Houtz And Blong Return To Their Old Stomping Grounds

As the Lucas grounds are not yet completed, the club have accepted Mr. Kelly's generous offer of Compton Avenue Park to practice on during this week. Among the players practicing there yesterday were: Williamson, of the Chicago Whites; Houtz, of the Bay City nine; Jack Gleason, Rowe, Blong, Taylor, Dickerson, Hodnett, Whitehead, Werden and Manager Sullivan, of the Lucas professionals; Oberbeck, Cross, Bien and Manager Cassilly, of the Lucas Reserves.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 27, 1884

It's kind of neat to see Charlie Houtz and Joe Blong, who played at the Compton Avenue Grounds with the Red Stockings a decade earlier, back together on their old grounds.

Houtz Rejects Cincinnati's Overture

Cincinnati wants Houtz, but he does not wish to serve in a league nine. For which decision Indianapolitans unite in saying "Good boy," not "Good-bye."

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 15, 1876

I would imagine that Charlie Houtz was not alone in not wanting to play with a League club. I'm certain that many players were comfortable and making a decent wage playing with some of the minor professional teams. The League, in 1876, was a long way away from having all the best players in the country on their clubs.

Died Of The League

The Indianapolis management is endeavoring to engage McSorley and Houtz, of the Covington Stars.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 27, 1876

The Cincinnati Gazette of Thursday says: The Stars have gone to pot. The club was formally disbanded last night. No games are expected for the balance of this season, and it has hardly been a paying institution this year. We believe the club stands "square" with its nine. The epitaph on this club might be, "Died of the League." The rule forbidding the playing of any League club with them starved them out. Houtz, Flint, McSorley and Golden will leave to-night for Indianapolis.

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

According to this report, Covington disbanded on Wednesday, July 26th. Indianapolis must have been trying to grab some of their players before the club disbanded and I assume it's possible that this added to their troubles. Regardless, the Stars were a fascinating club and played a significant role in the history of St. Louis baseball. Even their demise effected the careers of several St. Louis players and the National League. I have a soft-spot in my heart for the 1875-1876 Covington Stars.

The 1876 Brown Stockings: An Opening Day Loss To The Worst Team In The League

Were it not for the "glorious uncertainty" of base ball, that pastime would never have been chosen as the National game of America. There was not an enthusiast in this city yesterday who would not have bet dollars to cents that the Brown Stockings would win the first game of their championship series with the Cincinnati Reds. That game was played yesterday, and the result was: Cincinnati, 2; St. Louis, 1-a result which reflects almost as much credit on the losers as on the winners. That it was a brilliant struggle there can be no doubt, and Cincinnati is to be congratulated on the possession of a nine, hitherto looked upon as the weakest in the field, capable of lowering the standard of one of the two clubs which is conceded to be the strongest.

Great excitement prevailed in the vicinity of this office throughout the afternoon, the result of each inning being bulletined pro bono publico. The opening inning was announced-a tie at one each-Brown Stocking admirers breathed freer. In the next three innings, no runs being added on either side, ominous looks were exchanged, and such remarks as "Those Cincinnatis are holding them down nicely," and "What's got into the boys?" might have been heard muttered. With the result of the eighth inning-Cincinnati 1, St. Louis 0-fears were, for the first time expressed that the St. Louis favorites might possibly lose, and the probability became a certainty when it was announced that both sides had been presented with goose eggs in the ninth inning. Though disappointed at the result, the friends of the home club took the defeat of their favorites with a good grace, attributing it to the fickleness of fortune. As stated before, to lose finely contested a game reflects as much credit on the vanquished as on the victors...

The special correspondent of the Globe-Democrat at Cincinnati sends the following particular of the struggle by telegraph:

About two thousand spectators, many of whom were ladies, witnessed the game between the Cincinnati and St. Louis Clubs to-day. It was by all odds the best game ever played in this city. The batting on both sides was heavy, but the Reds got in the safest licks, being credited with eight base hits to the Browns four. Battin secured two of the four, and Pike and Clapp one each. Battin's three-bag hit in the fourth inning brought home Pike, who was the only Brown Stocking to cross the home plate. Bradley and Dehlman went out on flies, leaving Battin on third twice. On two occasions the Reds had three men on bases, but could not succeed in getting in a run. The last time was in the ninth inning, when Blong captured Pearson's fly to right field, and, by an excellent throw, headed Jones off at the home plate, thereby accomplishing a magnificent double play...

The Browns erred as follows: Clapp, 2; Batten, 1; Bradley, 2; Dehlman, 1. The Reds made but three errors, Fisher being charged with two and Kessler with one. For the Cincinnatis Jones secured two safe hits, and Kessler, Booth, Gould, Clack, Snyder and Sweazy one each. The Reds got four base hits off Bradley in the first inning, scoring in that and the eighth. Fourteen of the Browns were disposed of on flies to the outfield, Snyder at left gathering eight of them. Mack and McGeary did the most effective work in the field for St. Louis, while Booth, the new third baseman, and Pearson, the youthful catcher, did the lion's share of the work for Cincinnati. The best of good feeling prevailed throughout. The Browns are in tip-top condition, and say they will get even on Thursday. They claim that the game was won by a scratch. Houtz, formerly of the St. Louis Reds, umpired...

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 26, 1876

I'll post the box score tomorrow along with a game account from the Cincinnati Enquirer.

This incarnation of the Cincinnati Reds was not a good ball club. They finished last and won only nine of fifty-seven league games. After taking the first two games from the Brown Stockings to open the season, the Reds would only win seven more league games the rest of the way.

The main problem for the Reds appears to have been a lack of pitching (although I can't speak to their defensive talents or their ability to generally prevent runs). The pitching appears to have been split between twenty-three year old Dory Dean, who put up an ERA+ of 59 in 262 innings, and thirty-one year old Cherokee Fisher, who posted an ERA+ of 73 in 229 IP. While I don't know much about the club, I'd speculate that the Reds started with the veteran Fisher and, once he proved that he couldn't get the job done, tried the young Dory Dean (without better results).

Offensively, they weren't much better (and when you lose eighty-seven percent of your games, there is plenty of blame to go around). Charley Jones had a pretty good year with the bat (OPS+ of 154) but he was the only player on the club who you could say was an above average hitter that season. Charlie Gould and Henry Kessler were just about league average but everybody else, including our old friend Charlie Sweasy, was just flat-out bad. Redleg Snyder, twenty-one years old and playing everyday in left field, may have been the worst everyday player in the history of baseball (although I'd argue that that honor goes to Steve Jeltz). Snyder hit .151/.155/.176 with an OPS+ of 17. He had 36 total bases on the year with three doubles, one triple, ten runs scored and twelve RBI. The clubs starting third baseman, Will Foley, had nine RBI in 221 AB.

So I guess I should amend my previous statement that the main problem was pitching. The main problem for the 1876 Reds of Cincinnati was that they couldn't pitch or hit. They were just a bad club.

Desevring Of Credit Instead Of Abuse

The young man who furnishes the Republican with its base ball news was slightly mistaken when he accused Houtz and McSorley of jumping the Stocks of this city and joining the Stars of Covington, Ky. These two players, it is true, had signed to play with the Stocks, but only conditionally, as they had previously signed with the Stars. The latter club promised to send them a sum of money by a certain date, but failed to do so, and they accepted an offer from the Stocks of this city, who paid them a certain sum to bind the contract. When they signed, however, they expressly stated that should the Stars forward them the promised sum, they would consider themselves under obligations to play with that club. The manager of the Stocks agreed to this arrangement, and, subsequently, the boys received their money from Covington. They at once returned the money advanced by the Stocks, and canceled their contracts with that club, and got from its managers a written release, which they carried with them to Covington. This is the true inwardness of the whole matter, and throughout the whole transaction Houtz and McSorley acted in a most honorable manner, and are deserving of credit therefor instead of abuse.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 21, 1876

This is a fascinating little example of how complicated it was to contract for baseball players in the 19th century and how easy it was for a player to get tagged as a revolver.

We Have Witnessed Many Worse Games Than This

Last Monday a large number of the male population of Ludlow visited the new Star Base Ball Grounds, at the head of Madison street, Covington, to witness the great game between the much-talked of and loudly advertised "Shining Stars" (see Covington news in all the Cincinnati dailies,) and the famous St. Louis Reds. The Stars having defeated the Ludlow club when it was in its infancy, and the Ludlows having made four runs in their game with the Reds, keeping their score down to 13, and whitewashing them five times, an easy victory was anticipated for the Covington boys.

A crowd estimated at between 3,000 and 4,000 was on the ground when game was called, about 4 o'clock, and as the larger proportion of those in attendance were Covingtonians, the enthusiasm was unbounded. When the Asterisks began to toss the ball, just to show how they were going to do it, the crowd applauded, and smiled pityingly at the St. Louis boys, especially poor Blong, the lame pitcher, and Houtz, the first baseman, who, in practicing, muffed every other ball. Some of them felt sorry for Sweasy, too-he had seen better days, when he belonged to a club which could play almost as well as the Stars. Then there was a delicate-looking boy named Flint, who was going to try to catch!

All of this was preparatory. The Reds went to the field, when game was called, with the air of men determined to do their best, even though their cause was hopeless. The Stars went to the bat, and for some reason, unexplained as yet, they didn't make any runs. The Covington people winked and smiled, and "guessed" the boys were throwing off on the Reds, to make it appear like a close game. But the St. Louis boys were evidently not let into the secret, for in their half of the the first inning they scored 8.

In the second inning the Stars seemed undecided as to whether they would merely "tie" the Reds, or make it 16 to 8; but after some reflection and consultation, they concluded to give their opponents a still better chance, and generously permitted themselves to be whitewashed a second time. The St. Louis boys, not to be outdone in matters of this kind, also scored a goose egg.

When the third inning had been played, and the score stood 9 to 0, it began gradually to steal over the minds of the Covingtonians that if the Stars were really going to score two to one, they had arrived at a point in the game where it was necessary to make a start-just the smallest kind of a start. This conclusion was made known to the directors, who communicated the same to the Nine.

Then, after the Umpire had remarked "Out on first," three several times, the still Shinning Stars went to the field, and the St. Louis, still in the dark as regards the intentions of their opponents, went to the bat, and after a reasonable time spent in exercise, left the score 14 to 0.

At this state of the proceedings Coroner McCabe, in a very excited manner, asked if any one had heard from Campbell's Creek. Our reporter, who has an aunt living in that vicinity, lost all further interest in the game, and in his struggles to get within speaking distance of the man of inquests, lost his score card; and to add to his misfortunes, he was lost in the large crowd, and failed to hear any of the Campbell's Creek news. The rest of our report, therefore, is made up from our exchanges, principally the Covington papers...

We have witnessed many worse games than this; and we believe that with close application, much practice, harmony, discipline, &c., the Stars will be a very good club by next summer...

-Ludlow Reporter, July 3, 1875

This may be the best account of a 19-0 game I've ever read. Good stuff.

There Was Some Talent On That Club

For two or three years before the country had become infected with the base-ball fever, the Globe-Democrat called attention to the fact that there was a nine in St. Louis which, if kept together, would prove as formidable as any in the country, and urged the citizens of St. Louis to give it such encouragement as would insure its permanency. This they refused to do, and the St. Louis Red Stockings were allowed to disband. That the merits of these gallant young players were not overrated, a glance at the great nines of the country will show. The St. Louis Red Stockings have contributed more brilliant players to the professional ranks than any other organization in the country. Johnny Peters, the first to go, was good enough to play short for the club that won the championship; Flint, Houtz and McSorley have aided the Indianapolis nine in achieving their numerous triumphs over League organizations, and the former is thought by many to rank with Clapp as the best catcher in the country; Galvin and Dolan have done more than their seven comrades to secure for the Alleghenies their series of extraordinary successes; Croft, engaged as a substitute for the St. Louis Brown Stockings, by his telling work soon secured a permanent position on the nine; Redmond, as Captain of the Memphis Red Stockings, has piloted that club to many a well deserved victory; Morgan's valuable services in the pitcher's position were snapped up by the Milwaukee professionals, while Magner and Gleason are gaining many friends by their fine work in Columbus and Minneapolis.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, June 2, 1877

An 1875 Season Preview: The Red Stockings of St. Louis

The Red Sox, as they are familiarly called, have not yet filled their nine.  They are the pick of last year's Empires and Red Stockings, and are "natives" with the exception of Charley Sweazy, the veteran second baseman of the Cincinnati Red Stockings and other clubs.

Sweazy arrived in (St. Louis) on Tuesday last and, I expect, will at once proceed to place the players in position and training, he having been engaged to Captain and steady them.  They have two pitchers-Morgan, medium paced, with legitimate delivery, and plenty of endurance and pluck, while J. Blong is change and centre fielder.  He is a good player in almost any position, and throws a very swift underhand ball.  Hously, from the Empire, will play first base, and in him they have an excellent player.  He is of the steady, sure, and quiet order.  Sweazy will of course play second, and if he only approaches to his old-time play will do better than many that other clubs boast of.  McSorley, a brilliant player at times, and Tommy Oran, also a fitful fielder, will fill the short-field and third-base positions. 

In the outfield, Joe Blong, Redmond, and Croft will look after the high flies, the former being also the change pitcher, while Redmond is change catcher, and Croft is an excellent first baseman and one of the most promising players in their corps.  Packey Dillon is the regular catcher, and there are very few better as long as he keeps his temper: the want of control in this respect is the only fault Pack's best friends find with him...

The Red Sox will have a neat gray cap, shirts, and pants, red hose, and name in letters of same color on the breast.

-Chicago Tribune, April 18, 1875 

Misc. Player Movement in 1878

A telegram from St. Louis to the Cincinnati Commercial says: "Joe Blong, pitcher of the St. Louis Browns in 1877, Charlie Houtz, the Indianapolis first baseman in 1876 and 1877, and George Baker, who is looked upon by many as the coming catcher of the country, to-day signed contracts to play with the Springfield (Mass.) Base-Ball Club, and will leave for the East to-morrow night. Baker is a splendid batsman, as well as a fine fielder. Daniel Morgan, who captained the Milwaukees last season, has rejoined that club, and left for Milwaukee to-night. This breaks up the St. Louis Brown Stockings for the present season, but they are to be reorganized by Mr. Charles Fowle, a prominent business-man, who is well known in League circles, and who intends placing the strongest possible team in the League next year."

-The Chicago Daily Tribune, May 26, 1878

The Browns Of The Interregnum

(The) original Brown Stocking Club which first represented St. Louis in the National League...died in 1878 when the news came that Hall, Devlin, Nicholls, and Craver had been expelled from the Louisville Club for crookedness. This announcement was a death blow to the St. Louis Brown Stockings Club of that year by reason of the fact that Devlin and Hall, two of the expelled players, had signed with St. Louis for the following season. In 1879 St. Louis had no baseball to speak of. In 1880 a nine called the St. Louis Browns, under the management of the veteran Cuthbert, played games on the co-operative plan and furnished patrons with the only base ball that was going that year. That nine included Cuthbert, Shenck, Decker, McDonald, Croft, McGinnis, Pearce, Bowles, Cunningham and Morgan. This team played twenty-one games, losing but one, and that to the Louisville Reds, a semi-professional organization, by a score of 14 to 8. Its success in fact led to the organization of what is now known as the Sportsman's Park and Club Association, a company which was really organized for the purpose of refitting the present Sportsman's Park for baseball purposes. After the park had been fully equipped the Brown Stockings of the previous year were asked to reorganize and take possession of it. This they did with a nine which included the Gleason brothers, Baker, Seward, McCaffory, McSorley, McGinnis, Magner, McDonald, Gault and Cuthbert. This nine, like that of the previous year, played great ball, and the famous Akron team was the only nine it met that year that proved too much for it. It was so successful, in fact, that in the fall of 1881 steps were taken to put a professional team in the then talked of American Association.

-From The Sporting News, October 11, 1886


Al Spink had much to do with the Interregnum Browns and wrote the following in The National Game:

At this time my brother William Spink was the sporting editor of the Globe-Democrat and I held that sort of position on the then Missouri Republican, now the St. Louis Republic. After the failure to land a professional team in St. Louis in 1878 we did our best and worked together to replace the game here on a substantial footing.

But the baseball-loving public, disgusted at the way they had lost the splendid team they had hoped for, would have none of it.

Out of the remnant of the old St. Louis professional team we organized a nine that included holdover veterans like Dickey Pearce, Edgar Cuthbert, Lipman Pike, Mike McGeary, Joe Blong, Arthur Croft, Charles Houtz, Tom Sullivan, Packie Dillon, Danny Morgan and others.

This team played games on Sundays sometimes at Grand Avenue Park, now Sportsman's, and sometimes at the Reds' Park on Compton avenue, to which Shakespeare would have termed a beggardly array of empty benches. One day in the summer of 1878 we went to the pains of bringing the Indianapolis Browns here, a team that had won the championship of the International Association and that included in its ranks such famous players as the "only" Flint and the "only" Nolan.

But this team and our picked nine of professionals did not take in enough money at the gate at its initial game to pay the street car fares of the twelve players on the Mound City bob-tailed cars from the park back to their hotel quarters downtown.

The season of 1879 was as unfruitful of results as that of the season which preceded it. A picked up team of left-over professionals was again organized, called the St. Louis Browns and it stood ready to play any team of players that happened on Sundays to drop into Grand Avenue Park. During the close of the season of 1879 the game showed signs of returning to life, and with my brother William, I again set out to reconstruct the old edifice and bring it back to its own.

Together we brought about the meeting which at the close of the season of 1880 led to the organization of the Sportsman's Park and Club Association, an organization effected for the purpose of fitting up Grand Avenue Park for baseball purposes. This organization included Chris Von der Ahe, president; John W. Peckington, vice president; W. W. Judy, treasurer; and A. H. Spink, secretary.

The Grand Avenue Park, which at this time contained a weather beaten grandstand and a lot of rotten benches, was torn away and in its place was erected a new covered stand and an open "bleachers."

Sitting out in the field early in the spring of 1881 before the new grandstand was completed, I organized the St. Louis Browns of that year, Edgar Cuthbert, the only one of the old professionals still remaining in the city assisting me in the selection of a nine which included George Baker and George Seward, catchers; George McGinnis, pitcher; Edward Gault, first base; Hugh McDonald and Dan Morgan, second base; Jack Gleason, third base; William Gleason, short field; Harry McCaffrey, center field; Edgar Cuthbert, left field; and John T. Magner, right field.

It was agreed as we all sat there on the green sward that we would work together to build up the sport and each player promised to be prompt at each game, to do his level best at all times and to take for his pay just as small a percentage of the gate receipts as the general welfare of the park and its owners would allow.

On Sunday, May 22, 1882, these grounds were really opened with an exhibition game between the newly organized St. Louis Browns and the St. Louis Reds. The Reds won by 2 to 1...

Despite the good attendance at this opening game between the Reds and Browns the outlook seemed cold and bleak, for St. Louis stood badly then in the eyes of the outside world.

Commie's First Game With The Browns

I've been skimming through a biography of Charles Comiskey written by G.W. Axelson and published in 1919. Axelson allowed Comiskey to tell much of the story in his own words and, in that sense, the book is almost an autobiography. The year of publication is certainly interesting but it's probably a coincidence.

One of the things in the book that grabbed my attention was an account of Comiskey's first game as a Brown. Axelson writes that "(the) team which took the field in 1882, with Ed Cuthbert as manager, had some good players in its lineup but it did not compare with those which followed. Before the regular season opened in the spring exhibition games were played..." He then gives a box score for the game that the Browns played in St. Louis against the Standards, "the first game in which Comiskey appeared in a St. Louis Browns' uniform".

That, in and of itself, is rather interesting but the best part is who was playing in the game for the Standards: Pidge Morgan, Art Croft, Charlie Hautz, and Packy Dillon. It seems that in 1882 the Standards had almost half of the starting nine of the 1875 Reds.

I find this information significant for a couple of reasons. First, the guys playing for the Standards (including Frank Decker and Eddie Hogan) identifies the Standards as a St. Louis team. While it was assumed that the Browns would be playing a local team to tune up for the season, the fact that the Standards were stocked with St. Louis baseball players pretty much confirms it. I had never heard of the Standards before but I feel comfortable adding them to my list of 19th century St. Louis baseball teams (which I'll post one of these days).

The second reason I'm excited about this information is because we just don't know that much about some of the guys on the 1875 Reds, especially Dillon and Morgan. Any piece of information about them or any reference to them that I find always adds to the record. Information about these guys is so scarce that if I find a paragraph about them it's like hitting the motherload.

Before I read this book, I knew that Packy Dillon had pretty much retired from baseball by 1886 but I couldn't tell you much about his career after 1877. Now I know that he was still playing baseball in 1882. Also, this information probably means that he was still living in St. Louis in 1882. That adds quite a bit to what we know about Dillon.

More On The Sullivan Benefit

From the Sporting News, March 29, 1886:

"A Benefit For Tom Sullivan

John T. Magner, the well known ex-professional, is getting up a benefit game for Tom Sullivan, who recently had the fingers of his right hand amputated. It will take place at Union Park some time in the near future, Mr. Lucas having tendered the use of his grounds for that purpose. Mr. Magner says that Ed Cuthbert, Charles Houtz, Harry McCaffery and several other old professionals have promised to assist him in getting up the benefit, which promises to be a veritable bumper."

Note that this Sporting News article states that Sullivan lost the fingers of his right which contradicts Al Spink's claim that Sullivan had both of his hands amputated. Also, they say this happened "recently" which gives further evidence to the idea that Sullivan's injury happened in the winter of 1875/76.

A Brillant Struggle Between The Home Clubs

On May 29, 1875, "(about) one thousand spectators were in attendance" to witness the Reds play the Brown Stockings at the Grand Avenue Ballpark in the second and last game of the season between the two clubs. The Browns won the game 6-0 in what the St. Louis Globe-Democrat described as a "brilliant struggle".

"The Browns succeeded," wrote the Globe, "by good fielding and the weak hitting of their opponents...while (the Reds), by equally good fielding, kept the score of the Browns down to six runs." George Bradley, pitching for the Browns, held the Reds to five hits while "Chicagoing" the crosstown rivals. The Browns' Joe Battin, Lip Pike, and Jack Chapman were singled out by the Globe for their fine hitting while Joe Ellick and Charlie Houtz got two hits apiece for the Reds. The defensive play of the game was probably Ned Cuthbert's "brilliant running catch" in short left field that retired Joe Blong in the ninth inning.

I am continually amazed at the fact that these teams only played two games against each other. By contrast, the Athletics and Whites, both of Philadelphia, played ten games. The Centennials of Philadelphia played almost half of their 14 games against the other Philadelphia teams. The New York Mutuals and the Brooklyn Atlantics played seven games against each other.

While it's true that the Reds did not schedule NA games after July 4th, the opportunity was there in the first half of the season for the Reds and Browns to play each other. The fact that they didn't lends credence to the Globe's insinuations that there was animosity between the two organizations.

The Reds Get Their Revenge

The Reds ended their tumultuous 1875 season with a four game series against the Stocks. Playing at the Compton Avenue Park, the two teams met on four Sunday afternoons in October. The Stocks, bidding to become the unofficial champions of St. Louis, defeated the Reds in the first game, upset the Empires on October 10th, and then beat the Reds again in the second game of the series.

The Stockyard nine was on a roll when they met the Reds for the third time on October 24th. But the Red Stockings, "chagrined at the double defeat" and playing before a crowd of more than 2,000 people, jumped on their rivals and took a quick 4-0 lead. The rout was on and the Reds took the third game by a score of 12-2.

On October 31st, the two teams met for the final game of the series. The game was a barn burner. The Stocks were leading 5-3 after two innings when the Reds scored one in the third and five in the fourth to go ahead 9-5. Coming back, the Stockyards scored three in the bottom of the fifth to cut their deficit to one run. The Reds immediately answered back in the top of the sixth with two more runs to put the game away. The final score was 13-9. In their final game of the season, the Reds managed to half the series and regain a bit of their pride.

The Reds nine, in these final games of 1875, was, due to the turmoil of the summer, a bit different than the nine that competed in the NA. The team consisted of Charlie Houtz (1b), Art Croft (2b), Dan Collins (3b), Billy Redmon (ss), John Magner (LF), Tom Loftus (CF), Tom Oran (RF), and a battery of Silver Flint (C) and Pidge Morgan (P). In game two of the series, Croft pitched in place of Morgan, who was home with his pregnant wife. In that game, Welch played 2b in place of Croft and "the substitute" Roe replaced Loftus in center field. The Globe-Democrat singled Welch out for poor play in game two and wrote that his fielding "lost the game".

Jack Dillon Muffs A Fly Ball

Tuning up for their championship games, the Reds played the Niagara Base Ball Club of St. Louis on Sunday, April 18, 1875. More than 1,000 fans came out to the Compton Avenue Ball Park and saw the Reds win 14-6. According to the Globe-Democrat, both teams were sporting new uniforms.

The Reds' lineup for the game, which started at 3:15 p.m., was a little different than normal. They played Charlie Houtz at first, Charlie Sweasy (in one of his first games with the club) at second, Trick McSorely at short, Joe Blong, Tom Oran, and Jack Dillon in the outfield, Billy Redmond catching, and Pidge Morgan pitching. One of the reasons for the switch up was that Packy Dillon, the Reds' starting catcher, was out with a "sore hand." Dillon's hand problem would keep him out for much of the season and force the Reds to bring Silver Flint over from the Elephants.

The Globe-Democrat's coverage of this game is one of the few references I can find to Jack Dillon playing for the Reds. They mention the fact that he played left field, went hitless, and muffed a fly ball.

Bow Down To Your Machine Masters

I came home from work last night and my internet connection was down. Stupid Charter Communications. I have nothing good to say about those people. Anyway, since my machine masters wouldn't allow me to access my blog or the news or anything for that matter, I picked up the copy of David Nemac's The Beer & Whiskey League that's been sitting untouched on my desk for a few weeks and figured I'd read that while watching the Cards get smoked by the Brewers.

Within the first 35 pages, I found a few things that got me excited. First, was a reference to the Browns opening day game in 1882. According to Nemac, the umpire for that game was Charlie Hautz, former first baseman for the 1875 St. Louis Red Stockings. On page 27 of the book was a great team picture of the 1882 Pittsburgh Alleghenys and in the back row of the picture was Joe Battin, the former Brown Stocking who had been blacklisted in 1877. Best of all, on page 34, was a team picture of the 1879 Indianapolis Hoosiers that included Silver Flint, Trick McSorley, and Charlie Hautz. I have pictures of Flint and McSorley but I've never see one of Hautz.

For me, pictures are important. I have a tough time relating to these ballplayers based on nothing other than names, numbers, and words in a book but if I can put a face to the name then that person becomes real to me. I have an affinity for Trick McSorley simply based on his picture-he looks like somebody that I'd like (plus he's got the cool nickname).

Before last night, I could never get a handle on Charlie Hautz and when I'd talk about the players on the 1875 Reds, I'd always forget him. Now, because of the picture in Nemac's book, Hautz is a real person to me, I can visualize what he looks like, and that makes it easier for me to write about him.

Silver Flint

Frank Sylvester Flint, one of the best catchers of the 19th century, was born in Philadelphia on August 3, 1855 and his family moved to St. Louis a few years later. According to the St. Louis Republican, “every boy in St. Louis (at the time) who was but half a boy learned to play and love baseball.” This generalization certainly applied to the young Silver Flint.

Flint first gained notice as a baseball player while playing as an amateur with the Elephant Base Ball Club of St. Louis in the early 1870’s. When baseball enthusiasts decided to enter the top amateur team in St. Louis, the Red Stockings, in the professional National Association, Flint was brought in, at the tender age of 19, to start at catcher, replacing the club’s veteran captain.

This rookie campaign was certainly an interesting one and the young man received several lessons about the nature of professional baseball that year. Flint played in 17 of the Reds 19 games and hit a woeful .082 on a team that won only 4 games. He saw the Red’s starting pitcher, Joe Blong, and starting third baseman, Trick McSorley, removed from the team for crooked play. Shortly after that, the team essentially dropped out of the NA.

With his first pro team, according to William Ryczek, “alive only in that they had not officially disbanded”, Flint, rather than stay in St. Louis with the Reds and scuffle around playing in games against amateur and semi-pro teams, headed to Covington, Kentucky to find employment for the rest of the season. The Covington Stars essentially became the St. Louis Reds East as Flint was joined on the Stars by Blong, McSorley, and Reds reservist, Packy Dillon.

In 1876, Flint was back with the Reds, along with McSorley. The highlight of the year was a no hitter thrown by the young Pud Galvin against the Cass Club of Detroit in a baseball tournament held in Ionia, Michigan. A year later, in 1877, Flint was playing on the Indianapolis Club that won the championship of the International Association, joined again by former Reds teammates McSorley and Charlie Hautz.

With their championship in hand, the Indianapolis Club decided to join the National League in 1878 and Flint enjoyed a bit more success in his second season in the big leagues then he did in his first. Flint hit .224 while playing in 62 of 63 games for a team that was, unlike the old Reds, relatively competitive. Cap Anson certainly had enough respect for the Blues to raid the club and take Flint, Ned Williamson, and Joe Quest for his White Stockings team.

It is in Chicago that Flint found success and fame as a player. While never a great hitter, he certainly had his best offensive years with the White Stockings and as the team found success, winning five pennants between 1880 and 1886, Flint gained a reputation as a stalwart defender behind the plate, an excellent handler of pitchers, and one of the toughest men in professional baseball. Flint even managed the White Stockings for a time after Anson went down with an illness late in the ’79 season.

By the end of his career, Flint, of course, also had a reputation as a drinker and a curmudgeon. A rumor that he had fallen off the wagon in the middle of the season made headlines in 1887, stirring up “a regular hornet’s nest”, according to the Mitchell Daily Republican. Both Flint and Anson had to publicly deny the rumor that Flint had violated his temperance pledge. The veteran catcher also refused to go on Albert Spalding’s world tour in 1888/89 with his Chicago teammates, stating, according to Mark Lamster, “(no) trip for me. I don’t care who goes, but you can rest assured that Silver doesn’t.” While Flint did accompany the tour as far as San Francisco, playing with the All-American Club against his Chicago teammates, his time on the tour was punctuated with several bouts of drunkenness.

Flint also had a falling out with Anson towards the end of his career, as Anson began to phase out his veteran catcher in favor of younger men. In 1885 and 1886, King Kelly was cutting into Flint’s time behind the plate (although Flint was always the number one catcher). By 1887, Flint found himself backing up Tom Daly and would never regain the starting job.

Flint retired from the game after the 1889 season and a benefit was held in Chicago that raised $1,000 to help him ease his way into a post-baseball life. He remained in the public eye in 1890 as the proprietor of a bar in his adopted home town but it doesn’t appear that the business was much of a success.