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The period of baseball history from 1900 to 1919 has come to be known as the Deadball era. At this time the games tended to be low scoring, dominated by such legendary pitchers as Walter "The Big Train" Johnson, Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, and Grover Cleveland Alexander
to the extent that the period 1900–1919 is commonly called the "dead
ball era". The term also accurately describes the condition of the
baseball itself. Baseballs cost three dollars apiece, a hefty sum at
the time, equaling approximately 65 inflation adjusted US dollars
as of 2005; club owners were therefore reluctant to spend much money on
new balls if not necessary. It was not unusual for a single baseball to
last an entire game. By the end of the game, the ball would be dark
with grass, mud, and tobacco juice, and it would be misshapen and lumpy
from contact with the bat. Balls were only replaced if they were hit
into the crowd and lost, and many clubs employed security guards
expressly for the purpose of retrieving balls hit into the stands—a
practice unthinkable today.
As a consequence, home runs were rare, and the "inside game" dominated—singles, bunts, stolen bases, the hit-and-run play, and other tactics dominated the strategies of the time.
Despite this, there were also several superstar hitters, the most famous being Honus Wagner, held to be one of the greatest shortstops to ever play the game, and Detroit's Ty Cobb,
the "Georgia Peach". Cobb was a mean-spirited man, fiercely competitive
and loathed by many of his fellow professionals, but his career batting average of .366 has yet to be bested.
The Merkle incident
The 1908
pennant races in both the AL and NL were among the most exciting ever
witnessed. The conclusion of the National League season, in particular,
involved a bizarre chain of events, often referred to as the Merkle
Boner. On September 23, 1908, the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs played a game in the Polo Grounds. Nineteen-year-old rookie first baseman Fred Merkle,
later to become one of the best players at his position in the league,
was on first base, with teammate Moose McCormick on third with two out
and the game tied. Giants shortstop Al Bridwell socked a single,
scoring McCormick and apparently winning the game. However, Merkle,
instead of advancing to second base, ran toward the clubhouse to avoid
the spectators mobbing the field, which at that time was a common,
acceptable practice. The Cubs' second baseman, Johnny Evers,
noticed this. In the confusion that followed, Evers claimed to have
retrieved the ball and touched second base, forcing Merkle out and
nullifying the run scored. The league ordered the game replayed at the
end of the season, if necessary. It turned out that the Cubs and Giants
ended the season tied for first place, so the game was indeed replayed,
and the Cubs won the game, the pennant, and subsequently the World Series (the last Cub Series victory to date, as it turns out).
For his part, Merkle was doomed to endless criticism and
vilification throughout his career for this lapse. In his defense, some
baseball historians have suggested that it was not customary for
game-ending hits to be fully "run out", and it was only Evers's
insistence on following the rules strictly that resulted in this
unusual play.[2]
In fact, earlier in the 1908 season, the identical situation had been
brought to the umpires' attention by Evers. While the winning run was
allowed to stand on that occasion, the dispute raised the umpires'
awareness of the rule, and directly set up the Merkle controversy.
New Places to Play
At the start of the 20th century baseball attendances were modest by
later standards. The average for the 1,110 games in the 1901 season was
3,247.
However the first 20 years of the 20th century saw an unprecedented
rise in the popularity of baseball. Large stadiums dedicated to the
game were built for many of the larger clubs or existing grounds
enlarged, including Shibe Park, home of the Philadelphia Athletics, Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, Boston's Fenway Park along with Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park in Chicago. Likewise from the Eastern League to the small developing leagues in the West, and the rising Negro Leagues professional baseball was being played all across the country. Average major league attendances reached a pre World War I
peak of 5,836 in 1909, before falling back during the war. Where there
weren't professional teams, there were semi-pro teams, traveling teams barnstorming,
company clubs and amateur men's leagues. In the days before television,
if you wanted to see a game, you had to go to the game.
The "Black Sox"
Contrary to what many of baseball's administrators were willing to acknowledge, gambling was rife in the game. Hal Chase
was particularly notorious for throwing games, but played for a decade
after gaining this reputation; he even managed to parlay these
accusations into a promotion to manager. Even baseball stars as
legendary as Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker
have been credibly alleged to have fixed game outcomes. The league's
complacency during this Golden Age of baseball was shockingly exposed
in 1919, in what rapidly became known as the Black Sox scandal.
During the season the Chicago White Sox had shown themselves to be the best team in (probably) both leagues, and were the bookmaker's favorites to defeat the Cincinnati club in the World Series.
The White Sox were defeated and throughout the Series rumors were
common that the players, motivated by a mixture of greed and a dislike
of club owner Charles Comiskey, had taken money to throw the games. During the following seasons the rumours intensified, and spread to other clubs, until a grand jury was convened to investigate. During the investigation two players, Eddie Cicotte and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson
confessed and eight players were tried, and acquitted, for their role
in the fix. Much of the evidence (depositions and other testimony)
disappeared mysteriously. The Leagues were not so forgiving. Under the
commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, all eight players were banned from organized baseball for life.
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History 
