History
Historically, the St. Louis Cardinals are recognized as sponsoring the first "Knothole Gang club". A quote, from Baseball Though a Knothole - A St. Louis History by Bill Borst, pages 38 - 39, tells the story. "W.E.Bilheimer, a St. Louis insurance man, introduced the idea of a 'Knothole Gang'. With each fifty dollars worth of stock purchased went one bleacher seat that was opened up free of charge for the city's youth." The date was the beginning of the 1917 season. This came about as part of the plans when Mrs. Helen Britton sold the Cardinal's club to a "fan syndicate from the city's prominent businessmen that formed an army of stockholders", page 38. Executive Branch Rickey developed the idea.
The knothole gangs came about naturally as professional ballparks were first being built with wooden fences. Kids without the price of a seat would find that the wooden fences surrounding the parks provided spy holes to watch the games for free. These holes were created when knots in the wood popped out. Naturally gangs of kids gathered around the knotholes.
In the late 1880s (perhaps 1889) - New Orleans Pelicans owner Abner Powell promoted the first knot hole gang when he allowed kids to watch free if they showed good behavior.
Another good example of a knothole gang was the Redbirds of Columbus, Ohio. If kids decided that they wanted to sign up they would do so and if they got good grades, they would be admitted free into any home game with the exceptions of the playoffs and All-Star games.
The Brooklyn Dodgers gave over 2 million free passes to kids during the 1940s and '50s. A photo of youngsters lying on the pavement to grab a view from under the center field gate at Ebbets Field, circa 1930s, can be seen at the following link.
http://www.ebbets-field.com/TheEarlyYears/KnotHoleGang.jpg
From 1962-65, the Houston Colt .45s called their knot-hole gang the "Six Shooter Club", a moniker which would be politically-incorrect today.
Read more about this topic: Knothole Gang
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“To a surprising extent the war-lords in shining armour, the apostles of the martial virtues, tend not to die fighting when the time comes. History is full of ignominious getaways by the great and famous.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“The history of the world is the record of the weakness, frailty and death of public opinion.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“No one can understand Paris and its history who does not understand that its fierceness is the balance and justification of its frivolity. It is called a city of pleasure; but it may also very specially be called a city of pain. The crown of roses is also a crown of thorns. Its people are too prone to hurt others, but quite ready also to hurt themselves. They are martyrs for religion, they are martyrs for irreligion; they are even martyrs for immorality.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)