In 1872 the R.E. Lee Club of New Orleans, of which I was a member, took a trip to St. Louis, Kansas City, and Chicago. In the former city we met the Empires, a local team, composted mainly of boys connected with the St. Louis Fire Department. Ex-Chief Sexton was their president. A year or so afterwards, I received a letter from the Empires, asking me to join them. I did so, and met with considerable success. In 1875 I was a member of the Louisville Eagles, being the first professional player Louisville ever had; and from that time until 1884 (with the exception of two years which I spent in a local freight office in Kansas City) I was connected with a number of prominent clubs, both West and East. My last position of short-stop on the Chicago Unions, a team which I became manager towards the close of the season of 1884. In 1885 I resumed my position in the railroad office, but left it to go into business.-Joe Ellick, writing in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, October 1886
Ellick's piece in Lippincott's, in which he chronicles his travails as an umpire, is highly entertaining and well worth the read.
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