tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985668569918053928.post6453902616275825366..comments2024-01-24T05:19:09.805-06:00Comments on This Game Of Games: Whiskey And FlatteryJeffrey Kittelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02367989375750209078noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985668569918053928.post-56236130066899338282009-07-11T01:55:53.284-05:002009-07-11T01:55:53.284-05:00It's really not that strange coming from me. ...It's really not that strange coming from me. This is easily one of my favorite topics. I checked the post tags and the only people I've mentioned on this blog more than Blong is Von der Ahe and Packy Dillon, with Henry Lucas a close fourth. Shockingly, Fred Dunlap was a distant fifth. Expect a week of posts on Dunlap coming up. <br /><br />I honestly think that, with your help and input, I've covered this particular subject pretty well and have managed to seperate truth from myth. Blong leaving for Covington is absolutely central to the story of the Reds and the 1875 season in StL. He's one of the major figures in 1870s StL baseball and his story deserves to be told truthfully. I think we've come a long way in putting his 1875 actions (as well as those of his accusers) in the proper context. <br /><br />Sometimes I feel as if I'm spinning my wheels with the blog but I know that one of the good things that's come from it is that I've done a decent job of documenting the Reds' 1875 season. One of the reasons I started doing this is because I couldn't find anything about the Reds online or in books. But at least now, if anyone feels compelled to dig into the club, they can find the material. So I have that going for me.Jeffrey Kittelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02367989375750209078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985668569918053928.post-27424380468240826932009-07-10T18:24:27.875-05:002009-07-10T18:24:27.875-05:00Jeff, if I'm not anticipating material you'...Jeff, if I'm not anticipating material you're going to be introducing...<br /><br />The game was a benefit played for the financial gain of the Star and Ludlow players, and managed by them. One of the complaints was that Blong had played the outfield and had resisted going in to pitch. It seems pretty plausible to me that Blong may have been guilty at most of speaking tactlessly out of irritation at a meddling club official. "Why are you all after me about this? What do you care whether I pitched? If we lost, it will just increase the gate for the next game!"<br /><br />Why should the Stars' officials care so much about winning what was regarded as an exhibition game? It may not be irrelevant to note that Smith Hawes was a Covington public official who absconded to Canada a few months later because he had used public money to cover gambling losses.<br /><br />Pretty strange that three people today should be interested in a minor controversy from more than a century and a quarter ago.David Ballnoreply@blogger.com