Eclipse Vs. Black Stockings: Game Three

The Eclipse and Black Sox, the local colored rivals, will play their third game to-day at Compton Avenue Park.  The Black Sox's regular pitcher, Davis, will be on hand to twirl for his club, who claim their defeat from the Eclipses was due to his absence.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 12, 1884

The game between the colored clubs at Compton Avenue Park yesterday afternoon resulted in favor of the Eclipse Club, who defeated the Black Sox by a score of 10 to 2.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 13, 1884

Champions Beyond Question

The Eclipse nine defeated the Black Stockings yesterday at Compton Avenue Park, and are now the colored champions beyond question.  The attendance was very large.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 15, 1884

Black Stockings Vs. Callender's Minstrels

The Black Sox will play the Callender Minstrel Club this afternoon at Sportsman's Park.  Before the game Callender's Minstrel band will give a grand concert.  Game will be called at 3:30 p.m.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 4, 1884


I gave you the ad for this game the other day and post this only because the Globe gave the starting nine for both the Black Stockings and Callender's Minstrels. 

For the Black Stockings: Johnson, pitcher; Hope, catcher; Rogers, first base; Jones, second base; Canter, short; Bracy, third base; Gardner, right field; Sutton, center field; Chouvau, left field.

For Callender's Minstrels: Adams, pitcher; Waters, catcher; Williams, first; Girard, second; Freeman, short; Smith, third; Wolf, right; Brown, center; Hawskins, left. 

An 1884 Ad For A Black Stockings Game

I promise I'm getting to the Maroons.  Or is that a threat?  Doesn't matter because the above appeared in the September 4, 1884 edition of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and is an ad for a Black Stockings' game.  Can't say you see that every day.   

The Black Stockings Meet The Athletics

An immense attendance witnessed the meeting yesterday afternoon at the Union Grounds of the Black Stocking and Athletic, colored clubs.  The latter were badly overmatched, but the game was prolific of amusing features and created more enthusiasm than any game played in St. Louis this season.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 1, 1884


I had this box score in my files so I've probably posted it before but I'm putting it up again in the context of the Globe's 1884 baseball coverage.  While going through the 1884 Maroon's season, I've complained about the lack of coverage of the black St. Louis clubs.  But all the sudden, at the end of August 1884, the Globe started to give us some information.  And, as you'll see tomorrow, their sudden interest in the black clubs of the area extended beyond the Black Stockings.    

Backing His Team

Manager Bridgewater, of the Black Stocking (Colored) Club, says he is willing to back his team against the Eclipse Club, and will put up a forfeit at any time that Manager Brooks may name.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 31, 1884

Hopefully, we'll get past the talking stage and have a nice series of games between the Black Stockings and the Eclipse.  And hopefully, the Globe will cover it.   

It Was Too Good To Be True

It has been announced that there will be no charge for admission to the game between the colored clubs at Union Park to-morrow, which is true so far as the gate and free seats are concerned.  For seats in the grand stand, however, a small charge will be made.  It was feared that the public might be mislead by the announcement, hence this correction.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 30, 1884 


Okay, first of all, let's be clear that there will be no charge for the free seats.  Secondly, the reason the public may have been confused about all of this was because the Globe, the day before, stated that admission to the Black Stocking/Athletic game was going to be free.  They specifically stated that there would be no charge for seating in the grand stands. 

But don't think I'm complaining.  The Globe did correct their error, something that modern newspapers usually refuse to do.  And this was back to back issues that featured multiple pieces on the goings on of the Black Stockings.  So I'm rather pleased with that.   

The Eclipse Answer The Black Stockings

Chas. Brooks, who signs himself "Manager of the Eclipse Base Ball Club, the champion colored club of the United States," writes to the Globe-Democrat to say that if Henry Bridgewater, Manager of the Black Stocking Club, has any business proposition to make to the Eclipse club, "for love or money," it will be promptly accepted.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 30, 1884


Back to back issues that mention the Black Stockings.  This is more like what I was expecting when I started going through the 1884 season.  And there will be a little more about this tomorrow.   

A Free-For-All Affair

The colored Black Stockings and the colored Athletics, each claiming to be the champion colored club of the city, will play a deciding game at the Union grounds on Sunday next.  The Union management have tendered the park to the colored troops, and the latter have concluded to make it a free-for-all affair.  There will be no charge either to the grounds or grand stand.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 29, 1884


Holy cow - two references to black baseball clubs in one issue of the Globe.  Be still my heart.  And what about free admission to a championship game?  Can't imagine anything like that these days.   

For All The Money

Harry Bridgewater, manager of the Black Stockings Base Ball Club, offers to play his nine against the Eclipse (colored) Base Ball Club, who say they are the champions, etc., for all the money they can raise, for gate receipts or for fun.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 29, 1884


I don't think I've ever seen Henry Bridgewater referred to as Harry but I'll take any reference to that Black Stockings that I can get.   

Was That So Hard?

A large crowd witnessed the game at Compton Avenue Park yesterday afternoon, between the Eclipse and Black Sox, the two leading colored nines.  The Eclipse team won by a score of 7 to 5.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 4, 1884

See how easy that was?  Just give us the clubs, the score and a little information about the crowd.  That's all I want.  That and the box score.  How about a box score next time?

The Two Leading Local Colored Base Ball Organizations

The Black Sox and Eclipse nines, representing the two leading local colored base ball organizations, will play at Compton Avenue Park this afternoon, beginning at 4 o'clock.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 3, 1884

I've probably mentioned this before but I'm disappointed in the Globe's 1884 coverage of black baseball in St. Louis.  I know that, in general, their coverage of black baseball was poor, at best, but I expected much more than I've found.  My thinking was that, whenever baseball grew in popularity in St. Louis, the Globe expanded their baseball coverage and you'd have more coverage of the amateur clubs, the minor professional clubs and the black clubs.  Now, generally speaking, this is true and there is a great deal of information about the St. Louis amateur and minor professional clubs in the paper in 1884.  They just didn't cover the black clubs beyond the occasional blurb mentioning that a game was scheduled to be played.  There is hardly nothing on games themselves.  There are no game accounts and no box scores.  It's disappointing.

The Black Stockings Romp

The colored ball tossers, the Black Stockings and the Athletics, played a game yesterday morning at Compton Avenue Park, the Black Stockings winning by a score of 20 to 2.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, June 2, 1884


Would it have killed the Globe to give us a box score?  In their June 2nd issue, they published a box score for a game between two American Association reserve teams, a game involving the Lucas Amateurs and some random game between clubs from Akron and Evansville, as well as the Maroons game.  They also published a couple of paragraphs on a muffin game in Mexico, Missouri.  But they give the Black Stockings one sentence.  

The Old Black Stockings

The old Black Stockings, the champion colored club of the country, has been reorganized under the management of Henry Bridgewater, with the following players:  Ben Johnson, p.; S. Johnson, c.; E. Rogers, 1 b.; H. Lawrence, 2 b.; L. Canter, s.s.; S. Chauvan, 3 b.; W. Sutton, c. f.; E. Gordan, r.f.; C. Gardner, l.f.  

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 21, 1884


I have to say that I'm disappointed in the Globe's coverage of St. Louis black baseball during the 1884 season up to this point.  Maybe it will get better.  Maybe the black clubs were starting a bit late.  Who knows?  But given the excitement going into the season and the amount of space the Globe was devoting to baseball, I expected to see more coverage of the black clubs.  

The Price Brothers

After I put up this post about the Metropolitans the other day, I received an email from Dwayne Isgrig.  The post mentioned that A. Price and D. Price played for the Metropolitans and Dwayne, with an attention to detail that normally escapes me, noted that there was a gentleman named Price who played for the Pinchbacks of New Orleans in 1888.  This caused me to look into the matter a bit further and I discovered that Asa Price and  David Price were living together in a boarding house in St. Louis in 1880.  It was evident from the census data that I found that the two were brothers.

I did a bit more digging and a search lead me back to my own website (which it often does) and this comment from James Brunson:

Asa "Acie" Price the coacher for Walter L. Cohen's Pinchbacks came from St. Louis. In 1885, Acie and his brother, David, served as the St. Louis Eclipse Club battery. That same year, the Black Stockings and Eclipse Club put together a team that traveled to New Orleans and played all the local colored teams. Following this road tour, David Price returned to St. Louis and Acie stayed in New Orleans and played for Cohen.

In 1889 Price died of yellow fever and was buried in New Orleans. Only 23 years old, he was buried [in his] baseball uniform.

The information that I found in the census data stated that the Price brothers were born in Kentucky, David around 1863 and Asa around 1865.  It appears that they were working in some kind of mill, although I found it difficult to read their occupation information.

The Price brothers are also mentioned in Brunson's excellent piece on Henry Bridgewater and the Black Stockings:

Throughout the season [of 1884], the Black Stockings faced many challengers, including the Eclipse Club, its chief competitor for the title colored champion.  In late August, these colored clubs battled for the championship.  Managed by Charles Brooks, the Eclipse Club included the celebrated battery of Acie Price and Dave Price.  They beat Bridgewater's nine three straight games, the final contest witnessed by 2,000 spectators....

He also mentions that David Price played for Bridgewater's Black Stockings in 1887.

I have to thank Dwayne and James because, without them, I never would have seen how all of this information fit together.  I may not have a lot of readers but the ones I have are pretty smart.   

The Black Sox

The Black Sox of St. Louis, the crack colored club, will be in the field again this season.

-Cleveland Herald, April 2, 1884

This a neat reference to the Black Stockings that I unexpectedly came across in the Herald. It's kind of cool to see the club getting random press outside of St. Louis.

Prolific Of Amusing Features

An immense attendance witnessed the meeting yesterday afternoon at the Union Grounds of the Black Stocking and Athletic, colored clubs. The latter was badly overmatched, but the game was prolific of amusing features and created more enthusiasm than any game played in St. Louis this season.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 1, 1884

West Ends Vs. Pinchbacks: Game Three

The third and last game between the Pinchbacks of New Orleans and the West Ends was played before a small crowd yesterday afternoon. The local club had out its strongest combination and resolved to do or die. They died, but not without a struggle. The game proved to be a cyclone of fun from beginning to end. The crowd was neutral and lavished its applause and suggestions on both sides with equal vigor...The Pinchbacks were first at bat, and they scored-yes, they scored several times. This aroused a spirit of ambition in the West Ends and they sailed in and soared. Then the grandstand opened up.

"Go in there, Sam!" "Now, den, ole man, piece of melon if you lines her out. Sho' you didn't come within a foot of dat! Oh, Sammy take your seat, you humbug, you." Sam had been called out on strikes.

Every time the ball was hit, whether fair or foul, the crowd yelled. The collisions and falls were many, and very fall and every error made the crowd happy. For seven innings the game was full of excitement. The visitors started off in the lead, but in the sixth the West Ends, by some terrific batting, headed off New Orleans and it looked as if they would be first passed the post. The West Ends had the bases full in the sixth and the score a tie, when "Steve," the black Dunlap, took his place at the plate. "Steve," who covered second, had been putting up a great game. He was implored by everyone to "jes paste dat ball once." Two men were out and a hit meant a good lead. Once the bit bat made an effort to secure a connection with the sphere and failed. The crowd groaned-but the second swipe was a success, and the ball went sailing off to left field, and before it returned three runs came in. This lead, however, was not sufficient, for old New Orleans came in and piled up four. The West End pitcher was a poor fielder. While the ball was seeking the plate to cut off a runner, he hit it a kick and sent it into the grandstand. He would make a good foot ball player. The West Ends tried in every way to win but were forced to leave the field one run behind. In the ninth inning, after two out, the local club got a man on first, and he stole around to third, but he didn't score. The base hit that he longed for never came. The score was 16 to 15.

-St. Louis Republic, August 29, 1888

First of all, I thought Frank Grant was the black Dunlap. Who's this "Steve" guy and why is his name in quotes?

Second, we have a great game here. Sixteen to fifteen, with the lead going back and forth. The tying run got on with two outs and stole second and third before getting stranded. That's dramatic stuff. So lets concentrate on the actions of the crowd. And let's not include a box score.

Finally, we have a couple of more images from the Republic. Compare these images to the cartoon from the Globe that I posted a few days ago. Compare the way that the Browns, in humiliating defeat, are portrayed to the way that black ballplayers are portrayed. Compare these images to this image of Curt Welch:

This image appeared in the Globe and The Sporting News in 1886, after the Browns victory over Chicago in the world's series. There were similar images of all the Browns' players.

It almost goes without saying that there was a difference in how white baseball and black baseball was covered in St. Louis. But when one compares the differences in tone, language and images used in the coverage, the difference is rather shocking. The Republic's coverage of the West Ends series against the Pinchbacks is a great example of that, especially when you contrast it with the reporting on the 1887 world's series that I've been posting. There's a stark contrast that has nothing to do with the relative stature of the clubs involved or the importance of the games being played. There was an editorial decision made, that may not have even been conscious, to portray black baseball as something less than white baseball. By extension, 19th century newspaper coverage of black baseball perpetuated a portrayal of blacks as inferior to whites.

In the end, the Republic's reporting on the West Ends series with the Pinchbacks and the tone, language and images they used in that reporting really had nothing to do with baseball. It was about perpetuating a social structure.

Sol White's History Of Colored Base Ball

I just a copy of Sol White's History Of Colored Base Ball in the mail and I'm going to try and get through it in the next day or so. Of course, the first thing I did when it arrived was to go to the index and look for "St. Louis" and, taking a quick first look through the book, I've found a few interesting things.

Left fielder. Wm. Whyte was born in Providence, April 10th, 1860, has played his position with the St. Louis Black Stockings to his great credit; he also played with the Resolutes of Boston, as left fielder and change pitcher, and made some of the finest catches that ever was seen on the Boston grounds. He joined the Cuban Giants in the season of 1885, and traveled through the South with them during the winter season, and now is in excellent condition.

Center fielder. Richmond Robinson was born in Washington, April 1, 1856, has played baseball with all the principal colored teams in the country. With the famous St. Louis Black Stockings in 1883, and '84-'85, with the Altoonas, and he is a general player, good base runner and heavy batter.

The above came from a sketch of the Cuban Giants that White wrote for the Trenton Times in 1886.

There's also a mention of the St. Louis Browns in the book. White wrote in 1930 that the Cuban Giants, during the 1886 and 1887 season, "met every big league club in the country, with the exception of the St. Louis Browns, and held their own with them." Of course, what White failed to mention was that the Browns and Cuban Giants had arranged an exhibition game in 1887 but the Browns' players refused "to play against negroes."

In that same piece from 1930, White wrote "While the East was coming along with its baseball activities, out in the West the old game was only a stride or two behind their eastern brothers. Indeed, if it came to honors being conferred on the first colored team of note, although not a professional club, the Black Diamonds of St. Louis, Mo., would have to be conceded the palm. They were given considerable publicity by the white press of the country as far back as 1884."

While I'm not certain, it's possible that White, writing fifty years after the fact, was confusing the St. Louis Maroons, who were commonly called the Black Diamonds and were formed in 1884, with another club. It's also possible (and, now that I think about it, likely) that this is a reference to the Black Stockings and White just had the names mixed up. This is something that demands a closer look.

The photo at the top of the post is of the 1887 Cuban Giants and William T. White (not to be confused with William E. White) is in the first row at the far left. There's a much better photo of White in the book, which I'm looking forward to reading.

Al Pierce

At the Stocks' Park yesterday afternoon, the Black Stockings defeated the Independents-both strong colored clubs-by a score of 18 to 14. Al Pierce did not strive with the brilliancy of a Wright at short.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 29, 1876

Al Pierce, I believe, was playing with the Independents and most likely was the club's manager as well. He's a rather interesting gentleman who was an outstanding athlete and had the reputation as a successful gambler. It's unique that the Globe would mention him by name, regardless of the derogatory nature of the reference.

I think it says something about his status in the community that he's mentioned in a newspaper which, to a great extent, ignored black baseball and black athletes. The reference to Pierce, without any other information other than that he was playing short, leads one to believe that he was well-known in St. Louis.

Edit: Brilliant reader James Brunson corrected me in the comments. Pierce was playing for the Black Stockings. The Independents were a Kansas City club. Much thanks to James. And, again, I make no apologies for stealing Joe Posnanski's shtick (but I like to credit him because he's the best baseball writer in the business).