Monday, August 4, 2008

Never Doubt Bill Kelsoe (Or Mea Maxima Culpa)

In this post, I mention the fact that Bill Kelsoe, in A Newspaper Man's Motion-Picture Of The City, referenced a trip by the Atlantics of Brooklyn to St. Louis. I stated that I had no evidence that the Atlantics came to St. Louis and played the Reds in July of 1874 and speculated that Kelsoe was confusing the Atlantics of St. Louis with the Atlantics of Brooklyn.

Well, guess who just found a source that confirms Kelsoe's assertion? E.H. Tobias, in his letter to The Sporting News of January 25, 1896, specifically mentions the Atlantics game against the Reds and even provides the box score. I'll give more details about the game tomorrow (which includes a bit of a meltdown by Packy Dillon) but in the meantime:

Confíteor Deo omnipoténti et vobis, fratres,
quia peccávi nimis
cogitatióne, verbo, ópere, et omissióne:
mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa.
Ideo precor beátam Maríam semper Vírginem,
omnes Angelos et Sanctos,
et vos, fratres, oráre pro me
ad Dóminum Deum nostrum.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Atlantics (of Brooklyn) traveled to Chicago and lost three games there July 22, 25, and 27. A side trip to St. Louis is hardly implausible, but I am surprised it wasn't reported in the local press. Have you looked in the Clipper?

Jeffrey Kittel said...

When I first saw Kelsoe's reference to a Reds/Atlantics game, I tried to verify it and I'm pretty sure I checked the Clipper (this was almost a year ago so it's tough to remember). I do remember trying to trace the steps of the Atlantics to see if they went West in 1874 and if the game was even a possibility. I'm pretty sure I missed the Chicago trip because that would have set off some bells.

There were so many different teams visiting StL in 1874 that it's easy to see how the Atlantics game got lost in the shuffle. Al Spink doesn't even mention it in The National Game and he goes on at length about the glories of the '74 season.

Bottom line is that I just flat missed it. Luckily, I got to correct my mistake.