So, who here likes baseball? Well, on September 14th to the 15th, there will be a celebration for the 150th birthday of Connie Mack, the longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history. He holds records for wins (3,731), losses (3,948), and games managed (7,755). He won nearly 1000 more games than any other coach in the MLB. He was born in the town of East Brookfield, MA. But Dylan, how does this have to do with railroading at all? Well, as of roughly two weeks ago, the event is being partially sponsored by CSX Transportation. While I am in the know so to speak, thanks to my good friend Dennis Lebeau, I don't really want to go around broadcasting the exact figures unless I'm positive I wouldn't be causing some sort of problem. That doesn't go to say that the locals have access to the information, but I digress. I will say that CSX's sponsorship has helped take a significant amount of pressure off the town's Pride Commission, the organizer of the event. Little tidbit, but this isn't the first celebration in Connie Mack's honor; the first was on May 17, 1941. It just so happens that it was 54 years to the day when a certain geek, who happens to be typing this, was unleashed on the world. Information below, including an article from a few days ago. I'm going to try and find older articles once I get back from Myrtle Beach.
http://www.telegram.com/article/2012080 ... 1/SPORTS11
http://philadelphiaathletics.org/history/mack.html
http://www.facebook.com/ConnieMackDay

For the record, Connie Mack also PLAYED the game! He had a 11 year major league career for 3 teams as follows:

Washington in the National League 1886 through 1889
Buffalo in the old Players League in 1890
Pittsburgh in the National League 1891-1896

Primarily a catcher (609 games), he also was at First Base for 61 games, in the outfield for 55 games, at Second base for 2 games and one game at Short Stop. He was playing manager at Pittsburgh during the last 3 years of his playing career, and he must have liked it. Of course, owning the Philadelphia Athletics helped. He never fired himself! Although he had an overall losing record as a manager, he DID manage the A's in 8 World Series, winning 5 of the 8.

Les

One could mention that until the development of reliable jet-powered transport planes, Major League Baseball was limited to the part of the US that could be spanned by overnight train travel, with Chicago and St. Louis being about as far west as they could go. LA and SF became "big league" cities after the Boeing 707 became common in the skies. I'm sure there are still some long-retired players who remember smoke-filled lounge cars and Pullman car adventures, but they're getting scarcer as the years go by.
Connie Mack was noted as the last major league baseball manager who wore "civilian" clothes rather than a player uniform while directing his team--I think some kind of "grandfather clause" was involved. Also, his given name was Cornelius McGillicuddy, which wouldn't fit on a scorecard easily.

Update!!! After a conversation with town selectman Larry Gordon (also president of the local model railroad club, the Quabog Valley Railroaders), it looks like I'll be covering videography and photography of the Connie Mack Day festivities on the 15th, including the baseball game and the parade (I'll trim it down to the highlights in the parade). It also appears that the historical museum's repaint might not be done in time, but that is dependent on the availability and timing of the work sessions (although I should note the majority of the work involved is complete). I should extend some credit to Dan Lambert , who I discussed the idea with before he brought it up with Larry Gordon.

That is seriously cool. He played when it was still Base Ball. The old-time game will be really interesting.

Those were the days when a road trip meant railroad, when the road uniforms were gray to hide the soot and effects of trying to launder in hard water, when a team with time on its hands might stop and challenge the locals; Byesville Scenic Railway docents used to tell the story of the Yankees vs. Puritan Mine's finest. I'm not nostalgic about some aspects of old-time sports, but the illusion of a more polite time would be a wonderful thing to get back. Somehow Connie Mack in a straw hat and white shirt was the image of all of that.

Link to this week's Spencer New Leader. Connie Mack Day made the cover this week, and it seems selectman Larry Gordon is stumped on how so many people from across the country head about the day. Maybe putting the flyer up nearly everywhere (including sending information about the day to the youtube page of internet news outlet SourceFed) I could think of on the internet was a good idea after all! The article is split up between pages 1 and 18.
edit* Sorry, wrong link! Lets fix that.
http://www.spencernewleader.com/pdf/SPE.2012.09.07.pdf

Just a reminder (and to bump this thread up), Connie Mack Day is this Saturday, September 15, 2012. There are some events going on at East Brookfield Elementary School tomorrow night, and I'll be helping out at the town historical museum (when I'm not to busy with the camera and running back and forward between the museum and my "photographers nest" up in the attic. If you're in the neighborhood, swing through, say hi, and take a look at some of the renovation work that me, Dennis Lebeau and company have gotten done. And if you want, we do have a few more pieces to finish off... Volunteers are always welcome, and someone has to make sure I don't fall off the scaffolding when I'm painting near the ceiling! And baring Dennis trying to protect them, a few century old chalk drawings were found on an old chalkboard that was walled off when the original heating system was put in years ago. If Dennis is correct in his assessment, then the drawings themselves date back to the late 1910s. Some plexi-glass will be put over them to try and preserve them and the section of chalkboard that they were found on. So far, everything is shaping up nicely, and if I'm lucky my junk-bucket Ford Escort LX might be ready in time for the car show (and if they need a parade support vehicle, but that is all dependent on if my mechanic has the replacement transmission installed by tomorrow afternoon as he originally stated). I consider that a public service (by putting an old bomber in a car show, the other cars in the show look better by comparison!) by entering my car, but I digress. Hope to see you all there!

The first major league game I ever attended was a Philadelphia Athletics game at Schibe Park later renamed Connie Mack Stadium.

Connie Mack was the manager at that game. The year was about 1947 IIRC.

Ira(I am that old)Schreiber