foot of the map-page are 1969 MLB Statistical Leaders (in both the American League and the National League), in the following categories: ERA, Wins, WAR for Pitchers; Batting Average, Home Runs, RBIs, WAR for Position Players. A photo of each player is shown, with stats; photo credits are at the foot of this post.

At the top of the map-page is a section for the 1969 MLB champions, the New York Mets. I featured photos of the 12 players on the ’69 Mets with the highest WAR [Wins Above Replacement], plus the their manager, Gil Hodges. Photo credits are at the foot of this post. The players are: Tom Seaver (RHP & 1969 Cy Young Award winner), Cleon Jones (LF), Tommie Agee (CF), Jerry Koosman (LHP), Jerry Grote (C), Tug McGraw (LHP/reliever), Gary Gentry (RHP), Bud Harrelson (SS), Art Shamsky (OF/1B/PH), Ron Taylor (RHP/reliever), Don Cardwell (RHP), Ken Boswell (2B).

On the map, next to each MLB team’s location-dot there are 3 things: their cap-logo, one of their jersey-logos (either home or away jersey), and a rectangular box (listing: ballpark, win total in 1969, and home average attendance in ’69). The jersey-logos are either from a photo of the old jerseys (see 22 photo credits at the foot of this post) or illustrations of such: one (California Angels) from sportslogos.net; one (Detroit Tigers) that I drew myself. The jersey-logo for each team is sized to reflect that team’s 1969 average attendance: the larger the jersey-logo, the higher the attendance that year. Any other team logos on the team’s uniforms in 1969 are also shown (specifically, shoulder-patch-logos, of which there were 6 of such in 1969: for the Astros, the Braves, the Cubs, the Mets, the Padres, and the Twins).

Speaking of shoulder-patch logos, there was another thing going on in Major League Baseball in 1969: the 100th anniversary of the first professional touring baseball club: the Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869. A special red-white-&-blue modernist logo was created – reputedly using the formidable silhouette of Minnesota Twins’ slugger Harmon Killebrew. {See this: MLB logo looks like Harmon Killebrew at bat (from 2011, by Pioneer Press/news@pioneerpress.com via twincities.com). Also see this: Who is that silhouetted man? (from 2008, by Paul Lucas at espn.com).} So anyway, this logo, in the form of the Centennial patch, was worn by almost all the MLB teams in 1969 (on at least one of their jerseys that year), except for the Pittsburgh Pirates (I have no idea why, and neither does this baseball card blogger, at wrigleywax.blogspot.com. {To get a quick glance at all those uniforms, here are links to the Baseball Hall of Fame website’s ‘Dressed to the Nines’ database’s 1969 pages: 1969 AL; 1969 NL (illustrations by Marc Okkonen).} If you are wondering about the Cubs, in the illustration in the preceding link, the logo is not visible, as it is located on the raised shoulder that is holding the bat. But I included an image of the logo on the Cubs’ road jersey on the map here. I included several of the MLB-100th-anniversary-logos on the map, on the jerseys of the A’s, Astros, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Indians, and Mets. This MLB-100th-anniversary logo, in a very slightly altered form, has become the official MLB logo to this day. And each MLB team wears a version of this logo on the back of their ball caps, done in team colors.



    1969 MLB expansion & Divisional re-organization…

mlb_1969-expansion_re-org_d_.gif
Major League Baseball’s 1969 season was the first season of the Divisional Era.
1969 also saw a 4-team expansion – MLB’s third expansion of the decade. The Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots joined the American League; the Montreal Expos and the San Diego Padres joined the National League. [Note: the Seattle Pilots relocated to Milwaukee, WI as the Milwaukee Brewers just one year later (in 1970); the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington, DC as the Washington Nationals 36 years later (in 2005).] So in 1969, the now-12-team AL, and the now-12-team NL were divided into two 6-team divisions each, with those divisional winners playing in a best-of-5-series, the winners, of course, advancing to the World Series.

Brief re-cap of the 1969 regular season
The American League saw no real divisional title-races in 1969. The Baltimore Orioles, with an MLB-best record of 109-53, won the AL East easily, by 19 games, and then, in the new playoffs, swept the AL West champion Minnesota Twins in 3 games. In the National League East, the once-hapless New York Mets, who had never had a winning record in their 7 seasons, came back from 9 games behind the Chicago Cubs, going 37-11 down the stretch. In their relatively new, 5-year-old venue, Shea Stadium (which they shared with the NFL’s New York Jets), the Mets drew the biggest crowds in all of baseball that year, drawing 26.5 K per game. The Mets went 100-62, and beat out the faltering Cubs by 8 games to win the NL East title. The NL West saw an unusual 5-team divisional race, with the Astros dropping out first, then the Dodgers and the Reds fell off, while the Giants and the Braves battled it out until the second-to-last day. The Atlanta Braves won the NL West, but then were swept by the Mets in the playoffs. But going into the Fall Classic, the Baltimore Orioles were the oddsmakers’ choice, and were heavy favorites to win the World Series over the New York Mets…



    1969 World Series: New York Mets beat Baltimore Orioles in 5 games…

The “Amazin’ Mets” beat the heavily-favored Orioles, in a huge upset. The 8th-year Mets became the first expansion-team to win the World Series. There were spectacular catches by two Mets outfielders (Tommie Agee & Ron Swoboda – see below). The Mets’ Donn Clendenon hit 3 HRs, and was the MVP. Tom Seaver, Gary Gentry, and Jerry Koosman all pitched effectively for the Mets, with Koosman winning twice, including the Game 5 clincher (see below).
-Here is a 9-minute video of the 1969 WS, 1969 World Series – Baltimore Orioles versus New York Mets (video uploaded by Scott Gordon at youtube.com).
-Here is a 40-minute video on the ’69 Mets (with much sharper video images), 1969 World Series Film New York Mets (video uploaded by Sports Revisited at youtube.com).
new-york-mets-1969_ws-champions_h_.gif
Photos and Images above – 1969 NY Mets/Shea Stadium WS pin-logo from sportslogos.net. Aerial shot of Shea Stadium (circa late 1960s, and probably taken during the 1969 WS), photo unattributed at flickr.com. Tommie Agee’s two catches (game 3)…1st catch: photo unattributed at centerfieldmaz.com; 2nd catch: unattributed at thisdayinbaseball.com. Ron Swoboda catch (game 4), unattributed at slicethelife.com. Donn Clendenon in ’69 WS, photo by Herb Scharfman/Getty Images at gettyimages.com. Jerry Koosman pitching in ’69 WS, photo unattributed at mets.tumblr.com. Nolan Ryan & Jerry Grote celebrate on the mound, photo unattributed at centerfieldmaz.com. View from 3rd-base-side box seats as Mets (and their fans) begin their celebration, photo by AP via nydailynews.com.




Photos of Mets players on map page…
-Tom Seaver, photo unattributed at theathletic.com.
-Cleon Jones, photo by AP via newsday.com.
-Tommie Agee, photo unattributed at sabr.org.
-Jerry Koosman, Topps 1969 card via amazon.com.
-Tug McGraw, photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images via risingapple.com.
-Jerry Grote, photo unattributed at metsinsider.mlblogs.com.
-Bud Harrelson, photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images at gettyimages.in.
-Gary Gentry, photo unattributed at posterazzi.com.
-Art Shamsky, photo unattributed at twitter.com/[@artshamsky].
-Ron Taylor, photo unattributed at pinterest.com.
-Don Cardwell, photo by Eric Sckweikardt/Sports Illustrated via gettyimages.in.
-Ken Boswell, Topps 1969 card via picclick.com.
-Gil Hodges (manager), photo unattributed at metsmerizedonline.com.
-1969 NY Mets uniforms, illustration by Marc Okkonen at exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines.


Photos of 1969 MLB leaders on map page…
-Dick Bosman, 1970 Topps card via tcdb.com.
-Juan Marichal, photo unattributed at twitter.com/[@sfgiants].
-Denny McLain, photo unattributed at pinterest.com.
-Tom Seaver, photo by Neil Leifer at si.com.
-Denny McLain, photo unattributed at pinterest.com.
-Bob Gibson, photo unattributed at lehmansbaseball.wordpress.com.
-Rod Carew, photo by Neil Leifer at si.com.
-Pete Rose, photo unattributed at cardboardmemories.com.
-Harmon Killebrew, photo unattributed at twinstrivia.com.
-Willie McCovey, photo unattributed at first-draft.com.
-Harmon Killebrew, photo by Neil Leifer at si.com.
-Willie McCovey, photo unattributed at cooperstownexpert.com.
-Rico Petrocelli, Topps 1969 card at ebay.com.
-Henry Aaron, Sports Illustrated cover [Aug. 13 1969] at sicovers.com.
-Willie McCovey, photo by Diamond Images/Getty Images via gettyimages.de.

Photos of jersey-logos used on the map-page…
-Tom Seaver 1969 NY Mets road jersey, from worthpoint.com. -Tom Seaver 1969 NY Mets home jersey, from greyflannelauctions.com.
-Atlanta Braves 1969 home jersey, from customthrowbackjerseys.com.
-Baltimore Orioles 1969 road jersey, from Heritage Auctions at sports.ha.com
-Boston Red Sox home jersey-logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-Chicago Cubs 1969 road jersey, from mitchellandness.com.
-Chicago White Sox 1969 road jersey, from Heritage Auctions at sports.ha.com.
-Cincinnati Reds 1969 road jersey, from mitchellandness.com.
-Cleveland Indians 1969 road jersey, from lelands.com via nallhal.top.
-Houston Astros 1969 road jersey, from mitchellandness.com.
-Kansas City Royals 1969 road jersey, from worthpoint.com.
-Los Angeles Dodgers 1969 road jersey, from Heritage Auctions at sports.ha.com.
-Minnesota Twins home jersey circa 1968-71, from lelands.com.
-Montreal Expos 1969 road jersey, from customthrowbackjerseys.com.
-New York Mets 1969 home jersey, from mitchellandness.com.
-New York Yankees road jersey circa 1967-71, from customthrowbackjerseys.com.
-Oakland A’s 1969 road alternate jersey, from customthrowbackjerseys.com. -Philadelphia Phillies 1969 home jersey, from worthpoint.com.
-Pittsburgh Pirates ca. 1967-69 road jersey, photo from lelands.com.
-1968 St. Louis Cardinals jersey-logo, photo from scpauctions.com.
-San Diego Padres 1969 home jersey, from Heritage Auctions at sports.ha.com.
-1969 San Francisco Giants road jersey, photo from Heritage Auctions at sports.ha.com.
-Seattle Pilots 1969 road jersey, from scpauctions.com.
-Washington Senators 1969 road jersey, from mlbcollectors.com.
___
Thanks to all at the following links…
-Base map, by US federal government employee at commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StatesU.svg.
-Baseball-Reference.com.
-1969 Major League Baseball season (en.wikipedia.org).

December 23, 2021

American Football League: 1964 AFL season, map with helmets/jerseys & final standings + offensive stats leaders + attendances. Champions: Buffalo Bills.

Filed under: AFL (gridiron football),AFL, 1964 map/season,Retro maps — admin @ 8:12 am

afl_1964_5th-season_map_w-final-standings_o-stats-leaders_champions-buffalo-bills_post_c_.gif
American Football League: 1964 AFL season, map with helmets/jerseys & final standings + offensive stats leaders + attendances. Champions: Buffalo Bills



By Bill Turianski on the 23rd of December 2021; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-1964 AFL season
-1964 AFL Championship Game (en.wikipedia.org).
-1964 AFL season (pro-football-reference.com).

The map… The map shows the primary helmets and jerseys worn by the 8 teams in the 1964 AFL, the fifth season of the American Football League. Also shown on the map page are the final standings of the 1964 AFL season, the Offensive leaders of the 1964 AFL season, the home jerseys of the 8 AFL teams that season, and the average attendances of the 8 teams 1964 AFL season (compared to the previous season).

AFL attendances in 1964
http://billsportsmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/afl_1963-1964_average-attendance_b_.gif
Source for attendance figures: pdf at ProFootballResearchers.org [Coffin Corner newsletter, Sept 1991, by Bob Carroll], profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/13-04-430.pdf. Helmet illustrations from gridiron-uniforms.com.


Average Attendance, NFL vs. AFL (the 10 years they were in competition: 1960-69); plus NFL/AFL/Super Bowl title-winners in the 1960s…
afl_vs_nfl_attendance_1960-69_title-winners_super-bowl_i-iv_winners_chart_h_.gif
Source for attendance figures: pdf at ProFootballResearchers.org [Coffin Corner newsletter, Sept 1991, by Bob Carroll], profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/13-04-430.pdf. Helmet illustrations from gridiron-uniforms.com.



    1964 AFL Championship Game: Buffalo Bills 20, San Diego Chargers 7.

AFL West winners…The 1964 San Diego Chargers were coached by Sid Gillman. The Chargers had gone 8-5-1 in the regular season. The Chargers were reigning champions, but they limped into the 1964 title game, losing 3 of their last 4 games. The Chargers’ offense was powered by WR Lance Alworth (with an AFL-best 15 TD), and the rushing tandem of Keith Lincoln and Paul Lowe (who combined for 1,128 yards), but Alworth was injured for the title game. Three Chargers made the 1964 AFL All-Star Team: T Ron Mix, DE Earl Faison, and DT Ernie Ladd.

AFL East winners…The 1964 Buffalo Bills were coached by Lou Saban. The Bills went 12-2, and had the AFL’s best defense (the only defense in the AFL that yielded less than 1,000 yards rushing). And the Bills’ ground-based offense scored a league-best 400 points, and featured FB Cookie Gilchrist (with an AFL-best 981 yards rushing). Six Bills made the 1964 AFL All-Star Team: RB Cookie Gilchrist, G Billy Shaw, T Stew Barber, DT Tom Sestak, LB Mike Stratton, and S George Saimes.

December 26, 1964…Buffalo hosted the game, at their War Memorial Stadium (aka the Rockpile). ABC broadcast the game. Game time temperature was a warm and unseasonable 47°F (8°C). Rain earlier that day had made the field damp, muddy, and slippery, especially along the sidelines and in the endzones. Sand was spread on the worst spots {see image below}. The game was a sell-out, with 40,242 in attendance in the 37,500-cappacity stadium. (Around 2,700 standing-room-only were tickets sold, thus making the capacity that day an impressive 107%.)

1st Quarter…The Chargers raced out to a quick 7-0 lead, with an 80-yard drive in 4 plays. On the first play of the game, FB Keith Lincoln burst up the middle for a 38-yard gain {see photo below}. Three plays later, QB Tobin Rote connected with TE Dave Kocourek for a 26-yard TD pass. The Chargers took a 7-0 lead after just 2:11.

But on San Diego’s next possession, the Bills’ defense changed the game. On a Chargers pass-play, Bills LB Mike Stratton hit Keith Lincoln just as the Chargers FB was about to catch a swing pass from Rote. Lincoln broke a rib, and had to be helped off the field, and was out for the rest of the game. The Chargers went scoreless after that. Late in the 1st quarter, the Bills scored on a 12-yard FG by Pete Gogolak.
Score at end of 1st Quarter: Chargers 7, Bills 3.

2nd Quarter…Midway through the 2nd quarter, the Bills took the lead on a 52-yard TD drive. The Bills started with an 18-yard pass from QB Jack Kemp to WR Elbert Dubenion. After 3 running plays, a 15-yard pass from Kemp to FB Cookie Gilchrist put the Bills 1st-and-goal at the 4. That set up a 4-yard TD run by HB Wray Carlton {see photo below}. Late in the 2nd quarter, the Bills scored on a 17-yard FG by Pete Gogolak.
Score at Halftime: Bills 13, Chargers 7.

3rd Quarter…no scoring.

4th Quarter… At the start of the 4th Quarter, the Bills got the ball on their own 48. QB Jack Kemp connected with WR Glenn Bass on a slant-pattern, and Bass went 51 yards to the San Diego 1. Two plays later, Kemp scored on a QB sneak {see photo below}. Then the Bills defense held the Chargers scoreless for the rest of the game. With 26 seconds left, Bills fans got through police barricades, and stormed the field, and began tearing down the goalposts.
Final Score: Bills 20, Chargers 7. The Buffalo Bills would repeat as AFL champions the next season (1965).
buffalo-bills_1964-afl-champions_war-memorial-stadium_bills-20_chargers-7_lou-saban_mike-stratton_jack-kemp_cookie-gilchrist_wray-carlton_c_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – 3 screenshots: shot of ABC television broadcast title graphic, and shot of grounds crew spreading sand on muddy War Memorial turf, and shot Chargers HB Keith Lincoln shaking hands with Bill FB Cookie Gilchrist, 3 images from screenshots of video uploaded by Classic Sports at youtube.com. Keith Lincoln, photo by Walter Iooss Jr. via pinterest.com. Colorized photo of Mike Stratton’s hit on Keith Lincoln, photo unattributed at remembertheafl.com/1964AFLChampions. Wray Carlton scores in 1964 AFL title game; and referee signals touchdown: 2 photos unattributed at pinterest.com. Jack Kemp, photo by Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated via si.com. Celebratory Bills fans carry QB Jack Kemp off the field, screenshot of video uploaded by Classic Sports at youtube.com.



Credits
Buffalo Bills on map page
1964 Bills uniforms, illustrations by Gridiron Uniforms database at gridiron-uniforms.com/[1964-AFL]. Jack Kemp [photo from 1964 AFL title game], photo by Neil Leifer via gettyimages.com. Jack Kemp & Cookie Gilchrist [photo circa 1964],photo unattributed from ebay.com. Cookie Gilchrist [photo circa 1964], photo unattributed at pinterest.com. Elbert Dubenion [1965 Fleer card], from espnrochester.radio.com. Daryle Lamonica [photo from 1964], photo unattributed at buffalorumblings.com. Buffalo Bills game-worn 1963 helmet, from helmet hut.com. Billy Shaw [1962 Fleer card], from amazon.com. Stew Barber [1964 Topps card], from amazon.com. Tom Sestack [photo circa 1963], photo unattributed via remembertheafl.com. Mike Stratton [photo circa 1965], photo unattributed at twitter.com/[@HelmetAddict]. Butch Byrd [1964 Fleer card], from remembertheafl.com/[Bills]. George Saimes [photo circa 1965], photo unattributed from amazon.com.

Offensive stats leaders on map page
Len Dawson [photo circa 1965], photo unattributed at fs64sports.blogspot.com.
Babe Parilli [photo circa 1965], photo unattributed at pinterest.com.
Cookie Gilchrist [photo circa 1964], photo unattributed at basnnewsroom.com.
Charley Hennigan [1965 team-issue card], from talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com.
Lance Alworth [photo circa 1964], photo unattributed at pinterest.com.

Thanks to
-Blank map by anonymous US federal government employee, at File:StatesU.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Thanks to Sportslogos.net for 1960-era AFL team logos.
-Thanks to the contributors at pro-football-reference.com.
-Thanks to the contributors at AFL 1964 season (en.wikipedia.org).
-Thanks to the Coffin Corner newsletter, for this pdf, profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/13-04-430.pdf [AFL attendance by team 1960-69] .
Special thanks to Tim Brulia, Bill Schaefer and Rob Holecko of The Gridiron Uniform Database, for giving billsportsmaps.com the permission to use football uniforms illustrations from Gridiron Uniform Database {GUD}.

October 5, 2021

1968 MLB Location-map with Jersey-logos & Attendances, featuring the ’68 World Series champions the Detroit Tigers & AL and NL Stats Leaders.

Filed under: Baseball,Baseball-1968 MLB season,Retro maps — admin @ 7:22 pm

mlb_1968_map-of-mlb-1968_20-teams_ws-champions-detroit-tigers_1968-mlb-attendances_1968-mlb-stats-leaders_post_d_.gif
1968 MLB Location-map with Jersey-logos & Attendances, featuring the ’68 World Series champions the Detroit Tigers & AL and NL Stats Leaders




By Bill Turianski on the 5th of October 2021; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-1968 MLB season (en.wikipedia.org).
-1968 MLB (baseball-reference.com).
-Year in Review: 1968 American League (baseball-almanac.com).
-Year in Review: 1968 National League (baseball-almanac.com).
-1968 MLB logos (sportslogos.net).

-Baseball: 1967 map w/ jersey-logos & attendances (billsportsmaps.com).

1968 MLB Location-map with jersey-logos with 1968 attendances, featuring the ’68 World Series champions the Detroit Tigers & AL and NL stats leaders.
The map shows the locations of the 20 Major League Baseball teams of 1968. On the map, next to each MLB team’s location-dot there are 3 things: their cap-logo, one of their jersey-logos (either home or away jersey), and a rectangular box (listing: ballpark, win total in 1968, and home average attendance in ’68). Any other logos on the team’s uniforms in 1968 are also shown (specifically, shoulder-patch-logos, of which there were 5 of such in 1968: for the Astros, the Braves, the Cubs, the Mets, and the Twins).

The jersey-logos are either from a photo of the old jerseys (see 16 photo credits at the foot of this post) or illustrations of such (mainly from sportslogos.net). The jersey-logo for each team is sized to reflect that team’s 1968 average attendance: the larger the jersey-logo, the higher the attendance that year.

There was one new Major League team in 1968: the relocated Kansas City Athletics, who moved from Missouri to Oakland, California, as the Oakland Athletics (four years later in 1972, the Oakland A’s would be champions). I included both the Kansas City A’s and the Oakland A’s locations on the map. Here is the logo history of the Oakland Athletics.

The best drawing MLB team in 1968 were the eventual champions, the Detroit Tigers, at 25,085 per game. Second-best drawing ball club in 1968 were the NL pennant-winning St. Louis Cardinals, who drew 24,8291 per game. The Cardinals had been the top-drawing ball club the year before in 1967, when they had won the title. Worst-drawing ball club in 1968 were the eventually-relocated Washington Senators, who drew an abysmal 6,749 per game, and in three years’ time would be leaving Washington, DC. (The Washington Senators (II) franchise, est. 1961, moved to Arlington, Greater Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX in 1972, as the Texas Rangers.)

The whole list of 1968 attendance-figures – by-team – is found at the far right-hand side of the map-page. Also listed there are each team’s Win total for that year, as well as their Numerical Change-in-average-attendance from the previous season (of 1967).

At the top-left of the map-page are the 1968 AL and NL final standings. Then there is a section which shows the 1968 World Series result (Tigers defeated Cardinals in 7 games), and features shots of Tiger Stadium, and some photos from the ’68 Series, including shots of ’68 World Series MVP Mickey Lolich. Below that are listed the 1968 major award-winners (the MVP award winners, the Cy Young award winners, and the Rookie of the Year award winners).

At the foot of the map-page are 1968 MLB Statistical Leaders (in both the American League and the National League), in the following categories: Wins, ERA, WAR for Pitchers; Batting Average, Home Runs, RBIs, WAR for Position Players. A photo of each player is shown, with stats; photo credits are at the foot of this post. There are 14 photos there, featuring 10 players: Luis Tiant (CLE), Bob Gibson (STL), Denny McLain (DET), Juan Marichal (SF), Carl Yastrzemski (BOS), Pete Rose (CIN), Frank Howard (WAS), Ken Harrelson (BOS) Willie McCovey (SF), Roberto Clemente (PIT).

And at the top of the map-page is a section for the 1968 MLB champions, the Detroit Tigers. I featured photos of the 12 players on the ’68 Tigers with the highest WAR [Wins Above Replacement], plus World Series MVP Mickey Lolich and the Tigers’ manager, Mayo Smith. Photo credits are at the foot of this post. The players are: Denny McLain (RHP/ ’68 AL MVP & ’68 AL Cy Young winner), Bill Freehan (C), Jim Northrup (RF), Dick McAuliffe (2B), Willie Horton (LF), Mickey Stanley (CF/SS), Norm Cash (1B), Earl Wilson (RHP), Al Kaline (CF/1B), Gates Brown (OF/PH), Pat Dobson (RHP), John Hiller (LHP), Mickey Lolich (LHP/ ’68 WS MVP).




    The 1968 Detroit Tigers

detroit-tigers_1968_ws-champions_d-mclain_b-freehan_j-northrup_m-lolich_w-horton_mayo-smith_n-cash_d-mcauliffe_m-stanley_al-kaline_earl-wilson_g-brown_p-dobson_j-hiller_n_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – -Denny McClain 1968 Tigers home jersey, photo from sports.ha.com. -Al Kaline 1968 Tigers road jersey, photo from amazon.com. -Denny McLain [1968 Sports Illustrated cover], from sicovers.com. -Mickey Lolich [photo from 1968 WS], unattributed at vintagedetroit.com. -Mayo Smith (manager) [photo fom 1968 WS], photo by Walter Iooss, Jr./Getty Images (unattributed) at pinterest.com. -Bill Freehan [photo circa 1966], unattributed at notinhalloffame.com. -Jim Northrup [photo circa 1967], unattributed at ebay.com. -Dick McAuliffe [1967 Dexter Press card], from tcdb.com. -Willie Horton [photo circa 1968], unattributed at vintagesportsimages.com. -Mickey Stanley [1968 Topps card], from amazon.com. -Norm Cash [photo circa 1968], unattributed at bestsportsphotos.com. -Al Kaline [1967 Sports Illustrated cover], from sicovers.com. -Earl Wilson [photo from 1968 WS], photo by Focus on Sports/Getty Images via gettyimages.com. -Gates Brown [photo circa 1969], unattributed at detroitcitysports.com. -Pat Dobson [photo circa 1968], unattributed at sportscollectibles.com. -John Hiller [1969 Topps card], from kronozio.com.

Detroit Tigers – 1968 World Series champions.
1968 was known as “the Year of the Pitcher”. Pitching was absolutely dominant, to the point where only one batter in the entire American League hit over .300, and the overall batting average in the AL was an all-time low .230. Meanwhile in the National League, Bob Gibson had the lowest ERA (1.12) since 1915 (which was during the dead-ball era). The pitching dominance stemmed from the enforcing of a larger strike zone (top of armpit to bottom of knee), that had begun in 1963. In both leagues, the Cy Young winner was also the MVP (Denny McLain & Bob Gibson). Major League Baseball responded to this offensive drought by introducing two measures to be implemented the following season of 1969: the pitching mound was lowered from 15 to 10 inches, and the strike zone was shrunk (to the area over home plate between the armpits and the top of the knees).

So in 1968, the year of the pitcher, it was appropriate that the Tigers won the title on the strength of two exemplary pitching performances. In the regular season, righthander Denny McLain became MLB’s last 30-game winner (and the first since Dizzy Dean in 1934), and the Tigers won the AL pennant by 12 games over the Orioles. And in October, lefthander Mickey Lolich won all three of his starts, gave up just 5 runs in 27 innings (1.67 ERA), and became the last pitcher to have 3 complete game victories in a World Series.

The 1968 Detroit Tigers season was the team’s 75th season in Detroit, Michigan, and its 68th season in the American League. In the season before (1967), the Tigers had narrowly missed out on the pennant, finishing one game behind the Red Sox. Then in 1968, the Tigers started out at 9-1, and on the 10th of May, they moved into first place and never lost the lead.

In this year of the pitcher, the Tigers had the offensive clout to stand out. The Tigers had the most home runs in 1968 (185 HR), and led that category by a considerable margin of over 50 HR. Home run leaders for the Tigers were OF Willie Horton (35 HR), 1B Norm Cash (25 HR), and C Bill Freehan (25 HR). And the Tigers had the knack for comeback wins, winning 40 games from the 7th inning on. The ’68 Tigers won 30 games with their final at bat, with many of those game-winning RBIs by their clutch pinch hitter Gates Brown (who went 34 for 92, with a .685 SlPct).

The 1968 Tigers were a tight crew: the starting lineup had been mostly intact since 1965, and several of those starters had grown up in Michigan, as Tigers fans. Willie Horton was from inner city Detroit; Bill Freehan grew up in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak; Jim Northrup was from the small town of Holly, 54 miles (87 km) NW of Detroit, and Mickey Stanley was from the city of Grand Rapids (140 mi/225 km west of Detroit).

Below: 1968 World Series: Detroit Tigers beat St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games.
Down 3 games to 1, the Tigers win the last 3 games. Mickey Lolich pitches 3 complete games, wins game 7 on two-days-rest, and is the MVP.
1968_world-series_detroit-tigers_mickey-lolich_c.gif
Photos and image credits above –1968 WS program (Tigers), from baseball-almanac.com/[1968 WS]. -Exterior view of Tiger Stadium prior to 1968 WS game 3, screenshot from video uploaded by Sports History Channel at youtube.com. -Freehan tags out Brock, unattributed at hourdetroit.com. -Mickey Lolich, photo from USA Today Sports via baseballprospectus.com. -Lolich and Freehan celebrating right after final out, photo by Focus On Sport/Getty Images via gettyimages.com/[1968 Detroit Tigers]. -Tigers players and coaches run out of dugout to congratulate players on field, photo unattributed at hourdetroit.com.



Photos of jersey logos used on the map-page…
-Denny McLain 1968 Tigers home jersey, photo from sports.ha.com.
-Al Kaline 1968 Tigers road jersey, photo from amazon.com.
-1968 Atlanta Braves home jersey-logo, photo from customthrowbackjerseys.com.
-1968 Baltimore Orioles road jersey-logo, photo from robertedwardauctions.com.
-1967 Boston Red Sox home jersey-logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-1967-68 Chicago White Sox road jersey-logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-1968 Chicago Cubs road jersey-logo, photo from robertedwardauctions.com.
-1968-69 Cleveland Indians road jersey-logo, from lelands.com.
-1968 Houston Astros road jersey-logo, photo from greyflannelauctions.com.
-1968 Minnesota Twins home jersey-logo, from lelands.com.
-ca. 1967 NY Yankees road jersey-logo, photo from customthrowbackjerseys.com.
-1968 NY Mets road jersey-logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-1968 Oakland A’s road jersey-logo, photo from robertedwardauctions.com.
-1968 Philadelphia Phillies home jersey-logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-1967-68 Pittsburgh Pirates road jersey-logo, photo from lelands.com.
-1968 St. Louis Cardinals jersey-logo, photo from scpauctions.com.
-1967-68 SF Giants road jersey-logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-1968 Washington Senators home jersey-logo, photo from mearsonlineauctions.com.

Photos of Tigers players on map page…
-Al Kaline ’68 road jersey, photo from amazon.com.
-Denny McLain [photo circa 1969], unattributed from amazon.com.
-Bill Freehan [photo circa 1966], unattributed at notinhalloffame.com.
-Jim Northrup [photo circa 1967], unattributed at ebay.com.
-Dick McAuliffe [1967 Dexter Press card], from tcdb.com.
-Willie Horton [photo circa 1968], unattributed at vintagesportsimages.com.
-Mickey Stanley [1968 Topps card], from amazon.com.
-Norm Cash [photo circa 1968], unattributed at bestsportsphotos.com.
-Earl Wilson [photo from 1968 WS], photo by Focus on Sports/Getty Images via gettyimages.com.
-Al Kaline [1967 Sports Illustrated cover], from sicovers.com.
-Gates Brown [photo circa 1969], unattributed at detroitcitysports.com.
-Pat Dobson [photo circa 1968], unattributed at sportscollectibles.com.
-John Hiller [1969 Topps card], from kronozio.com.
-Mickey Lolich [photo from 1968 WS], unattributed at vintagedetroit.com.
-Mayo Smith (manager) [photo fom 1968 WS], photo by Walter Iooss, Jr./Getty Images (unattributed) at pinterest.com.
-1968 Detroit Tigers uniforms: illustrations by Marc Okkonen at exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/[1968 Detroit].


Photos of 1968 MLB leaders on map page…
-Luis Tiant [photo circa 1968], unattributed at lavidabaseball.com.
-Bob Gibson [photo circa 1968], unattributed at msblnational.com.
-Denny McLain [1968 Sports Illustrated cover], from sicovers.com.
-Juan Marichal [photo circa 1968], unattributed at pinterest.com.
-Bob Gibson [photo circa 1968], from Major League Baseball via upi.com/Sports_News.
-Carl Yastrzemski [photo circa 1967], unattributed at theathletic.com.
-Pete Rose [photo circa 1968], unattributed at redlegnation.com.
-Frank Howard [photo circa 1968], photo by Focus on Sports/Getty Images via gettyimages.com.
-Willie McCovey [photo circa 1969], unattributed at baseballhistorycomesalive.com.
-Ken Harrelson [photo circa 1968], unattributed at royals.mlblogs.com.
-Willie McCovey [photo circa 1966], AP file photo via denverpost.com.
-Carl Yastrzemski [photo (Sports Illustrated poster) from 1968], from worthpoint.com.
-Roberto Clemente [photo circa 1967], unattributed at apkfunkyb.com.
___
Thanks to all at the following links…
-Base map, by US federal government employee at commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StatesU.svg.
-Baseball-Reference.com.
-1968 Major League Baseball season (en.wikipedia.org).

April 3, 2021

1967 MLB Location-map with Jersey-logos & Attendances, featuring the ’67 World Series champions the St. Louis Cardinals & AL and NL Stats Leaders.

Filed under: Baseball,Baseball-1967 MLB season,Retro maps — admin @ 2:35 pm

http://billsportsmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/mlb_map-of-mlb-1967_20-teams_ws-champions-st-louis-cardinals_1967-attendances_stats-leaders_post_e_.gif
MLB: 1967 season – Location-map with cap-logos and uniform-logos, plus 1967 team-attendances, stats leaders, and final standings; World Series champions – the St. Louis Cardinals



By Bill Turianski on the 3rd of April 2021; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-1967 MLB season (en.wikipedia.org).
-1967 MLB (baseball-reference.com).
-Year in Review: 1967 American League (baseball-almanac.com).
-Year in Review: 1967 National League (baseball-almanac.com).
-1967 MLB logos (sportslogos.net).

1967 MLB Location-map with Jersey-logos & Attendances, featuring the ’67 World Series champions the St. Louis Cardinals & AL and NL Stats Leaders.
The map shows the locations of the 20 Major League Baseball teams of 1967. On the map, next to each MLB team’s location-dot there are 3 things: their cap-logo, one of their jersey-logos (either home or away jersey), and a rectangular box that lists the team’s ballpark back then, plus their win total for the 1967 season, as well as their home average attendance that year. Any other logos on the team’s uniforms that year are also shown (specifically, shoulder-patch-logos, of which there were 5 of such in 1967: for the Astros, the Braves, the Cubs, the Mets, and the Twins).

The jersey-logos are either from a photo of the old jerseys (see photo credits at the foot of this post) or illustrations of such (mainly from sportslogos.net). The jersey-logo for each team is sized to reflect that team’s 1967 average attendance: the larger the jersey-logo, the higher the attendance that year. The best drawing MLB team in 1967 were the eventual champions, the St. Louis Cardinals, at 25,804 per game. Second-best drawing ball club in 1967 was the AL pennant-winning Boston Red Sox, who drew 21,331 per game. Worst-drawing ball clubs in 1967 were the Cleveland Indians, and the soon-to-be relocated Kansas City Athletics (both drew below 9,000 per game).

The whole list of 1967 attendance-figures-by-team is found at the far right-hand side of the map-page. Also listed there are each team’s Win total for that year, as well as their Numerical Change-in-average-attendance from the previous season (of 1966).

At the far left-hand side of the map-page are the 1967 AL and NL final standings. Then there is a section which shows the 1967 World Series result (Cardinals defeated Red Sox in 7 games), and features a photo of the 1967 World Series MVP (Bob Gibson, seen striking out a Red Sox player at Fenway Park). Below that are listed the 1967 major award-winners (the MVP award winners, the Cy Young award winners, and the Rookie of the Year award winners).

At the foot of the map-page are 1967 MLB Statistical Leaders (in both the American League and the National League), in the following categories: Wins, ERA, WAR for Pitchers; Batting Average, Home Runs, RBIs, WAR for Position Players. A photo of each player is shown, with stats; photo credits are at the foot of this post.

And finally, at the top of the map-page is a section for the 1967 MLB champions, the St. Louis Cardinals. I featured photos of the 11 players on the ’67 Cardinals with the highest WAR [Wins Above Replacement], plus the their manager, Red Schoendienst. Photo credits are at the foot of this post. The players are: Orlando Cepeda (1B), Tim McCarver (C), Lou Brock (LF), Curt Flood (CF), Dick Hughes (RHP), Nelson Briles (RHP), Roger Maris (RF), Steve Carlton (LHP), Bob Gibson (RHP), Julian Javier (2B), Dal Maxville (SS).




St. Louis Cardinals – 1967 World Series champions.
The 1967 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team’s 86th season in St. Louis, Missouri, and its 76th season in the National League. 1967 was the Cardinals’ first full season at Busch Memorial Stadium. (Busch Stadium was a 49,000-capacity multi-purpose facility that the Cardinals first played in on May 12, 1966. The Cardinals played there from 1966 to 2005, sharing it with the St. Louis football Cardinals for 22 years (1966-87), until the football Cardinals moved to Arizona. Busch Memorial Stadium’s distinctive 96-arch “Crown of Arches” echoed the Gateway Arch nearby that had just been completed in early 1966 {you can see the crown of arches in the Orlando Cepeda photo at the foot of the map-page}. Busch Stadium’s playing surface was originally grass, but it was changed to artificial turf in 1970 to better survive the punishment that pro football gave the turf; in 1995, following an extensive renovation, the grass returned. Here is a nice illustrated article on Busch Memorial Stadium from the site called This Great Game.com… Busch Memorial Stadium – St. Loui, Missouri.)

Prior to the 1967 season, Cardinals owner August “Gussie” Busch, Jr. hired former outfielder (and future Hall of Famer) Stan Musial as general manager. The ’67 Cardinals team featured four future Hall of Famers: speedster Lou Brock, righty Bob Gibson, lefty Steve Carlton and first baseman Orlando Cepeda. The Ponce, Puerto Rico-born Orlando Cepeda, who nicknamed the team “El Birdos”, led the NL in RBIs and was voted the league’s MVP. The Cardinals survived a mid-season knee injury to their pitching ace, Bob Gibson. Gibson missed about one-third of his starts that year, but was ably filled in by Dick Hughes. And St. Louis led the National League comfortably for most of the season. The Cardinals went 101–60, and won the NL pennant by 10½ games over the San Francisco Giants. Then they faced the Boston Red Sox in the 1967 World Series, in early October.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, reached the post-season after one of the wildest and most tightly-contested pennant-races in Major League history. In September of the 1967 AL season, no fewer than 4 teams could have won the American League pennant. On September 7th, the Minnesota Twins, the Detroit Tigers, the Chicago White Sox, and the Boston Red Sox were all tied for first place. The White Sox fell off the pace near the end of September, but on the final day of the season (Oct. 1), the Red Sox and Twins were tied for the lead, with the Tigers one-half-game behind. The Red Sox beat the Twins 5-3 that day, and the Tigers won only the first game of a doubleheader against the Angels. And so the Red Sox, led by Triple Crown winner Carl Yastrzemski and AL Cy Young winner Jim Lonborg, won the ’67 AL pennant by one game over both the Tigers and the Twins. Here is a great article from SABR.org, The 1967 AL Pennant Race: The 30,315,229 to 1 Possibility, by Andy Andres at sabr.org.

The 1967 World Series went to 7 games. Although the Cardinals had lost games 5 and 6, they won the seventh thanks to a third rock-solid outing by Bob Gibson. In the 1967 Fall Classic, Bob Gibson gave up only 3 earned runs and 14 hits in 27 innings, pitching three complete games, striking out 26, and walking only 6. Needless to say, Bob Gibson was voted the MVP of the Series.

After the 1967 season, the Kansas City Athletics moved to Oakland, California as the Oakland A’s. The following season of 1968 was the last to feature only one division per league. Then in 1969, Major League Baseball would undergo a four-team expansion (to 24 teams), with both the American and National Leagues split into two 6-team divisions.




___
Photos of jersey logos used on the map-page…
-1967 St. Louis Cardinals road jersey (Orlando Cepeda #30), photo from scpauctions.com.
-1967 Chicago White Sox road jersey logo , photo from sports.ha.com.
-1967 Cincinnati Reds home jersey logo, photo from amazon.com.
-1965-69 Cleveland Indians road jersey (vest) logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-1967-68 Pittsburgh Pirates road jersey (vest) logo, photo from lelands.com.
-1967-68 SF Giants road jersey logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-1959-69 LA Dodgers road jersey logo, photo from customthrowbackjerseys.com.
-1965-70 California Angels road jersey logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-ca. 1967 NY Yankees road jersey logo, photo from customthrowbackjerseys.com.
-ca. 1967 NY Mets road jersey logo, photo from robertedwardauctions.com.

Photos of Cardinals players on map page…
-Orlando Cepeda [photo circa 1967] , photo of the cover of Street & Smith’s 1968 Baseball magazine, from art.com.
-Tim McCarver [photo from 1967], photo of the cover of Sports Illustrated (Sept. 4 1967) by John G. Zimmerman/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images via sicovers.com.
-Lou Brock [photo from 1967], photo of the cover of Sports Illustrated (Sept. 4 1967) by Walter Iooss Jr./Sports Illustrated via Getty Images via sicovers.com.
-Curt Flood [photo circa 1968], photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images via calltothepen.com.
-Dick Hughes [1969 Topps card], from amazon.com.
-Nelson Briles [photo from 1967], by Herb Scharfman/unattributed at pinterest.com.
-Roger Maris [photo circa 1968], unattributed at pinterest.com.
-Steve Carlton [photo circa 1967], unattributed at pinterest.com.
-Bob Gibson [photo circa 1966], photo from si.com.
-Julian Javier [1967 Topps card], from amazon.com.
-Dal Maxvill [photo circa 1968], photo from Bettman Archive via gettyimages.com.
-Red Schoendienst, Cardinals manager [photo circa 1964], unattributed at pinterest.com.
-1967 St. Louis Cardinals uniforms: illustrations by Marc Okkonen at exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/[1967 St. Louis].
-Bob Gibson [photo from 1967 WS], photo by Walter Iooss Jr, at si.com[/Bob Gibson photo gallery].

Photos of 1967 MLB leaders on map page…
-Phil Niekro [photo circa 1967], unattributed at asupervip.top.
-Joel Horlen [photo circa 1967], unattributed at twitter.com/[@super70ssports].
-Mike McCormick [photo circa 1965], unattributed at bleacherreport.com.
-Jim Lonborg [photo circa 1967], unattributed at galleryofchampions.com.
-Earl Wilson [photo circa 1968], unattributed at vintagedetroit.com/blog.
-Jim Bunning [photo circa 1967], unattributed at si.com.
-Jim Merritt [photo from 1967], photo by Diamond Images /Getty Images via gettyimages.com.
-Roberto Clemente [photo circa 1968], unattributed at espn.com.
-Carl Yastrzemski [photo from 1967 WS], photo by Getty Images/Focus on Sports via newsday.com/sports.
-Hank Aaron [photo circa 1966], unattributed at pinterest.com.
-Carl Yastrzemski [screenshot image circa 1969], from video uploaded by Butch From the Cape at youtube.com.
-Harmon Killebrew [photo circa 1969], unattributed at pinterest.com.
-Orlando Cepeda [photo circa 1968], unattributed at archcity.media.
-Carl Yastrzemski [Sports Illustrated cover Aug 21 1967], unattributed at pinterest.com.
-Ron Santo [photo circa 1968], photo by Luis Requena MLB/via Getty Images via gettyimages.com.
-Carl Yastrzemski [photo circa 1967], unattributed at geni.com.

Thanks to all at the following links…
-Base map, by US federal government employee at commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StatesU.svg.
-Baseball-Reference.com.
-1967 Major League Baseball season (en.wikipedia.org).

January 31, 2021

American Football League: 1963 AFL season, map with helmets/jerseys & final standings + offensive stats leaders + attendances. Champions: San Diego Chargers.

Filed under: AFL (gridiron football),AFL, 1963 map/season,Retro maps — admin @ 7:06 pm

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American Football League: 1963 AFL season, map with helmets/jerseys & final standings + offensive stats leaders; champions: San Diego Chargers



By Bill Turianski on the 31st of January 2021; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.

Links…
-1963 AFL season;
-1963 AFL Championship Game (en.wikipedia.org).
-1963 AFL season (pro-football-reference.com).
-1963 AFL uniforms (gridiron-uniforms.com).

The map… The map shows the primary helmets and jerseys worn by the 8 teams in the 1963 AFL, the fourth season of the American Football League. Also shown on the map page are the final standings of the 1963 AFL season, the Offensive leaders of the 1963 AFL season, and the average attendances of the 1963 AFL season (compared to the previous season).

    Changes in AFL franchises in 1963. One team moved to new city and changed their name (Kansas City Chiefs); one team changed their name (New York Jets). Both these revamped franchises became instrumental in the ultimate success of the AFL, in its battle with the NFL…

-Kansas City Chiefs, est. 1963…Right after winning the 1962 AFL title, the Dallas Texans (AFL, 1960-62) moved 453 miles (731 km) north, to Kansas City, Missouri. The franchise did this to avoid the situation in Dallas, Texas, where the team was competing with the much-stronger NFL in the form of the Dallas Cowboys. It was becoming obvious to owner-and-AFL-cofounder Lamar Hunt that the Dallas Texans were going to lose the battle for fans and ticket-support, there in Dallas, Texas. So the team moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Chiefs. Three years later, in the 1966 AFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs would play in the first Super Bowl (losing heavily to the NFL’s Green Bay Packers). Six years later, in the 1969 AFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs would upset the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings to win the fourth and final meeting between the AFL and NFL champions, in Super Bowl IV [4]. The 10-team AFL and the 16-team NFL would then merge for the 1970 season to form a 26-team NFL.
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Image credits above – Blank map by anonymous US federal government employee, at File:StatesU.svg (commons.wikimedia.org). Helmet illustrations by The Gridiron Uniforms Database at gridiron-uniforms.com.




-New York Jets, est. 1963…The hapless and broke and bankrupt New York Titans AFL franchise was bought by a much deeper-pocketed consortium, headed by entertainment executive Sonny Werblin. The team changed its name to the New York Jets. The team also changed their colors – from navy-blue & yellow-gold, to green & white. Werblin’s first order of business was to sign as head coach and GM the former Baltimore Colts title-winning head coach Weeb Ewbank, who said “I don’t see why we can’t build a winner here in five years.” The franchise finally was able to set in motion their plans to move out of the decrepit and soon-to-be-demolished Polo Grounds (on the tip of northern Manhattan, NYC), and into the new multi-purpose stadium being built by the government of New York City, in Queens, NYC. The move to the new venue would happen the following season of 1964, and attendance would skyrocket. The Jets’ improved on-field record coincided with their huge attendance increase at Shea Stadium, there in Queens, with QB Joe Namath at the helm. Five years after the name-change from the Titans to the Jets, in the 1968 season, the Jets were AFL champions. And so the AFL’s New York Jets then faced the NFL’s Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III [3]. The hugely-favored Colts were beaten by the Jets, in one of the biggest upsets in pro football history, thereby signifying to the American public that the AFL had arrived, and was the equal of the NFL. Two seasons later (in 1970), the two leagues would merge.

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Image credits above – Helmet illustrations by The Gridiron Uniforms Database at gridiron-uniforms.com.

AFL attendances in 1963

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Source for attendance figures: pdf at ProFootballResearchers.org [Coffin Corner newsletter, Sept 1991, by Bob Carroll], profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/13-04-430.pdf. Helmet illustrations from gridiron-uniforms.com.

Average Attendance, NFL vs. AFL (the 10 years they were in competition: 1960-69); plus NFL/AFL/Super Bowl title-winners in the 1960s…
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Source for attendance figures: pdf at ProFootballResearchers.org [Coffin Corner newsletter, Sept 1991, by Bob Carroll], profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/13-04-430.pdf. Helmet illustrations from gridiron-uniforms.com.



    1963 AFL champions – the San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers were one of the strongest teams in the ten seasons of the AFL (1960-69). Yet although they made it to 5 AFL title games, the Chargers won only one of them – in 1963, when they blew out the Boston Patriots by 41 points.

It all came together for head coach Sid Gillman’s San Diego Chargers in 1963. 1962 had been a bust for the Chargers (who went an abysmal 4-10). But the team regrouped, after a boot-camp type atmosphere at their ’63 training camp, out in the high desert east of San Diego. Then the Chargers cruised through the 1963 regular season with the AFL’s best record (11-3), beating out the surprise Al Davis-led Oakland Raiders, by one game to win the Western Division. Led by the AFL’s 1963 MVP Tobin Rote (at QB), and future Hall-of-Famer WR Lance Alworth, the Chargers averaged 28.5 points per game, and were the highest-scoring offense in the league. And the tough Chargers defense allowed the least amount of points that year {1963 AFL standings}.

Then the Chargers caught a break. Because the Eastern Division had no clear dominant team, and the East was deadlocked at the top with two 7-6-1 teams. And so that meant that the East had to be decided by an extra playoff game (the AFL had no tiebreakers). And when the Boston Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills in that extra game, to advance to the 1963 AFL title game, the Patriots were depleted by the effort. So the Chargers entered the ’63 title game well rested, while the Patriots were anything but that.

Sid Gillman, renowned for his forward-thinking and pass-oriented “vertical offense”, decided to change things up for the 1963 title match. The Chargers had been beaten by a strong defense in the 1960 and 1961 AFL title games (both times losing to the Houston Oilers). With that in mind, Gillman drastically changed their plan of attack for the ’63 title game. Instead of deep routes to WR Lance Alworth, the Chargers would go with swing passes to FB Keith Lincoln. And instead of runs behind their future Hall of Fame OT Ron Mix, the Chargers would go with draws (to Lincoln and to HB Paul Lowe), and misdirection plays. In other words, Gillman was going with the opposite of what the Chargers had become known for.

By the time the Boston Patriots caught on to the Chargers’ game plan, the damage was done. Powered by long TD-runs by Keith Lincoln (for 67 yards) and Paul Lowe (for 58 yards), the Chargers shot out to a 21-7 lead after the 1st quarter. And the Chargers led by 31-10 at halftime. By the start of the 4th quarter, San Diego led by 28 points, and backup-QB John Hadl replaced Tobin Rote. 13 points later, the score was 51-10, and the Chargers were the new AFL champions.

MVP honors went to Keith Lincoln. Keith Lincoln was a QB out of Washington State, who had been drafted in the 5th round of the 1961 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears. But Lincoln, who grew up in southern California, decided to sign with the AFL’s San Diego Chargers instead. There he was converted to a running back. Lincoln had the game of a lifetime in the 1963 AFL title game, racking up an astounding 329 yards from scrimmage (206 yards rushing and 123 yards receiving). Plus he threw one pass for a 20-yard gain. The 329 yards from scrimmage that Keith Lincoln produced that day in San Diego has never been bested in a pro football title game, and is tied for 3rd-best all-time [NFL, 1920-2020; AFL, 1960-69]. {All-time best yards-from-scrimmage in a game (pro-football-reference.com/leaders).}

As of 2020, the Chargers have not won another title.

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Photo and Image credits above – Tobin Rote & Ron Mix in the 1963 AFL Championship Game, unattributed at pinterest.com. Keith Lincoln runs for a 67-yard TD in the 1963 AFL Championship Game, photo unattributed at profootballtalk.nbcsports.com. Paul Lowe runs for a 58-yard TD in the 1963 AFL Championship Game, photo by Charles Aqua Viva/Getty Images via boltsfromtheblue.com. Lance Alworth catching long pass in the 1963 AFL Championship Game, photo unattributed at goldenrankings.com/AFLchampionship1963. Keith Lincoln taking hand-off from backup-QB John Hadl, late in the 1963 AFL Championship Game, unattributed at pinterest.com. Keith Lincoln on sidelines [circa 1964], photo unattributed at alchetron.com. San Diego Chargers 1963 helmet, from helmet hut.com. Head coach Sid Gilman and the Chargers players and staff celebrate the teams first (and only) championship title, with a champagne toast, photo unattributed at goldenrankings.com/AFLchampionship1963.



San Diego Chargers on map page… 1963 Chargers’ offense in the huddle listening to QB Tobin Rote (#18), unattributed at pinterest.com. 1963 Chargers uniforms, illustrations by Gridiron Uniforms database at gridiron-uniforms.com/[1963-AFL]. Tobin Rote & Paul Lowe [photo from 1963 Sports Illustrated cover], photo by Walter Iooss, Jr./Getty Images via pinterest.com. Tobin Rote & Ron Mix [photo from 1963 AFL Championship Game], unattributed at pinterest.com. Keith Lincoln [photo from 1963 AFL Championship Game], unattributed at pinterest.com. Lance Alworth [photo from 1963], photo by Focus On Sport/Getty Images via gettyimages.ca. San Diego Chargers 1963 helmet, from helmet hut.com. Ernie Ladd [photo from 1963], unattributed at bleacherreport.com. Earl Faison [1962 Fleer card], from psacard.com. Dick Harris [1962 Fleer card], from amazon.com. John Hadl [photo from 1965], photo by Neil Leifer/Getty Images via gettyimages.com. Chargers patch circa 1960s from ebay.com.

Offensive stats leaders on map page… Tobin Rote (Chargers) [photo from 1964], unattributed at talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com. George Blanda (Oilers) [photo circa 1964], unattributed at pinterest.com. Len Dawson (Chiefs) [1964 Topps card], from cardboardconnection.com. Clem Daniels (Raiders) [photo circa 1964], photo from raiders.com. Cookie Gilchrist (Bills) [photo from 1964], unattributed at pinterest.ie. Art Powell (Raiders) [photo circa 1965], unattributed at fs64sports.blogspot.com.

Thanks to all at the following links
-Blank map by anonymous US federal government employee, at File:StatesU.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Thanks to Sportslogos.net for 1960-era AFL team logos.
-Thanks to the contributors at pro-football-reference.com.
-Thanks to the contributors at AFL 1963 season (en.wikipedia.org).
-Thanks to the Coffin Corner newsletter, for this pdf, profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/13-04-430.pdf [AFL attendance by team 1960-69] .
Special thanks to Tim Brulia, Bill Schaefer and Rob Holecko of The Gridiron Uniform Database, for giving billsportsmaps.com the permission to use football uniforms illustrations from Gridiron Uniform Database {GUD}.

August 23, 2020

NFL 1963 season, map with helmets/jerseys & final standings + offensive stats leaders; champions: Chicago Bears.

Filed under: NFL>1963 map/season,NFL/ Gridiron Football,Retro maps — admin @ 9:50 am

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NFL 1963 season, map with helmets/jerseys & final standings + offensive stats leaders; champions: Chicago Bears



By Bill Turianski on the 23rd of August 2020; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-1963 NFL season
-1963 NFL Championship Game (en.wikipedia.org).
-1963 NFL season (pro-football-reference.com).

-The Chicago Bears win the 1963 NFL Championship (by Larry Kart at chicagotribune.com).

1963 NFL title game: Chicago Bears 14, New York Giants 10 (Bears win their 8th title, and their first title in 17 years)…
The 1963 NFL Championship Game (December 29 1963) was played at Wrigley Field, with a full house of 45,801 on hand, despite the windy and freezing 8°F temperature [-13° Celsius].

The game pitted the NFL’s best offense (the Giants) against the league’s best defense (the Bears).

The 1963 Chicago Bears defense had conceded a then-record low of only 10.2 points-per-game, and finished 11-1-2 to win the Western Conference. Two of the Bears’ eleven wins came against the defending champions, Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers, and the Bears ended up beating out the Packers for the Western title by just half a game (the Packers finished 11-2-1). The heart of the Bears’ crushing defense was their linebacker trio of Bill George (MLB), Larry Morris, and Joe Fortunato.

The 1963 New York Giants, who finished 11-3, also narrowly won their conference, over-taking and eventually edging out the Cleveland Browns by one game, for the Eastern title. The ’63 Giants were an explosive offensive juggernaut, led by veteran QB YA Tittle and a host of scoring threats, including Del Shofner (End) and Phil King (HB). YA Tittle had won the NFL’s 1963 Most Valuable Player award: Tittle had thrown for 36 TD passes for the Giants that year (setting an NFL record).

The Bears won the 1963 NFL title game by wearing down the Giants’ vaunted offense. YA Tittle took so many hits from the blitzing Bears defense that he was nullified. The Bears made 5 interceptions, two of which set up both of their touchdowns. Both of the turnovers which led to the Bears’ TDs were pick-offs from screen passes. Tittle had not given up a screen-pass-interception in all of the 1963 regular season, but in the title game that year he was picked off on screens twice by the Bears. And that was what decided it.

The Giants took an early 7-0 lead, and were clicking well on offense despite the icy conditions. So the Bears switched tactics and started blitzing. Late in the first quarter, Bears LB Larry Morris hit Tittle’s left knee with his helmet as the quarterback threw. The injured Tittle was much less effective for the rest of the game. Near the end of the 1st quarter, Larry Morris intercepted a Tittle screen pass, and returned the ball 61 yards to the Giants 6-yard line. Two plays later, Bears QB Billy Wade scored a touchdown on a two-yard quarterback sneak, to even the score at 7-7. Then 9:49 into the 2nd quarter, New York retook the lead, 10–7, on a 13-yard FG. But on the Giants’ next drive, Tittle hurt his left knee again, from another hit by Morris. Backup rookie QB Glynn Griffing replaced Tittle, to little effect. The score stayed 10-7 Giants at halftime.

In the 3rd quarter, Tittle was back in, shored up by novocaine and cortisone and heavy bandages. But Tittle could not throw off his bad foot, and his passing was erratic. This led to the second screen pass intercepted by the Bears. Late in the 3rd quarter, on the Giants’ own 35-yard-line, Tittle tried to float a screen pass as the Bears blitzed. But Bears DE Ed O’Bradovich anticipated the pass, intercepted, and ran 10 yards to the Giants’ 14. Three plays later, Billy Wade hit TE Mike Ditka for a quick toss that Ditka bulled to the 1 yard line. Then Wade pulled off his second QB-sneak, for a 1-yard-TD, and the Bears led 14-10. That score held, and LB Larry Morris was named the MVP of the game.

And the Bears had won their first NFL title in 17 years, and their 8th NFL title overall. And the New York Giants had thus lost 5 NFL title games in 6 years (and would not win another NFL title until the 1984 season). It was another 22 years until the Bears won another NFL title (in the 1985 season).

chicago-bears_1963-nfl-championship-game_wrigley-field_bears-14_giants-10_george-halas_billy-wade_larry-morris_ed-obradovich_joe-fortunato_doug-atkins_d_.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
Aerial shot of Wrigley Field for the 1963 NFL Championship Game: photo unattributed at twitter.com/[@OTBaseballPhoto]. Screenshot of Bears QB Billy Wade and Bears owner/head coach George Halas, from video uploaded by Classic Sports Pictures at youtube.com. Larry Morris, 1964 Kahns trading card via footballcardgallery.com. Bears linebacker Larry Morris returns interception 61 yards, screenshot from video uploaded by Classic Sports Pictures at youtube.com. Larry Morris upends Giants RB Joe Morrison, photo unattributed at pinterest.com. Bears DE Doug Atkins (#81), LB Larry Morris (#33) and LB Joe Fortunato (#31) blitz Giants QB YA Tittle: photo by Robert Riger/Getty Images via nytimes.com. Interception on a screen pass by Bears DE Ed O’Bradovich (#87), photo unattributed at goldenrankings.com/nflchampionshipgame1963. QB Bily Wade’s title-winning 1-yard TD run, photo from chicago.suntimes.com/bears. George Halas in the final minutes of the game, photo unattributed at twitter.com/[@sigg20].




Bears players on map page,
Reproduction of early-1960s Chicago Bears helmet, photo from ebay.com. Segment of NFL-logo-themed playing cards [from 1964], from grayflannelsuit.net/blog. Billy Wade [photo circa 1964], photo by Robert Riger/Getty Images via bleacherreport.com. Mike Ditka [photo from 1963], photo by Malcolm Evans/USA Today via articles.chicagotribune.com. Mike Ditka [action-photo circa 1963], unattributed at pinterest.com. Joe Marconi [photo circa 1963], unattributed at goldenrankings.com. Johnny Morris [1964 Philadelphia card], from amazon.com. Stan Jones [photo circa 1964], unattributed at sportscollectibles.com. Doug Atkins [photo circa 1963], unattributed at sportsmockery.com. Joe Fortunato [1964 Philadelphia card], from tradingcarddb.com. Bill George [photo circa 1963], photo by Robert Riger/Getty Images via nflspinzone.com. Rosey Taylor [photo circa 1963], unattributed at pinterest.co.uk. Richie Petitbon [1963 Topps card], from tradingcarddb.com.

Offensive stats leaders on map page,
YA Tittle (Giants) [photo circa 1962], unattributed at unclemikesmusings.blogspot.com.
Johnny Unitas (Colts) [photo from 1963], photo by Robert Riger/Getty Images at gettyimages.com.
Jim Brown (Browns) [photo circa 1965], unattributed at ebay.com.
Bobby Mitchell (Washington) [photo circa 1963], unattributed at sportsecyclopedia.com.
Terry Barr (Lions) [photo circa 1964], unattributed at worthpoint.com.
___

Thanks to all at the following links…

-Blank map by anonymous US federal government employee, at File:StatesU.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Thanks to the contributors at pro-football-reference.com
-Thanks to the contributors at NFL 1963 season (en.wikipedia.org).
Special thanks to Tim Brulia, Bill Schaefer and Rob Holecko of The Gridiron Uniform Database, for giving billsportsmaps.com the permission to use football uniforms illustrations from Gridiron Uniform Database {GUD}.

August 3, 2020

England (incl. Wales): Historic Counties location-map of the 1920-21 Football League, when the League expanded to a 22-club Third Division (66 clubs total); Champions: Burnley FC.

Filed under: >ENG-1920-21 map,Retro maps — admin @ 7:52 am

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England (incl. Wales): Historic Counties location-map of 1920-21 Football League (66 clubs); Champions: Burnley FC



By Bill Turianski on the 3rd of August 2020; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.

    The map shows the Football League in 1920-21, when the first First Division champions were Burnley FC (their first English title), and when the Third Division was introduced.

Table of Contents:

Part 1). Description of Map page.

Part 2). A synopsis of Burnley’s title-winning season of 1920-21.

Part 3). History of Football League expansion from 1888 to 1921: A section which includes a timeline of the Football League’s first 29 seasons [1888-1921], the creation of the Third Division in 1920-21, and then creation of the two Third Divisions (North and South) in 1921-22.

Part 4). Notes on the First Division attendance in the early years, and the impact of adding two 3rd division leagues by 1921-22 (with bar graph of League attendance 1890-1950).

Part 5). Top Flight teams of 1920-21… Where are those clubs now, 100 years later..?

Part 6). Historic County boundaries of England (pre-1975), compared to the modern County boundaries.

    Part 1: The map shows the Football League of 1920-21, when the Third Division was introduced, and when Burnley FC were the champions of England.

The main map, including a separate London-area map, shows all 66 clubs in the Football League (22 First Division clubs, 22 Second Division clubs, 22 Third Division clubs).

The First Division clubs are shown with their home kits, arranged by region in separate boxes, flanking each side of the main map.
They are arranged in 7 regional sections.
Here is a list of those seven regional sections, including names on each club’s home ground (and years they played there)…

    1920-21 First Division: clubs by Historic Counties

Lancaster [including the cities of Manchester and Liverpool]: (9 First Division clubs)
∙ Blackburn Rovers: played at (and still play at) Ewood Park (1881; and since 1890).
∙ Bolton Wanderers: played at Burnden Park (from 1895 to 1997).
∙ Burnley: played at (and still play at) Turf Moor (since 1883).
∙ Everton: played at (and still play at) Goodison Park (since 1892).
∙ Liverpool: played at (and still play at) Anfield (since 1892).
∙ Manchester City: played at Hyde Road (1887-1923).
∙ Manchester United: played at (and still play at) Old Trafford (since 1910).
∙ Oldham Athletic AFC: played at (and still play at) Boundary Park (since 1904).
∙ Preston North End: played at (and still play at) Deepdale (since 1878).

Yorkshire [the 3 Ridings of Yorkshire]: (5 First Division clubs)
∙ Bradford City: played at (and still play at) Valley Parade (since 1903).
∙ Bradford Park Avenue: played at Park Avenue (from 1907 to 1973).
∙ Huddersfield Town AFC: played at Leeds Road (from 1908 to 1994).
∙ Middesbrough: played at Ayresome Park (from 1903 to 1995).
∙ Sheffield United: played at (and still play at) Bramall Lane (since 1889).

Northeast [Northumberland and Durham]: (2 First Division clubs)
∙ Newcastle United: played at (and still play at) St James’ Park (since 1892).
∙ Sunderland AFC: played at Roker Park (from 1898 to 1987).

Birmingham area: [Warwikshire/Worcestershire/Staffordshire]: (2 First Division clubs)
∙ Aston Villa: played at (and still play at) Villa Park (since 1897).
∙ West Bromwich Albion: played at (and still play at) the Hawthorns (since 1900).

Derbyshire: (1 First Division club)
∙ Derby County: played at the Baseball Ground (from 1895 to 1997).

London area [County of London and Middlesex]: (3 First Division clubs)
∙ Arsenal: played at Highbury (from 1913 to 2006).
∙ Chelsea: played at (and still play at) Stamford Bridge (since 1905).
∙ Tottenham Hotspur: played at White Hart Lane (from 1899 to 2017).

Next to the 22 1st division clubs’ home kits are each club’s current (2020) badge. The 22 First Division clubs also have home-jersey segments next to their location-dots on the map. The 22 Second Division clubs have slightly smaller home-jersey segments next to their location-dots on the map. And the 22 Third Division clubs have even smaller home-jersey segments next to their location-dots on the map. The source of the illustrated kits and jersey-segments is the excellent site Historical Football Kits (historicalkits.co.uk).

Note on the location-dots…a black dot shows the location of the club’s home ground in 1920-21; grey dots show future grounds the club would go on to play in. Listed next to each location-dot is the date that the club played at each of their grounds (in tiny 10-point type).

The main map and the London area map both show the borders of the Historic Counties (pre-1975). {See Part 6, a section on Historic Counties, further below.} Any Historic County in England (or Wales) which had a Football League club in 1920-21 is shown on the map(s) with a tinted overlay.

At the top-centre of the map page is a section devoted to the 1921 title-winners, Burnley FC of Lancashire {see more on this in Part 2, below}. Below that, in the centre of the map-page, is a section devoted to the 5 top scorers in the First Division in 1920-21.

At the right-hand side of the map page are the tables for the 3 divisions of the 1920-21 Football League. Next to each club is their 1920-21 home-jersey segment, and the club’s current (2020) badge. If the club in 1920-21 wore a badge on their jersey, that is also shown (but very few clubs wore badges on their jerseys back then). The tables include the usual (Wins, Draws, Losses, Points) plus Goal Average. (Goal Average was Goals Scored divided by Goals Conceded. It was used as a tiebreaker from 1888 to 1976. It was replaced by Goal Difference in 1976-77. The problem with goal average was that it encouraged lower scoring games, as this page at Wikipedia shows, Goal Difference v. Goal Average.) At the far right-hand side of the 1920-21 Football League tables are each club’s home league average attendance.

Finally, at the lower left-hand side of the map page, next to the map’s Legend, is a list of the 30 largest cities in England in 1921. {Source: List of towns and cities in England by historical population (en.wikipedia.org).} The 14 largest cities in England in 1921 are shown on the map…London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Bristol, Bradford, Hull, Newcastle, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Stoke-on-Trent, Leicester.



    Part 2: The 1920-21 season, when Burnley FC, of Burnley, Lancashire, were the football champions of England.

Most successful clubs and top-drawing clubs circa 1920…
1920-21 was the 29th season of the Football League, and the second season back after World War I. Aston Villa was the most successful English club to that point in time, with 6 titles. Aston Villa had last won the title in 1910 (six seasons earlier). The second-most successful club was Sunderland, with 5 titles. Sunderland had last won the title in 1912 (four seasons earlier).

The best drawing clubs circa 1920 were Newcastle United and Chelsea {year-by-year attendance, here}. Both Newcastle and Chelsea were drawing at or near 40 thousand per game. In 1920-21, there was phenomenal and record-breaking attendance through all three divisions. The 1st division overall average attendance in 1920-21 would not be surpassed for another 26 years (not until 1946-47). The 1st division as a whole averaged an astounding 29.2 K per game. The 2nd tier drew also drew very well, with an average crowd of 16.7 K. And the new 3rd tier, comprised almost entirely of formerly non-League sides all from the south of England (and of Wales), drew an impressive 10.6 K per game. The following season of 1921-22 would see another 3rd division added, this time comprised of formerly non-League sides all from the north of England (and Wales). {For more on that, see Part 3, below, which includes a timeline of Football League expansion from 1888 to 1921.} {More on attendance in part 4, further below.}

In 1920-21, Burnley, a founding member of the Football League in 1888, were playing in their 15th season in the First Division, and were in their 4th consecutive top flight season. (Burnley had won promotion back to the First Division in 1913). Burnley’s Manager John Haworth was starting his 11th season at the helm. John Haworth had previously led Burnley to promotion in 1913, and to the FA Cup title in 1914.

As mentioned, the 1920-21 season was the second season back, after four Football League seasons were cancelled, due to the Great War [World War I]. The previous season of 1919-20 saw Burnley finish in 2nd place, 9 points behind the title-winners, West Bromwich Albion.

Burnley got off to a terrible start in 1920-21, losing their first 3 matches (losing at home to Bradford City, then losing away to Huddersfield Town, then losing away to Bradford City). So Manager John Haworth made several changes to the squad, including the reinstatement of both Goalkeeper Jerry Dawson and Defender/Captain Tommy Boyle. Then on the 6th of September 1920, Burnley beat Huddersfield 3–0, at home at Turf Moor; the goalscorers were Bob Kelly, Tommy Boyle, and Billy Nesbitt.

At that point in early September 1920, Burnley began an unbeaten run that would extend to a then-record 30 games. Burnley’s 30-game-unbeaten-run included 21 wins, and zero dropped points at Turf Moor. Burnley’s unbeaten run was an English first division record for 83 years, until it was bettered by Arsenal in 2003–04 (Arsenal’s unbeaten run went beyond a full season, to 49 games).

Burnley reached first place on 20 November 1920, with a 2-2 draw at Oldham. Burnley remained leaders for the rest of the season. The Clarets’ unbeaten run went all through October, November, December, January, and February. At Christmas time, Burnley led the league by 3 points. On 15 February, Burnley beat Blackburn 3-1 at Turf Moor, in front of a team season-high home attendance of 41,500. (Burnley drew an average of 31,535 to Turf Moor in 1920-21, which was a little over 2,000 more per game than the league average of 29,252.) {1920-21 First Division attendance figures can be seen at European-Football-Statistics.co.uk; also on the map page, at the far right hand side are average attendance figures for all 3 League divisions, and all 66 League teams.}

Burnley’s 30-game unbeaten run ended in late March, and it ended only when Burnley had to (ridiculously) play two games in two days. Burnley finally lost a match on 26 March, to title-challengers Manchester City, 3-0 away – which was just one day after they had beaten Manchester United 1-0 at Turf Moor. At that point, Burnley were 7 points clear at the top of the table. Burnley then beat Man United away and Man City at home, and the title was just one good result away. But then, mirroring their early season problems, Burnley finished the season winless in their last 6 games. But they had built up enough of a lead that a 1-1 draw, away to Everton, on the 23rd of April, clinched the title for them, with 3 games to spare.

The key players in Burnley’s title-winning season of 1920-21 were Goalkeeper Jerry Dawson, Forward Joe Anderson, Forward Bob Kelly and Captain/Defender Tommy Boyle. The Renfrewshire, Scotland-born Joe Anderson had 25 goals in league games that season (6th-best in the league). Bob Kelly, born near Wigan in Lancashire, scored a league-10th-best 20 goals that season. Tommy Boyle, who was born near Barnsley in Yorkshire, had previously captained two teams to the FA Cup title: Barnsley in 1912 and Burnley in 1914. As mentioned earlier, Boyle had started the season on the bench, but manager Haworth put him back in the squad on the same game that started their 30-game unbeaten run. Tommy Boyle led all Burnley defenders with 7 goals in 1920-21. {Joe Anderson, Bob Kelly, Tommy Boyle and Jerry Dawson can be seen in photos on the map page, in the Burnley section at the top-center; there is also a photo of Secretary/Manager John Haworth, an aerial shot of Turf Moor from the late 1920s, two team photos, and a banner from the Burnley matchday programme of 2 April 1921.}

    Part 3: In 1920-21, the Football League expanded from 44 teams to 66 teams, with the addition of a Third Division.

Before that is discussed, here is a timeline of the Football League, from its creation in 1888-89, up to 1920-21…
{Note: all seasons listed below are linked to their pages at en.wikipedia.org (click on the date).}
1888-89: 12 teams… the Football League is established with 12 clubs from the Midlands and the North of England…Accrington FC [defunct], Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke FC [present-day Stoke City], West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers. {See this: One letter, two meetings and 12 teams – the birth of league football (by Paul Fletcher at bbc.com/sport/football from Feb. 2013).}
1890-91: 14 teams…in its 4th season, the League expands by two teams, to 14 teams.
1892-93: 28 teams…in its 5th season, the Football League expands to a second division and is now comprised of 28 teams (with the First Division now comprising 16 teams). Some of the arriving clubs in the new 12-team Second Division come into the League from the failed rival-league the Football Alliance (1889-92). Promotion and relegation is to be decided by test matches between the bottom 3 finishers in D-1 and the top three finishers in D-2. Also, the bottom four finishers in D-2 must pass re-election by League members, or be demoted out of the League (later changed to bottom 3 finishers).
1893-94: 31 teams…in its 6th season, the Football League expands by 3 teams to 31 teams, with the addition of 3 more teams to the now-15-team Second Division.
1894-95: 32 teams…in its 7th season, the Football League expands by one team to 32 teams, with the addition of another team to the now-16-team Second Division.
1898-99: 36 teams…in its 11th season, the Football League expands by 4 teams to 36 teams, with the addition of 2 teams to each division, making D-1 and D-2 both 18-team leagues. ALSO, Promotion-and-Relegation replaces Test Matches…now, the bottom 2 finishers in D-1 would be relegated down to D-2, while the top 2 finishers in D-2 would be promoted up to D-1 (and the bottom 3 finishers in D-2 still had to pass re-election to stay in the League).
1905-06: 40 teams…in its 18th season, the Football League expands by 4 teams to 40 teams, with the addition of 2 teams to each division, making D-1 and D-2 both 20-team leagues. ALSO, clubs from the South of England enter the League for the first time: the first two southern-England-based clubs to join the League were Chelsea, and Clapton Orient [present-day Leyton Orient].
1915: football is suspended in England following the outbreak of the Great War [WW I]. Four seasons of the Football League are lost (1915-16 to 1918-19).
1919-20: 44 teams…with the return of football in England, the Football League expands by 4 teams to 44 teams, with the addition of 2 teams to each division, making D-1 and D-2 both 22-team leagues.
1920-21: 66 teams…in its 20th season, the Football League expands by 22 teams to 66 teams, with the creation of a Third Division. ALSO, clubs from Wales enter the League for the first time: four clubs, all from South Wales, join the League (Cardiff City into the Second Division; Swansea Town [Swansea City], Newport County, and Merthyr Town into the Third Division).

1920-21 was the second season that the Football League was back in play, following World War I. This was when the League expanded once again – into a third division. In 1920-21, that new 3rd tier was comprised of teams almost exclusively from the heretofore-under-represented South of England (and Wales)…all but one were located south of Birmingham (see next few sentences). 23 of the 24 of the clubs in the new 1920-21 Third Division were teams which had been, previously, in the [non-League] 1919-20 Southern League Division One {league table, here}. The only club from the 1919-20 Southern League Division One that did not join the new Football League Third Division was Cardiff City, who were elected straight into the Football League Second Division. And to make room for that, the last-place finisher of the 1919-20 Football League Second Division was relegated into the new 3rd division. That club was Grimsby Town. Why did Cardiff City, Wales’ biggest football club (then and now), receive such special treatment (ie, an immediate promotion)?… ‘As Cardiff City was long considered a potential entrant for the Second Division due to their FA Cup exploits and Southern League dominance, they were sent directly into the Second Division’…{excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/Football_League_Third_Division}. Some might say that was simply blatant favoritism, and I don’t disagree. However, it must be pointed out that the 1920-21 Cardiff City squad was a strong enough team to finish in second place in their debut season in the League (and thus win promotion to the 1921-22 First Division). So Cardiff City went from non-League football, to the top flight, in one season (and were the last team to ever do so).

The 66-teams set-up in the Football League lasted exactly one season (1920-21).
One year later (1921-22), the new south-ward imbalance of the lower part of the Football League was corrected, when another Third Division in the Football League was established. Since there was no northern equivalent to the Southern League, this new 1921-22 Third Division North was comprised of teams from the most prominent of the non-League leagues in the Midlands and the North. Those leagues which supplied teams into the new Football League Third Division North in 1921-22 were: the Midland League, the Central League, the North Eastern League, the Lancashire Combination, and the Birmingham Combination.

So, in 1921-22, there was the newly-established Third Division North and there was the newly-established Third Division South (each with 22 teams, and each being parallel 3rd divisions). That made it 88 teams in the Football League. This 88-team Football League set-up, including two equal 3rd tier leagues, existed for twenty one seasons (1921-22 to 1949-50). Then, in 1950-51, the whole Football League set-up expanded slightly more, to 92 teams. So, in 1950-51 there were: 22 teams in the 1st Division, 22 teams in the 2nd Division, 24 teams in the 3rd Division North and 24 teams in the 3rd Division South. (That number of teams – 92 – still stands today, in concept, if not legal framework.) Then, in 1957-58, the two regional 3rd divisions were eliminated, with the creation of a new national Third Division and a new national Fourth Division. This set-up existed all through the 1960s and the 1970s and the 1980s, and only changed when the Premier League ‘evolved’ from the old First Division, in 1992-93. The now-20-team 1st division…aka the Premier League…might be a separate legal entity from the Football League, but it is still the top tier of the English football league system. And the Football League’s three tiers still sit below that. So, in England (including Wales), there are still 92 teams in the four leagues above the vast non-League Pyramid.

    Part 4: Notes on the First Division attendance in the early years, and the impact of adding two 3rd division leagues by 1921-22.

As mentioned in part 2, 1920-21 was the 29th season of the Football League. The Football League had grown remarkably, with crowds now nearing a 30-thousand-per-game average in the top tier. And the Football League had grown from a single 12-team league to a three-tier 66-team set-up. It had fought off an early rival league – the Football Alliance: The Football Alliance existed from 1889-92, with its 12 members merging into the Football League in 1892, joining the newly formed Second Division of the Football League.

England: Football League Average Attendance, 1988-89 to 1949-50 – League averages, by Division…
Click on image below for full-size chart
england_football-league_attendance-1889-to-1950_bar-chart_f_.gif
Graph by billsportsmaps.com; attendance figures from european-football-statistics.co.uk.

The first season of 1888-89 saw crowds averaging only 4,600 per game. {Year-by-year English League-average attendance figures from european-football-statistics.co.uk, here.} Growth was slow at first. 5 years on, in 1892-93 (when the Football Alliance clubs came over to augment the new Second Division), attendance was at 7,000 per game in the 1st tier, and 2,200 in the new 2nd tier. The creation of a second division did not seem to negatively affect top flight crowds, though, of course, if the League had not created the Second Division, attendances might have increased. But then again, another rival-league like the Alliance might have threatened the League, so you could say expansion to the Second Division was inevitable. (One could also make the same argument for the League’s expansion into the two 3rd divisions.)

It took eleven seasons for the First Division to reach 10-K-per-game, in 1898-99 (with the Second Division drawing 4.2-K per game). And even then, the next season of 1900 saw a slight decrease in crowd size (of 0.5-K-per-game). It took 19 seasons for the 1st division to make an attendance increase of 2,000-per-game…that happened in 1906-07, when average crowds increased by 2.1-K-per-game: from 13.4-K in 1906, to 15.5-K in 1907.

Twenty-thousand per game was finally reached in the 1913-14 season, and that season also saw the 2nd division draw 10-K per-game for the first time. The outbreak of World War I was in June 1914, and the next season of the Football League in 1914-15 saw a drop in attendance as the war loomed. Then there were the 4 seasons lost to World War I. The first season after the war – 1919-20 – saw a large increase in average crowd size: 24.0-K in the 1st tier and 12.8-K in the 2nd tier. Those are very solid numbers. And in 1920-21, attendance continued to skyrocket, to a phenomenal 29,200 per game. And an impressive 16.3-K per game in the 2nd tier. And a remarkable 10.8-K per game in the new Third Division. Ten thousand per game in the new 3rd division! That’s how starved for League football fans in the south of England were (because 21 of the 22 teams in the new 3rd division in 1920-21 were southern clubs).

It bears mentioning that the 29.2-K-per-game attendance that the 1st division drew in 1920-21 was not surpassed for 26 years. It wasn’t until 1946-47, the first season back after World War II, that there was better attendance in the top flight than in 1920-21 (20 seasons). (In 1946-47, the 1st division averaged a then-record 32.2-K, then two seasons later in 1948-49 the 1st division reached its all-time record attendance of 38.7-K per game. Which has almost, but not quite, been bested by the Premier League in 2019-19 and in 2019-20. Again, see attendances by year, here.)

Why did the 1st division’s overall attendance drop after 1920-21, and why did top flight attendance continue to plateau all through the rest of the 1920s and all of the 1930s? Well, the global Depression of the 1930s certainly contributed to flat attendance in that decade, but what about in the 1922-to-’29 time period? That is to say, when the economy was fine, and the League had just experienced its two best-drawing seasons.

I would say it was because of the introduction of the second, parallel 3rd division in 1921-22. Because that added 22 Northern-or-Midlands-based clubs into the League, and many of the people attending matches of those new 3rd-Division-North League clubs would have been going to other northern-based Football League matches in previous seasons. By the same token, there is a reason why the season of 1920-21 saw considerable attendance increase despite the creation of the new 3rd tier. It was because all those new League clubs in the new 3rd tier in 1920-21 were southern-based clubs (except for Grimsby Town). And the 1st division had just 3 southern-based clubs back then in 1920-21 (Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea), and the 2nd division had only four clubs located in the south back then (Cardiff City [of Wales], Bristol City, Clapton [Leyton] Orient, Fulham).

So in 1920-21, in the south of England (and Wales), there was a vast untapped market for League football – even 3rd division League football. But in the following season (1921-22), when the Football League created a parallel 3rd division comprised entirely of northern-based clubs, there was a much smaller market for 3rd division League football up north. Because there were so many big League clubs already up there in the North and in the Midlands. The Football League football market was pretty saturated up there (and it still is today, especially around Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Lancashire).

Want more proof that the over-saturation of League football in the North hurt attendance figures? Well, in all of the 28 seasons that the dual-North/South-3rd-division set-up existed (from 1921 to ’57), the Third Division North never had higher attendance than the Third Division South. It was never even close: never in any of those 28 seasons was the 3rd-North’s overall attendance within 2.0-K-per-game of the 3rd-South’s. Again, see the chart above (and click on it for an enlarged image) or see the E-F-S site’s England page {here}.

After 1921-22, for nearly two decades, 1st division football attendance did not increase. There was no 1st division crowd-size increase for 18 consecutive seasons, from 1921-22 to 1938-39.



    Part 5: Notes on the Top Flight teams of 1920-21… Where are those clubs now, 100 years later..?

Each of the 22 top flight teams of 1920-21 are below shown in order of finish, with the following information…
# in 1920-21. Club. 100 years later…2019-20 league finish (#in league pyramid). Seasons played in 1st division (consecutive seasons in 1st div/or: last time in 1st div). English titles (last). FA Cup titles (last). Average attendance*
*Average attendance is for 2019-20 from domestic home league matches played up to 15 March 2019; post-March 15 closed-door (ie, zero attendance) matches discounted from attendance average.
(Note: for all the clubs listed below, Top flight seasons & Consecutive seasons includes the season starting in September 2020 [2020-21].)
(Note: there have been 122 seasons of English 1st Division/Premier League, including 2020-21.)

1920-21 First Division
∙1st place in 1920-21: Burnley FC.
100 years later…2019-20: 10th place in Premier League (#10 in league pyramid). 58 seasons in 1st division (5 consecutive top flight seasons). 2 English titles (last in 1960); 1 FA Cup title (1914). 20,260 avg attendance in 2019-20 (30th best attendance in English football in 2019-20).

∙2nd place: Manchester City FC.
100 years later…2019-20: 2nd place in Premier League (#2 in league pyramid). 92 seasons the in 1st division (19 consecutive top flight seasons). 6 English titles (last in 2019); 6 FA Cup titles (last in 2019). 54,219 avg attendance in 2019-20 (5th best).

∙3rd place: Bolton Wanderers FC.
100 years later…2019-20: 23rd place (last place) in League One (3rd division) (#67 in league pyramid)/relegated to 4th division. 73 seasons in the 1st division (relegated out in 2012). 4 FA Cup titles (1958). 11,480 avg attendance in 2019-20 (46th best).

∙4th place: Liverpool FC.
100 years later…2019-20: 1st place in Premier League (#1 in league pyramid) (English champions). 106 seasons in the 1st division (59 consecutive top flight seasons). 19 English titles [2nd-best All-time] (2020). 7 FA Cup titles (2006). 53,143 avg attendance in 2019-20 (6th best).

∙5th place: Newcastle United FC.
100 years later…13th place in Premier League (#13 in league pyramid). 89 seasons in the 1st division (4 consecutive top flight seasons). 4 English titles (1927). 6 FA Cup titles (1955). 48,248 avg attendance in 2019-20 (7th best).

∙6th place: Tottenham Hotspur FC. (Note: Tottenham won the 1921 FA Cup title, beating Wolverhampton 1–0.)
100 years later…2019-20: 6th place in Premier League (#6 in league pyramid). 86 seasons in the 1st division (43 consecutive top flight seasons). 2 English titles (1961). 8 FA Cup titles (1991). 59,384 avg attendance in 2019-20 (4th best).

∙7th place: Everton FC.
100 years later…2019-20: 12th place in Premier League (#12 in league pyramid). 118 seasons in the 1st division [All-time English record] (67 consecutive top flight seasons). 9 English titles (1987). 5 FA Cup titles (1995). 39,150 avg attendance in 2019-20 (10th best).

∙8th place: Middlesbrough FC.
100 years later…2019-20: 17th place in EFL Championship (2nd division) (#37 in league pyramid). 62 seasons in the 1st division (relegated out in 2017). 19,933 avg attendance in 2019-20 (31st best).

∙9th place: Arsenal FC.
100 years later…2019-20: 8th place in Premier League (#8 in league pyramid). 104 seasons in the 1st division last in 2017 (96 consecutive top flight seasons [All-time English record]). 13 English titles [3rd-best All-time] (2004). 14 FA Cup titles [All-time English record] (2020). 60,279 avg attendance in 2019-20 (2nd best).

∙10th place: Aston Villa FC.
100 years later…2019-20: 17th place in Premier League (#17 in league pyramid). 107 seasons in the 1st division [2nd-best All-time] (2 consecutive top flight seasons). 7 English titles (1981). 7 FA Cup titles (1957). 41,661 avg attendance in 2019-20 (8th best).

∙11th place: Blackburn Rovers FC.
100 years later…2019-20: 11th place in EFL Championship (2nd division) (#31 in league pyramid). 72 seasons in the 1st division (relegated out in 2012). 3 English titles (1995). 6 FA Cup titles (1928). 13,873 avg attendance in 2019-20 (40th best).

∙12th place: Sunderland AFC.
100 years later…2019-20: 8th place in EFL League One (3rd division) (#52 in league pyramid). 86 seasons in the 1st division (relegated out in 2017). 6 English titles (1936). 2 FA Cup titles (1973). 19,933 avg attendance in 2019-20 (31st best).

∙13th place: Manchester United FC.
100 years later…2019-20: 4th place in Premier League (#4 in league pyramid). 96 seasons in the 1st division (46 consecutive top flight seasons). 20 English titles [All-time English record] (2013). 12 FA Cup titles [2nd-best All-time] (2016). 73,393 avg attendance in 2019-20 (Best attendance in England).

∙14th place: West Bromwich Albion FC.
100 years later…2019-20: 2nd place in EFL Championship (2nd division) (#22 in league pyramid)/promoted automatically to Premier League for 2020-21. 81 seasons in the 1st division (had been relegated out in 2019/promoted back in 2020). 1 English title (1920). 5 FA Cup titles (1968). 24,053 avg attendance in 2019-20 (22nd best).

∙15th place: Bradford City AFC.
100 years later…2019-20: 9th place in EFL League Two (4th division) (#76 in league pyramid). 12 seasons in the 1st division (relegated out in 2001). 1 FA Cup title (1911). 14,309 avg attendance in 2019-20 (38th best).

∙16th place:Preston North End FC.
100 years later…2019-20: 9th place in EFL Championship (2nd division) (#29 in league pyramid). 46 seasons in the 1st division (relegated out in 1961). 2 English titles (1890). 2 FA Cup titles (1938). 13,579 avg attendance in 2019-20 (43rd best).

∙17th place: Huddersfield Town AFC.
100 years later…18th place in EFL Championship (2nd division) (#38 in league pyramid). 33 seasons in the 1st division (relegated out in 2019). 3 English titles (1926). 1 FA Cup title (1922). 21,748 avg attendance in 2019-20 (27th best).

∙18th place: Chelsea FC.
100 years later…3rd place in Premier League (#3 in league pyramid). 86 seasons in the 1st division (32 consecutive top flight seasons). 6 English titles (2017). 8 FA Cup titles (2018). 40,453 avg attendance in 2019-20 (9th best).

∙19th place: Oldham Athletic AFC.
100 years later…2019-20: 19th place in EFL League Two (4th division) (#86 in league pyramid). 12 seasons in the 1st division (relegated out in 1994). 3,466 avg attendance in 2019-20 (85th best).

∙20th place: Sheffield United FC.
100 years later…9th place in Premier League (#9 in league pyramid). 62 seasons in the 1st division (2 consecutive top flight seasons). 1 English title (1898). 4 FA Cup titles (1925). 30,869 avg attendance in 2019-20 (14th best).

∙21st place: Derby County FC (relegated to the 2nd division for 1921-22).
100 years later…10th place in EFL Championship in 2019-20 (#30 in league pyramid). 65 seasons in the 1st division (relegated out in 2008). 2 English titles (1975). 1 FA Cup title (1946). 26,727 avg attendance in 2019-20 (20th best).

∙22nd place: Bradford Park Avenue FC (relegated to the 2nd division for 1921-22).
100 years later…22nd place [last place] in National League-North (6th level)/would have been relegated to the 7th level but were reprieved due to Coronavirus pandemic rendering all English leagues below the 6th level to be null & void for 2019-20 [ie, relegations below 6th level were cancelled] (~#137 in league pyramid). 3 seasons in the 1st division (relegated out in 1921). 484 avg attendance in 2019-20 (180th best in English football).

+1920-21 Second Division promoted clubs:
∙1st place in Second Division in 1920-21: Birmingham FC/promoted to First Division for 1921-22. (Note: the name Birmingham City FC was adopted in 1943).
100 years later…20th place in EFL Championship in 2019-20 (#40 in league pyramid). 57 seasons in the 1st division (relegated out in 2011). 20,412 avg attendance in 2019-20 (29th best).

∙2nd place in Second Division in 1920-21: Cardiff City FC/promoted to First Division for 1921-22 [becoming the first Welsh club to play in the English 1st division].
100 years later…5th place in EFL Championship in 2019-20/lost in play-offs semifinals (#25 in league pyramid). 17 seasons in the 1st division (relegated out in 2019). 1 FA Cup title (1927 [the only Welsh club to win an FA Cup title]). 22,822 avg attendance in 2019-20 (25th best).

    Part 6: Historic Counties of England before the late 20th century boundary-changes…

Note: this interactive map was very helpful in making my 1920-21 map here, and I imagine many of you would enjoy looking through it…Wikishire.co.uk/interactive map of Historic Counties of the British Isles .

Basically, everything, County-wise, was much more convoluted back then. ‘Back then’ generally meaning before 1975, but with London, before 1965…and specifically meaning before the changes made in April 1974 which were the result of The Local Government Act of 1972. That Act of Parliament led to the creation of such things as Greater Manchester and the West Midlands (both of which were officially instituted in April 1974). Before this, the outlying areas of England’s three biggest cities – London, Birmingham, and Manchester – were split among different County jurisdictions. As were the outlying areas around Liverpool, and also Newcastle.

One might ask why were the Historic Counties were done away with circa 1972-74? The answer is that they were changed to streamline administrative purposes. For example, imagine today having all of sprawling urban London under six different local government jurisdictions (County of London/Essex/Kent/Surrey/Middlesex/Hertfordshire). Or having all of urban Birmingham being under three separate jurisdictions (Warwickshire/Staffordshire/Worcestershire). In the major cities of Great Britain, the County borders had been established long before the patterns of urban development had become apparent. The changes made between 1965 and 1975 were aimed at combining the urban areas into single jurisdictions. ‘The Local Government Act 1972 sought generally to unite conurbations within a single county, while retaining the historic county boundaries as far as was practicable.’ {-excerpt from Historic counties of England/1965 and 1974 (en.wikipedia.org).

But to many people, eradicating the Historic Counties has left them rootless. -Britons Feeling Rootless After Changes to England’s Historic Counties (by Simon Worrall from November 2014 at nationalgeographic.com.

You could say that the Historic Counties in Britain functioned in the same way as the states in the United States of America. Each – in both cases – have unique characteristics, and each give residents there an identity. Imagine the uproar if two small American states like Connecticut and Rhode Island were merged. Or if New Jersey was abolished and diced up to better suit the local governments of New York City and Philadelphia. Or if north-western Indiana was grafted onto Illinois, to make the city of Chicago’s government more streamlined. No way those things would go down well. However, in Britain they did do things like that.

Introduction of the 6 Metropolitan Counties…
The changes made in county borders from 1965 through 1974 saw the introduction of a separate category of County: the Metropolitan county. There are 6 Metropolitan counties…Greater London, Greater Manchester, the West Midlands (ie, greater Birmingham including Wolverhampton and Coventry), Tyne and Wear (greater Newcastle including Sunderland, as well as Gateshead and South Shields), Merseyside (greater Liverpool including St Helens and the Wirral Peninsula, as well as Southport), West Yorkshire (greater Leeds including Bradford, Huddersfield, and Halifax), and South Yorkshire (greater Sheffield including Barnsley, Rotherham, and Doncaster). {Here is a small chart showing the Metropolitan counties that were created in April 1974 (en.wikipedia.org).}

London (Greater London)…
Back before 1966, there was the County of London (1889-1965), but that was much smaller than the sprawling present-day Greater London. All of East London, for example, was still part of Essex (including where West Ham once played and now play, and where Leyton Orient still play).

And much of West London and North London was actually not ‘in London’, but was part of Middlesex (including where both Spurs and Brentford once played and where both now play). The County Middlesex does not officially exist anymore, but there are many who still keep the concept alive – just one example being the ‘County of Middlesex’ signs still standing in Brentford and Enfield.

Before 1966, a large section of South West London was still part of Surrey (including where Crystal Palace still play). Also, a large section of South East London was still part of Kent (such as where Charlton Athletic once played and still play).

Birmingham, and the introduction of the West Midlands…
Before 1975, the region surrounding Birmingham was part of three different counties. Pre-1975, most of Birmingham was in Warwickshire, but north-east parts of the already-sprawling greater Birmingham were in a narrow northeastern-pointing arm of Worcestershire. And the western part of the greater Birmingham region…from West Bromwich on towards Wolverhampton and the Black Country…that was all part of Staffordshire. The West Midlands did not exist before April 1974 – there was just the vague concept of the Midlands. The Midlands was well established culturally, as a distinct region of England, but before 1975 the Midlands was not established in any jurisdictional form. Warwickshire lost a great deal of territory after 1974: Warwickshire lost not only the city of Birmingham, but Warwickshire also lost the area just east of that (Sutton Coldfield, Solihull, and the city of Coventry). The Historic county of Warwickshire had a generally circular-shape, but now Warwickshire is an odd oblong-crescent shape. So, before the sweeping changes of April 1974, Aston Villa were situated in Warwickshire, while just 3 miles west of Villa Park there is West Bromwich Albion’s home ground of the Hawthorns. But the Hawthorns was situated in Staffordshire before 1975.

Other former Counties (like Middlesex)…
Back then, there were also some other counties (like Middlesex) that do not exist anymore – like Huntingdonshire, which was just south of Peterborough, and which eventually became part of Cambridgeshire. And there were two Counties that no longer exist up in the Northwest of England: Westmorland and Cumberland. These two former counties now comprise most of present-day Cumbria (including most of the the Lake District, and the city of Carlisle up near the Scottish border).

Lancashire (which back then included the cities of Liverpool and Manchester), and Cheshire…
A southern section of present-day Cumbria originally belonged to Lancashire – Lancashire had a significant detached enclave on the Furness Peninsula, on the north shore of Morecambe Bay, around Barrow-in-Furness (home of Barrow AFC). Before 1975, Lancashire was a great deal larger…the city of Manchester and the city of Liverpool were both part of Lancashire back then. But also, some parts of both cities’ outer areas were not ever in Lancashire and were actually part of Cheshire. Specifically: Warrington and Widnes were in Cheshire before 1975, and are now part of Merseyside; and Stockport, Altrincham, Hyde, Dukinfield, and Stalybridge were in Cheshire before, and are now part of Greater Manchester. Lancashire lost about two-fifths (40%) of its land after 1974 – around 700 square-miles. There is one section that Lancashire gained after 1974: some sparsely-populated area just north of Blackburn and Burnley, and just south-west of the Yorkshire Dales.

Manchester…
The Metropolitan county of Greater Manchester did not exist before April 1974. Manchester United, Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers, and Wigan Athletic (as well as Oldham and Rochdale) all played in, and still play in, areas that were once part of Lancashire. You can see a stubborn vestige of Lancashire-identification in Bolton Wanderers’ recent crest-change. Because their badge once again includes a Red Rose of Lancashire, despite the fact that the town of Bolton, and where the Wanderers now play (in Horwich, 6 miles west of Bolton) are both part of Greater Manchester.

Liverpool…
Liverpool was part of Lancashire before 1975; now Liverpool is part of the Metropolitan county of Merseyside. And Merseyside – that is to say Greater Liverpool including the Wirral Peninsula – that jurisdiction did not exist before 1975. The Wirral, where Tranmere Rovers play [in Birkenhead], was part of Cheshire back then. Merseyside stretches up the Lancashire coast a bit as well, to Southport.

Newcastle…
Up in the Northeast, back before April 1974, the Metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear did not exist. Newcastle was part of Northumberland. And Sunderland was part of County Durham, along with other parts of urban north-east Durham (Gateshead and South Shields). Without Newcastle, Northumberland (the northern-most county in England), is now one of the least-populated counties.

Yorkshire (the largest Historic county)…
The Historic County of Yorkshire was once, over a thousand years ago, a part of the Viking kingdom of Jórvík (Danish York, from 867 to 954). The Historic County of Yorkshire was one vast county that was subdivided into 3 Ridings, plus an obscure section west of the city of York called the Ainsty of York. (Riding is an Old Norse term – Threthingr – which means: one-third part of a thing.) Two of the three old Ridings of Yorkshire correspond – generally – with the modern-day (post-1974) counties. The North Riding of Yorkshire morphed into North Yorkshire, which is now a large mushroom-shaped county (with the city of York in the mushroom-shape’s stem). Also generally unchanged is the East Riding of Yorkshire (which includes Hull, there on the north shore of the Humber Estuary). But the West Riding of Yorkshire changed quite a bit after 1974…the West Riding of Yorkshire, after 1974, was basically divided into two. Now there is West Yorkshire, which has the city of Leeds, and just west of that, the city of Bradford, as well as Huddersfield and Halifax towards the west, and then to the border at the Pennine Chain. (The Penninnes are the low mountain range that has traditionally separated Yorkshire from Lancashire and Northwest England.) And now there is South Yorkshire, which was also created in April 1974, and which is where Sheffield, as well as Barnsley, Rotherham, and Doncaster, are located. As mentioned at the top of this section, the counties of West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire are two of the 6 counties that are designated as Metropolitan counties.

With the term ‘Yorkshire’, one can perhaps best see how, in some ways, the old Historic county set-up never really went away. I say this because people from there will usually simply describe themselves as ‘from Yorkshire’, not differentiating which of the four modern-day Yorkshire counties they are actually from.
___
Thanks to all at the following links…
Sources:
Football League…
-English Football League (en.wikipedia.org).
-A complete history of the Football League, of which Derby County were a founder member (dcfc.co.uk).
-1920-21 Football League (en.wikipedia.org).
-The 1920-21 English Football League First Division…Table Standings; Top 10 Goal Scorers (melaman2.com). [Note: only source I could find for Top Scorers in 1920-21.]
-Historical Kits.co.uk…English_Football_League [kits, by club, through the years].
-European Football Statistics.co.uk…[Attendance] {To access, click on England; click on 1920-21.}
-File:England location map.svg (en.wikipedia.org).
-Map of the Thames River Basin District (gre.ac.uk).
Historic Counties of England (and Wales)…
-Historic Counties of England (en.wikipedia.org).
-Wikishire.co.uk/map…https://wikishire.co.uk/map/#/centre=52.917,-4.500/zoom=7 [interactive map] (wikishire.co.uk/map).
-County of London [1889-1965] [Before the much larger Greater London was instituted in 1965, there was the County of London (1889-1965).] (en.wikipedia.org).
-Know Your London.wordpress.com…London – The Counties (knowyourlondon.wordpress.com from Sept. 2017).
-Middlesex County Press.com…But Where Exactly is it Again? (middlesexcountypress.com).
-File:Middlesex 1851 and 1911.png [Boundaries of former County of Middlesex.] (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Historic Surrey [With map showing parts of the County of Surrey lost & gained after 1965.] (exploringsurreyspast.org.uk).
-Gloucestershire…File:Gloucestershire_1832_Map [Shows Bristol as part of Gloucestershire.] (en.wikipedia.org/[History of Gloucestershire]).
-File:Yorkshire_Wapentakes.svg [Ainsty of York, a region of the Historic County of Yorkshire which was a separate jurisdiction from the Three Ridings of Yorkshire.] (wikishire.co.uk).
-1911 map of the County of Berkshire [Shows Berkshire when it was a larger County, and before it included Slough.](upload.wikimedia.org).
-Historic Counties of Wales (en.wikipedia.org).
Blank maps…
-File:English metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties 2010.svg (en.wikipedia.org).
-File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg (en.wikipedia.org).
[Note: I erased the present-day County boundaries for the main map, drawing in Historical County boundaries {see links above}; I used both the present-day Greater London boundary and the present-day London Borough boundaries as an under-layer backdrop for the London map.]
Populations of cities…
List of towns and cities in England by historical population (en.wikipedia.org).

Photo and image credits on map page…
Burnley section:
Aerial photo of Turf Moor (1929) by unknown photographer for Burnley Express via en.wikipedia.org. 1920-21 Burnley FC official programme banner [April 1921], from clarets-mad.co.uk. Team photo of Burnley FC (1922) [1922 Chums trading card], via doingthe92.com/["Chums" football teams (1922)]. Joe Armstrong [1921], unattributed at vintagefootballers.com. John Haworth, from burnleyfootballclub.com. Burnley FC team photo (1921), unattributed at clarets-mad.co.uk. Burnley 1920-21 kit, illustration by historicalkits.co.uk. Jerry Dawson [1922 Sport and Adventure Famous Footballers trading card], from doingthe92.com.
Tommy Boyle [Captain], (1922 Gem trading card) from doingthe92.com/[The Gem Library "Special Real Photo" (1922)]. Bob Kelly (1922 trading card by DC Thomson), from doingthe92.com/[DC Thomson "British Team of Footballers" (1922)]. Joe Armstrong [1921], unattributed at vintagefootballers.com.

Section for Top scorers in 1920-21 First Division:
Data: The 1920-21 English Football League First Division…Table Standings; Top 10 Goal Scorers (melaman2.com). [Note: this was the only source I could find for an actual list of the Top Scorers in 1920-21.]
Joe Smith (Bolton), unattributed at twitter.com/[@MemorabiliaMal. Tommy Browell (Man City), 1922 Gem trading card from doingthe92.com/[The Gem Library "Special Real Photo" (1922)]. Charlie Buchan (Sunderland), colorized photo unattributed at Sunderland message board site at readytogo.net. Billy Walker (Aston Villa), 1923 trading card from doingthe92.com/[The Gem Library "Autographed Action Series" (1923)]. George Elliott (Middlesbrough), 1914 colorized photo from an unattributed trading card at vintagefootballers.com.

Base maps:
both are by Nilfanion…
-File:English metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties 2010.svg (en.wikipedia.org).
-File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg (en.wikipedia.org).

-Illustrations of Kits:
Historical Kits.co.ukEnglish_Football_League [kits, by club, through the years].
-1920-21 Football League attendance figures from european-football-statistics.co.uk/[1921 England Attendance].

Legend for Map & the Banner at foot of map:
-Compass rose from de.123rf.com.
-Banner Segments from these sources: The Scroll [from cover of 1920-21 FA Cup Final programme] via co.pinterest.com; Text and the old-style Ball image are from 10footballs.com/the-programmes-192122-2/.

July 4, 2020

1929 Major League Baseball: map with crests & uniforms, final standings and stats leaders; champions: Philadelphia Athletics. With illustrated article: The 1929 and 1930 Philadelphia Athletics: the most overlooked team in baseball history.

Filed under: Baseball,Baseball-1929 MLB season,Retro maps — admin @ 12:00 pm

mlb_al_nl_1929-map_w-uniforms_logos_standings_stats-leaders_1929-ws-champs_philadelphia-athletics_post_f_.gif
1929 Major League Baseball: map with crests & uniforms, final standings and stats leaders; champions: Philadelphia Athletics



By Bill Turianski on the 4th of July 2020; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.

Links…
Sources…
-Baseball-Reference.com, 1929 AL season; 1929 NL season.
-SportsLogos.net.
-Baseball Hall of Fame’s Dressed to the Nines (uniforms illustrated by Marc Okkonen), exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/database.htm.
-Most logos: sportlogos.net.
-US cities’ populations (1920 figures), biggestuscities.com/1920.
-Lost in History [the 1929-31 Philadelphia Athletics] (by William Nack from Aug 1996 at si.com/[vault]).
-Connie Mack’s Second Great Athletics Team: Eclipsed by the Ruth-Gehrig Yankees, But Even Better (by Bryan Soderholm-Difatte, from 2013, at sabr.org).

Links to the other 4 maps in this category (MLB retro maps from the 1920s)…
-1925 MLB map (Pittsburgh Pirates, champions; w/ an article on MLB attendance, by team, circa the 1920s).
-1926 MLB map (St. Louis Cardinals, champions; w/ a chart of 1920s US city populations & cities with MLB teams).
-1927 MLB map (New York Yankees, champions; w/ an illustrated article on the 1927 NY Yankees).
-1928 MLB map (New York Yankees, champions; w/ an illustrated article on the 1928 NY Yankees).

    The 1929 and 1930 Philadelphia Athletics: the most overlooked team in baseball history

The 1927 and 1928 New York Yankees are remembered as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, teams of all time. But in 1929, the Yankees finished a distant 18 games behind the Philadelphia Athletics of owner-and-manager Connie Mack. The Yankees also failed to win the AL pennant in the next two seasons of 1930 and ’31. So, not to take anything away from the “Murderer’s Row” Yankees, but something is going on here that needs to be put into perspective. Let me ask you this…if the 1927 and ’28 Yankees, led of course by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, were the greatest team of all time, then why didn’t the Yankees of the late-1920s-and-early-1930s win more World Series titles? Because Gehrig was still young and healthy, and Ruth was still in his prime.

It may surprise some to know that the Yankees of Ruth and Gehrig won only 4 World Series titles in the 12 seasons the two played together (in 1923, in 1927, in 1928, and in 1932). And that first Yankee title in 1923 was won when Gehrig wasn’t even a starter. So what stood in the way of the “Murderer’s Row” Yankees from winning more titles? The answer is the Philadelphia Athletics, who won 3 straight American League pennants, from 1929 to 1931. The Yankees finished 18 games behind the A’s in 1929. Then the Yankees finished 16 games behind the A’s in 1930. Then the Yankees finished 13.5 games behind the A’s in 1931. Heck, in 1930, the Yankees didn’t even finish in 2nd place (the Washington Senators did).

There are a couple of reasons why the dominant 1929-30 Philadelphia Athletics are so forgotten. First of all, the 1929-30 Philadelphia A’s have always been overshadowed by the 1927 and ’28 New York Yankees, and the long-ball legacy of the Ruth-&-Gehrig-led Bronx Bombers. And the second reason? It also has to do with New York…the largely New York-based sports media that basically ignored how great the 1929 (and 1930) Philadelphia Athletics actually were. As famed sportswriter Shirley Povich said, “The A’s were victims of the Yankee mystique. Perhaps the 1927 Yankees were the greatest team of all time. But if there was a close second, perhaps an equal, it was those A’s. They are the most overlooked team in baseball.”

The core of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1929 and ’30 was four Hall of Fame players…the slugging threesome of outfielder Al Simmons, catcher Mickey Cochrane, and 1st baseman Jimmie Foxx, plus pitcher Lefty Grove. Grove was one of the hardest-throwing left-handers ever (so said another great flamethrower, Walter Johnson). Lefty Grove had the best ERA in the AL for 4 straight seasons (1929-32). In 2001, Lefty Grove was named the second-best pitcher of all time, by Sabermetrics-founder Bill James. This foursome all came together in a 2-year span (1924-25), under Connie Mack (aka the Tall Tactician), who had a keen eye for talent, and an extensive scouting network.

Granted, if you want to talk pure hitting numbers, circa 1926 to 1932, the Philadelphia Athletics, for all their considerable offensive clout, were no match for New York Yankees. But no team was (and no team has been, ever). The Yankees absolutely dominated offensively between 1926 and 1932, leading not just the AL, but all of MLB, in scoring, in 6 of those 7 years. {You can see more on 1927 Yankees offensive stats in my 1927 map-&-article, here.} But home runs might get the headlines, but pitching and defense are ultimately the keys to a successful ball club. And the Philadelphia Athletics were a much more complete team, because their fielding – and especially their pitching – was superior. The 1929-to-’31 Athletics committed 137 less errors than the Yankees did in that same time period {see this, from en.wikipedia.org/[History of the Philadelphia Athletics]}. And the Athletics’ pitching from 1926 to 1932 was simply in a class by itself. In those 7 years, the Athletics had a total Pitching WAR (Wins After Replacement) that was 142.5, or a yearly average of 20.3 Pitching WAR. The Yankees in the same time period of 1926-32 had a total Pitching WAR of 65.2, or a yearly average of just 9.3 Pitching WAR. That is 11.0 less Pitching WAR, per year, from the Yankees, compared to the Athletics. It must be conceded that, in 1929 and ’30, the Yankees’ pitching staff was transitioning from the aged Herb Pennock and Waite Hoyt, to the young Red Ruffing and Lefty Gomez, and the Yankees’ Pitching WAR in 1929 and ’30 was dead-last in the AL. But in all those 7 years (of 1926 to 1932), the Athletics pitchers had a better Pitching WAR than the Yankees in all but one season, in 1927, and that was by only 0.4 WAR {this data was found in this article at SABR.org, which is also linked to below}. It wasn’t just the A’s ace southpaw Lefty Grove, with a 7.1 Pitching WAR in 1929, that was so effective for the Philadelphia Athletics, there were two other standouts: Rube Walberg (6.1 Pitching WAR in 1929), and George Earnshaw (5.2 Pitching WAR in 1929). Grove and Walberg, using WAR, were among the 5 best pitchers in the AL from 1926 to ’32. From 1928 to ’32 (5 seasons) Lefty Grove had an astounding .795 winning percentage, with 128 wins and just 33 losses.

And there is this…“no New York Yankees team over any five-year period— not with Ruth, not with Gehrig, not with DiMaggio, not with Mantle, not with Jeter—ever had as high a winning percentage as the 1928–32 Philadelphia Athletics.” {Quotation from article by Bryan Soderholm-Difatte at SABR.org, which is linked to in the next paragraph below}. In the 5-year-span of 1928-32, the Philadelphia Athletics went 505-258 (.657). The Philadelphia A’s of that time-period also were the first ever team to win 100 games in a season for 3 consecutive seasons (1929-31).

Some flat out proclaim that Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics of the late-’20s/early-’30s were simply better than the Yankees of Ruth & Gehrig…
-Connie Mack’s Second Great Athletics Team: Eclipsed by the Ruth-Gehrig Yankees, But Even Better (by Bryan Soderholm-Difatte, from 2013, at sabr.org).

-Lost In History – From 1929 to 1931, the Philadelphia A’s were the best team in baseball, with four future Hall of Famers and a lineup that dominated Babe Ruth’s legendary Yankees. So why hasn’t anyone heard of them (by William Nack from Aug 1996 at si.com/[vault]).

(Note: the above article by William Nack at Sports Illustrated is an absolute gem, but there is one discrepancy that I need to point out. Nack says, in reference to the New York-vs-Philadelphia rivalry that “In the early days of the 20th century Philadelphia was the nation’s second city, and its teams’ most memorable clashes on baseball diamonds–first against the Giants and later against the Yankees–expressed the city’s aspiration to reclaim its place as the nation’s center.” However, Philadelphia was definitely not the nation’s second city back then…Chicago was. Philadelphia was supplanted by Chicago as the second-most populous city in the USA as early as the 1890s {see this, from en.wikipedia}. I have 1920 US city populations listed on the map-page (at the upper-left-corner of the map), and they are US Census Bureau figures. Here are the 1920 city population figures from the US Census Bureau…Top 3 US cities’ populations in 1920, New York City: 5.6 million; Chicago: 2.7 million; Philadelphia: 1.8 million {source: census.gov/[Population of the 100 Largest Urban Places: 1920]. I know it is a small point, and it does not diminish the author’s underlying theme, namely, that Philadelphians had (and certainly still have) a deep-rooted chip on their shoulders about the preeminence of New York City, and Philadelphia’s lost status as the former largest city in the country.)

I think there is another reason why the 1929-30 Philadelphia Athletics have been effectively banished from the collective memory of baseball fans. And that is this: the Philadelphia Athletics all but ceased to exist when the franchise moved to Kansas City, in 1955. Then the franchise moved again, 13 years later, in 1968, to Oakland, California. There was a diminished interest for the old team, back in Philly. After all, Philadelphia still had a major league ball club (the Phillies), so there never was that culture of loss and nostalgia that defines the Brooklyn Dodgers’ hallowed place in baseball history. There are many, many books written about the Brooklyn Dodgers. There are hardly any books written about the Philadelphia Athletics. Only the old-timers who had seen the greatness of the 1929-30 Athletics first-hand, there in Philadelphia, were keeping the flame alive, so to speak. The following generations of baseball fans in Philadelphia (and elsewhere) never were adequately told about the great Athletics teams in Philadelphia.

Even the Oakland A’s themselves have ignored, and still ignore, the greatness of the 1929-30 Philadelphia Athletics…
If you go to an Oakland A’s game at the Oakland Coliseum, the only vestige you will see of the 5-time-World-Series-title-winning-/-9-time-AL-pennant-winning Philadelphia Athletics is in the present-day team’s uniforms: the Athletics’ Gothic-A cap-logo and their shoulder-patch elephant-logo (which dates to 1902). Because sadly, the Oakland A’s do not, in any way, acknowledge their own franchise’s 5 World Series titles that were won in Philadelphia. Here is the Oakland A’s World Series-titles banner outside their ballpark…it only shows the 4 World Series titles that the franchise won in Oakland. In other words, the Oakland Athletics themselves do not even acknowledge the greatness that was the Philadelphia Athletics.

And if you think no other transplanted MLB teams do this, well, here is what the Los Angeles Dodgers have at their Dodger Stadium…a set of banners showing every Dodgers World Series title, including the 1955 WS title won when the team was still in Brooklyn. Also at Dodger Stadium are giant murals of Dodgers MVPs and Cy Young winners [both of which include Brooklyn Dodgers players]. There is also a giant World Series-ring sculpture of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers there at Chavez Ravine {here /here is where I found the last three images: The Artful Dodgers (at bryanhg.wordpress.com).} Remember, this is an MLB franchise (the Dodgers) that is a class act, but still…all this tribute to their former location (in Brooklyn), and yet the Brooklyn Dodgers only won ONE TITLE. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Athletics won 5 TITLES…and the Oakand A’s, the MLB franchise that originated as the Philadelphia Athletics 120 years ago, shows absolutely no tribute – at all – to where they came from (Philadelphia), and how great they were, way back then. Pathetic. Well, at least one fan in the Bay Area agrees with me…{Concept for a new banner at the Coliseum – 4/21/2020 (from the A’s Fan Radio site, asfanradio.com).

    The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Chicago Cubs 4 games to 1, to win the 1929 World Series

Before Game 1 (on October 8 1929 at Wrigley Field in Chicago), the big question was how the Cubs’ right-handed sluggers would fare against the Athletics’ ace pitcher, the southpaw Lefty Grove (Grove was one of the the best pitchers in 1929, with a 20-6 record, and an MLB-best 2.81 ERA). But Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack shocked everyone, by keeping Lefty Grove on the bench, and starting the unheralded, and seemingly washed-up 35-year-old side-arm junk-ball hurler Howard Ehmke. (In August, after the A’s had clinched the Pennant, Ehmke had stayed in Philadelphia during an A’s late-season road trip, with the job of scouting out the Cubs hitters when they came to town to play the Philadelphia Phillies. So Connie Mack had planned on this surprise move for some time.)

The Cubs right-handed power hitters were nullified by the soft-throwing right-hander Ehmke. Howard Ehmke struck out 13 (a World Series record that stood for 24 years), and allowed just one unearned run. The Athletics’ slugger Jimmy Foxx broke the scoreless game in the 7th inning with a solo HR, and the Athletics won Game 1 by the score of 3 to 1. {Here is a nice 2:28 video on Howard Ehmke, Philadelphia Athletics Howard Ehmke, Hero of the 1929 World Series, uploaded by Philadelphia Sports History at youtube.com.}

In Game 2 (also at Wrigley Field in Chicago), the Athletics broke ahead with a 6-run lead, with HRs by Jimmy Foxx and Al Simmons. In the bottom of the 5th inning, A’s starter George Earnshaw got into trouble, and Connie Mack put Lefty Grove on, in relief. Grove pitched 4 and 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, and the Athletics won Game 2 by the score of 9 to 3. (And the A’s pitchers struck out 13 Cubs, again.)

In Game 3 (at Shibe Park in Philadelphia), the Cubs beat the Athletics 3 to 1. The Cubs won on the strength of Pitcher Guy Bush, who allowed 1 run in 9 innings. The Cubs scored 3 runs in the 6th inning, with 2 runs driven in by a Kiki Cuyler single, and one run driven in by a Rogers Hornsby single. Athletics Pitcher George Earnshaw gave up just 1 earned run in 9 innings for the loss.

In Game 4 (at Shibe Park in Philadelphia), Connie Mack stuck to his right-handed pitchers policy, starting another journeyman, Jack Quinn. But Quinn gave up 7 runs in 6 innings. The Cubs had an 8-0 lead when the Athletics came to bat in the 7th inning. 13 batters later, the Cubs found themselves trailing 10-8. {Via Old-Time Baseball Photos on twitter, here is a photo of Mule Haas sliding into home for his Inside-the-park HR, which pulled the A’s to within one run at 8-7.} That 10-8 score stood, as Lefty Grove pitched two innings of perfect relief to clinch the victory. The eight-run comeback by the Philadelphia Athletics on October 12, 1929 is still the greatest comeback in MLB post-season history. In the illustration below, you can see a batter-by-batter re-cap of the legendary 7th inning 8-run comeback by the Philadelphia A’s (which featured 15 batters, 10 runs, and two balls lost in the sun by beleaguered Cubs Center Fielder Hack Wilson). {Here is a brief article at baseball-reference.com/blog on the greatest comebacks in MLB regular season & post-season history, Biggest Comeback Wins in Baseball History (by Alex Bonilla at sports-reference.com/blog on Jan 29 2019).}

Game 5 (at Shibe Park in Philadelphia). Connie Mack started Howard Ehmke again, but this time Ehmke was ineffective, and was replaced by Rube Walberg in the 4th inning, with the A’s down 2-0. That score stood until the 9th inning, with the A’s down to their last two outs. Then, for the second straight game, the Athletics produced a comeback rally. Max Bishop singled, then Mule Haas’ HR made it 2-2. Cochrane grounded out, but Al Simmons doubled, and after an intentional walk to Jimmie Foxx, Bing Miller doubled, to score Simmons and clinch the Series.

Below: 1929 World Series: Philadelphia Athletics beat Chicago Cubs 4 games to 1; the Series included the greatest comeback in MLB post-season history (A’s come back from 8 runs down to win Game 4, 10-8)...
philadelphia-athletics_1929_worldseries-champions_athletics-4-games_cubs-1_wrigley-field_shibe-park_athletics-have-greatest-comeback-in-mlb-postseason-history_h_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – Logos from
sportlogos.net. Segment of 1929 Philadelphia Athletics WS program cover, from amazon.com. Segment of 1929 Chicago Cubs WS program from goldinauctions.com. Shibe Park [aerial photo from 1929 photo], unattributed at twitter.com/[@MLBcathedrals]. Wrigley Field [aerial photo from 1929], AP Photo via gladishsolutions.com. Mickey Cochrane, Connie Mack and Lefty Grove [photo circa 1929], AP Photo via ftw.usatoday.com. Small illustration of segment of 1929 Philadelphia Athletics road jersey, by Marc Okkonen at exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/database. Howard Ehmke [photo from 1929], photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images at gettyimages.com. Jimmie Foxx [photo from 1928], photo unattributed at pinterest.com. Al Simmons [photo from 1928], photo unattributed at bleacherreport.com. Photo segment of 1929 Philadelphia Athletics home uniform, from auction.lelands.com. 1929 WS Shibe Park unauthorized temporary bleachers atop neighboring row houses, colorized photo unattributed at twitter.com/[@BSmile]. Guy Bush [photo from 1929], photo by Sporting News via Rogers Photo Archive via gettyimages.co.uk. Kiki Cuyler [photo from 1929], unattributed at imagekind.com. Rogers Horsnby [photo circa 1929], unattributed at ebay.com. Al Simmons, Jimmie Foxx [photo from 1930], unattributed at baseballhistorycomesalive.com. Jimmy Dykes, Joe Boley, Max Bishop [photo from 1929], photo by Hank Olen/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images at gettyimages.com. Mule Haas [photo from 1928], from National Baseball Hall of Fame at njmonthly.com. Bing Miller [Fleer retro-trading card from 1960; photo circa 1929], from psacard.com. A’s players storm the field to congratulate for his Series-winning RBI, photo by National Baseball Hall of Fame Library/MLB via Getty Images via gettyimages.com.

Post-script to the 1929 World Series title won by the Philadelphia Athletics…
Fifteen days after the Philadelphia Athletics’ thrilling World Series victory, the bottom dropped out of the US economy, with Black Tuesday. That was October 29, 1929, when the Stock Market crashed, ushering in the decade-long Great Depression. For the Philadelphia Athletics, this led to the eventual dismantling of their championship team. While the Athletics would go on to win the World Series again, in the following year of 1930 (beating the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 2), and then win the AL pennant for a 3rd straight time in 1931, the Depression put an end to any further glory for the Philadelphia Athletics. To avoid financial ruin of the ball club, owner/manager Connie Mack was forced to sell off his prize players for cash (and mediocre players). In 1932, Al Simmons went to the Chicago White Sox. In 1933, Lefty Grove went to the Boston Red Sox, and Mickey Cochrane went to the Detroit Tigers. And in 1935, Jimmie Foxx also went to the Red Sox. The Philadelphia Athletics never contended for another AL pennant. Connie Mack continued on as owner and manager, slipping into dementia. But none dared challenge him, and the Philadelphia Athletics declined to the point where it became inevitable that the franchise would move. Some people say the wrong baseball team moved out of Philadelphia, and I could not agree more.

1929 MLB stats Leaders.
ERA: Lefty Grove, Philadelphia Athletics. Wins: George Earnshaw, Philadelphia Athletics. Batting Avg: Lefty O’Doul, Philadelphia Athletics. HR: Babe Ruth, New York Yankees. RBI: Hack Wilson, Chicago Cubs. OPS: Rogers Hornsby, Chicago Cubs. Wins Above Replacement (WAR) for Position Players: Rogers Hornsby, Chicago Cubs. WAR for Pitchers: Willis Hudlin, Cleveland Indians.

Photo credits on map page…
Banner (Philadelphia Athletics, 1929 World Series Champions)…Photo segment of 1929 Philadelphia Athletics home uniform, from auction.lelands.com. 1929 Philadelphis Athletics WS winners’ ring, unattributed at pinterest.com. 1929 Philadelphia WS press pin, from robertedwardauctions.com/1929-philadelphia-athletics-world-series-press-pin. 1929 WS ticket [to 1929 WS game 5 at Shibe Park], from sports.mearsonlineauctions.com/1929-philadelphia-athletics-chicago-cubs-game-5-world-series-ticket-and-stub. 1929-34 Philadelphia A’s cap, from mlbshop.com. 1929 Philadelphia Athletics uniforms, by Marc Okkonen at exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/[al_1929_philadelphia]. 1929

Connie Mack [photo circa 1929], unattributed at pinterest.com. Al Simmons [photo circa 1928], 1961 Golden Press Card via baseball-almanac.com. Jimmy Foxx [photo circa 1932], colorized photo unattributed at pophistorydig.com. Lefty Grove [US Postal Service Stamp; original image circa 1930], from mysticstamp.com. Rube Walberg [photo circa 1929], photo by Getty Images via gettyimages.dk. George Earnshaw [photo from 1928], unattributed at sports.mearsonlineauctions.com. Mickey Cochrane [photo circa 1930], unattributed at pinterest.como. Jimmy Dykes [photo circa 1927], unattributed at baseball-fever.com/[thread: Philadelphia Athletics 1928-32].
1929 MLB Stats leaders…
Lefty Grove [photo circa 1929], photo by Getty Images via si.com. George Earnshaw [photo circa 1929], photo unattributed at phillysportshistory.com. Lefty O’Doul [photo from 1930], photo unattributed at digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org. Babe Ruth [photo circa 1928], photo unattributed at m.mlb.com/player. Hack Wilson [photo circa 1929], photo by AP via espn.com. Rogers Hornsby [photo from 1929], colorized photo unattributed at ebay.com. Willis Hudlin [photo from 1928], photo unattributed at letsgotribe.com/[top-100-indians-34-willis-hudlin].

Thanks to all at the following links…
Sources:
-University of Texas at Austin online archive (Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection), legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states.html.
-Baseball-Reference.com, 1928 AL season1928 NL season.
-Baseball Hall of Fame’s Dressed to the Nines (uniforms illustrated by Marc Okkonen), exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/database.htm.
-US cities’ populations (1920 figures), biggestuscities.com/1920.
-Attendances. Source: baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/1928-misc.shtml.
-Lost in History [the 1929-31 Philadelphia Athletics] (by William Nack from Aug 1996 at si.com/[vault]).
-Connie Mack’s Second Great Athletics Team: Eclipsed by the Ruth-Gehrig Yankees, But Even Better (by Bryan Soderholm-Difatte, from 2013, at sabr.org).
Most logos from:
-SportsLogos.net, sportslogos.net/[MLB logos].
1929-34 Philadelphia A’s cap, from mlbshop.com. Photo of 1929 NY Giants jersey from Alamy at alamy.com/stock-photo/new-york-giants-baseball. Photo of Detroit Tigers 1929 road ball cap from vintagedetroit.com. Segment of Philadelphia Athletics 1929 home jersey, from worthpoint.com.

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