mostly hype, for Hooper shared neither the Detroit outfielder's abrasive personality nor his monumental talent, but Hooper was still a skilled player, with a superb arm, good speed, and an occasionally potent bat, a table-setter and defensive whiz, the perfect complementary player, and one of the few Red Sox players who got along with almost everyone. While it would not have been possible to win a championship with a team of Harry Hoopers, it was impossible to win without a player like Harry Hooper.
He was a recent graduate of St. Mary's College with a degree in engineering, had a good job with the railroad, and didn't necessarily need to play baseball. Taylor, who was already thinking of replacing the Huntington Avenue Grounds, helped entice Hooper to sign with the Red Sox in exchange for $2,800—more than his salary with the railroad—and the vague promise of an off-season engineering job working on the plans for a new ballpark. Hooper did the math, signed a contract, and made his Red Sox debut in 1909, one of only a handful of major leaguers at the time from the West Coast.
The Red Sox had also recently signed another player from the West—Kansas native Joe Wood, who despite going only 7-12 for Kansas City in 1908 had gotten the attention of big league scouts with an impressive performance in an exhibition game he pitched for Kansas City against Washington. And after the 1909 season, during another trip west, Taylor signed a second St. Mary's product, outfielder Duffy Lewis. Pitcher Charley "Sea Lion" Hall, although not originally signed by the Red Sox, was also from California. In fact, his family came from Mexico and his real name was Carlos Luis Clolo, a fact he wisely kept to himself in light of the intolerance of the era.
By 1911 the addition of these players had changed the face of the organization, which until then had been largely representative of New England. Catcher Bill "Rough" Carrigan was a native of Maine and a graduate of Holy Cross College; a favorite of local fans, he was a man equally comfortable at Mass or in a sidewalk brawl. Pitcher Ray Collins had been raised in Vermont and was a direct descendant of William Bradford, the second governor of Plymouth Colony. He was so proud of his heritage that when asked his nationality on a survey by
Baseball
magazine he proudly identified himself as "Yankee." Infielder Larry Gardner was born on a dairy farm in Vermont, and first baseman Hugh Bradley was a native of Worcester, Massachusetts. Together, these New Englanders and their western teammates formed much of the core of what would soon become a championship club.
But this was 1911, not 1912. Despite the presence of some bona fide stars like Speaker, who rapidly became one of the best players in the game and, with Hooper and Lewis, part of the best young outfield in baseball, there were reasons why the team had yet to gel and entered September fighting to play .500 baseball.
Those reasons had little to do with talent and everything to do with personality and prejudice. The team did not mesh. The club was a minefield of cliques and alliances that divided the squad by age, geography, heritage, and, most notably, religion.
Carrigan led one faction made up of mostly Catholic, older, eastern, and New England–born players, a group the press referred to as "the KCs," in reference to the Catholic fraternal organization the Knights of Columbus. The insurgents, known collectively as "the Masons," included the younger, Protestant players primarily from the South and the West.
The Masons were led by Tris Speaker and Joe Wood. The two young players had become fast friends as soon as they met. They shared a similar background, had strong personalities, carried themselves with the cocksure arrogance of youth, and were clearly the most talented of the younger Red Sox. One rarely saw one without the other, for each had been the subject of some hazing when they first joined the club. While Speaker had been warmly
He was a recent graduate of St. Mary's College with a degree in engineering, had a good job with the railroad, and didn't necessarily need to play baseball. Taylor, who was already thinking of replacing the Huntington Avenue Grounds, helped entice Hooper to sign with the Red Sox in exchange for $2,800—more than his salary with the railroad—and the vague promise of an off-season engineering job working on the plans for a new ballpark. Hooper did the math, signed a contract, and made his Red Sox debut in 1909, one of only a handful of major leaguers at the time from the West Coast.
The Red Sox had also recently signed another player from the West—Kansas native Joe Wood, who despite going only 7-12 for Kansas City in 1908 had gotten the attention of big league scouts with an impressive performance in an exhibition game he pitched for Kansas City against Washington. And after the 1909 season, during another trip west, Taylor signed a second St. Mary's product, outfielder Duffy Lewis. Pitcher Charley "Sea Lion" Hall, although not originally signed by the Red Sox, was also from California. In fact, his family came from Mexico and his real name was Carlos Luis Clolo, a fact he wisely kept to himself in light of the intolerance of the era.
By 1911 the addition of these players had changed the face of the organization, which until then had been largely representative of New England. Catcher Bill "Rough" Carrigan was a native of Maine and a graduate of Holy Cross College; a favorite of local fans, he was a man equally comfortable at Mass or in a sidewalk brawl. Pitcher Ray Collins had been raised in Vermont and was a direct descendant of William Bradford, the second governor of Plymouth Colony. He was so proud of his heritage that when asked his nationality on a survey by
Baseball
magazine he proudly identified himself as "Yankee." Infielder Larry Gardner was born on a dairy farm in Vermont, and first baseman Hugh Bradley was a native of Worcester, Massachusetts. Together, these New Englanders and their western teammates formed much of the core of what would soon become a championship club.
But this was 1911, not 1912. Despite the presence of some bona fide stars like Speaker, who rapidly became one of the best players in the game and, with Hooper and Lewis, part of the best young outfield in baseball, there were reasons why the team had yet to gel and entered September fighting to play .500 baseball.
Those reasons had little to do with talent and everything to do with personality and prejudice. The team did not mesh. The club was a minefield of cliques and alliances that divided the squad by age, geography, heritage, and, most notably, religion.
Carrigan led one faction made up of mostly Catholic, older, eastern, and New England–born players, a group the press referred to as "the KCs," in reference to the Catholic fraternal organization the Knights of Columbus. The insurgents, known collectively as "the Masons," included the younger, Protestant players primarily from the South and the West.
The Masons were led by Tris Speaker and Joe Wood. The two young players had become fast friends as soon as they met. They shared a similar background, had strong personalities, carried themselves with the cocksure arrogance of youth, and were clearly the most talented of the younger Red Sox. One rarely saw one without the other, for each had been the subject of some hazing when they first joined the club. While Speaker had been warmly
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