Thursday, July 8, 2010

On the Menu: Red Sox World Champions (1912)

Complimentary Dinner given by ... Digital ID: 1603591. New York Public Library

"BOSTON NOW SUPREME IN BASEBALL WORLD" read the front page of the Boston Globe on Thursday, October 17, 1912 after the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Giants in an eight game (one was a tie) World Series:
 Words were never invented that could fully describe the outburst of insane enthusiasm that went thundering around Fenway Park yesterday afternoon as Steve Yerkes crossed the rubber with the winning run in the 10th inning. 
Men hugged each other, women became hysterical, youths threw their caps in the air, one man in the bleachers fell in a dead faint, strong hearts lost a beat and started off again in double time.
In honor of this momentous occasion, F.H. Putnam, a Worcester-based silversmith or possibly a Boston-based druggist, hosted a dinner for the Members of the Boston American Baseball Club. This is the menu.

 (click to enlarge)

Among the dishes served that evening: Blue Points Stahl Style, after Sox Manager Jake Stahl; Fried Native Smelts, Speaker Sauce after Tris Speaker — whose homer in the 10th inning of the second and (ultimately tied) game saved the day; Fresh Putnam Farm Chicken, à la Wagner after shortstop Charles "Heinie" Wagner; and Frozen Pudding, Cady Style, after catcher Forrest Leroy Hick Cady (whom the Globe called "a farmer's son with a strong heart and a mighty punch").

To read more about this fascinating, white-knuckle series, check out the Library's collection of digitized historical newspapers including the Boston Globe, whose illustrations, statistics, and detailed play-by-plays are a dream for any baseball historian or enthusiast.

2 comments:

John Galt said...

"Worcester", not "Worchester".

  said...

Oops! Thanks for the correction.