Today on Magic 590, Bob Cudmore’s guest on Talk of the Town talks about the growth of interest in the history of Saratoga County. From horse racing to rocket engines, Saratoga County has historically important stories according to Jim Richmond of the History Roundtable.
Thanks to contributions from author Dave Northrup and Gilbertsville (N.Y.) historian Leigh Eckmair, the 2019 Historians Podcast fund drive now stands at $2,840, 71% of the yearly goal of $4,000. Can we make it to $2,900 by next week? It’s easy to contribute online. www.gofundme.com/2019-the-historians To donate by mail, make out a check to Bob Cudmore and send to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, N.Y. 12302.
Keep The Historians on the Internet and Broadcast
Tuesday, August 20, 2019-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Memories of Gloversville’s Glovers Park.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019-From The Historians Podcast Archives- Episode 126, August 26, 2016-Christopher Kelly talks about the Romans, Garibaldi, Mussolini and more in discussing his book with Stuart Laycock, “Italy Invades: How the Italians Conquered the World.”
Thursday, August 22, 2019-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette- Model train at Caroga Lake
Episode 280
Friday, August 23, 2019-Bob Cudmore has stories about the 1957 Mohawk Indian encampment in Fort Hunter, how Amsterdam’s wealthy Sanford family inspired a 1938 motion picture starring Katharine Hepburn and how a florist, a rabbi and a judge in the Mohawk Valley were known for their speaking abilities.
Focus on History in the Daily Gazette
Nelliston native was outstanding but feisty ballplayer
By Bob Cudmore
William Frederick “Bad Bill” Dahlen was a native of Nelliston who became a “ferocious” shortstop in major league baseball in the late 1800s and early 1900s, according to an article by David Krell of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).
Nelliston native Charles Gehring of the New Netherlands Research Center in Albany grew up in the house where Dahlen had lived at the corner of Dahlen and East Main Streets. Gehring wrote, “I even found one of his bats in our cellar.”
Born in 1870, Dahlen was the son of a German immigrant, mason Daniel Dahlen, and his wife Rosina Shellhorn Dahlen. The young man attended elementary school in Nelliston and played local baseball. He then was a pitcher for a private school, Clinton Liberal Institute in Fort Plain, which he attended on what might be called an athletic scholarship today.
According to a newspaper article by Matthew Rapacz, Dahlen signed with a semi-pro club in Cobleskill in 1889 at a salary of $40 a month.
Dahlen started playing in the majors in 1891 with the Chicago Colts, predecessor of the Chicago Cubs. In 1894, the year he permanently switched to shortstop, Dahlen had at least one hit in 42 straight games.
In 1899 Dahlen was traded to Baltimore, with Chicago management praising his baseball skills but hinting he was not a great team player. The year before during a vacation in Minnesota Dahlen and two friends were charged with killing a farmer’s mule.
Dahlen ended up playing for another team affiliated with Baltimore, the Brooklyn Superbas, who later became the Dodgers.
Tomorrow, Monday, August 19, 2019-The Story Behind the Story Podcast focuses on this column on Nelliston native “Bad Bill” Dahlen who became one of baseball’s best shortstops over a century ago.
Dahlen married twice. His first wife was named Hattie. They divorced in 1901 amid domestic violence allegations according to Prell’s SABR article. In 1903 Dahlen married Jeanette Hoglund.
Also in 1903 Dahlen was traded to the New York Giants. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote, “Dahlen, while a great player, never was an observer of discipline.”
Dahlen played four years with the Giants and manager John McGraw called him the best shortstop in the nation.
In 1907 Dahlen was traded to the Boston Doves. In 1910 he went back to Brooklyn as team manager. As a manager he frequently argued with umpires and was often ejected from the game. In 1912 he was suspended for ten days and fined $100 for fighting with an umpire.
Brooklyn never got above sixth place during Dahlen’s time as manager and he was let go after the 1913 season. He spent the next season as a scout for Brooklyn. He stayed connected to baseball and scouted several years for the Giants.
Dahlen had a semi-pro team in Brooklyn, worked on the New York City docks and owned a gas station. He was an attendant at Yankee Stadium and a night clerk in a Brooklyn post office.
Dahlen died in Brooklyn after a long illness on December 5, 1950. He was buried, reportedly in an unmarked grave, in Brooklyn’s Cemetery of the Evergreens. He was survived by a daughter and two sons.
The year he died Dahlen’s baseball glove was displayed in the window of Harry Cramer’s Fort Plain store,
In 1998 a committee headed by Fort Plain residents Robert Moyer and Robert
Diefendorf collected 400 signatures, convincing the Nelliston village board to petition the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (just 25 miles away) to induct Dahlen.
SABR’s 19th Century Committee selected Dahlen as its “Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legend” for 2012.
Dahlen has still not been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Baseball and Presidential historian David Pietrusza said, “It's quite difficult for players of his era to gain entrance now.”
"In Print" Saturday, August 24, 2019- Focus on History in the Daily Gazette-The marshal of the village of Akin
A warm and humid air mass will continue to impact the region today
with another upper level disturbance bringing afternoon and early
evening scattered showers and thunderstorms. The heat and humidity
will become oppressive on Monday with still the threat of a shower
or thunderstorm. Cooler and drier weather will not arrive until
Wednesday night into Thursday when a cold front moves through
eastern New York and western New England.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, August 18, 2019-A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 5pm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Areas of fog before 10am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
This Afternoon
Sunday, August 18, 2019 at 1 p.m. the Old Stone Fort Museum will host Saratoga National Battlefield Park Ranger Eric Schnitzer for a lecture on how one such letter changed what we know about one the most pivotal battles of the American Revolution and one of its most controversial figures, General Benedict Arnold.
The letter was written by Nathaniel Bacheller, a militia adjutant from New Hampshire, to his wife, Suzanna, on Oct. 9, 1777. It was discovered by historians when it appeared on the auction site eBay this past winter and was sold to an unknown buyer for $2,925. Thankfully, a digital copy was downloaded and a transcript of the letter was made before it went to the buyer and joined their private collection.
What it holds is a first-hand and, perhaps more importantly, historically unbiased account of the conversations, command decisions and field actions of General Horatio Gates and General Benedict Arnold during the ongoing Battle of Saratoga.
https://theoldstonefort.org/2019/06/summer-lecture-benedict-arnold-and-the-letter-that-changed-history/
The Old Stone Fort Museum Complex is located in the village of Schoharie at 145 Fort Road, off NY State Rt. 30, 2.5 miles south of Interstate 88 Exit 23.
Jason Subik Mid-Morning Program 9-10 Monday thru Thursday on WCSS Radio Amsterdam, posted as a video Podcast on The Historians Watch Live on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jason.subik
Thursday, August 15, 2019
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Monday, August 12, 2019
The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation’s next Summer Stroll, The Good Life, North Broadway with Samantha Bosshart, SSPF Executive Director, is set for today, Sunday, August 18, 2019 at 10:30 am. NYHB https://newyorkhistoryblog.org/2019/08/a-saratoga-summer-stroll-along-north-broadway/
The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation is set to host the second of two special presentations on Broadway in the 1970s on Monday, August 19, 2019 at 7 pm at The Adelphi Hotel, 365 Broadway.
Carol Godette will present “Fruit of the Looms, Wranglers, & LPs: Broadway in 1976” which highlights Broadway in 1976 and the stores downtown that many still remember. NYHB https://newyorkhistoryblog.org/2019/08/broadway-saratoga-in-the-1970s/
Stories from The New York History Blog https://newyorkhistoryblog.org/
Lake Champlain Sailing Barge Ceres for Sale
Historic Saranac Lake Planning Expansion
Crown Point Roadway Being Revised
OSI Plans $1M for Tahawus Improvements
Update On Railroad to Tahawus
Major Conservation Reform Bill Falls Short
The Historians Podcast is heard Saturday at 8:40 a.m. on WCSS 1490 AM and 106.9 FM in Amsterdam; Sunday at 4:30 p.m. on WBDY (99.5 FM) in Binghamton.
RISE, WMHT’s radio service for the blind in Albany and the Hudson Valley, airs each episode Monday at 11:30 a.m. and Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. WMHT | RISE Radio Reading Service for the Blind and Print Disabled
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