Son Makes Good on Father’s Pledge

March 22, 2011 by Matt Dahlgren · Leave a Comment

I recently read a story about my grandpa, Babe Dahlgren and his father Peter that I’d never heard before. After all the years spent talking with my grandpa, all the countless months researching his life and career, somehow this one slipped past me like the easiest of ground balls. The story appeared in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune on October 13, 1939. The headline read:

Babe Dahlgren to Make Good Father’s Pledge 31 Years Ago in Minneapolis

As I read the aged words from the old newspaper, I felt a chill run down my spine while simultaneously looking up and thinking, my God.

I’ve always known that my grandpa wanted to become a first baseman because of his childhood idol, Lou Gehrig. This of course made that indelible day in Detroit even more surreal when he was the one called on to replace Gehrig on May 2, 1939. But now I’ve learned that perhaps his first base roots may have come from a place far beyond the San Francisco playgrounds of his youth.

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Babe Dahlgren meets his aunts Ida and Mayme in Minneapolis for the first time in October 1939

At the conclusion of the 1939 World Series where the Yankees rolled over the Reds in four straight games, my grandpa, as he did after every season, drove west to his home in San Francisco. This year however he decided to stop in Minneapolis, Minnesota to meet his two aunts on his father’s side for the very first time. Ida Kastner and Mayme Burmeister were thrilled to meet their world champion nephew. They’d followed Babe along the way by scrapbooking his young career and were eager to hear the stories about his experiences as a major leaguer and the bitter sweet year with the New York Yankees.

By now Babe had established himself in the eyes of many peers and scribes as the top defensive first baseman in the game. The adulation started while in the Pacific Coast League where even Charley Graham, president of the Seals and fierce rivals of the Missions, once said he always arrived early when the Missions were home, “So he could see Dahlgren practice.” Red Sox player-manager Joe Cronin took it one step further in the spring of 1935. When talking about his rookie first baseman Cronin opined, “He’s the greatest first baseman I ever saw.” Writer John Lardner would later say, “If an old timer were to swear to me on a stack of testaments that there was a greater defensive first baseman than Ellsworth “Babe” Dahlgren of the Yankees I wouldn’t believe him.”

So when the local papers picked up on Babe’s plans to visit the Land of 10,000 Lakes, they interviewed his two aunts in an effort to preempt the trip with a human interest story about his late father and his love for baseball. And what a story it was!

Born in Minneapolis in 1890, Peter Dahlgren was the youngest of five siblings. The story has it that he was raised by his older sisters, Ida and Mayme. By the time he was twelve years old he had developed a love for baseball that was transparent. Throughout his teenage years Peter played on nearly every team on the east side of town working hard at honing his skills. The kids that played ball with him and went to Pierce school would often say that, “Pete was the best major league prospect in town.” That’s why it didn’t come as a surprise when he left home at the age of 18 to chase his dream by heading west to Sacramento, California to play baseball for the Highland Parks, one of the strongest semi-pro teams on the coast and managed by his older brother, Charlie.

Peter Dahlgren (standing second to right) next to brother Charlie (center) Sacramento circa 1908

Before leaving, Peter made a pledge to his sisters that “he wouldn’t return until he became the best darn first baseman in the world.” But that would never happen.

Soon after arriving in Sacramento, he met and fell in love with Addie Davey. They married and in 1910 they had their first child, Harold. Within a year they moved to San Francisco where Peter began working as a steam-fitter at the Western Sugar Refinery at 23^rd and 3^rd streets. On June 15, 1912, my grandpa (Ellsworth) was born and three years later a third boy named Raymond was born. But tragedy would strike that same summer when just one month after Ellsworth turned three, Peter was scalded to death when a pipe burst at the refinery. This left Addie to fend for herself with three small children. But Raymond would succumb a few months later in a horrific hot water accident, himself.

Within a couple of years, Addie remarried and little Ellsworth, now Babe, had begun his own love affair with the game of baseball. And like the father he never knew, he’d spend years roaming the sandlots and playgrounds in the Mission District until signing his first professional contract in 1931.

Thirty-one years had passed since Peter Dahlgren left home after making his bold pledge to his sisters. And in the crisp Minnesota fall of 1939 it wasn’t he who was returning home with the recognition of being the “best darn first baseman in the world,” but rather, his son.

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I can’t imagine the feeling my grandpa must have had while visiting his family to learn his father wanted to be a major league first baseman, too.

As far as I knew from the stories Babe told, the only memory he had of his father came from Christmas of 1914 when he thought Santa Claus had paid a visit. It wasn’t until years later that his mother told him that it was his father wearing a red sweater.

But the fact that he never told me this makes me question whether or not he even knew about his dad’s love of baseball and desire to play. He told me everything; surely he would have told me a remarkable story about his dad and baseball. Babe’s son, my dad, wasn’t aware of it either. Did his aunts, Ida and Mayme fail to tell him? Did he even read the article in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune? I’ll never know. What I do know is that Babe cherished a photo of his father with the Highland Parks baseball team. It’s one of the only photos he had of him. It would always put a smile on his face when he looked at it because it bared witness that his father liked baseball — and that was important to him. He felt a sense of peace and pride knowing that.

Well I’m here to say that he more than “liked it” Grandpa —he chased it like you!

My great-grandfather Peter has always been a mystery to my family because he died so young. But thanks to a story written in 1939 by a writer named Frank Diamond, a newfound light has been shed on him that cements an unmistakable love of baseball that now transcends four generations of Dahlgrens.

*Matt Dahlgren is the author of Rumor In Town: A Grandson’s Promise to Right a Wrong. To order your copy visit www.rumorintown.com.

I would like to discuss the “Legacy of Griffith Stadium” and some of those wonderful memories of a time in the not so distant past – unfortunately memories are just about all that is left for those who remember major league baseball in Washington DC before the current Washington Nationals. This may serve as a history lesson for Washington baseball fans – long suffering and yet a VERY RICH major league baseball heritage!

Griffith Stadium opened in 1911 and, at the time was called National Park (sounds familiar.) In 1920 National Park was renamed Clark Griffith Stadium for the long-time owner of the Washington Nats/Senators (more commonly known as Griffith Stadium.)

This blog will not touch on the wonderful 1920′s – early 1930′s of the ball club. That period has been carefully documented in several outstanding books – Walter Johnson, Baseball’s Big Train by Hank Thomas (Walter Johnson’s grandson), Damn Senators by Mark Judge (Joe Judge’s grandson) and The Wrecking Crew of ’33 by Gary Sarnoff. These (3) books capture the time of Washington DC’s place in the major league baseball sun! In 1924, a World Series championship, 1925 an American League championship and another American League championship in 1933.

This “blog” will focus more on the significant role played by Griffith Stadium, Clark Griffith and some of the talented baseball players who called Griffith Stadium “home.” Please note I said baseball players as some of the greatest players in professional baseball history played at Griffith Stadium and were not members of the Washington Nats/Senators. Of course, I’m referring to the Homestead Grays including Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard – after many years, finally recognized by the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

The Nats/Senators of the WWII era were managed by “The Boy Wonder” Bucky Harris and later Ossie Bluege. There were several outstanding ballplayers during those years and the team itself just missed out on a possible AL championship on the last day of the 1945 season – thanks to a grand slam home run by Hank Greenberg of the Detroit Tigers against the St. Louis Browns.

In my opinion, to completely understand the significance of Griffith Stadium, one needs to look at the legendary ballplayers who performed there – of course, probably the greatest pitcher of all time – Walter Johnson, his long-time friend and roommate Clyde Milan, Hall of Famers Goose Goslin, Sam Rice, and later Harmon Killebrew and two players whom I believe have been overlooked by Cooperstown – Joe Judge and Mickey Vernon – and, of course, “the Old Fox”, Mr. Clark Griffith! And not only Washington players – how about Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Hank Greenberg, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige – the list could go on and on! Baseball history occurred at Griffith Stadium – yet today, Griffith Stadium is just a memory!

One of the most significant aspects of the long and legendary history of Griffith Stadium and a tradition that I’m afraid has ended – “the throwing out of the first ball” by the President of The United States. This time-honored ritual was first performed by President Taft in, I believe, 1911 and from that time up until John F. Kennedy in 1961 at Griffith Stadium – every Chief Executive looked forward to the Opening Day “toss.” And, who should receive credit for this tradition? None other than Clark Griffith!. In addition to his roll in the “Presidential Opener” it was Clark Griffith who was instrumental in keeping baseball “alive” during WWII. In what has become known as the “Green Light” letter from President Roosevelt to then baseball commissioner Judge Landis in 1943 – Clark Griffith with his frequent visits and personal relationship with Mr. Roosevelt was able to convince FDR that major league baseball should continue for the morale of the country during the darkest days of the Second World War.

That brings us to a subject that has been discussed for many years. During WWII, major league ballplayers were to be called to military service the same as any other American citizen – and if a player was declared 4F by his draft board and therefore unfit for military service, that player would work in the off season in a defense related industry. In my opinion, there is no question that the talent level of major league baseball was diminished during WWII – however the game did continue as the President stated in his “Green Light” letter – “I honestly feel it would be best for the country to keep baseball going.”

The Washington Nats/Senators were deeply impacted as were many other major league ballclubs by military service “call-ups.” Just about everyone knows that Bob Feller was an anti-aircraft gunner on the USS Alabama and that Ted Williams was a Marine Crops flight instructor during WWII. However, today – who remembers that Cecil Travis, the great Washington shortstop and probably destined to be considered for the Hall of Fame, would have his feet frozen in the Battle of the Bulge and never regain his pre-war form? Or that Buddy Lewis would fly “The Hump” in Burma, or that Bert Shepard would be shot down over Germany and as a POW would have his leg partially amputated by German doctors and yet return to pitch in a major league game at Griffith Stadium? Or that Elmer Gedeon, of the 1939 Washington team would make the “ultimate sacrifice” – being killed during the war? I’m afraid that these painful memories are probably unknown to today’s Washington baseball fans – yet this was a piece of Washington baseball history that should not be forgotten!

Of course there were other Washington players who served their country including Mickey Vernon, Dutch Leonard and Stan Spence – great players who interrupted their major league careers in order to help preserve our way of life.

One other note of historical significance with regard to Griffith Stadium and major league baseball – and, by the way, this “blog” is not about the many political and religious events held at Griffith Stadium over the years nor is it about championship prize fights or the Washington Redskins – it is about baseball! In 1945, for the “home opener” the Nats/Senators honored three of the surviving Iwo Jima “flag-raisers” and were escorted to their box seats by Clatk Griffith and then Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn.

Griffith Stadium is no more – but the historic events that happened there should never be forgotten! While we remember – and rightly so – “Washington Crossing The Delaware,” the Civil War, Veterans Day, The Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, D Day, VE Day, VJ Day, Korea, JFK, MLK, Vietnam, the end of the “Cold War”, 9/11, The Gulf Wars – we should also remember Griffith Stadium and the the unique role that Griffith Stadium played – certainly not of the historical significance of the great events of our nation but still of great importance to the lives of baseball fans in our Nation’s Capital.

On the first day of 2012, I wrote a “blog” on our Timeless Baseball website – WHAT MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL WAS LIKE MANY YEARS AGO. I have had the pleasure of hearing from so many about the content of our website that I thought I would follow up that “blog” with another. This time discussing some baseball topics which have been very meaningful to me as the son of a major league baseball player. Some of these topics may be controversial or I may be “showing” my age but although the GAME of baseball is “timeless” – I believe the SPORT of baseball has definitely changed!

In the early days of baseball, the players played baseball because they “loved the game” – maybe they were a tough, no nonsense brand of person – often uneducated and unfortunately, up until Jackie Robinson, all white! However, my opinion they all had a deep respect for the game and its history. I do not believe that in most instances, today’s ballplayers have that same respect for baseball. The salaries are SO HUGE that I believe money has really gotten in the way of the “love of the game.”

For many years, baseball players were educated on the ball fields – as kids, they played ball on the sandlots, in the streets, cornfields, wherever they could make a diamond – they didn’t have travel teams, parental pressures, year round training, batting cages etc. They learned to play ball by playing – it was a GAME! I don’t think it is viewed by youngsters as a game today. This is not to say, today’s players are not better – I believe they are – physically – and with a much greater skill level – bigger, faster, stronger and, if they attend college, are often coached by former professional ballplayers and today college baseball is often a stepping stone to a major league career whereas in the past, few ballplayers attended college and had to climb the minor league “ladder” before making it to the “majors.”

This being said, however, I do not believe the majority of today’s players are as fundamentally sound as they were in the past. Youngsters in the past learned the game by playing – all the time, unless of course, it was snowing or raining or too cold! Today, drive by playgrounds and ball fields – they are empty unless there is a practice or a game scheduled. That is not a good sign for the future of baseball!

Another topic is equipment. From the earliest days of baseball, kids played the game with whatever equipment they could find – taped up balls, bats, borrowed gloves, cardboard for bases, special rules if they did not have enough players (right field “out”) somebody catching for both teams or pitching for both teams, choosing up sides etc. The bats were always wood so kids learned to hit a baseball with a wood bat just like the big leaguers! Today, kids grow up playing with metal bats and never use a wooden bat (unless they play in the summer in a collegiate wooden bat league.) And, they are playing often on youth league stadiums that were unheard of in the early days of the game – lights, dugouts, concession stands, public address announcers and in the case of the Little League World Series – television coverage that rivals major league baseball coverage – replays, video, interviews etc!

Baseball gloves are another example of how baseball has changed – in the early days of baseball, gloves were very small and in the very early days, were not even used. As the years went by, gloves became larger and in the 1950′s glove technology made great strides! However with the gloves that are available today, I’m not certain that many of today’s players, if they had to play with yesterday’s gloves, would be able to do so – obviously there would be exceptions as there are certainly many exceptional players today!

Uniforms are so much different also. In the early days of baseball, players had to play in wool flannel uniforms regardless of the temperature – often on a hot day in the middle of summer and sometimes playing doubleheaders without the benefit of air conditioning – you can imagine how much weight would be lost! And players wore their uniforms pretty much the same way – mid calf and with black, yellow back kangaroo shoes shined daily by club house boys – often you see today’s players with their baseball pants all the way down to their shoe tops – also baseball players wore white “sanitary hose” under their baseball stockings with “stirrups” – that style seems to be almost a thing of the past! And the prevalence of day games or if a night game, with somewhat primitive lighting and on grass fields that were often “doctored” up by the ground crews to serve the “home team.” The fields and stadiums at all levels today are so much superior although I’m not certain the playing of the game from a fundamentals aspect is that much superior – in fact, in my opinion, it might not be as good – baserunning mistakes, throwing to the wrong base, missing the cut-off man just some examples – although obviously, these are mistakes that have happened over the years – I personally think they just happen more often today!

And, again in my opinion – pitch counts and the DH – did not exist in the past and I think have changed how the game is played. In an earlier time, starting pitchers were expected to start and finish games – that is what they were paid to do. There was a bullpen to be used if a pitcher was getting “hit” but there were no short relievers, long relievers, “set up men” and closers – today’s game, many times will see at least (4) pitchers. And the game was the same as played in both leagues – pitchers were expected to hit and many times, if a pitcher was a good hitter, he would be used as a pinch hitter! As you can probably tell – I am NO FAN of the DH – either use it in both leagues OR DO NOT USE IT in either league!

One other change I’d like to discuss – if you see black/white footage or photos from an earlier time, most everyone who went to see a ball game was dressed – men, and the majority of fans in the early days, seemed to be men, wore coat and tie and a hat – in the warm months – a straw hat, the colder months a topcoat and “dress hat.” I’m not certain when fan shops came into being in the major leagues, but from whatever that time, casual dress and fan attire now seems to be the “norm.”

In closing, I understand the economics of the game – free agency and television and TV money have changed baseball dramatically since the early days when you either attended a ballgame in person or listened to it on the radio or read about it the next day in the newspaper. I also understand why metal bats are used – the cost of a metal bat compared to the number of wooden bats that would be needed because of breakage is no comparison – HOWEVER, hitting a baseball with a wooden bat has a totally different outcome than hitting a baseball with a metal bat. And today, there are youngsters playing college baseball or who will play professional baseball, who HAVE NEVER hit with a wood bat!

Again, just some of my opinions about the game we all love – as the son of a former major league ballplayer, I just may have been around the game a little longer and have noticed so many differences from the time when I was a youngster and baseball was SO IMPORTANT to all of us in America – it was our NATIONAL PASTIME!