A Civil War-Era Muffin Game

A match came off yesterday afternoon between the Active and the Honorary members of the Empire Base Ball Club, with the following result:  We learn that our lymphatic friend Henry Clay Sexton, Counsellor W.V.N. Bay, Justice Wohlein, Deputy Sheriff George Stevens and others of the honorary department, "shed" their clothing only to come out of the contest losers - the "runs" being against them, 53 to 38.

-Missouri Republican, October 9, 1861


This was actually a fairly close game, with the "active" members only up by four runs after six innings.  Their margin of victory was padded by a ten-run ninth, although the "honorary" nine was helped out by the addition of James Yule to their side.  Sexton actually had a pretty good game, scoring seven runs - a tally that was only exceeded by James Fitzgerald and John Reynolds, two of the Empire Clubs best players.

Also, I think it should be noted that the Republican uses "active" and "honorary" while I believe the more accurate terms, based on what I know about Empire Club membership, would be "playing" and "non-playing" members.    

The St. Louis Cricket Club

There was an exciting match at Cricket yesterday between the married men of the St. Louis Club on one side, and the single men on the other.  Gamble's Addition was the ground chosen, and there was quite a crowd of spectators.  Much interest was manifested by the bystanders throughout.  The single men, after a well contested battle, won a score of six more than the married men.

-Daily Missouri Republican, May 28, 1859

Cricket Match Between The Two First Elevens Of The St. Louis Club.-The long expected match between the two first Elevens of the St. Louis Club, came off yesterday in presence of a large number of friends of the Club and lovers of the game. 

-Daily Missouri Republican, May 28, 1859


We can date the playing of cricket in St. Louis to the mid-1850s, so these matches are not, in and of themselves, that significant.  The significant thing is that playing in both matches, as members of the St. Louis Cricket Club, were James Yule, James Reynolds and David Duffy, all original members of the Empire Club.  It's interesting that we can now say that two of the earliest baseball clubs in St. Louis had their origins in other bat and ball games.  The Morning Star Club was originally a town ball club and part of the original core of the Empire Club played on a cricket club together.

I've always argued that the tradition of various bat and ball games in St. Louis provided an infrastructure that the New York game used to help establish itself.  There were clubs, grounds and a tradition of playing bat and ball games among adults in St. Louis prior to the advent of the New York game in the city in 1859.  The new game latched onto these traditions and the community of ballplayers gravitated to the new game.  The traditions that surrounded the playing of town ball and cricket in St. Louis made it easier for the new game to be accepted and grow in St. Louis.  I think that the fact that some of the original Empire Club members were cricketers supports that argument.