Fowler says that Blessed Michael McGivney is recorded as playing in at least one game while at seminary in 1872. Displaying the box-score card from the game, Fowler notes that McGivney scored three runs, batted “cleanup,” or fourth hitter in the order, and played in left field.
Most games during the time were not played with a fence, Fowler added. With McGivney playing left field, he said, the Blessed “most likely had a decent throwing arm.” Batting cleanup, McGivney was probably one of the better hitters on the team, he added.
Deeming McGivney the “patron of baseball,” Fowler noted that the Knights’ founder “not only played the game, but that he saw value in the game as a tool for evangelization and for bringing the community together.”
Citing a 1908 Boston Globe article, Fowler displayed writer T.H. Murnane’s quote which said: “Strange to say baseball has a spiritual side. This is a fact, and the Knights of Columbus have done much for the members of the profession, for the player Knights are bound to do their duty, and protect, as far as possible, the young men breaking into the business, making the game cleaner and more wholesome all round.”
Giving a preview of “second base,” Fowler announced that he would explore how Babe Ruth, himself a Knight, revolutionized the game. He will also touch on the Knights’ World War I baseball efforts, and the Black Sox Scandal.
Joseph Bukuras is a journalist at the Catholic News Agency. Joe has prior experience working in state and federal government, in non-profits, and Catholic education. He has contributed to an array of publications and his reporting has been cited by leading news sources, including the New York Times and the Washington Post. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Catholic University of America. He is based out of the Boston area.