Extra Innings
Recent Posts
The Once and Never Yankee
Isn’t the start of the baseball season grand?
That wasn’t the case 100 years ago when Doherty Silk Sox star right fielder Bibbs Raymond attempted to leave semipro ball to play in the major leagues … alligators be damned.
Beating the Giants
October means the World Series.
In 2024, the New York Mets and Yankees are aiming to get there. A century ago, a New York team did make it to the Series – the National League’s New York Giants made it to the 1924 Fall Classic, losing to the American League champion Washington Senators, four games to three.
“Hey, Abbott! It’s the Silk Sox!”
In the 1945 film, The Naughty Nineties, Bud Abbott and Costello reprised their iconic baseball comedy routine, “Who’s on First?” – an act enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bibbs Raymond Makes History
One hundred years ago, there wasn’t a hotter hitter on the planet than Bibbs Raymond of the Doherty Silk Sox. A hometown hero from Paterson and later Clifton, N.J., Bibbs set a semipro (and possible baseball record) for collecting 15 consecutive hits. After his achievement, the New York Yankees signed him. But family and his hometown Silk Sox proved too hard for Bibbs to leave, and he turned his back on organized ball. In 1934, Ripley’s profiled Bibb’s hit mark in a syndicated cartoon that ran nationally… Believe It or Not!
Patriotism: Harry Doherty and his Silk Sox Lead the Way
The major leagues would not make the future national anthem a regular feature before games until the 1918 World Series. But Harry Doherty knew people needed to hear America’s music and hear it now. Many in the stands and on the field still had family in Europe. In Macclesfield, England, where Doherty’s family hailed, more than 1,000 of its young men would die fighting in battle during WWI.
Facing Oscar Charleston
On May 29, 2024, Major League Baseball announced that Negro League statistics would be incorporated into baseball’s official record. Instead of Ty Cobb having the highest lifetime batting average, Josh Gibson’s career .373 mark is now tops. Lurking behind Cobb on the new list is perhaps the baseball’s greatest all-around player, Oscar Charleston, who batted a lifetime .363. On July 27, 1927, Charleston came to Clifton, N.J., to play against the Doherty Silk Sox. Here’s what happened…
Baseball Mavericks
So who were these Silk Sox? What are “semipros”? And if they were so good, why weren’t these Doherty players in the major leagues?
Great questions! Read the blog.
Beating the New York Yankees
100 years ago, the Doherty Silk Sox, a semipro team from Clifton, N.J., battled Babe Ruth and the 1923 world champion Yankees … and won.
How I Found the Doherty Silk Sox
If you’re reading this blog, you’re intrigued about this once-forgotten team who played on an actual “field of dreams.” Good. While this is a site to attract publishers to contact my agent and publish my book (read the sample chapter – I trust you won’t be disappointed), it’s also a place where you can learn more about this amazing team full of maverick characters who created their own alternate baseball universe.
Honus Wagner Remembers
The great shortstop, Honus Wagner, also known as “the Flying Dutchman,” had a long friendly relationship with Harry Doherty and his Silk Sox, once being honored at the ballpark in 1917. There are also stories of Wagner visiting Doherty at his mill on other days and leaving with a silk dress for Mrs. Wagner.
Doc Meets the King
Doherty hurler Ed “Doc” Laffite played one season with the Silk Sox in 1917, but left an impression with fans for his pitching excellence. His reputation would only grow when they learned he was treating wounded soldiers during WWI … and later interacting with England’s King George.
Read Chapter One
When the Yankees Came to Town: The lost history of the Doherty Silk Sox, the independent team who took on all comers … and won! by Jack DeVries