That was the headline readers of The Buffalo Times were greeted with on the morning of July 27, 1915. In hindsight any baseball fan wishes they were one of the lucky 8,000 fans to witness the spectacle. Imagine Tigers’ legend Ty Cobb, the great “Georgia Peach”, resident of the “First” Hall of Fame Class of 1936, scampering around the base paths on Ferry Street in Buffalo, New York! You may ask yourself, how and why was Cobb in Buffalo and what led to the story you are reading on July 27, 2023? We all have inevitably done it at least…
Author: Paul Langendorfer
A typical packed house. Making enough noise to wake the dead? A tragic event, years of folklore and legend, and the swirling winds at Highmark Stadium—this is how it all began. On October 30, 2022, when you head into the stadium to watch the Buffalo Bills take on the Green Bay Packers, stop a moment outside Gate 7 to pay your respects to an infant that may have helped shape our current sports culture along with the notorious winds that whip through the stadium you are about to enter. For outside that Gate lies a family cemetery most have forgotten…
This weekend is a special time in our fair city. It is a time to celebrate two of the things that make our country an extraordinary place: baseball and the youth of our nation. This weekend the Buffalo Bisons will join Major League Baseball in observing Play Ball Weekend. In Major and Minor League ballparks around the country Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 10 – 12, 2022, the game will salute the youth that are the future players and current fans of the national pastime. It is a celebration of youth participation in baseball and softball that focuses on engaging…
The cars speeding down Aero Drive in Cheektowaga did not pay me nor my destination any heed. I took the first photograph and then wandered across the busy road. I had come to pay my respects to Nathanial Thayer, a fellow New Yorker. He was a man who did something for me that I cannot repay. I never knew him, nor ever would. He may have stood about five feet six inches tall, with brown hair and blue-grey eyes. In his early to mid twenties he met his fate and was buried in a cemetery that did not yet exist.…
Every year, without fail, it happens. Sometimes earlier, sometimes later but the yearn, the itch to watch, to play the game starts. We wait for the snow to melt, for the grass to appear, thinking of how it will become green and it reminds us of our favorite place in the world. The perfect emerald green of a baseball diamond. Soon we will hear those magic words that come every February–“Pitchers and catchers report!” We take out the old mitt that has been stored away for a few months now, maybe under a mattress with a ball in it to…
They were all smiling last night–Jimmy (Griffin), Ollie (Carnegie), Luuuke (Easter), and my father, Bob (Langendorfer). For the first time since 1885, when the National League Buffalo Bisons or if you prefer the 1915 Buffalo Blues “fanatics” or in 2021 lingo “fans” were in attendance to watch professional baseball in Buffalo, New York. For the second consecutive year, the American League East Blue Jays migrated south to take up residence in our fair city as the result of the global pandemic. This year is different, however, since fans are allowed into Sahlen Field. Last night was the first of many…
The weather has turned in our fair city and the cold days of winter are fading into the past. As we breathe in the spring air and look forward to a COVID-free world, sometime hopefully soon, the thoughts of many local sports fans turn to the boys of summer returning to Sahlen Field. While it is unknown at this time whether those boys will be our own Bisons or the migrant Jays from the north, it seems clear we will have baseball in Buffalo this year. As we look forward to a return to normal, I am reminded of a…
There is no doubt the times we are living in are extraordinary. The moments we are creating now will be remembered for a lifetime and many lifetimes beyond ours. If we look at a dictionary definition of “history in the making” we find the following citation, “An event happening now that will be remembered in the future because it is very important.” The definition does not tell us why it is important or to whom. It is generally thought of as an event that the mass population will recall, but in my opinion it can mean anything to anyone. There…
As the fall colors in Western New York (WNY) have peaked and before the days turn short and cold, it is a great time to go out and experience the beauty the area has to offer. One of the most enjoyable ways to do so is to take a local hike or walk. Even though it is traditionally the time of year to focus turn away from “the boys of summer” and to focus instead on the Bills and Sabres, many interesting tidbits of WNY’s baseball history can be found on these strolls. WNY has approximately 76 Major League Baseball…
The Day the Music Died was February 3, 1959, when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash. Or August 16, 1977, when the King of Rock ‘N Roll gyrated through the Pearly Gates. For Gen Xers like myself and Baby Boomers “The Day the Music Died-2.0” may well be yesterday October 6, 2020, when Eddie Van Halen passed into eternity. As readers may know, I write about the history of Buffalo and baseball history primarily, but music history has its own disciples and gurus. I do not profess to be one of them,…