Patriotism: Harry Doherty and his Silk Sox Lead the Way
The Star-Spangled Banner sounds a little louder on the Fourth of July.
The earliest documented performance of the song at a baseball game (long before it became the national anthem) happened May 15, 1862, during the opening contest played at Union Base Ball and Cricket Grounds in Brooklyn, according to Marc Ferris, author of Star-Spangled Banner: The Unlikely Story of America’s National Anthem.
The band plays at the Doherty Oval.
In Clifton, N.J., on April 29, 1917, Harry Doherty had the song played before the season’s first home game of his Doherty Silk Sox. More than 7,000 fans were there to see Doherty’s team take on the National League’s Boston Braves, an off day for the big league club.
America had entered World War I just 23 days before and the mood was festive with an Opening Day game time temperature of 70 degrees. Upon entering the ballpark, every female was given a cushion to sit on (Doherty’s effort to “cater to the fairer sex,” the Passaic Daily Herald noted).
Prior to the game, the Clifton Carnival Band played patriotic music as the Silk Sox team marched around the field – the players resplendent in their team coats with the English “D” on their left sleeves. They ended with a military drill in front of the grandstand.
The Silk Sox march before the game.
The major leagues would not make the future national anthem a regular feature before games until the 1918 World Series. But 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.
According to the Paterson Morning Call, as the band played the Star Spangled Banner, Doherty “pulled a rope that sent Old Glory to the top of the flagpole on the grandstand.” Under it, a second green silk flag reading “State Champions” followed it up the pole.
“The fans who stood bareheaded through the playing of the music,” the Morning Call reported, “then cut loose with a cheer that could be heard a half a mile away.”
Doherty (pictured center above) would demonstrate more patriotism long before major league owners. On May 2, 1918, the Silk Sox announced any soldier or sailor in uniform would be let into the Doherty Oval for free. It took the New York Giants until June 25 to become the first big league club to allow military members into its home ballpark for no cost – provided they paid the $.10 war tax on seats costing $.75 and $1.
While the Silk Sox would lose to the Braves that day, 6-2, when it came to patriotism, Harry Doherty and his Silk Sox were truly major league.
Happy Fourth of July, Silk Sox fans.