About Baseball , Voting, and Miss Edith

For Major League Baseball aficionados, the 2026 Wild Card Series started September 29 and ended October 1.  The Division Series starts October 3 and ends October 10.  Then it will be time for the League Championship Series.   These three series are a lead-up to the World Series, the best of seven games, which will start on October 23.  If a seventh game is needed, it will be played on Halloween night, October 31.

As not much of a MLB aficionado, I only pay attention to the World Series because, seriously, baseball is a summer game. We are now beyond back-to-school September and into October, one of the most beautiful seasons in New England.  I would much rather be out walking the fields and trails of Topsmead than sitting in front of a TV or stuck in a wooden seat in a baseball stadium smelling of hotdogs and beer.

Miss Edith Morton Chase, however, was a loyal fan of the New York Yankees, and followed their seasons religiously, sitting in her leather chair in the great room of Topsmead and listening to their games on the radio.  She would certainly be more than delighted that, this year, the Yankees have eliminated the Boston Red Sox and are in the Division Series.  So far, so good.  She might not be thrilled that the MLB experts at ESPN are predicting that the Milwaukee Brewers will win the 2026 World Series.  Time will tell.

As much as Miss Edith enjoyed listening to the baseball games, having the possible final seventh game of the 2026 World Series on Halloween would have felt very right to her.  "Why?" you might ask.  Well, for Miss Edith, voting was an important civic duty, and she always left Topsmead and was back in Waterbury in time to cast her ballot on Election Day, the first Tuesday in November.

Miss Edith, born in 1891, couldn't vote until 1920 when the 19th Amendment, codifying women's right to vote, was finally ratified.  From 1869 to 1913, five territories gave women the right to vote before statehood.  From 1890 to 1918, 15 states gave women the right to vote.  From 1913 to 1919, twelve states allowed women to vote in a Presidential election.  But not Connecticut...Living in Connecticut, Miss Edith voted for the first time when she was 29 years old.  It must have been disappointing for her to watch women in other territories and states be able to vote before she could.

Miss Edith believed that voting was an important way to make her voice heard.  With the 2026 mid-term elections coming up, I am sure that she is watching us here in CT to be sure that we make our voices heard on November 3.
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Margaret Hunt
BlogMistress