ObscureBall

In the mid-late 19th century, people were playing a few different bat and ball games. Baseball eventually emerged as fan favorite and this is the story of how that happened. This episode played out over a two and a half year period. Through conversations, research, and some field work, Origins tells three different stories in a single episode. To support future ObscureBall stories,

As work on new episodes continue, here's an episode from a show I produce for Castos called Audience. My work with castos takes me behind the scenes of all different kinds of cool audip projects and a while back I got to profile a really cool podcast called Northwoods Baseball Sleep Radio. So with the permission of Castos, I'm sharing that episode with you here. It was first publis

Today the World Series is one of the most recognizable institutions in all of sports. When it debuted in 1903 it was met with widespread acclaim from sports writers and baseball fans all over America. For all of its successful, the World Series was almost dead on arrival. Petty grudges, cut throat business practices and difficult personalities almost derailed the whole thing. LINKS

On April 29, 1904 Barbados Joe Walcott and Dixie Kid met for what was a historically significant boxing match. It was only the second time two black fighters competed for the Welterweight title. For 20 rounds, spectators watched as the two fighters duked it out. Then Referee Dick Sullivan did something that was truly baffling... Links: Knuckles and Gloves Patrick Connor on Twitter

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On August 30, 1904 32 runners set off to compete in the Olympic Marathon in St. Louis. Only 13 would finish. This poorly planned event would be one of the worst sporting events of all time. Cramps, dehydration, wild dogs, hallucinatios, stomach hemorrrages, car wrekcs and scandal all took place that afternoon. In fact, it was just one of several sporting events in 1904 marked by sc

As work on new stories continues you can check out Obscure History. Hosted by Josh, it's a weekly podcast that explores obscure historical events. On this episode, which first aired on August 23, 2021, Josh explores what he calls, 'The worst game ever played.' All other episodes of Obscure History can be found anywhere you get your podcasts.

To help support this effort to tell great audio stories, please consider donating by clicking HERE Listen to previous episodes at obscureballpod.com More About Adam darowski.com @adarowski Sports-Reference sports-reference.com Seamheads seamheads.com

The 1914 Giro D'Italia was by virtually every metric, the worst bike race in history. 81 Riders entered the race. Only eight finished. There were floods, mud, rain, blizzards, injuries, sabotage, cheating, attempted bribery and all manner of insanity during a brutal 2,000 mile race lasting 15 days. Links ObscureBall Website Girnimo! Riding the Bery Terrbile 1914 Tour of Italy by Ti

Viewed through a certain lens, the Indianapolis Clowns can be seen as an inpsiring success story. As a black team in the segregated south they managed to endear fans of all races and all walks of life to their uniuqe fusion of comedy and baseball. But in reality, the their story is far more nuanced, complicated and misunderstood. Small League Productions Larry Tye Negro League Base