The First World Series and the Birth of the Greatest Rivalry in Sports

Did you know that the first ever World Series was held in 1903 between the Pittsburg Pirates and Boston Americans? That year the Pirates were the best team in the sport, and had won the National League pennant the previous year. By contrast, the American League formed in 1900 was still trying to break from the image of the minor leagues and had assembled many of the sports best players to become a force in its own right. Still, Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss thought he could beat any combination of players. After much political strife, Dreyfuss challenged the American League to a championship between the two pennant winning teams.  Negotiation followed between Dreyfuss and Boston American owner Henry Killilea and a best of nine game series was planned.

In the first game, held at Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boson, the Pirates behind their ace pitcher Deacon Phillippe beat Cy Yong and Boston 7-3. In game two, Boston came roaring back and shut out the Pirates to tie the series. In game three, Phillippe was brought off the bench and for the second time in three days threw for an entire game and the Pirates won. Game four was held three days later in Pittsburg’s Exposition Park; again, Phillippe pitched and again Pittsburg won, leading the series 3-1.

In game 5, Cy Young was in magnificent form and only gave up two runs. On the other hand, Pittsburgh's Brickyard Kennedy gave up a record six home runs in one inning. Boston won 11-2. Boston won the next day as well and looked to take the lead in the series in game seven. Phillippe ascended the mound again, but his endurance had hit its limit, in a close game Pittsburg lost 4-3. Returning to Boston on October 13, the Americans looked to close out the series. Phillippe again started, and at first managed to hold off Boston, but his arm was exhausted and he finally gave up three runs. It proved to be decisive. Boston won the game and with it the series. No other team would come back to win the series from such a deficit until 1925.  One player who blamed himself for Pittsburg’s loss was another baseball great, Honus Wagner, who despite being one of the best hitters in the game went only 6 for 27 in the series. In fact, Wagner was so disgusted he asked that his portrait not be hung in the Hall of Fame the following year, saying he didn’t deserve the honor.

At the dawn of the 1904 season, Boston remained the team to beat; then they found themselves challenged by a new team, the New York Highlanders. The teams battled for the lead throughout the season and Boston lead by 1.5 games with only a double header with New York remaining. With a game tied in the ninth, New York’s top pitcher Jack Chesbro – who had won 41 games that season – on the mound, and a man on second, Chesbrio threw the ball, and to everyone’s astonishment it went past the catcher. The runner raced around third and hit home to clinch the game and the pennant. It would be a century before Boston would again defeat New York in a pennant-deciding game.

However, Boston would not be allowed to defend their title as the National League New York Giants had refused to play in the series if the Highlanders won, because they saw them as only a minor league team –  a promise they stuck to even though Boston had won. The World Series had been a voluntary agreement between the club owners anyway, thus the event was skipped entirely in 1904, but brought back permanently the next year.

In 1908, it was announced that all National League teams would wear white. In response to this, Boston announced that their players would wear uniforms with a long red stocking on the front, thus a new name was born: the “Red Sox”. For their part the New York Highlanders underwent changes as well. The team gained respect from the Giants and became recognized as a professional team. In 1913, they moved from their elevated stadium and the term “highlander” didn’t make much sense anymore. However, a new name had already been coined in the press. They would now be known as the “Yankees.”

Six Days That Shook The World Part 3

“Jerusalem of Gold”

 The next morning June 6, several Israeli units in the Sinai got orders to head north to Jerusalem. Leading the way would be paratroopers. In five hours of close in fighting they seized a key ridge overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. Over hundred Jordanians and thirty-five Israelis were killed.

On the Egyptian side, Field Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer, second only to Nasser panicked. Despite the fact that 9 of 14 Egyptian divisions still sat in reserve, he ordered all forces in the Sinai out within 24 hours. It had taken them thirty days to go in. This order was intercepted by Israeli intelligence and reached the commanding Israeli officers. The orders were badly written and set off chaos in the Egyptian army as no one knew were to go.  Israeli tanks quickly cut the roads around the Egyptian army and planes began strafing them and dropping napalm. Soon the retreat became a route. Several hours later tens of thousands of Egyptian soldiers had surrendered and wrecked vehicles littered the landscape.          

As dawn broke the next day, Jun 7 Israeli forces began entering the Jewish Quarter where synagogues had been destroyed after the first war in 1948. As solders ran through the Temple Mount they came to a small alley way. Here stood the Western Wall the remains of King Solomon’s Second Temple. Men stopped and began praying. Even otherwise non-religious Jews joined in. When Dayan heard the Wall had been taken he walked into the city with great fanfare followed by his generals. Eshkol also wanted to come as well but Dayan said it was “too dangerous”. Other men stopped and took pictures and shot movies and over the radio came “Jerusalem of Gold”.  

Over the next two days Israeli forces secured the entire Sinai Peninsula going as far as the Suez Canal. They also took the West Bank, and Gaza Strip which had not even been planned. Army general Moshe Yadvat explained “I was just taking advantage of opportunities as they came and this is how it happened in every place we took in the West Bank. We just rolled from one phase to the next. There was no plan, yes, there were operation plans from before, but, there was no overall plan to occupy the West Bank period.”  Many of the commanders in the field made these decisions to advance because nothing was stopping them. The Egyptian and Jordanian armies lay in ruins, still Syria shelled Israel. Dayan had not planned on a war with Syria, but like in Jerusalem and West Bank he allowed the opportunity to be seized. Early on the morning of June, 10 Israeli forces stormed over the boarder within hours the Syrian army was destroyed and Israel controlled the Golan Heights. This decision almost led to a world war as Soviets threatened to intervene, and the US sent a fleet toward Israel to guard against such an action. Some US advisers to President Lydon Johnson later admitted this was most dangerous time for US-Soviet relations since the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Ultimately, the US and Soviet Union which had been in intense negations over what to do since the war had started; realized the extent of the  Arab defeat. The Soviets not wanting the Arab armies to be completely destroyed, agreed to allow Israel to keep the land it had taken. The US also favored this, believing it would lead to a more ever lasting peace. At 6pm on June 10, Israel agreed to a cease-fire. Setting off wild celebrations in Israel. Immediately afterward, bulldozers entered Jerusalem and knocked down the alley entrance to the Western Wall and surrounding building to create the main plaza that exists today.

Almost immediately, Nasser and King Hussein publicly refused to recognize that they had been defeated and said that the Israelis and won because of US help.  In the years that followed the defeat remained a bitter pill for the Arab world. One month later at a major conference of Arab leaders in Khartoum Sudan, they issued what became known as the "Three no's" no recognition, no peace, and no negotiations with Israel. In effect they were declaring a continued state of war.  in Adding to this was the fact that Israel now held the Dome of the Rock a short distance from the Western Wall, where Muslims believed Muhammad had ascended to Heaven, its fourth most holy site. This would guarantee future conflict. In 1973, Egypt and Syria, Jordan, and Iraq launched a surprise attack that initially had much success. However, in a week, Israel had rallied and drove them back. Still the war did much to break Israel’s sense of invincibility and heartened Arabs. Then in 1978, Egypt under the leadership of Anwar Sadat signed a peace treaty with Israel. In return Israel gave back the Sinai. Jordan also signed a peace treaty in 1994. Today, much tension still remains and Israel and the Palestinians remain far apart. President Barrack Obama recently said that Israel should return to pre 1967 boarders. However, Israel has shown no signs that it will do so and still controls the Golan Heights which Syria has repeatedly asked to be returned. In many ways the issues we have today with Israel and the Middle East can be traced back to six days in June that shook the world.       

Six Days That Shook The World Part 2

“Not a single alarm sounded.”

At 7:00 a.m. on June 5 the first flight of 250 Israeli fighters, nearly every aircraft in the Israeli Air Force, took off from bases all across the country. They had drawn up their attack plan eight years before and been rehearsing for months. Under strict orders, they were to not break radio silence – even in the event of mechanical failure. They were to use hand signals for the entire flight and maintain an altitude just above the desert floor to avoid radar. Now a perfect storm of bad luck, poor planning and, incompetence slammed into the Egyptian forces. Jordan radar did manage to spot the planes heading for Egypt, and sent a message warning them. However, the Egyptian headquarters had changed their codes the day before without telling Jordan, which meant they would be decoded last. Further, the Defense Minister in charge of communications was asleep, “and under no condition was he to be disturbed.” The second in command of communications was also out of the area at the time. Those gunners who did see the planes coming were under strict orders not to fire unless ordered. On top of all of this, nearly every other major Egyptian decision maker in the army was either in the air, out of town, or otherwise inaccessible.

At the airfields themselves, breakfast was being served and everyone was in the mess hall, including nearly all the early warning and radar staff. At most airfields, sandbags were not even set up. The morning routine was suddenly shattered and heads jerked up at the sound of jet engines. The first wave of fighters screamed down, raining bombs on the airfields, making them unusable in a matter of seconds. The next group of aircraft roared in and destroyed the fighters on the ground while others shot down any who had managed to take off. When the planes ran out of bombs or bullets, they flew home and were rearmed and refueled in eight short minutes, ready for another target. As one high ranking Egyptian officer would remember, “Not a single alarm sounded.”

By 8:00 a.m., Israel’s initial of strike had destroyed half the planes in Egyptian forces as well as decimating vital communication links with troops in the Sinai Peninsula. In the three hours that followed, the Israelis shattered even their boldest expectations by destroying 280 planes, effectively eliminating the Egyptian air force. In addition, nearly all Jordanian, Syrian, and Iraqi air forces were destroyed. Now Dayan ordered all Israeli tanks and paratroopers to attack Egyptian fortifications in the Sinai; after heavy fighting, they punched through. Men under the command of Ariel Sharon maneuvered though dunes that had been considered impassable. By sunset, the Israeli army and air force had accomplished every one of their objectives.

In this critical moment, Egyptian high command was unable to assess what was happening. Communications were down or jammed, making it impossible to get a full picture of the national situation. Instead of sending information back to Cairo, they sent word of massive victories, which were picked by the Syrians, causing celebration in both capitals and in Jordan. At the same time, the Israeli forces did not yet want to announce the extent of their success, fearing international pressure for a cease-fire.  

Meanwhile Nasser was further clouding the reality of the situation. In a phone call to King Hussein that afternoon, he told Hussein to send in his army because a great Arab victory was taking place and that he should get his share of the spoils.  Jordanian artillery immediately began firing on Israel in the morning hours. Yet again a crucial opportunity was lost, as there were only a few Israeli forces in the area. But rather than attack, the Egyptians in charge of Jordanian forces hesitated. At this point Israel did not want to a fight a war on two fronts, but did order what remained of the small Jordan air force quickly destroyed. Finally, Jordanian solders, some who had been in the war in 1948, seized a UN compound from which they could attack Tel Aviv. Israelis forces moved forward, and in heavy fighting took the compound by nightfall.

Now Dayan and the other generals had a decision to make. The road to Jerusalem was open and things were going well in the Sinai. Still, there was hesitation as many wanted to remain on a defensive footing with Jordan. Dayan had not intended to take the city, but the goals of the war were quickly changing. What had started out as a defensive action became war to liberate Jerusalem and destroy Israel’s enemies. Just before the war began, a new song called “Jerusalem of Gold” had been written. It called for the return of Jews to the city and seemed to emphases the new mood among not only Israel’s decision makers, but also the general public. Dayan, as he would do many times in the following days, changed from his original position and decided troops would move toward the city.

Six Days That Shook The World Part 1

"Wound Like a Mighty Spring" 
 

On June 5, 1967 a news bulletin broke over the airwaves in Cairo Egypt, the Egyptian air force was engaged in a massive battle with Israeli planes. The reporter continued excitedly that already Israeli planes had been shot down and as the minutes went by he announced more victories. The news set off a celebration across the city and men clamored around Western journalists to tell with what had happened. In Tel Aviv Israelis heard over loud speakers that war had broken out, but no other information was given. Men and women walked quietly in the city and as the morning when on, artillery rounds from Jordanian positions began to fall. The mood of both sides would change dramatically in a few short hours.  The conflict that the two sides now found themselves in would last only six days, but it would dramatically redraw maps of the Middle East and would have a profound impact on both cultures that is still felt today.      

The war had deep roots. Beginning at the end of the 19^th century European Jews like Theodor Herzl had begun calling for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in ancient Israel. The message began to resonate with many and immigration began. More came every year and by the 1930s a thriving Jewish community had developed. However, local Palestinians resented their new neighbors and several revolts broke out. After World War II the British had held on to Palestine, however Arab unrest and bombings by radical Jew groups lead them to send a partition plan to the UN. Under the plan the country would be divided up equally among the two and Jerusalem would become an international city while the Jewish and Palestinian areas would becomes new states. While Israeli representatives agreed the plan, Arab leaders bulked. Despite this, the UN approved it, immediately afterward Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia declared war. In the almost a year of fighting that followed the small Israeli force held off the invasions and even gained more territory. However, the old Jewish quarter of Jerusalem which included the Western Wall was taken by Jordan forces.

The war was a trauma for both sides. Israelis saw that they had been largely unprepared for the war and instituted mandatory military service for all of its citizens. They also longed to secure the holy city and felt that they could be wiped out at anytime. In Egypt and Syria victory parades were held, however the Arab countries had failed in their main objective to destroy the new country and thousands of Palestinians had been uprooted. Many solders, like thirty year old Egyptian Gamal Abdel Nasser felt betrayed.

For the next nineteen years tension remained in the region as longtime Arab leaders were overthrown. In 1952, Nasser and a group of other army officers seized power in Egypt and he soon emerged as the undisputed leader of a new Arab movement that called for the destruction of Israel and the end to all borders with the formation of a single united Arab state across the Middle East. Then in 1956, Nasser had declared that the Suez Cannel on the Nile and a major artery to the Mediterranean Sea be closed. Israel backed by British and French troops and under the charismatic leadership of Moshe Dayan had invaded the Sinai Peninsula. Under international pressure France and Britain pulled out their troops, but Israeli forces remained until a deal was reached that put UN forces on the peninsula to prevent further hostilities.

Then in May 1967, a Soviet official, whose government backed Syria and Egypt, told Nasser that Israel was going to attack Syria in a matter of weeks. Egyptian forces were immediately mobilized and reserves were called up. Within days, forty thousand men and 450 armored vehicles were poised along the border just west of the Sinai Peninsula. Then it was discovered the information that started the build up had been wrong. Nasser could have recalled the original order, but by now the public had been whipped into a frenzy and demanded one final conflict to settle matters. Israeli officials quickly saw the build up which was done with great fanfare and called up some of their own reserves in response to the threat and stationed them just east of the Sinai Peninsula. The small UN contingent stationed on the peninsula since 1956 was the only thing preventing war. Then Egyptian army officers told the UN to leave. Shockingly when the order reached the UN Secretary General he agreed without even consulting the General Assembly. John Hadden CIA Station Chief for Israel remembered of the decision “For me [Egypt] was just like a little boy who was being held by his father and the little boy is saying ‘Let me at them. Let me at them.’ and he don’t want to be let at them at all and all of a sudden the father lets go of him.” He added “No one was more surprised than [Nasser] when they went away.”  By mid-May Egyptian forces numbering 100,000 rolled across the peninsula and closed the Straits of Tiran a vital lifeline to Israel. Nasser was still hesitant to close the straits but one of his leading officers convinced him that if war broke out they could defeat Israel, though publicly he said “We have no intention to attack Israel.”

That same day, phones rang throughout the night among top military and government officials in Israel. The next morning a meeting was held where the Israeli military leaders declared they could not stand by while the straights were closed. However, Israeli Prime Minster Levi Eshkol adamantly claimed he did not want to lead his nation into war. Still, more army reserves were called up. “Every truck, every bus, every human being was gone, the economy was at an absolute stand still, waiting you see, so it was clear that this couldn’t last.” Remembered Hadden. Then the Soviet Union told Egypt that they would not accept a first strike by them. The US, which backed Israel, told them their hands were tied by the Vietnam War and could do nothing to deter Egyptian aggression. Ominously the Israeli foreign minister returning from the US when asked if he was optimistic said “I’m realistic.”      

    

On May 28, Eshkol gave a national address to his country to calm fears, however, even this backfired when he stubbed over a word and became confused. It was later said that Israeli forces just outside the peninsula broke down in tears. That same night another major meeting was held in which Israeli generals again demanded that they act and that the army could not remain on alert forever. Several days later Eshkol who had been both Prime Minster and Defense Minster, under public pressure stepped down from the ladder position on June 2 in favor of Moshe Dayan who had become one of Israel’s most successful, and decisive military leaders who strongly favored war.

Several more days of diplomatic ranging followed to no available. Finally on the night of June 4 the Israeli Cabinet overwhelmingly approved a plan to attack Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq the next day. In Cairo, Nasser reasserted that in the coming war he would reclaim the land lost in 1948. Still, for all the tension and that war preparations were obvious, nearly the entire Egyptian military command was elsewhere, ether on vacation or touring troop positions. That same night, King Hussein of Jordan worried the war would start tomorrow but he had already handed over his forces to Nasser and could do more than put them on high alert. Former Prime Minster and founder of Israel David Ben-Gurion who had also spoke out against war believing it could destroy the country. That night he wrote in his diary “I’m very worried about the step we’re about to take”. Just after midnight it was reported to Egypt that Israeli activity around Gaza and other areas had suddenly increased. No one was available to read them. Back Israel Dayan met for a final time with the generals and gave out final instructions. Israeli Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin would remember “IDF [Israeli Defense Force] was wound up like a might spring.”   There would be no going back.