Cieradkowski: Harry Stevens, a baseball visionary

From SABR member Gary Cieradkowski at The Infinite Baseball Card Set on April 29, 2016:

Just as I did when I was a kid, the first thing I do upon entering a ballpark is to buy a scorecard. Not a program, nor a yearbook – a scorecard. Even if I choose not to score the game, I always write down the day’s lineup, pitchers, the date, weather conditions and who went with me to the game. It’s just a thing I’ve always done. To me, a scorecard is the one thing I can’t live without when going to a ball game. Same with a hot dog. If I have enough left over after buying the scorecard, I’ll slap my money down for a Cincinnati Brat, Dodger Dog, White Sox Italian Sausage, a Nathan’s frank, etc., depending what ballpark I’m at. It’s just what I’ve always done, just like my Pop and his Pop before him. Until recently it never dawned on me just how those two things became so synonimus with baseball. That’s how I found out about a man whose name I’ve seen all my life but never gave a second thought to, Harry M. Stevens.

Never heard of him?

Well, no person in history has had a bigger impact on the way Americans experience a sporting event than Harry M. Stevens…

Read the full article here: http://infinitecardset.blogspot.com/2016/04/218-harry-m-stevens-visionary.html



Originally published: May 19, 2016. Last Updated: May 19, 2016.