The 1884 Maroons: The Lamentation Of Their Women

Fred Dunlap

The Union Association uses a lively ball, and as a result its batsmen will make more long hits than the League and American Association players, and also more muffs of flies and grounders.  The increased elasticity, which will cause it to go faster and farther from the bat than a dead ball, will cause it to be more difficult for fielders to handle.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 20, 1884


A lively ball, small ballparks, a lower level of competition and the best player in the game.  I think that's a nice recipe for a monster season.

Fred Dunlap took one look around him in the spring of 1884 and said the following: "I am the punishment of God.  If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you."  Yeah, that was Dunlap.  Or Genghis Khan.  Can't remember.  

The 1884 Maroons