Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Baseball

“There’s Sunshine, Fresh Air and It’s Independence Day, Let’s Play Two!” – with apologies to Ernie Banks

Baseball history is deeply intertwined with America’s greatest holiday.  The Fourth of July in the 1950s meant parades, picnics, fireworks, and doubleheaders.  The tradition of playing two to celebrate America’s independence began in 1881 and continued through the mid-sixties.  In 1956, all 16 major league teams played doubleheaders on the Fourth.  Doubleheaders were a fixture on Sundays as well.  From 1946 to 1956, over 70 percent of Sunday games were part of doubleheaders. There were two main reasons for this. Most weekday games in that era were held during the day, and those games were generally not well-attended. Sunday doubleheaders attracted more fans. Second, teams travelled most often by train at the time. Playing two games in one day left an open day that could be used for travel. As night games and air travel increased, doubleheaders decreased.  1956 was the last year all 16 teams played a doubleheader on the Fourth of July, and it was the last year teams played more than 30 percent of their games as part of doubleheaders.

Bill Tremel was born on the Fourth of July.  He was a rare major leaguer in the fifties who was groomed as a relief pitcher in the minors, which made him valuable in an era when there were a lot of doubleheaders.  He twice pitched in both games of a doubleheader in his brief major league career, including on July 5, 1954, the day after the Cubs played another doubleheader, which would have made his teammate, Ernie Banks, very happy.

Ernie Banks coined his signature line (“There’s sunshine, fresh air, and the team’s behind us.  Let’s play two!”) in the 1960s, but his enthusiasm for the game shone through from the very first time he stepped on a baseball field.  He began his professional career with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in 1950 and finished it with the only other professional team he played for, the Chicago Cubs.  Banks’ greatness in the fifties contrasted dramatically with the Cubs’ struggles.  In 1955, Banks had a WAR of 8.1; all of the rest of the Cubs hitters combined for a WAR of 5.5.