Just Beat Chicago

A letter from Chapman announces the arrival at St. Louis of the Brooklyn contingent of the St. Louis professional club, and John, in his epistle to the Brooklynites dated from the Everett House, St. Louis, Jan. 22, says:

Pearce, Dehlman, Fleet, and myself arrived here last Sunday morning, after a tough ride of over three days and as many nights.  We are all well pleased with our new friends.  They are all gentlemen of high standing and as fine a set of men as I have ever met.  They are very anxious for us to beat Chicago.  If we only do that - which I know we will - they will be satisfied.  This will be the greatest city in the country for baseball the coming season.,  Everyone appears to be red-hot on it here.  We had a very pleasant time last evening at the new club-rooms of Manager Graffen, a large party being present.  The directors of the new club are determined to have their club rules observed and to make each and every player live up to his contract.

-Mears Baseball Scrapbook, Volume 4, 1856-1907


It's always interesting and reasonably rare to hear directly from the players with regards to what was going on in St. Louis in 1875 (and this most likely comes from the January 20, 1875 issue of the Clipper).  I was most interested in what Chapman said about beating Chicago.  It's reasonably well known that the reason the Brown Stockings were put together was because of the failures of the St. Louis clubs to beat the White Stockings of Chicago but I don't think that I've ever heard anybody connected with the club state that.  This is direct, contemporary testimony supporting the thesis that the Brown Stockings formed because of the success the Chicagos enjoyed in St. Louis in 1874.   

Brown Stocking Season Tickets

The price of season tickets to the Grand Avenue park has been fixed at $15, and they are now on sale at Graffen & Floyd's baseball headquarters, on Olive street, near Seventh.

-Missouri Republican, April 4, 1875


Graffen is Mase Graffen, Brown Stocking manager.  Not sure who Floyd is. 

Prospects Of The Most Brilliant Character

The national interest in base ball is by no means on the wane.  During the season which closed on November first, audiences composed of the best class of people, and numbering all the way from wight to ten and twelve thousands have been drawn together in St. Louis, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York whenever there was to be a game between two crack organizations.  Those familiar with the game and its patrons say that the prospects for the coming season are of the most brilliant character.  More money will, they say, be put into professional clubs, several additional organizations will then enter the diamond field, while the tone of the clubs has been perceptibly raised, and to a greater extent than formerly the interest has been transferred to the better portion of the community from the rough element that often ruled it.

Of the three additional professional clubs to enter the field - the St. Louis, Centennial and Keokuk - none have been inaugurated under better auspices than our own.  When such young men as John B.C. Lucas, Charles H. Turner, Charles A. Fowler, Joseph P. Carr, Wm. Medart, Wayman C. McCreery, C.O. Bishop, [and] Will C. Stegers put their hands to getting up a base ball club there is a guarantee that it will be "solid,' and that its respectability and entire freedom from the bad features with which some of the clubs have been characterized cannot be questioned.  The association has just been getting down to its work and the arrangements for engaging the players, which were commenced immediately on the close of the season, have been completed within the past few days.  The contracts have all been signed, and for the first time an authoritative and official account may now be given.

Pitcher: George W. Bradley of Philadelphia, late of the Easton club, who enters the professional arena for the first time next season.  His style of pitching is a swift underhand throw, strictly legal, and very difficult to hit, as is shown by his record of the season of '74, during which he played in 38 games, putting out 45 men, and assisting 120 times, while he is charged with but 20 errors.  He is also a very safe batter, having averaged two base hits to a game during the last season.  He is, besides, a first-class third-base man.

Catcher: Thomas P. Miller, also of Philadelphia, who caught for the Easton and Athletic clubs during the season of '74.  His playing with Bradley has been often remarked by the Eastern papers, his pluckiness, agility and accurate throwing to bases being especially noticeable.  He is also a splendid short stop, and is very strong at the bat.

 First base: Harmon J. Dehlman of Brooklyn, who has played in that position for the Atlantics during the last season.  He has no superior in playing his base; is a quiet, easy and reliable fielder; is a strong batter and is second to none in running bases.  The club is to be congratulated on securing his services.

Second base: Joseph V. Battin of Philadelphia, a young player who has held the position of second baseman and short-stop of the Athletic nine of 1874.  He is also a good third-baseman, having filled that position so acceptably upon the Easton nine of 1873 as to cause his transfer to the professional arena last spring.

Short stop: Richard J. Pierce of Brooklyn, who is too well known to the patrons of the game to need any extended notice from us.  At short, he has no superior, and is to-day the best batter in the professional arena.

Third base: William Haug of Philadelphia, who played that position for the Easton club during '74; he is not what is called a "showy" player, but is a careful, accurate and sure fielder and a beautiful thrower to bases.  He is also very strong with the stick, having led the batting score of his club this season, his average being 2.10 base hits per game.

Left field: Edgar E. Cuthbert, late of the Chicago club, who has been before the public several years and is acknowledged to be one of the very best fielders in the country, a superb catcher and a very strong batter.  That he will sustain his past reputation, no one will doubt, and he is a valuable acquisition to the club.

Centre Field: Lipman Pike of Stamford, Conn., late of the Hartford club, an old reliable player, who doesn't know how to drop a ball, and whose record at the bat is unexcelled.  He is also a fine short-stop and an excellent second baseman, and in running the bases has no superior and but very few equals.

Right field: Charles C. Waitt of Easton, Pa., who has made a brilliant reputation during the past season as a fielder and as a first baseman.  He is a strong batter, a fine base runner, and will make his mark next season.

Substitute: Francis Fleet of New York, late of the Atlantic nine, who is considered one of the very best general players in the country.  His catching this season for Bond, who had successively used up Farrow, Ferguson and Knowdell, excited  great admiration.  He is also a fine pitcher, can play any base in first-class style, and is a reliable out-fielder, so that he can take the place of any disabled player on the nine and fill it acceptably.

John F. McMullin of the Athletics signed a contract with the club and was to have played centre field, but for some unexplained cause broke faith, and it is understood is to play that position for the Philadelphias.

Charles Fulmer will play with the club if the Philadelphias do not comply with the terms of his conditional engagement with them, in which event he will play third base, at which he is perhaps stronger than Haug, although an inferior batter.

It is understood, also, that Thomas Barlow, late of the Hartfords, will play with the club.  He will be right fielder and change catcher, and will also play short stop in Pierce's absence...

The club will be managed by S.M. Graffen of Philadelphia, who virtually managed the old "Olympic" of that city for years.  His long acquaintance with the game, and his previous experience as manager constitute him perhaps as good a man for the position as any one who could be found.  It was to a great extent under his advice and direction that the club was made up.  Traveling over the country almost all the time, and familiar with all the crank clubs and players, Mr. Graffen has selected the club from what he has seen the men do, and not solely on account of their newspaper notoriety, although several are of national reputation.  Three points mainly have been looked to in their selections - their ability as players, as shown by their previous records, their temperate habits and their adaptability to discipline.

The men will arrive here early in January, with the exception of Cuthbert, who is now in town, and will go into training almost immediately at the St. Louis gymnasium.  The regular base-ball season does not open until the first of May, but here the game can be enjoyably played in the latter part of March and through April.  About the first of February the club will make its first professional trip, which will be to New Orleans.
Nothing definite yet has been done in regard to obtaining grounds for the club, but a conditional prospect is held out that the club may succeed in obtaining a site more conveniently located, larger and better adapted for the purpose than any yet used in the city.

-St. Louis Republican, December 12, 1874


That's a lot of information there.  You get a nice list of the men who put together the Brown Stockings, a breakdown of the players and more information about Mase Graffen than you've probably ever seen in one place. 

Poor Graffen

The following telegraph dispatch was received Thursday about noon:

Silver City, New Mexico, Nov. 8.

To Col. H.B. Blood:

Poor Graffen died at seven this morning of pneumonia. Will forward his remains to Keokuk to-day.

[Signed,] Jno. W. Smith.

Poor Graffen-Those who knew him can read between the lines of that message a story of brief but intense suffering and also a positive assurance that though far away from home and friends and all those he held most dear, he was not alone or uncared for. The first notice of his illness was received Wednesday about noon. Later a second message came saying that he was a little better. Then followed the sad announcement as above. No other particulars have been received except that the remains had been forwarded by express and would probably reach Keokuk Monday morning. With this expectation arrangements had been made for the funeral this afternoon, but for some reason the remains did not arrive, and the painful suspense is prolonged at least another day.

The Funeral.

It is confidently believed that the body will arrive either this evening or to-morrow morning, and the funeral services, unless there is further delay, will be held at the residence Col. H.B. Blood, brother-in-law of the deceased, corner of fifth and Franklin streets, Tuesday afternoon at 3 o'clock.

The pall bearers have been selected from the Boat Club, who kindly desired to pay this last tribute of respect to the memory of their first leader. Both Mr. and Mrs. Graffen are members of St. John's Episcopal church, but owing to the absence of Rev. R.C. McIlwain, the rector, the Rev. Dr. T.H. Cleland, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian church will officiate.

The Boat Club Resolutions.

The meeting of the Keokuk Rowing Club held last Saturday evening at their club rooms in the U.S. court rooms to pass resolutions of respect to his memory, was one of the largest attended meetings ever held by the club. The building has been draped in mourning ever since the sad news of his death reached the city.

-Keokuk Daily Gate City, November 12, 1883

Again, I have to thank Steve Smith for passing along this information about the death of Mase Graffen. It was great work on his part to find all of this.

Mase Graffen's Obituary

S.M. Graffen died at Silver City, New Mexico, yesterday morning. His last illness was of but a few days duration. The first intelligence of his sickness was received by his wife in this city, by telegraph, Wednesday. The dispatch was in substance that Mr. Graffen was dangerously ill with pneumonia. A second telegram announced that he was better and the third received yesterday told of his death and the forwarding of the remains to Keokuk. The interment will be either here or at Philadelphia. Mrs. Graffen and children have been visiting her sister, Mrs. Col. Blood, for several months, and Mr. Graffen, while in the city on a visit two weeks ago, arranged to spend the winter in Keokuk. He was auditor of the Silver City, Deming & Pacific railway, with headquarters at Silver City. Mr. Graffen lived in Keokuk a number of years and was in the general office of the Keokuk and St. Louis Line, where he filled at different times the position of superintendent's secretary, accountant and purchasing agent and was last in the freight department under J.H. Best. He was thoroughly familiar with and expert in railway office work. The organization of the Keokuk Rowing Club in 1878 was chiefly the work of Mr. Graffen and he trained the first barge crew and saw them come out victorious. The rooms of the rowing club were draped in mourning by the members yesterday, after hearing of the death of their first leader. The family of the deceased have the sympathy of the entire community.

-Keokuk Daily Constitution, November 9, 1883

A big hat tip to Steve Smith for passing along this obituary of Mase Graffen. This is something that I've been looking for the last couple years, without luck. I had often wondered what Graffen was doing in New Mexico and how his body got back to Keokuk. Now I know and so do you. I can't thank Steve enough.

Graffen, of course, was the business manager of the Brown Stockings in 1875 and their field manager in 1876.

S. Mason Graffen, Cricketeer

The Olympian Cricket Club reorganized their Association, which was disbanded at the commencement of the war, on Monday last, by the election of the following officers-President, Chas. G. Lister; Vice-President, Horatio H. Walker; Secretary and Treasurer, S. Mason Graffen; Captain of Field, Harry Lex...The grounds are located at Eighth and Cooper streets, Camden.

-Philadelphia Inquirer, May 4, 1865

We knew that Mase Graffen played cricket in Philadelphia but all the evidence that I've seen was second-hand. Here we have some primary source material establishing for a fact that Graffen was a Philadelphia cricketeer.

More On Mase Graffen

I'm a little surprised that I've never written much about Mase Graffen before, especially given my focus on the 1876 Brown Stockings over the last six months or so. I guess I was saving it for when I got to his resignation. Regardless, I'm passing along some biographical information that I have.

Samuel Mason Graffen was born in 1845 in Philadelphia. It appears that he was an accountant by trade and was a member of the Olympic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia. Graffen was most likely hired by the Brown Stockings in 1875 upon the recommendation of Al Wright, who was originally reported to have been the Brown Stockings manager but backed out of the job.

In January of 1875, Graffen took the Brown Stockings into training at a gymnasium in St. Louis. It appears that Graffen was the first to introduce this kind of baseball training, which consisted of two hours of calisthenics and handball each day, in St. Louis.

I have a note that Graffen was the manager of the Brown Stockings in 1875 but it's unknown what his specific role was that season. Bad Dickey Pearce is listed as the manager of the club in 1875 and was likely running the club on the field. Graffen was most likely the business manager, arranging matches with other NA clubs and taking care of the travel arrangements, ticket sales, etc. Of course, Graffen was again the manager of the club in 1876 until his resignation in September.

Graffen was a sportsman in 19th century sense of the word. Besides baseball, he was a top-level cricket player, playing in both Philadelphia and St. Louis. After he left the Brown Stockings, he was involved in yachting in St. Louis and Keokuk, Iowa.

It appears that Graffen, after leaving St. Louis, was living in Sedalia, Missouri and was working as an accountant with a railroad company. He died on November 18, 1883 in Silver City, New Mexico.

As mention previously, Graffen was married to Sarah Matilda Barnes and had three sons, Charles, George and Paul.

Graduating From A Circus Wagon

[McManus] was connected with the St. Louis Club as ticket-seller under Graffen, having graduated into that position from a circus-wagon, and was made "manager" because some one must have that title. He is, however, only business agent, and what "managing" is done is by McGeary or some Director who goes along. McManus is shrewd, sharp, cunning and has never shown any indications of being over-scrupulous. He would learn that either in Dan Rice's Show or in the St. Louis Ball Club.

-Chicago Tribune, August 5, 1877

I think that this article from the Tribune gives us some insight into the way the Brown Stockings ran their club. We don't have a lot of information about the way club management was organized so almost any information we find adds to our knowledge.

I don't think that it's particularly shocking to find out that the manager was essentially a business agent for the club nor is particularly shocking that the captain was really running the club on the field. The idea that one of the directors is traveling with the club and possibly running the show is interesting but I don't know how much stock to put into it. We have examples of club directors travelling with the club and we have examples of a club director making decisions that affected who was able to play. Specifically, I'm thinking about Orrick Bishop and the McGeary situation and the Tribune seems to confirm the influence that Bishop had on the day to day operations of the club.

On thing that I discovered while digging around was that J.B.C. Lucas, the president of the board of directors, was out of the country for most of the 1876 season. He was in Europe doing the Grand Tour so it's possible that Bishop was really the guy running the club.

All of this is relevant to yesterday's post about the resignation of Mase Graffen. While it's likely that the impetus for the resignation was the birth of his child, all the machinations behind the scene probably had a great deal to do with Graffen stepping down. The Tribune article, written almost a year after the fact, shows the influence of McGeary and certain directors compared to the club manager. We have speculated before that the directors and McGeary were working together to undermine Graffen's authority. The Tribune seems to confirm this in a roundabout manner.

And I'm not even going to make fun of McManus for going from the circus to ticket-seller to manager because I actually believe that business experience with a traveling circus would have been excellent training for someone who wanted to run a baseball club in the 1870s. As to Brown Stockings management in general, that was a bit of a clown show.

Mase Graffen Resigns

Manager M.S. Graffen [sic], of the St. Louis Browns, has severed his connection with that club, and arrived here day before yesterday, having left the club in charge of McManus, the Treasurer.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 14, 1876

The "day before yesterday" would have been September 12 and therefore Graffen "severed his connection" with the Brown Stockings prior to the club playing their first game in Boston. No explanation was given in the Globe for the change in management and other than the above blurb, nothing was mentioned of it.

It is curious how differently people look at things. The St. Louis papers announce with fervor that Graffen-S. Mason Graffen-has resigned the managership of the St. Louis Club, when as a matter of record he never did anything of the kind; but received what rude boys on the street call the "G.B." On the other hand, the Courier-Journal, noticing the discharge, adds: "S. Mason was emphatically n.g..."

The St. Louis Republican says that there is very little doubt that Harry Wright will manage the Browns next season. It has long been known that Harry would like to come West again, but it is by no means sure that he will select St. Louis...

-Chicago Tribune, September 17, 1876

So I was in the middle of writing this grand, epic post on Graffen, detailing the mysteries of why he left the Brown Stockings (or why he was fired, if you believe the Tribune). It was a fantastic piece of writing and may very well have been the best thing I would have ever posted at this site. It's a shame that you'll never get to read it.

But I was doing a little more digging when I discovered this:

Sarah Matilda Barnes, married Samuel Mason Graffen, and had:-Charles H. Graffen, born at Philadelphia October, 1871; Paul Barnes Graffen, born at Philadelphia, 21 April, 1873; George Stevenson Graffen, born at Philadelphia, 20 August, 1876.

-Mayflower Pilgrim descendants in Cape May County, New Jersey

And I think that really explains the great mystery of Graffen's resignation. Graffen's wife has a baby on August 20, 1876. The Brown Stockings are in Philadelphia to play games on September 8 and 9. He has a young wife, a new baby and two other young children who, it appears, are still living in Philadlephia while Graffen is in St. Louis, managing the Brown Stockings. He gets back home to Philadelphia early in September, just after the baby is born, and decides to resign and stay with his family. It's a simple explanation that makes sense. This is why nobody made a big deal about it. Graffen didn't resign in disgust and he wasn't fired to make room for George McManus or Harry Wright.

It simply wasn't that big of a story. Graffen was needed at home and so he went home. The reason for the resignation wasn't mentioned by the Globe because this was the 19th century and it was a private family matter.

Now the grand, epic post that I had written involved a convoluted explanation that involved Harry Wright, Orrick Bishop, Mike McGeary and my usual take on a corrupt organization, a divided team and directors that were undercutting their manager to the point that he resigned in disgust. I also worked in the possibility that Graffen was fired.

It's likely that some of that may have played a part in Graffen deciding to step aside but the simplest explanation is that he had a young family and resigned so that he could spend more time at home with them. It's not nearly as good a story as my grand epic but I think it's closer to the truth. The corruption and craziness that surrounded the Brown Stockings probably made it easier for Graffen to make his decision but, in the end, I think he went home to be with the wife and kids.

I'm bitterly disappointed that you didn't get to read "The Curious Case of Mase Graffen" but I'm going to talk a bit tomorrow about some craziness regarding Brown Stocking management that I hope, in some small part, will make up for it. And I might post some biographical information about Graffen before I get to the last few games of the 1876 season, since it doesn't appear that I've ever mentioned him on the blog before.