John Thorn
@thorn_john
Followers
29,638
Following
2,059
Media
6,655
Statuses
39,422
John Thorn is the Official Historian for Major League Baseball. His views are his own.
Catskill, NY
Joined December 2011
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
#2024MAMAVOTE
• 2759166 Tweets
I VOTE
• 1524142 Tweets
EP6 U STEAL MY HEART
• 427164 Tweets
#Jin_Happy
• 304834 Tweets
JIN IS COMING
• 285295 Tweets
Choice - Female Award
• 216095 Tweets
Libya
• 213435 Tweets
Columbus
• 204581 Tweets
HAPPY IS COMING
• 191593 Tweets
seokjin
• 180562 Tweets
Nobel
• 168845 Tweets
KSJ1 IS COMING
• 146078 Tweets
MY ROYALTY HEESEUNG DAY
• 98394 Tweets
YOU ARE LOVED
• 95195 Tweets
Bill Clinton
• 78303 Tweets
Daron Acemoğlu
• 76970 Tweets
Thanksgiving
• 74892 Tweets
#Number_i_1stAnniv
• 34323 Tweets
Europeans
• 27053 Tweets
Leire
• 25154 Tweets
Laken Riley
• 22867 Tweets
kesha
• 22128 Tweets
Native Americans
• 20297 Tweets
Bret
• 19971 Tweets
La Oreja de Van Gogh
• 17311 Tweets
Amaia
• 17304 Tweets
Reece James
• 16713 Tweets
Billy Maximoff
• 15301 Tweets
Nasser
• 12955 Tweets
Europa Clipper
• 12665 Tweets
Basketball players were not always long and lean: Dutch Dehnert of the Original Celtics, based in New York, not Boston.
176
157
825
In 1994
@KenBurns
identified this as his favorite baseball photograph, from Dartmouth College in 1882. I have my favorite, too. What is yours? Please provide the image as well as the info.
210
74
824
@peta
This is exceedingly stupid. A bullpen was the name for an enclosure to rope off fans on field; it was also the name of a frontier ballgame (see below). The term bullpen, signifying the foul areas in back of first and third bases, was in use as early as 1877.
30
79
796
For those old enough to remember scoring a baseball game: did you ever wonder why, in counterclockwise fashion, we move from 1st to 3rd bases as 3-4-5, yet number the SS as "6"? That's because the game was devised for eight players; SS was invented in the late 1840s by Doc Adams.
33
213
729
Walt Whitman, 200 years old today, was once a baseball-beat reporter. Here is his coverage of a baseball game in June 1858.
38
252
724
Just now watched the first 15 minutes of
@KenBurns
Baseball, via streamed PBS. I had not watched it since it first aired in 1994; my wife had never seen it and we have been together for 17 years. Pretty good, we thought.
71
32
646
Happy Felix Unger Day.
"On November 13th, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. That request came from his wife.... With nowhere else to go, he appeared at the home of his childhood friend Oscar Madison."
31
235
610
Hail and farewell, Al Kaline; a long and remarkable life in the game. Al Kaline, Detroit Tigers legend, dies at age 85 via
@freep
32
165
596
Roger Kahn, Who Lifted Sportswriting With ‘Boys of Summer,’ Dies at 92. Roger Kahn was a wonderful writer and was exceedingly kind to me when I was just a whippersnapper in the sports line. He lives still, on bookshelves everywhere.
36
160
580
The Babe threw with his left hand but signed with his right.
40
45
560
In 1887 walks were counted as hits; Tip O'Neill thus batted .485. Had the rule been in place for 2004, Barry Bonds would have hit .607.
18
95
542
In 1941 sacrifice flies were counted as outs against the batter's record, even though he was credited with an RBI. How many sac flies did Ted Williams hit? Eight over 7 games. Had they not counted as outs, his BA would have been not .406 (0.40570175438) but .413 (0.41294642857).
21
87
526
If they keep broadcasting the games on radio it will kill baseball. Why will people pay to go to the games if they can follow them for free?
27
66
519
This is the earliest cartoon depicting baseball that I know. From In-Door & Out, May 1856.
18
151
501
Happy 4th! Baseball was the game of stars and stripes even before the Civil War; this is from 1860.
7
93
485
Is this the greatest of all baseball photographs? Hal Janvrin of Red Sox tagged out at home, 9th inning, Game 2 of 1916 World Series. Boston's Hoblitzell had lined to center to start DP (Hi Myers to Otto Miller); Duffy Lewis on deck. After 14 innings, Sox SP Babe Ruth victorious.
39
94
482
On this date in 1845: first baseball game recorded in scorebook of Knickerbocker Base Ball Club. Alex Cartwright plays, William R. Wheaton umps.
22
97
434
Jim Bouton's struggle is done. He was a bulldog to the end. Hail and farewell, friend.
19
58
387
Willie Mays, age 13, with Fairfield, Alabama Grey Sox, in 1944.
4
81
411
As I ponder the improbability of an impending 75th birthday (tomorrow), I offer this from two years ago. I am no doubt worse for additional wear but these tires still have some tread left.
63
6
404
While at Columbia Law School, Paul Robeson, who had been a catcher at Rutgers, coached ... Lou Gehrig.
6
81
389
Hail and farewell, Henry Aaron. An all-time great on the field and off, he was a man who made a difference.
8
62
386
Roy Halladay was not a "borderline" Hall of Famer but an all-time great; Bill Deane makes the case, and I for one am convinced.
28
135
364
"You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time." Is this the best baseball sentence ever? I think so. It is, of course, the closing line to Jim Bouton's Ball Four.
19
35
370
On April 17, 1947 my boyhood idol, Duke Snider, made his debut with the Dodgers ... and so did I, on this earth.
19
14
345
Published from 1966 to 1972, any of these five baseball books might be called the greatest ever. Ritter, Glory of Their Times, 1966; Coover, Universal Baseball Association, Inc., etc., 1968; Bouton, Ball Four, 1970; Kahn, Boys of Summer, 1972; Angell, Summer Game, 1972.
28
55
355
Sixty-two years ago today, the world was introduced to Rocket "Rocky" J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose. An animated television series called Rocky and His Friends debuted on ABC at 5:30 pm on November 19, 1959.
21
68
343
This 1948 H.C. Evans Bat-a-Score arcade game recently sold, at Morphy, for $35,670. I feel certain that as a boy I played it.
14
31
335
Hail and farewell, Dick Groat; shortstop on two World Series champs and third pick in the NBA draft of 1952.
18
40
335
On July 10, 1889, Roger Connor became the first man to hit a ball over the fence at the new Polo Grounds. He was given a medal.
24
48
333
Here's the only image I know of the old-fashioned way of retiring a baserunner by plugging, soaking, or stinging him with the ball between bases. The Gothams abolished the practice in 1837, the Knickerbockers in 1845, but it remained part of the Massachusetts Game to the 1860s.
30
115
313
He was a great pitcher and manager before he created the Negro National League in 1920. Asked where his new league might fit between the two white major leagues, Andrew "Rube" Foster said: “We are the ship, all else the sea.”
#BlackHistoryMonth
6
75
322
Thinking about Final Four AND baseball: Bucknell Basketball, Class of 1901. That's Christy Mathewson seated at left.
19
48
310
A great discovery: the founding documents of the National League, from 1876: a first draft of history.
9
140
311
Roberto Clemente with Montreal, 1954; scouting report by Howie Haak for Pittsburgh Pirates.
11
134
299
Harold the Baseball Player, 1946 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
12
59
297
This photo of baseball in a lunar landscape in Idaho has always struck me as one of the game's most eerie and beautiful.
21
36
299
Discovered today: an 1851 reference to a game of "base" from the mid-1770s ... and not prisoner's base, which is a team-tag affair. This game *involved a bat* and was played by lads from King's and Queen's College (today's Columbia). See:
14
67
295
The Future of Baseball, as viewed ca. 1924; by Donald McKee.
11
42
297
My view of the Black Sox Scandal; what it meant a century ago, what it means today. A New York Times op-ed:
17
111
301
Marc Okkonen died yesterday. An awesome baseball researcher, he was also a generous friend. His work on baseball uniforms, published as a book, was later the basis of the Hall of Fame's great pictorial database, Dressed to the Nines. Marc left a mark.
31
47
294
Erica and I marked our 12th wedding anniversary yesterday. We were married in our home in Catskill; her sister provided the greatest wedding cake ever, with edible cards.
38
10
286
A story about yours truly, by the estimable
@ffrommer
, appears in the current issue of Smithsonian Magazine.
21
44
284
On Pi Day last year, I wondered whether any MLB player ever finished a season with a batting average of 31416. Found Scoops Carey, with Washington Senators of 1902. Carey is indeed the baseball face of pi: while his 1902 batting average rounds to 31416, it extends to 31415929.
15
66
276
In 1887 walks were counted as hits; Tip O'Neill thus batted .485. Had the rule been in place for 2004, Barry Bonds would have hit .607.
23
38
271
Hail and farewell, Frank Howard.
We are deeply saddened to share that Washington Senators legend Frank Howard has passed away at the age of 87. We join Frank’s loved ones in mourning.
113
450
2K
6
17
267
Is this the oldest surviving baseball ticket of admission? I believe so. It's from a postseason contest between the unbeaten Atlantics of Brooklyn and a "picked nine" (stars of other clubs), at the Capitoline Grounds (depicted below, from 1866). Also: the Atlantic record of 1865.
16
69
255
Today in 1953: Ted Williams is back from duty in Korea. He will finish season with 13 HRs in 91 ABs and a .407 BA.
6
34
261
It was in the bag. American League opponent unknown as yet--Yanks, Chisox, or Orioles.
34
11
262
Hail and farewell, Roger Angell; he was simply the best.
Roger Angell, one of the nation’s premier baseball writers, is dead at 101. In elegantly winding articles for The New Yorker loaded with inventive imagery, he wrote more like a fan than a sports journalist.
48
491
1K
6
23
263
“You spend your whole life gripping the baseball and it turns out it was the other way around all along.” Jim Bouton died five years ago today.
13
31
257
.Ditto over here. And this immigrant boy is now the official historian for America's national pastime.
I didn't speak English when I immigrated to the United States. Now, I get paid to write in it. Just saying.
1K
14K
63K
7
77
244
Here's a photo of Jackie Robinson that may be new to my baseball friends. From the Pasadena Junior College yearbook of 1937, when Robinson was 18.
8
31
249
1/3 In the summer of 1886‚ spectators at the New York Mets’ lavish new ballpark were able to look at New York harbor from the St. George grandstand and see the Statue of Liberty being assembled. In right field owner Erastus Wiman installed a stage set for a spectacle titled ...
10
37
245
Josh Gibson ... if Babe Ruth was the most photographed baseball hero, Gibson may have been the least.
9
35
245
Largest crowd ever at a baseball game? Roy Campanella night at the LA Coliseum (93,103), May 7, 1959? Or the 90,000+ who watched a game at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin? I go for the 115,000 at Cleveland's Brookfield Stadium in 1915, as local White Auto team beat Luxus of Omaha.
16
61
230
I was there, a solo white kid, at the Apollo Theatre, in 1960, to hear Ray Charles, the Coasters, Jimmy Smith, and Betty Carter. It was my self-specified bar-mitzvah gift. My father was a salesman at a women's lingerie store across the street.
8
10
234
A proud, satisfying day for MLB and countless researchers and writers, some mentioned herein. I offer a special tip of the cap to my old pal John Holway, now north of 90, who began his work in this field 50 years ago.
Commissioner Manfred announced today that
@MLB
is officially elevating the Negro Leagues to “Major League” status. Culminating the centennial celebration of the founding of the Negro Leagues, MLB is proud to highlight the contributions of the pioneers who played from 1920-1948.
267
2K
10K
11
36
238
MONTE IRVIN: “Baseball has done more to move America in the right direction than all the professional patriots with their billions of cheap words.”
5
34
236
WOW! At the 0:09 mark Smoky Joe Wood (!!!), who won 37 games in 1912 (including the World Series), is watching Ron Darling and Frank Viola pitch the game of their lives. Roger Angell memorialized the game in "The Web of the Game," arguably his best story:
On this date in 1981, Yale's Ron Darling and St. John's Frank Viola matched up in what's billed as the greatest college pitching duel ever.
Both starters made it through 11 scoreless innings.
Darling didn't allow a hit until the 12th inning and St. Johns won 1-0.
20
115
556
14
57
230