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.

More Cricket

Mound City Cricket Club.-By advertisement in our columns this morning, it will be seen that the above organization are to have a match on the 7th inst. at their grounds, in Gamble's Addition. The Club is in a very flourishing condition, numbering at present over forty active members.

-Missouri Republican, October 1, 1858

The Mound City Cricket Club

The members of the Mound City Cricket Club are requested to meet on Friday the 10th instant, at their regular playing ground on Gamble's addition and Twenty-second street, to play the first annual match of the season. The members are particularly requested to meet at ten o'clock A.M. which will be pitched at eleven o'clock precisely. By order J. Mitchell, Secretary.

-Missouri Republican, September 10, 1858

Cricket is obviously not baseball but the cricket references that we have from the 1850s gives us the best look at the culture of bat and ball games in St. Louis that we have for the period before the advent of the New York game in the city. We have clubs, grounds, matches, and crowds coming out to see the game. While I'm certain that a variant of baseball was being played in the city at the time, I haven't found this level of information about that game that I see with cricket.

A St. Louis Cricket Reference From 1852

Harry Doyer is trying his hardest to entice the boys into the formation of a Cricket Club, but as the game is not understood-more's the pity-they hang fire confoundedly.

-Spirit of the Times, Aug 7, 1852

This brief note from Spirit of the Times' St. Louis correspondent is rather significant.  It's the earliest reference to any kind of bat and ball game in St. Louis that I've yet found and gives us a better understanding of what Edmund Tobias meant when he talked about the general popularity of cricket and town ball during the antebellum era. 

We know that there were at least two cricket clubs in St. Louis by 1858 and now we can assume that the first clubs were formed sometime between 1852 and 1858.  When Tobias wrote that cricket had a strong hold on lovers of sport in St. Louis, he most likely was speaking only from personal experience.  Born in New York, Tobias didn't move to St. Louis until sometime in 1860 when he was in his mid-twenties.  So by the time he got to the city, cricket had already established itself and there were multiple clubs.  The game continued to be popular in St. Louis throughout most of his adult life.  So when he was writing his history of early St. Louis baseball in 1895, Tobias was correct to say that the game of cricket had "long had a strong hold" in St. Louis.  But what he was specifically trying to say was that cricket had been played in the antebellum period and predated the New York game in St. Louis.

If my reading of this is correct and cricket wasn't played in St. Louis to any great extent prior to 1852 then I think it's reasonable to suggest that base ball predated cricket in the city.  With nostalgic references in 1860 to base ball and town ball as "old" and an understanding that these were long-standing folk games that didn't spring up overnight, I have to believe that the game was being played in some form prior to 1852.   

A Juvenile Cricket Match

Yesterday was a holiday for the young folks.  All the children of the public schools, numbering some two or three thousand, accompanied by their parents and teachers, went out to the Fair Grounds and spent the day in sports best suited to their years...

A cricket club, composed of boys, from twelve to fifteen years of age, had a fine spirited game during the day, and handled the bat almost as well as the members of the St. Louis Club...

-St. Louis Daily Bulletin, May 26, 1860

This is interesting in that it's my understanding that generally speaking cricket during this era was played by adults while the kids were playing base ball.  It's possible that this match was inspired by the excitement surrounding the St. Louis/Chicago cricket match earlier in the month.  Also of note is that this is one of the very few antebellum references in the St. Louis papers to children playing sports.  The only other one I'm aware of is a 1859 article in the Missouri Republican that mentioned several youth activities, including shiny and mumbly peg.  

A Cricket Match At Gamble's Lawn

A match took place yesterday at Gamble's grounds, between the Prairie Cricket Club of Chicago, and the St. Louis Cricket Club.  There was a large number of spectators present, and among them a goodly number of the fair sex, who appeared to be as anxious as the players themselves for the result of the game.  First innings, Chicago, 98.  First innings, St. Louis 115.  Second Innings of the Chicago, 85.  The game will be resumed today, and we will give our readers a full report of the match.

-St. Louis Daily Bulletin, May 3, 1860

Grand Cricket Match-The Prairie Cricket club of Chicago against the St. Louis Club-The St. Louis Boys Defeated.-A grand match commenced between eleven of the Prairie Club of Chicago, and eleven of the St. Louis Cricket Club, on Wednesday, at ten o'clock, at Gamble's Park, south of Clark avenue, and closed yesterday about one o'clock.  A large crowd was present both days, including many ladies, who watched the game with much interest.  The Chicago cricketers are all good looking young men, and seem to be familiar with the bat and ball.  Their uniform is white pants, blue frock shirt, white cap with blue trimming.  The dress of the St. Louis boys is similar, excepting the frock, which is white.  Most of our St. Louis cricketers are new at the game, yet it will be seen by the scoring that they played well.  The umpire for the Chicago club was S.P. Oldershame; scorer, C.J. Bloomfield; umpire of the St. Louis Club, Thomas Bennington; scorer E.M. Joel...

-St. Louis Daily Bulletin, May 4, 1860

The St. Louis club scored 48 in its second inning, ending the match.  

This is another example of Gamble Lawn, one of the earliest baseball grounds in St. Louis, being used for cricket.  Also of interest is the fact that this was a match between St. Louis and Chicago clubs.  While the St. Louis/Chicago baseball rivalry wouldn't begin until after the Civil War, this is evidence that sporting clashes between the two cities predated the war.    

Von Der Ahe And Cricket

A meeting of the Victoria Cricket and Athletic Club was held at Capt. Treloar's rooms, 206 N. Seventh street, last night, twenty-seven members being present. Mr. Fred Julian presided. The following officers were then elected for the ensuing year: President, F. Julian; Vice-President, Christ Von der Ahe; Club Captain and Manager, A.S. Treloar; Secretary, M.J. Allen; Treasurer, Dave Thomas...At the next meeting to be held at the same place the annual games of the organization will be arranged, and the programme is certain to prove an attractive one. The Grand Avenue Base Ball Park has been secured for the club, and a lively campaign is promised.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 18, 1881


I think this shows Von der Ahe's interest in getting crowds to the ballpark when the Brown Stockings weren't playing rather than a general interest in cricket. But you never know.

A St. Louis Cricket Match In 1858

This much talked of match came off on Thursday, to the great satisfaction of all the lovers of batting. There were some six or seven hundred spectators, among whom were a great many ladies.

Mr. Giles, of the Mound City Club, bolled exceedingly well. Mr. Philips, too bolled and batted to the great satisfaction of himself and to the great execution of his opponents.

Mr. Gorman, of the Jackson Club, bolled down nearly all the wickets, for which he received great applause from the lookers on. We admired Mr. James Flood and Patrick Conran's batting better than any I have ever seen. In one inning these two gentlemen made the large score of forty-seven aces.

Being a stranger in the city, it afforded me great pleasure to see that the citizens of St. Louis have become acquainted with this noble game, and ere long, I think, that the Jackson Club will beat any club in the world. I say this from seeing them play, and from the manner of their batting and bolling. They beat the Mound City Club thirty-seven aces in one inning to their two.

-The Missouri Republican, November 22, 1858


Less than a year after this cricket match was played, the New York game would take hold in St. Louis and its growth and success, in many ways, was built upon the infrastructure of the cricket and town ball clubs that already existed in the city. To better understand what was taking place in 1859, it's important to take a look backwards and see what existed in the way of bat and ball clubs in St. Louis and what the athletic environment was like at the time. This article from the Republican, written by, Ballyn Slown, certainly shines a bit of light on that.