Welcome
Whenitwasagame.net themes and content are dedicated to the remembrance, celebration and preservation of our baseball heritage.
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Unnatural
disaster
threatens
baseball
We the fans, the true “owners” of baseball, must hold the commissioner, the team owners, the players and their union accountable.
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Power surge
The '50s was the decade of power and the numbers put up by the untainted athletes were impressive.
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Your stories
Send us your stories and memories from when baseball was a game and not a business.
INSIDE:
CLUBHOUSE
CRONICLES
Jimmy Palermo, during a historic 7-day span in May, 1939, saw the meteoric rise of Williams and tragic decline of Gehrig.
THE GAME'S
GOLDEN ERA
An exclusive WIWAG ongoing feature.
MEMORIES
The field seemed vast to a 7-year old who had looked forward to this day for two months.
BREAKING THE COLOR LINE
The year marks the 60th anniversary of the first major league tryout for black players.
SPECIAL COLOR
LINE TIMELINE
Bud Fowler is the first know black players on an integrated team.
BOOMING BATS
of the '50s
Qualify as Grade A10.
AMERICA'S ORIGINAL
SPORTS BAR
First sports bar featured 12-inch Farnsworth TV.
BASEBALL
HISTORIANS
Two unsuspecting vintage baseball fans rediscover a "National Treasure."
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 'BOOMING BATS of the '50s qualify as Grade "A10" Rediscovery of 42 Major League game-used bats from the '50s leads to nation-wide research pilgrimage. >>See story<<  AMERICA'S ORIGINAL SPORTS BAR Years before the advent of Buffalo wings, satellite hookups or wide-screen television, Palermo’s neighborhood tavern could take title as America’s Original Sports Bar. >>See story<< Black
player timeline:
 SEE THEIR BATS, READ THEIR STORIES: Hank Thompson (above), Willie Mays, Hank Aaron (below) and Gene Baker were among the first black players in the Major Leagues.
Recalling
when it was a game  |
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  HOF KNOBS: We got goose bumps as we realized this long forgotten combination of bats at our very feet were significant baseball artifacts of an era gone by. Casual baseball talk prompts discovery It was your classic American Thanksgiving gathering: The bounty was plentiful, multiple generations of family were assembled, and casual discussion around the table alternated between Thanksgivings past and current affairs, such as politics, entertainment and sports. After a short exchange about who might be the front-runner to win the Heisman Trophy, our sports discussion turned to baseball - as it inevitably does. >>See story<<  THIS YEAR MARKS THE 63rd ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE TRYOUT FOR BLACK PLAYERS  
The first, and little known, Major League tryout for black players
was arranged by Wendell Smith, a black sportswriter for the Pittsburgh
Courier, and took place at Fenway Park on April 16,
1945 – two years before the color barrier was broken. >>See
story<<Related article: >> COLOR LINE TIMELINE AT A GLANCE <<
Seven
unforgetable
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Bud
Fowler, at right, is the first known black pro baseball player on an intergrated
team.
The
field seemed vast to a 7-year old who had looked forward to this day
for two months: A Sunday double header against the Braves! 
