Profiles In History: Dotty Minestrone, Inventor of ‘The Wave’
Sporting events would never be the same.
The Wave. It’s a sporting event tradition as revered as dressing up as Winston the Whale and being “harpooned” by an umpire near third base.
But while many participate in the beloved Wave at athletic games around the world, very few know its origins (or how to pilot a Tambor-class submarine, for that matter).
The true story of The Wave’s creation is as American as apple pie, but with twice the caloric intake. Early sports historians attributed its invention to Mikael Sniffer, the first spectator to be struck by every single baseball hit throughout a nine-inning game (somehow even while he was hiding in the restroom).
In an interview following the historic 1906 match, Sniffer made multiple claims, among them the inventions of The Wave, gunpowder and the ability to materialize in Vermont at a moment’s notice. He died two hours later at a hockey game, where he was trampled by a Clydesdale horse.
However, eventually more astute historians discovered the true composer of The Wave: inventor, artist and close-talker Dotty Minestrone. It was Minestrone’s ingenuity that changed spectator sports forever.
Early days
Dorothy “Dotty” Minestrone “Minestrone” was born in the spring of 1841 to Shelley and Ferdinand Minestrone, who both came to America to get away from each other. The two settled down in the same house in Louisiana by mistake and were eventually married, although neither attended the ceremony.
Ferdinand soon got work as a horse whisperer, a cause of great frustration to local horses, who were constantly telling him to speak up. Shelley, meanwhile, earned income by carving erotic ice sculptures for fancy hotels. The hotels had really just ordered regular ice sculptures but were too embarrassed to ever complain.
By all accounts, Dotty had a relatively happy childhood in Louisiana.
“I am having a relatively happy childhood in Louisiana,” she wrote in her diary at age 8. “By all accounts.” Her strong-willed personality was apparent from a young age.
“Dotty was a force of nature,” her sister, Mildred, wrote in her 1931 memoir, If I Did It: The Juarez Murders Revisited. “She was always looking for ways to get people on their feet.”
Dotty’s life changed forever when she attended her first sporting event in 1859.
The game she attended, Jub-Jub Ball, is no longer practiced today but involved heavy amounts of sour cream. It was banned in multiple countries after all the players’ and coaches’ heads fell off.
“I’ve never been so enthralled,” Dotty wrote in her journal soon after attending the event. “Sitting there in the midst of an excited crowed, I felt as if I were a part of a giant heart beating with one common goal! Shame about the heads, tho.”
From then on, Dotty rarely went a week without attending a game. Soon she grew restless and eager to leave her mark.
“All this exciting energy during the game — what’s one to do with it?” she wrote. “A point was scored on the field and I stood up and smacked a nearby chap with an oboe, causing him to whimper in G minor. How to proceed?”
From then on, Dotty’s experiments for what would eventually evolve into The Wave began in earnest.
Experiments
It didn’t matter what the sport was or what league it was played in, Dotty became a fixture in its stands throughout the latter half of the 19th century. Historian Piotr Bebewater postulates Dotty was the first person to tell someone sent to buy peanuts, “I don’t care if you ever come back.” It is believed she was addressing her first husband, Silas Dorfman.
Dotty made countless attempts to get crowds to express game-time excitement in unison. One of her first successes was the “Community Honk,” wherein audience members would “honk” the noses of fellow fans seated around them. It was just beginning to catch on when Congress outlawed the practice after exorbitant nose-honking by cabinet members sent President Buchanan spiraling into a two-day coma.
Dotty’s endeavors did not go unnoticed, however, and soon athletic leagues around the country were funding her experiments to find the next big game-time tradition.
Even Dotty’s failed experiments during this period would go on to inspire some of the great spectator traditions that continue today. “Crowd Surfing,” for instance, is thought to be a play on Dotty’s “Spectator Piggy,” in which one person was expected to lift up the entire crowd and carry them across the stadium. Dotty’s version often ended in injuries, and the negative press (“Herniation Sensation Sweeps Nation”) brought the practice to an end.
Breakthrough and death
Dotty’s greatest achievement in spectator traditions came in 1891 with the introduction of The Wave. It was no easy task to get Victorians off their seats at first. Dotty was known to employ street urchins to line bleachers with thumbtacks in order to “encourage” fans to their feet.
There were also several lawsuits from the Anti-Swimming League, who had to be convinced there was no actual water involved in the practice. Once the skeptics were soothed, The Wave took off.
“I’ve achieved something no one thought possible,” Dotty wrote, referring to her first successful Wave. “I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” she added, and it’s unclear what she was referring to there.
Dotty was propelled into stardom and was even invited to speak at Thomas Edison’s birthday celebration, where she famously mistook the Rockefellers’ tailor for a pork butt and lathered him with herbs and spices.
Still, the early taste of fame was not enough to satisfy Dotty. She was compelled to top herself and develop a game-time salute even more beloved than The Wave.
“Dotty has become obsessed with outdoing herself,” wrote her third husband, the Rockefellers’ tailor. “I fear it will be the death of her. Anyway, please mail the decoder pin to the address below.”
But Dotty never would recreate the sensation The Wave had stirred around the country.
All her proceeding developments, including the “Animal Dump” and the “Referee Throttle,” fell flat among American spectators. She was soon overshadowed by competitors such as Domingo Flemming, who is credited with inventing “Hey Batter, Batter!” (although it was at a basketball game), as well as having a marriage proposal rejected in front of thousands.
Dotty cut herself off from public life in 1920 and little is known about her later years. She died in 1928 after falling asleep inside a cello during a rehearsal of Swan Lake.
She left all her war bonds to her son, Winnie, who had them rubbed on his gums to ward off spirits.
Minestrone soup is probably named after her.
