The Olympics of Carondelet

Olympic B.B. Club of Carondelet, Mo. - The following officers have been elected for the coming year: - Pres., F.W. Kennon; Vice Pres., James Burke; Sec., J.J. Foster; Treas., Jos. Decker; Directors, S.Y. Collins, W. Knight and J.J. Foster.

-Mears Baseball Scrapbook, Volume 4, 1856-1907

This item comes from 1870.

The 1869 Missouri State Base Ball Association

The adjourned meeting of the State Base Ball Convention occured last evening, in the hall of the Empire Club, on Third street, Capt. C. Overbeck, temporary Chairman.

On call of the Convention it was found that the following Clubs were represented:

Union, Empire, Lone Star, Resolute, Magnolia, Rowena, St. Louis, Iron State, Olympic, Eckford, Missouri, Baltic, Buck Eye, Atlantic, Haymakers, Turner.

The election of permanent officers resulted in choice of Asa W. Smith, of the Unions, President; James Foster, of St. Louis, 1st Vice President; Joseph Ketterer, of Lone Star, 2d Vice President; F.T. Caroll, of Resolute, 3d Vice President; Thos. McCorkle, of Union, Recording Secretary; G.D. Barklege, of Iron State, Corresponding Secretary; C. Overbeck, of Lone Star, Treasurer.

After which, a committee of five were appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws, who were instructed to report at the adjourned meeting on the 18th inst.

-Missouri Republican, June 11, 1869


To the best of my knowledge, the Missouri State Base Ball Association was founded in 1868 so this would have been the second election of officers.  While Asa Smith was reelected president of the association in 1869, it appears that all of the other officers were new. 

Another 1865 Match Game

A match game of base ball was played on Thursday afternoon, between the first nine of the Olympic Junior and Cyclone (late Atlantic) base ball clubs. Only seven innings were made, on account of the lateness of the hour.

-St. Louis Daily Press, June 11, 1865

The score of the match was Cyclones 29 and Olympic Jr. 11. Playing for the Cyclones was Nelson, c; Thornburg, lf; Hoyt, 3b; Enders, cf; Fine, ss; Carroll, lf; Teasdale, 2b; Anderson, p; and Riley, 1b. Playing for the Olympic Jr. was McCreery, ss; Greely, 2; Chapman, 1b; Lackland, 3b; Peck, p; Filley, c; Lackland, lf; Courrier, rf; and Maxwell, cf.

Obviously, this is not the antebellum Cyclone Club reformed. Tobias mentions that the Atlantic Club was active in 1865 and states that they were one of the clubs who met the Empire Club on their return from Freeport. My initial reaction to the reference to "late Atlantic" was that the Cyclones had previously been known as the Atlantics but had changed their name. However, as you'll see tomorrow, the Cyclones and Atlantics were two different clubs.

Another interesting thing here is a couple of players for the Olympic Jr. Club. McCreery is possibly Wayman McCreery and one of the Lacklands is likely Rufus Lackland. Both were teenagers in 1865 and would go on to play for the Union Club, who do not appear to have been active in the early part of the 1865 baseball season.

Giants On The Ball Field, Part Six

Arthur Strong and Eugene Greenleaf were two valuable men in the Union club, both being capable of filling any position-the latter was a fair twirler and the former an active fielder.  Both were engaged in mercantile life.

Harry Berning was one of the heaviest batters in the Union team.

General W.T. Sherman, while his headquarters were located here on Garrison avenue, frequently showed his interest in baseball by his attendance at the games.  The Union club elected him an honorary member and, upon receiving notification of that action, the General indited a graceful and grateful letter thanking the club for "the honor conferred."

One of the finest batters and fielder that St. Louis produced was Zach Mulhall of the Red Stocking club, who is now a prosperous stockman in the Indian Nation, and was strongly recommended to the President for appointment to the office of United States Marshal a short time since.

Andy Blong, now of the James S. Dowling Painting Company, and his brother, Joseph, were both brilliant players in the Red Sox club.  The former has been for several years the Twenty-sixth Ward representative in the Democratic Central Committee.

F.C. Billon, bookkeeper for The Republic, was as pretty and sure a player as the Union Club ever had in the team.

E.F. Finney, assistant secretary to the Board of Public Improvements, played in both the Olympic and Union Clubs.

-St. Louis Daily Republic, February 9, 1896

Giants On The Ball Field, Part Four

E.C. Meacham, founder of the Meacham Arms Company, played first with the Olympic and afterward with the Union Club.

H. Clay Sexton was one of the most prominent early ball players, having joined the Empire Club in the '50's before he became Chief of the St. Louis Fire Department.  He never took much stock in his own playing abilities but always stood ready to back up his pet Empire Club.  He was a frequent player prior to the time he became Fire Chief, while connected with his brothers, John and Hugh, in the building business, after which he played the part of regular attendant to perfection.  He was "a boy again" all over at such times, and no one outdid him in demonstrative applause of a good play.

The Empire Club furnished St. Louis with several other prominent members of the Fire Department beside Chief Clay Sexton.  Captain Geo. N. Stevens, who was Chief prior to Sexton's time, and later was Deputy United States Marshal for many years in Judge Treat's court, was one of the earliest of ball enthusiasts, and his son, Charles W. Stevens, now paymaster of the Iron Mountain Railroad, was an exceedingly fine player in the club...Assistant Chiefs John Shockey, Richard Beggs and Eugene Gross were also members.  Adam Wirth, now Captain of one of the engines, was for many years a player in the Empire team, and ranked as the king of first baseman.

One of the best fielders that St. Louis had was Wm. Duncan, now vice president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.  His brother, Robert, was a superb short-stop.  They played in both the Empire and Union nines, at different times.  "Bob" is connected with the Continental Freight Company at Louisville, Ky.

Wayman McCreery, the well-known vocalist, was a fine ball tosser in his day.  His career began with the Olympic Club and ended with the Union.

Another accomplished singer, who included baseball in his repertoire, was Nat Hazard, one of the most genial and popular society young men of his day.

J.C. Cabanne, secretary of the St. Louis Dairy Company, was one of the sure sphere-splitters of the Union Club that knew how to stop the hottest liner and was a good base player and fine fielder.  

Incredulous as it may seem when looking at the rotund face and form of that busy real estate dealer, Chas. H. Turner, nevertheless it is true that for several seasons he was one of the most active and reliable members of the Union team.  He was good in any position but in those days he was not built on so broad a plan as at present.  He filled both pitcher and catcher positions with credit.

-St. Louis Daily Republic, February 9, 1896

I'm reasonably certain that this is the first reference I've seen to Henry Clay Sexton playing baseball.  Most other sources only mention that he was a member and officer of the Empire Club.  The reference to his playing with the club in the 1850's is also interesting given that the club didn't form until 1860.

Also of note is the description of the Empires as Sexton's "pet."  Given what we know and suspect about the relationship between the Empire Club and the St. Louis Fire Department under Sexton's management, this may be a rather apt description of the club.   

Tom Oran

The Baseball Biography Project over at the SABR website has a great piece on Tom Oran, the first Native American to play in the major leagues, a member of some of St. Louis' great amateur teams, and one of the 1875 Reds. The piece, written by Peter Morris, is a goldmine of information about baseball in St. Louis during the 1860's and 70's.

Some of the highlights:

"In 1867, Oran became the catcher for another amateur St. Louis club, the Olympics. In 1868 he joined the Union Club, which had captured the local championship from the Empires in July of 1867. Oran took over as the Union Club's starting catcher and helped them retain the championship in 1868, leading the club in runs scored.

On June 5, 1869, the Empire Club defeated the Unions to regain local supremacy. Shortly afterward, the Empires lost their catcher to injuries and recruited Oran to take his place. (Spink, 42) Both clubs appear to have been amateurs, and it is unlikely that Oran was offered money to change clubs. It is, however, quite possible that he received another sort of inducement to join the Empires. Empire club president Henry Clay Sexton was the chief of the St. Louis fire department and Oran was soon working as a city fireman.

The Empires retained their championship through the 1873 season and Tommy Oran remained one of their mainstays. He played catcher until early in the 1871 season, at which point he switched to primarily playing third base.

By 1872, the Empires' toughest local rival was a new club called the Red Stockings. In 1873 the two clubs split their first four games before the Empires pulled out the fifth and deciding game to retain the championship. But many wondered whether the veteran club could continue to hold off the upstart Reds.

The 1874 season saw the younger club continue to improve. On May 24, they beat the Empires in the first game of that year's championship series, and shortly thereafter Oran jumped to the Red Stockings. His appearance in their lineup in a game on July 12 sparked a protest."

"(While playing for the Reds in 1875), Tommy Oran became the first Native American major leaguer. He played in all nineteen of the team's games, and retroactive calculation shows him to have had a team-best 10 runs batted in. Otherwise, however, his performance was unimpressive. His batting average was a mere .185 and his eleven errors and .633 fielding percentage while playing the outfield were unacceptably high. (He also played part of one game at shortstop.)"