B.A.T. Talk
Dreaming of Spring in 1939
CHICAGO — Feb. 17, 1939 Hello, everybody. What a joy it is to write to you wonderful folks about baseball again. That’s right, baseball. Oh sure, snow continues to fall at a steady pace outside my window here on the 6th Floor newsroom of the State Street Tribune office. That’s no matter because today I received my airplane tickets to Havana, Cuba.
My thoughts are warm now as I dream of lounging in the sun with a tumbler of rum in one hand and a lit Cohiba in the other. And as you know, where there is warm sun, my thoughts turn to baseball. I do not write today to make you jealous. My wish is that talk of baseball in wintertime will deliver warm thoughts to your doorstep. In fact, Opening Day is exactly two months away.
Today, I also write to introduce my new column, B.A.T Talk, from which the powers that be, have graciously allowed me to entertain you every few days or so. This space in the future will bring you much information about what is happening, not only in ChiTown, but in the whole world. Of course, the primary focus will be the upcoming 1939 Major League Baseball season.
Yours truly has been assigned this year to the South Side of Roosevelt Road. To be honest, it was part of the concession agreement to get the column inches for this special spot in the paper. So, after 10 years covering the North Side Baby Bears (not to mention pennant winners in 1929, 1932, 1935 and 1938). My new office will be at 35th and Shields at grand old Comiskey Park.
The White Sox haven’t won a pennant since the infamous Black Sox scandal in 1919. And frankly, have not come close in these nearly 20 years. Ah, but we are talking warm weather now. Which means “Hope springs Eternal” for all 16 MLB clubs. Yes, even the ChiSox.
And speaking of hope, there seems to be a lack of it in Europe these days. Dictatorships and Fascism seem to be the wave across the big pond. From Adolph Hitler in Germany and Austria to Benito Mussolini in Italy to General Francisco Franco in Spain. And farther East in Soviet Russia, there are rumors of millions starving in the Ukrainian territory. Apparently, the worker’s paradise does not apply to farmers.
Hope also was buried on Jan. 5 when American heroine, pilot, and media darling, Amelia Earhart, was declared dead at the age of 41. Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean had been missing since 1937 when her plane disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean. I, for one, hold out hope that she will be rescued in 1939, and then throw out the first pitch at a ballpark near you.
As I mentioned, this column will touch on the various happenings in the world both inside and outside the world of sports. But Oh Dear, too much of that can become depressing very quickly! Aren’t you glad you can set down your newspaper and walk away from it all? Imagine living in a world where you would be bombarded with such bad news 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Shiver.
Thank God, sports and literature and entertainment are available to us as distractions. So, I will close with a few more uplifting tidbits of information from over the winter.
In football news, the NFL Championship was won by the New York Giants when they defeated the Green Bay Packers 23–17, Dec. 11 at the Polo Grounds. Then on Jan. 15, the Giants knocked off the College All-America All-Stars 13–10 in the first ever NFL All-Stars contest at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
The college gridiron season wound up with Texas Christian University capturing the national title when the beat #6 Carnegie Tech 15–7 in the Sugar Bowl. The 25th Annual Rose Bowl saw #7 University of Southern California nip #3 Duke 7–3.
On the silver screen, Stagecoach, starring John Wayne and Claire Trevor and directed by John Ford premiered Feb. 5 in Miami.
“These books are going to become some of the biggest sellers in all of the literary world and beyond.” — Stan Lee
Finally, I give you this to gnaw on. A company called Timely Comics was formed on Jan. 5 by publisher Martin Goodman. His idea is to create and sell comic books. Is that a hoot or what? According to comic-book artist and creative leader, Stan Lee, “These books are going to become some of the biggest sellers in all of the literary world and beyond.” The “literary world and beyond”? Now that’s dreaming rich.
