Box Scores Of Packy Dillon's Three Major League Games

Packy Dillon played in three games with the Reds in 1875-the May 4 game against the Brown Stockings and the two games against the Westerns at Keokuk on May 6 and 8. E.H. Tobias provided the box scores of all three of these games in his TSN series on the history of baseball in St. Louis. Specifically, these box scores appear in the February 8, 1896 issue of The Sporting News.

Interestingly, Tobias dates the second Reds/Western tilt as May 10, 1875 while most other sources have the game being played on May 8.

Al Spink Writes About Himself

Like his brother, William McDonald Spink, "the first of St. Louis sporting writers," Al Spink, the author of this book, was born in Quebec, Canada, and educated at the Quebec High School.

He and his brother, William, played on the High School cricket eleven and then and there became enamored of outdoor sports.

The great book at the high school then was "Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby."

In it the great story was the description given by Tom Hughes of the fight between Tom Brown and "Slogger" Williams.

It taught the school boys that there was nothing so fair as a game at fisticuffs and down the hill from the high school there was a platform on which was settled with the fists all real differences that came up.

Manliness and fair play came from this practice and with it a wish to excel in all manly sports. So it came that the Spink boys early became enamored of cricket and boxing and when these two brothers left Canada they carried this love of sport with them.

William Spink came to St. Louis from Quebec when a mere lad to take charge of the Western Union telegraph office. He was even then the fastest receiver in that company. Soon after William Spink located here his brother Alfred came on and joined him.

That was back in the sixties. Since then Mr. Spink has done special or regular newspaper work for nearly all the leading newspapers of America. He was sporting editor of the Globe-Democrat, the Missouri Republican and the Post-Dispatch, all of St. Louis. For them he did all around sport work, but mostly baseball. In the early days of the game he organized many baseball leagues and in his time he was president of the first Western League, the first Inter-State League, and the first St. Louis College and Business Men's League. In 1884, while acting as secretary of the St. Louis Union team, he established The Sporting News, now the great baseball paper. A year or two later he was the secretary of the St. Louis Browns. He was one of St. Louis' early players and he was the president of the Standard Baseball Club, with whom he played in the early seventies.

Ten years ago he promoted the St. Louis World, a daily newspaper, which is still being published in St. Louis. It would, in fact, take more space than this book allows to tell of the many things he was started during his career, and this history of the National game is only one of them. Some future historian will perhaps tell the rest.

-Al Spink, writing in The National Game

A Quick Index To The 1875 Attendance Data

I figure that once these post get off the front page and buried in the archives, this handy-dandy index might be helpful. Just follow the links down the rabbit hole.

1875 Attendance Data
1875 Attendance Data, Part 2
1875 Attendance Data, Part 3

Al Spink And The Bible Of Baseball

Naturally, I use The Sporting News as a source a great deal and I thought it would be interesting to take a brief look at the history of the newspaper in the 19th century. Lucky for me I found a nice article entitled The Sporting News: A History of the Bible of Baseball and rather than do any real work, I can just quote liberally from it:

The first issue of The Sporting News measured 17 by 22 inches, sold for 5 cents or if you wanted to bet on it's survival then $2.50 per year, and was published March 17, 1886, by 31-year-old Al Spink, a St. Louis Browns executive who was instrumental in the purchase of Sportsman's Park with the colorful Chris Von der Ahe. The Sporting News would be published by the Spink family for just over 90 years. They were a colorful bunch, that's for sure.

I previously referred to The Sporting News as "The Bible of Baseball" and while it would earn this moniker in time at its beginning it reflected Al Spink's interests and covered cycling, shooting, billiards and even theater. Boxing coverage would also be a big part of the 19th century Sporting News, but baseball was The Sporting News bread and butter from the start.

As soon as September 1886 The Sporting News would include sketches of the St. Louis Browns players on its cover with the banner headline "St. Louis Browns -- Champions of the World". For the most part these earliest editions of The Sporting News appeared at first glance the same as any newspaper--the cover was filled by text.

It should be noted that as successful as The Sporting News was, it was not the first sporting paper, and it did have formidable competition from the start in The Sporting Life, founded by Francis Richter in 1883. While The Sporting Life originally noted the arrival of The Sporting News with approval very soon they were accusing Spink's paper of copying The Sporting Life's style. Spink replied that indeed, their advertising columns were very similar, except that The Sporting News had so many more ads!

The Sporting News was pretty much a one-man operation involving Al Spink at first, with Al handling tasks as varied as balancing the books, soliciting advertising and overseeing the editorial content, but this soon proved too much for one man so Al brought in his little brother Charles Spink in 1887 at a $50 per week salary.

Even though his baseball knowledge was initially limited, Charles jumped at the opportunity and quickly helped boost circulation with a sample-copy campaign. Circulation stood at about 40,000 in October 1887 and had risen to 56,500 as soon as February 1888. Advertising requests were so heavy that The Sporting News would expand five times in 1888, growing from 8 to 12 pages.

This was followed by a brief drop in circulation when in 1890 The Sporting News broke the story about the player's revolt and backed the new Player's League. They had made the wrong choice and the public let them know it. Charles Spink was taking over the magazine little by little all throughout the 90's as Al persued other interests. Al Spink would depart for good in 1899 with A.J. "Joe" Flanner taking over as editor and Charles Spink holding the title of publisher. With Al out the door The Sporting News adjusted its coverage and focused entirely upon baseball.

While I'm at it I might as well take a look at Al Spink, who I've probably quoted more than anyone else here at TGOG. W.E. Kelsoe, in A Newspaper Man's Motion-Picture of the City, had a great deal to say about the Spink brothers:

Mention is made elsewhere of the Spink family. William M. Spink, the oldest of the boys, remembered by old-timers as telegraph editor and sporting editor of the Globe and the Globe-Democrat in the Seventies and early Eighties and later (until his death) with the Chronicle, was a national authority on sporting matters generally. He had been an expert telegrapher before engaging in newspaper work. His brother, Alfred, now Mr. A. H. Spink of Chicago, came to St. Louis early in the Seventies and his first newspaper work here was as correspondent for New York papers. Then he worked for the Post, the Post-Dispatch and the Missouri Republican, in turn, as a reporter, and later was, first, telegraph editor and then sporting editor of the Republican. He was one of the early sporting editors of the Chronicle and held a like position on the Post-Dispatch for eight years. Al Spink was the founder of the present Sporting News of St. Louis and of the morning World, started in 1902. He was one of the organizers of the St. Louis Browns of 1882 and of the American Association (baseball) that year. For many years he was actively interested here in baseball, horse racing and other sports. The third brother, the late Charles C. Spink, devoted his newspaper activities to the management of the Sporting News, which is now owned and conducted by the widow, Mrs. Marie T. Spink, and son, John G. Taylor Spink, now prominent in sporting matters. The three newspaper brothers mentioned had two newspaper sisters, the wives of, respectively, William H. Hicks and George T. Lanigan, both newspaper men. Mr. Hicks I remember well. We called him "Billy Hicks," but I never worked with him. I think he was on the Globe-Democrat or the Post-Dispatch and my allegiance then was to "Old 1808" (Missouri Republican).

Mark Cooper wrote a nice piece on Al Spink:

Alfred Henry Spink is best known for introducing The Sporting News on March 17, 1886. It is today the oldest sports periodical, with a world-wide circulation of 625, 000.

Spink was born in Quebec, one of eight children, three of whom were brothers. After the American Civil War, the family emigrated to Chicago. The father died shortly after their arrival, and the sons-who had been excellent cricketers in Canada-turned their attention to baseball. The Spink boys helped form an amateur team on the West Side of Chicago: the Mutuals, named after the famous Mutuals of New York.

In 1875, Al moved south to St. Louis, at the suggestion of his brother Billy, a sports editor for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and was soon covering sports for local papers himself. The brothers were enthusiastic backers of the St. Louis Brown Stockings, the city’s first professional club, which operated at Gus Solari’s ball park on Grand Avenue.

When the professional club folded prior to the 1878 season, Al and Bill organized a semipro team to play at Solari’s park. Finally, in 1881, Al convinced a neighborhood saloon keeper named Chris Von der Ahe to form a corporation called the Sportsman’s Park and club and to renovate (and rename) the grounds. Al himself organized a local team and booked its out-of-town opponents. The following fall he helped Von der Ahe bring professional baseball back to St. Louis with a charter membership in the new American Association.

While an executive of the Browns, Al Spink published the first issue of The Sporting News in 1886, a weekly eight-page publication, 17 by 22 inches. The paper sold for five cents, $2.50 per year. In the inaugural issue Al wrote in an editorial: “It is the custom when a journal of any class is thrust upon an all-confiding and unsuspecting public to launch out into a lengthy editorial as to what the newcomer will do and as to the aims and objects. Now, for various reasons, TSN intends to ignore this custom and let its readers guess at hat its aims and objects are. One thing we must do, however, is thank the hundreds of kind friends who have wished us God speed in the new enterprise.” An inside column of short items bore the caption “Caught on the Fly,” a heading still found in the paper.

In September, 1886, the paper, in recognition of the Browns’ World Series victory over the Chicago White Stockings, brightened page one with sketches of all the St. Louis players, proclaiming “St. Louis Browns-Champions of the world.” The older sporting weekly the sporting Life, published in Philadelphia, became aware of the new competition in St. Louis. When Sporting Life accused The Sporting News of copying its style, TSN responded: “The cruelest thing a Philadelphia contemporary can say is that we imitate his newspaper. He is right. Our advertising columns are very much like his except we have so very many more advertisements.”

Al Spink was a great editor, but a poor businessman. Realizing his inadequacies, he hired his younger brother Charles, for $50 a week, to become business manager. Success followed, and in the May 4, 1889, issue, TSN reported reaching a half million readers weekly with its 60,000 circulation.

In 1889 Al’s intimate association with players allowed TSN to break the story of the impending players’ revolt that led to the formation of the Players’ League. The story headline read: “The Brotherood/Every Man but Anson Pledged to Jump The League/The Greatest Move in the History of the National Game.”

During 1890 Al wrote a melodrama titled derby Winner, and took the play on the road, leaving all responsibility for The Sporting News to his brother Charles. Because TSN backed the Players’ League, National League clubs and advertisers (particularly Spalding) withdrew editorial and advertising support from the paper in favor of Sporting Life, and Al returned from his unsuccessful attempt in the theater to find circulation and revenue declining with a vengeance. He christened his paper The Sporting Death, and reported that Jack Glasscock, active in the players’ organization, was actually spy for the club owners.

Al also lashed out at his old benefactor Chris Von der Ahe, whom he called “J Christ von der Ahe.” Brother Charles resumed control of TSN, decreasing costs and increasing circulation.

In 1894, Al began to lose interest in The Sporting News and, in dire need of finances, sold all his stock to Charles. Al opened a racetrack at this time but continued to work for TSN. Finally, in 1899, he left the paper for good. In 1910 he moved to Chicago and published his book The National Game, a history of the early years of baseball. In 1921, while a columnist for the Chicago Evening Post, he authored a three-volume set titled One Thousand Sport Stories. At his funeral in 1928, baseball commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis gave the eulogy.

Al Spink's obituary was published in the New York Times on May 28, 1928:

Notes:

-Obviously the history of The Sporting News article at the beginning of the post used the Cooper piece as its main source.

-The first picture of Al Spink, at the top of the post, was taken from The Sporting News website.

-The second photo of Spink, the NYT obituary, and the Cooper piece were all taken from Bill Burgess' Meet The Sports Writers post at Baseball Fever. Calling Bill's work a post is, of course, inadequate. It's more like a treasure trove.

-I should also add that while I like Cooper's piece on Spink I think his analysis of baseball history in St. Louis is a bit superficial. I'm not saying it's inaccurate but I think it understandably glosses over some facts. The history of baseball in St. Louis from 1877-1882 is a bit more complicated than Cooper's has it.

The Death Of Asa Smith

The sad and unexpected death of Asa W. Smith created a profound feeling of regret throughout the city and in no circle was it more keenly felt and deplored than amongst the base ball fraternity by whom he was respected and beloved to an unusual degree. He was a genial and accomplished gentleman whose pleasant disposition, agreeable manners and kindly heart endeared him to all who were favored with his friendship. It was meet and proper that a special meeting was held in parlor No. 8 Southern Hotel by representatives of the Base Ball Brotherhood with whom he had long borne a prominent part. The following clubs were represented: Union, Empire, National, Turner, Rowena, Red Stockings, Benton, Niagera, Rival, Artisan, and Westerns of Keokuk.

-E.H. Tobias, writing in The Sporting News, January 25, 1896

Smith, who had been involved in an attempt to revive the baseball activities of the Union Club in the summer of 1874, was vacationing in Maine. On July 31, while his family members watched, Smith was swimming in the ocean when he disapeared under a wave. He never resurfaced.

The death of Asa W. Smith, president of the Union Baseball Club of St. Louis, was reported in the papers of August 2 and 3 (1874). Asa, who was a son of Sol Smith, the actor, was accidentally drowned off the coast of Maine, at Biddeford Pool. The Keokuk Baseball Club had arrived in St. Louis, but the game scheduled with the Unions was abandoned.

-W.E. Kelsoe

Smith's death but an end to the attempt to revive the Union Base Ball Club.

1875 Attendance Data, Part 3

Obviously, when a team visited St. Louis in the first half of the 1875 season, they would play both the Brown Stockings and the Reds. This makes it possible to directly compare the two teams not just on the field but as box office draws in St. Louis. While there are certainly other variables involved, such as the weather and how well or poorly the home team was playing, a major factor in attendance, the drawing power of the road team, is removed when comparing the data.

The first team to visit St. Louis in 1875 was the White Stockings of Chicago. The Chicagos were in St. Louis from May 6 through May 13 when they played two games each against the Brown Stockings and Reds. The May 6 game against the Brown Stockings was one of the most important games in the history of St. Louis baseball. A seminal moment, the Brown Stockings 10-0 victory over the White Stockings was witnessed by 8000 fans. On the 8th, an even larger crowd of 8728, drawn by the excitement of the last few days, came to the ballpark to watch the Brown Stockings beat the Chicagos again. On the 11th, the White Stockings took on the Reds at the Compton Avenue Park in a nasty windstorm and defeated the home club 1-0 before only 200 fans. Obviously, the weather had a dampening effect on attendance but the contrast between the crowds at the Grand Avenue Park and at the Reds game could not be more severe. The Reds/Chicago game on the 13th drew only an anemic 400 people. The Brown Stockings had drawn 16,728 in two games versus Chicago; the Reds drew 600. The attendance at either Brown Stockings/Chicago game was more than the Reds would draw in their entire NA season.

The Westerns of Keokuk were in St. Louis from May 21-27. Their first game was against the Reds and drew 200 fans. On May 25 and 27, the Westerns played the Brown Stockings and drew 500 and 300, respectively. Obviously, the Westerns didn't draw well in St. Louis but again the Brown Stockings had larger crowds in both of there games against Keokuk than the Reds did in theirs.

The vaunted Red Stockings of Boston were in town from June 2-7 to play one game against the Reds and three against the Brown Stockings. The Red Stocking versus Red Stocking tilt on June 3 drew 1200, the second best crowd of the season to the Compton Avenue Park. The Bostons played the Brown Stockings on June 2, 5, and 7, drawing 6000, 6000, and 8000 respectively. Each of the three Boston/Brown Stocking games drew more than the Reds would draw all season.

The Mutuals of New York played three games in St. Louis between June 9 and June12. On the 9th, they took on the Brown Stockings before 3000 fans. The next day, only 100 people showed up to see the Reds play the New Yorks. June 12th saw the Mutuals playing the Brown Stockings again before 2000 people.

The Whites of Philadelphia were in town between June 14 and June 16. The Whites game against the Reds on the 15th drew only 100 fans while the two games against the Brown Stockings drew 1000 and 1500.

The Dark Blues of Hartford were the next team to come to town. On June 22, they played the Reds before a crowd of 300. On the 23rd, 2000 fans saw them play the Brown Stockings. Their final game in St. Louis was on the 24th versus the Reds and only 100 fans bothered to show up.

June 27-July 5 had the Nationals of Washington in town for six games. The Reds drew 1500 (their biggest NA crowd of the season), 50, and 300 in their last three games in the NA. The Brown Stockings drew 1000, 500, and 100 (their smallest crowd of the season) against the Washingtons. The Reds drew a total of 1850 in their three games; the Browns drew 1600.

So except for the series against the Nationals (which I'll get to in a minute), the Brown Stockings were crushing the Reds at the gate. Why? I think there are several factors. First, the Brown Stockings were a substantially better team. Obviously, if you have two teams in a market, the better team is going to outdraw the weaker club. Second, the Brown Stockings' victories over Chicago, as mentioned, were seminal events and created a great deal of excitement in St. Louis for baseball specifically and the Brown Stockings in general. Third, I believe the locations of the ballparks may have played a factor in the disparity in attendance. The Grand Avenue Park was easily accessible to the public by street car while the Compton Avenue Park was not. This must have had some impact on attendance.

What's interesting to me is that the disparity in attendance is as great as it was. It wasn't supposed to be. The Red Stockings were believed to have had a strong following in St. Louis and were coming off a successful 1874 season in which they drew much larger crowds than they would in their 1875 championship games. The conventional wisdom, entering the 1875 season, was that the Reds would have the loyalty of the St. Louis fans and would outdraw the "Atlantic, Easton professionals," as the Globe-Democrat called the Brown Stockings. Obviously, this didn't happen. The "Atlantic, Easton professionals," as a result of their victories over Chicago, seized the imagination and support of the St. Louis fans and retained it for the remainder of the season. Another point that should be made is that while the Reds were a popular local team, they were one of many. It's possible that fans of the Empires, the Stocks, the Rowenas, etc were not predisposed to support the Reds and they switched their loyalties to Reds' rival. Certainly, the large crowds that the Reds were playing before in 1874 was, in part, due to the strength in popularity of the local teams they were playing. A tilt between the Reds and the Empires would outdraw one between the Reds and the Westerns based solely on the fan base of the teams involved.

I was rather surprised to see the attendance figures from June 27-July 5, when the Nationals of Washington came to town. How is it that a team in disarray, who just lost their pitcher, who were woefully uncompetitive in the NA, and who were about to shut down their championship aspirations drew their biggest crowd of the season and outdrew the Brown Stockings in their three game set? I can't even begin to figure that one out. Maybe the fans flocked to the ballpark to celebrate the departure of Joe Blong and the imminent departure of Packy Dillon, Trick McSorley, and Charlie Sweasy. Maybe the weather was unusually nice or it was free beer day at the Compton Avenue Park.

One more thing: I left out the attendance data from the two games that the Reds and Brown Stockings played against each other. On May 4, the two clubs met at the Compton Avenue Park and this first championship game of the season drew what had to be a disappointing crowd of only 1000 people. On May 29, the two clubs met again at the Grand Avenue Park and drew an even more disappointing 500 fans. Only 1500 fans total watched the two local professional teams play their only two games against each other. Of course, other than the two Brown Stocking/Chicago games, the May games for both teams drew poorly. I believe the major reason for this was the inclement weather that St. Louis experienced that month-there were several rainouts and postponements and games played in windstorms, etc. However, as most of my evidence for this is anecdotal, I'll have to check the weather data for May 1875 and see what I can find.

1875 Attendance Data, Part 2

As promised, here's the Brown Stockings attendance data from 1875-and the contrast with the Reds could not be more apparent. As before, I give the date of the game, the opponent, the result, the score, and the attendance. All data is from Retrosheet.

5- 4-1875            At RS    W 15- 9            1000 
5- 6-1875            Vs CHI   W 10- 0            8000 
5- 8-1875            Vs CHI   W  4- 3            8728 
5-12-1875            At WES   W 16- 6            300 
5-13-1875            At WES   W  4- 2            150 
5-19-1875            At CHI   L  4- 9            2561 
5-22-1875            At CHI   L  2- 6            3273 
5-25-1875            Vs WES   W  3- 2            500 
5-27-1875            Vs WES   W 12- 4            300 
5-29-1875            Vs RS    W  6- 0            500 
6- 2-1875            Vs BOS   L  3-10            6000 
6- 5-1875            Vs BOS   W  5- 4            6000 
6- 7-1875            Vs BOS   L  2-15            8000 
6- 9-1875            Vs MUT   W  5- 2            3000 
6-12-1875            Vs MUT   W  8- 2            2000 
6-14-1875            Vs PHI   L  2-15            1000 
6-16-1875            Vs PHI   W  5- 4            1500 
6-19-1875            Vs MUT   W 11- 2            1000  
6-21-1875            Vs PHI   W  2- 0            1200 
6-23-1875            Vs HAR   W  7- 1            2000 
6-26-1875            Vs WAS   W  9- 3            1000 
6-29-1875            Vs WAS   W  8- 1            500 
7- 1-1875            Vs WAS   W 14- 2            100 
7- 3-1875            At CHI   L  5- 8            2500 
7- 5-1875            Vs CHI   W 13- 2            8000 
7- 8-1875            At PHI   W  8- 4            1000 
7-10-1875            At PHI   W  6- 2            1000 
7-12-1875            At ATL   W  6- 2            300 
7-13-1875            At MUT   W  9- 7            1500 
7-14-1875            At ATL   W  2- 1            400 
7-15-1875            At MUT   W  5- 1            2000 
7-17-1875            At MUT   W 10- 4            1200 
7-19-1875            At BOS   L  2- 7            2000 
7-21-1875            At BOS   L  6-16            2000 
7-23-1875            At NH    W  6- 0            800 
7-24-1875            At BOS   L  3- 8            2000 
7-27-1875            At HAR   L  2- 4            2000 
7-28-1875            At NH    L  3- 7            800 
7-30-1875            At NH    W  9- 7            2000 
7-31-1875            At HAR   W  7- 1            3000 
8- 3-1875            At ATH   L  2- 3            1000 
8- 7-1875            At ATH   W 11-10            1200 
8- 9-1875            At PHI   L  0-16            700 
8-12-1875            Vs ATH   L  1- 8            3000 
8-14-1875            Vs ATH   L  2- 6            1200 
8-16-1875            Vs ATH   L  1- 3            800 
8-19-1875            Vs BOS   L  1- 2            1400 
8-21-1875            Vs BOS   W  5- 3            2000 
8-23-1875            Vs ATH   L  2- 3            1500 
9- 7-1875            Vs HAR   L  2- 8            1500 
9- 9-1875            Vs HAR   W 12- 4            1000 
9-11-1875            Vs HAR   W  6- 0            1500 
9-13-1875            Vs HAR   L  0- 3            1000 
9-22-1875            At PHI   W  5- 1            500 
9-27-1875            Vs PHI   T  5- 5            1000 
9-28-1875            Vs PHI   L  2- 3            500 
9-29-1875            Vs PHI   L  5- 9            600
10- 1-1875           At CHI   L  9-13            300
10- 2-1875           At CHI   L  1- 5            150
10- 7-1875           Vs CHI   W  6- 4            3500
10- 8-1875           Vs CHI   W  4- 2            1200
10-14-1875           At BOS   L  8-12            700
10-18-1875           At HAR   L  0- 5            500
10-20-1875           At HAR   W 10- 4            600
10-21-1875           At HAR   L  7-18            900
10-22-1875           At MUT   W  4- 3            100
10-23-1875           At MUT   W  6- 2            400
10-25-1875           At PHI   L  2-17            200
10-28-1875           At ATH   L  3- 9            100
10-29-1875           At MUT   T  5- 5            150

Breaking down the numbers a bit, the Brown Stockings played before 123,862 people in 1875. They drew 87,028 at home and 36,834 on the road. They averaged 2560 per game at home and 1023 per game on the road.

Looking at just the home games:

5- 6-1875            Vs CHI   W 10- 0            8000 
5- 8-1875            Vs CHI   W  4- 3            8728   
5-25-1875            Vs WES   W  3- 2            500 
5-27-1875            Vs WES   W 12- 4            300 
5-29-1875            Vs RS    W  6- 0            500 
6- 2-1875            Vs BOS   L  3-10            6000 
6- 5-1875            Vs BOS   W  5- 4            6000 
6- 7-1875            Vs BOS   L  2-15            8000 
6- 9-1875            Vs MUT   W  5- 2            3000 
6-12-1875            Vs MUT   W  8- 2            2000 
6-14-1875            Vs PHI   L  2-15            1000 
6-16-1875            Vs PHI   W  5- 4            1500 
6-19-1875            Vs MUT   W 11- 2            1000  
6-21-1875            Vs PHI   W  2- 0            1200 
6-23-1875            Vs HAR   W  7- 1            2000 
6-26-1875            Vs WAS   W  9- 3            1000 
6-29-1875            Vs WAS   W  8- 1            500 
7- 1-1875            Vs WAS   W 14- 2            100   
7- 5-1875            Vs CHI   W 13- 2            8000  
8-12-1875            Vs ATH   L  1- 8            3000 
8-14-1875            Vs ATH   L  2- 6            1200 
8-16-1875            Vs ATH   L  1- 3            800 
8-19-1875            Vs BOS   L  1- 2            1400 
8-21-1875            Vs BOS   W  5- 3            2000 
8-23-1875            Vs ATH   L  2- 3            1500 
9- 7-1875            Vs HAR   L  2- 8            1500 
9- 9-1875            Vs HAR   W 12- 4            1000 
9-11-1875            Vs HAR   W  6- 0            1500 
9-13-1875            Vs HAR   L  0- 3            1000 
9-22-1875            At PHI   W  5- 1            500 
9-27-1875            Vs PHI   T  5- 5            1000 
9-28-1875            Vs PHI   L  2- 3            500 
9-29-1875            Vs PHI   L  5- 9            600 
10- 7-1875           Vs CHI   W  6- 4            3500
10- 8-1875           Vs CHI   W  4- 2            1200

The Browns had six different games in which they drew more people than the Reds did in their total of 14 home games. Unbelievable. Their best crowd was May 8-the second game of their first home series against Chicago. That first two game set against Chicago drew over 16,000 people, speaking to the excitement for baseball in St. Louis and the rivalry which already existed with Chicago.

It's interesting to note how attendance declined over the course of the season. The Browns had their best six games, as far as attendance is concered, before July 6 and never had a crowd better than 3500 after that. Over the course of their last 15 games, the Browns' average attendance declined to 1480. Previous to July 6, they had been averaging 3017. I think that's natural as the excitement of the early season faded and the realization set in that the Browns were not going to win the whip pennant.

Tomorrow, I'll do a more direct comparison of the attendance of the Browns and Reds as it concerns similiar opponents.

1875 Attendance Data

I've been looking at the attendance data for the 1875 season, which can be found at Retrosheet, and thought I'd post some of it. The following is the Red Stockings' schedule for 1875. I give the date of the game followed by their opponent, the outcome of the game, the score, and the attendance.

5- 4-1875            Vs STL   L  9-15  1000  
5- 6-1875            At WES   L  2-15   500  
5- 8-1875            At WES   W  6- 1  1000
5-11-1875            Vs CHI   L  0- 1   200
5-13-1875            Vs CHI   L  2-15   400
5-21-1875            Vs WES   W  3- 1   200
5-25-1875            At CHI   L  2-16   714
5-27-1875            At CHI   L  0-15   380 
5-29-1875            At STL   L  0- 6   500
6- 3-1875            Vs BOS   L  5-10  1200
6-10-1875            Vs MUT   L  4-18   100
6-15-1875            Vs PHI   L  3- 4   100  
6-17-1875            Vs MUT   L  1- 4   200  
6-22-1875            Vs HAR   L  1- 8   300  
6-24-1875            Vs HAR   L  6-11   100  
6-26-1875            Vs HAR   L  0- 9    50  
6-27-1875            Vs WAS   W  3- 0  1500  
7- 3-1875            Vs WAS   W  8- 0    50  
7- 4-1875            Vs WAS   L  5-12   300

Breaking down the data, the Reds played before a total of 8794 people in 1875. They had a total attendance of 5700 at home and 3094 on the road. Average home attendance was 407 while their average road attendance was 618. That the Reds averaged more on the road then at home is interesting but is more a factor of the Reds poor home attendance rather than the idea that they were some kind of road draw.

The reality of the Reds poor home attendance is more obvious if we take their road games out of the data:

5- 4-1875            Vs STL   L  9-15   1000 
5-11-1875            Vs CHI   L  0- 1    200
5-13-1875            Vs CHI   L  2-15    400
5-21-1875            Vs WES   W  3- 1    200
6- 3-1875            Vs BOS   L  5-10   1200
6-10-1875            Vs MUT   L  4-18    100
6-15-1875            Vs PHI   L  3- 4    100  
6-17-1875            Vs MUT   L  1- 4    200  
6-22-1875            Vs HAR   L  1- 8    300  
6-24-1875            Vs HAR   L  6-11    100  
6-26-1875            Vs HAR   L  0- 9     50  
6-27-1875            Vs WAS   W  3- 0   1500  
7- 3-1875            Vs WAS   W  8- 0     50  
7- 4-1875            Vs WAS   L  5-12    300

The obvious point is that the Reds' home attendance was horrible. As I stated earlier, they averaged 407 fans per game at home but if you throw out the games of 5/4 against the Browns, 6/3 against Boston, and the first Washington game on 6/27 the home average drops to a pathetic 182 per game.

I've obviously underestimated the effect that poor attendance had on the Red Stockings. By looking at the data on a game by game basis and throwing out the three games that skew the data, it's obvious that the Reds were simply not a sustainable financial enterprise in 1875. Of course there are extenuating circumstances. If the weather had been better in St. Louis in May, the Reds would have most likely drawn better crowds against the Brown Stockings, Chicago, and Keokuk. If they had been more competitive, they would have drawn better. If the Brown Stockings hadn't had the early success that they did, specifically against Chicago, then there may have been some room in the market for the Reds. But in the end, a couple of hundred fans a game simply was not enough to sustain a co-op team financially.

Hopefully, I'll get the Brown Stockings attendance data up today and we can have some fun comparing and contrasting the two sets of numbers. Good times.

If You're Using This Blog As A Source

It's come to my attention that there are people who are using this blog as a source in various projects. First of all, I should say that I'm flattered. When I first started researching 19th century St. Louis baseball history, I quickly discovered that there was no one place on the Internet that had answers to all the questions that I had. My main goal with this blog is to create that place-an all-incompasing website that contains all the information that one would ever want with regards to 19th century baseball in St. Louis. The fact that people are using TGOG as a source speaks to the need that existed for such a site and, to some extent, to the success I've had towards creating that site.

However-and I need to make this perfectly clear-I am only in the beginning stages of this project. I do not have all the information or all the answers with regards to 19th century baseball in St. Louis. In many ways, this blog is nothing more than a chronicle of my research. As I discover new things, I post them. As I come to new conclusions or develop new interpretations, I post that. As I learn from others, this changes how I view the data that I've gathered. This is not a static project but rather something that is dynamic and ever-changing. I've yet to write the final word on anything and may never be in a position to do so.

I would just like people to keep this in mind when using the information that I've posted on the blog. If you're going to use TGOG as a source when writing something about Joe Blong, for example, please make sure that you check all the posts that have been tagged "Joe Blong." I have more information about Blong today then I did eight months ago and my view of Blong has evolved as I've incorporated that information into my understanding. Hopefully, eight months from now I'll have even more information then I do today and my understanding will continue to evolve.

Just remember that the research is ongoing, I'm not the world's preeminent expert on 19th century baseball in St. Louis, and just because you find it on the Internet doesn't necessarily mean it's true. Always proceed with caution. One of the reasons that I choose a blog format was because it's maliable-as my knowledge grows and my understanding changes, the blog can grow and change to reflect that.

One last thing in what may be the strangest disclaimer ever written: if you ever have any questions or comments or criticisms or if you just want to say hi or would like a more detailed list of sources, never hesitate to contact me. All you have to do is drop me an email at thisgameofgames@gmail.com and I promise that I'll get back to you.

TSN Von Der Ahe Cartoon

I found this cartoon, entitled "Chris' Past, Present And Future," in the January 15, 1898 issue of The Sporting News. The caption reads "The above cut appeared in The Sporting News, under date of August 31, 1895. Its reproduction at this time accentuates the accuracy of the forecast of Chris' finish, made by The Sporting News two and one-half years ago. Information from an Inside source is to the effect that Von der Ahe's expectation is to get out of base ball with enough money to establish a grocery and beer saloon at the stand where he laid the foundation of his fortune."

Click on the image for a better view.

The Ebb

It was manifest at this time that the interest in base ball matters in St. Louis had been on the ebb for a year or two as in fact had been the case in every part of the country where the playing had been left to purely amateur organizations. The cause of the decline was natural and is to be accounted for by reasons which were apparent to all in any way familiar with the game. The distance of the grounds from the business part of the city at this time when electric cars were not in vogue and the absorption of the attention of the fraternity by other matters had prevented the old time frequency of local contests while the superiority in almost every case of visiting nines, entirely or in a great part composed of professionals, exercised a depressing influence on the home clubs which were obliged to bear repeated defeats because they were altogether made up of amateurs.

-E.H. Tobias, writing in The Sporting News, December 28, 1895


Tobias wrote these words while discussing the 1870 and 1871 seasons and it ties in with the article from the Cincinnati Daily Times from July of 1868 that I was talking about in this post. The game, during this era, was certainly in a transitional phase. The changes that took place in the game during the late 1860's and culminated in the advent of the National Association in 1871 certainly were not universally popular among "the fraternity" and for someone like Tobias, who had been a part of the Empire Club since the end of the Civil War, the direction that the game was taking was not one that he approved.

In But Didn't We Have Fun, Peter Morris speaks directly to some of the issues that Tobias raised in 1895:

By the close of the Civil War, the elements that would lead to the end of the pioneer era were in place. In 1866 and 1867 the game seemed more vibrant than ever. But when doubts about the old standards began to arise, devotees turned to the traditional leaders and found that most of them had departed the scene. This led to a period of reexamination that moved baseball away from its childlike innocence and into the professional era.

In the process, attitudes underwent subtle alterations that produced changes in how baseball was played. The game's prevailing spirit of forthright honesty gave way to competitiveness, and this in turn revealed that other elements of the game's spirit were fragile. The "patience of hope" that sustained clubs after a convincing loss began to be replaced by demoralization. An unquestioning adherence to playing by the rules yielded to efforts to find loopholes in them. Unswerving allegiance to one's club was succeeded by a more mercenary approach.

The first generation of leaders of the St. Louis baseball scene were, by 1870/71, no longer active in the game. Men like Asa Smith and Jeremiah Fruin, who had been incomparable leaders in the post-war era, had left the game just at the time when their leadership and experience were needed to help their clubs adjust to the new realities of the baseball world. Smith had done an outstanding job in recognizing the new trends and helping the Union Club adapt but as these trends reached their pinnacle Smith had retired from the field and the Unions essentially died as a baseball entity rather than further compromise their "gentlemanly" principles. The Empires and Unions, the two great clubs of the post-war era in St. Louis, would soon be overtaken on the playing fields by the Red Stockings and, later, the Brown Stockings.

It would take St. Louis baseball several years to recover from this "ebb" and to fully adapt to the changes that were taking place in the game. It's ironic that a decade after St. Louisians first picked up the game, they had just about caught up with the baseball mainstream. They were involved in the game on a national level, playing teams from all over the country both at home and on the road. They had built enclosed grounds and were charging admission to games. Despite Tobias' protest that the St. Louis clubs were "purely amateur," St. Louis players were most likely receiving compensation. They had developed a strong state association and had organized a system to decide a championship. But just as they were making substantial changes in the way the game was organized in St. Louis, baseball was undergoing a radical change that would leave men like Tobias questioning what was happening to the game that they loved. It would not be until 1874 and 1875 that baseball in St. Louis would recover from the shock of the changes that baseball was undergoing in the late 1860's and regain the popularity that it had in the immediate post-war era.

General Sherman Joins The Union Club

Among the many pleasant reminiscences of these days was the interest manifested by men of prominence in the National game. Among those to be recalled was that grim old warrior General W. T. Sherman, who was an habitual attendant at the prominent games during the years that he resided in St. Louis. Noticing this fact C. Orrick Bishop, then Secretary of the Union Club, and now Assistant Circuit Attorney of this city, caused the General's election as an honorary member of the club and received from the General a characteristic letter of thanks for the honor thus conferred. General Sherman's usual companion on these occasions was Colonel A. R. Easton, after whom Easton Avenue was named, and very frequently Gerald B. Allen, the millionaire foundry man, made one of the General's party of deeply interested spectators.

-E. H. Tobias, writing in The Sporting News, December 14, 1895

Best I can tell, this must have taken place sometime between 1874 and 1876 when Sherman's headquarters were located in St. Louis. Tobias includes this story during his detailing of the 1869 and 1870 seasons but the event obviously took place several years later. W. E. Kelsoe notes Sherman's attendance at a game in 1875 and places it in the context of the Brown Stockings' first victory over the White Stockings in May of 1875. With that information, I think it's a good guess that Sherman was "drafted" into the Union Club in 1875.

E.C. Simmons Plays Against The Empires

Here's the box score from the game E.C. Simmons played against the Empire Club on May 31, 1865. Blogger wouldn't let me add it to the post yesterday for some reason but everything is working fine today. So here it is.

A Couple Of Sharp Dudes

I really like these pictures. Arlie Latham is about 30 years old and Charlie Comiskey is about 31-a couple of young guys in the prime of life. The portraits were taken in 1890 in Chicago so at the time Latham and Comiskey must have been playing with the Chicago Players League Club.

The pictures come from the Zmotive Ebay gallery.

E. C. Simmons And The Union Club

I got an email yesterday from John Mena of the St. Louis Unions Vintage Base Ball Club and when I was checking out their website I noticed that they mentioned that E. C. Simmons was the first captain of the Unions of St. Louis. I didn't recall ever seeing Simmons mentioned as an original member of the Unions, let alone the captain, so I did a little quick digging.

In The National Game, Al Spink quotes Jeremiah Fruin as saying that "E. C. Simmons, now at the head of the Simmons Hardware Company, was I think the first captain of the Unions. But he was so overbearing and arbitrary that his players fell out with him and he went in another direction and started a team of his own."

Edwards C. Simmons was born in Fredrick, Maryland on September 21, 1839 and, according to Bertie Charles Forbes in Men who are making America, he "trekked to St. Louis when a young lad." As president of the Simmons Hardware Company, "he made St. Louis the greatest hardware centre on earth..."

In 1854, Simmons, at the age of 16, was working for Child, Pratt, & Co., the largest wholesale hardware store in St. Louis at the time. By 1860, according to Kennedy's St. Louis city directory, he was working for Wilson, Levering, & Waters, the company that would become the Simmons Hardware Company. His is truly one of the great American success stories.

Fruin's claim, however, that Simmons was one of the founders of the Union Club or the first captain of the club is without merit. According to E.H. Tobias, "The original Union Club was composed of high school pupils who organized under the name in 1860 with Asa W. Smith, president; Robert Niggeman, vice-president; J.P. Freeman, secretary; E.F. Finney, treasurer...In the latter part of '61 the Union Club disbanded on account of the Civil War and did not reorganize until 1865. Of those who belonged to the original club Asa W. Smith, Wm. E. Greenleaf and J.P. Freeman were the promoters of the new organization."

Simmons is mentioned by Tobias as a member of the Unions in 1865. On May 31, 1865, the Unions played a match against the Empires and Tobias noted that "E.C. Simmons now of Simmons Hardware Co. was substituted for O. Garrison (in center field)." There is no mention of him through 1865 as either the captain or as an officer of the club.

Fruin, of course, did not arrive in St. Louis until 1861 and he had no first hand knowledge of the antebellum Unions. His conversation with Spink took place fifty odd years after the fact and it's understandable that his memory is faulty. However, while Simmons had nothing to do with the founding of the 1860 version of the Unions, he was an original member of the post-Civil War Union Club. While it's highly unlikely that he ever captained the first nine, the rest of Fruin's statement (regarding Simmons leaving the club and starting a new one) is possible and needs more research.

A Little Spring Cleaning

I have a few notes laying around that I need to do something with and I thought I'd just throw them up on the blog, Joe Falls style:

-I got an email from Bill Burgess the other day sharing some information about David Reid and George Munson. Bill said that after ten years of searching he has finally discovered that Reid was born on May 14, 1848 in Nashville, TN. Ten years of searching-that's dedication. You have to hand it to Bill. Great work. He also discovered that Munson was born on August 15, 1858-not in 1860, as it was previously believed.

-Richard Malatzky has found the elusive death certificate for Packy Dillon. Dillon died on July 27, 1902 in Mehlville, Missouri. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis on July 29, 1902. Thanks to the fantastic work of Richard and others, we now know that Packy Dillon was Patrick Henry Dillon (b. January 2, 1853, St. Louis; d. July 27, 1902, Mehlville).

-Peter Morris sent me the following piece from the July 29, 1868 issue of the Cincinnati Daily Times:

"Base Ball has not a good foot-hold in St. Louis. There is a great spirit of hostility between the two clubs (the Empires and the Unions), and this hurts both. Neither has much chance for practice, except with each other, which they will not do...We should judge the Empires to be a club of workingmen, unable to bear much expense, and with small opportunity to bear much practice..."

This is rather interesting because it illustrates a point that I don't think I've ever made here at TGOG. St. Louis is seen as one of the country's great baseball cities and it is. But it hasn't always been. While it appears that baseball was popular in the city from the beginning, the game's popularity has waxed and waned in St. Louis over the years. The story of baseball in St. Louis is not one of constant growth from 1859 to the present. There was been set-backs and desperate moments when the very survival of the game in St. Louis was in question.

-I should also take this opportunity to thank the friends and readers of this site. I get a tremendous amount of support and encouragement from a variety of people who take time out of their busy day to help me. It's an amazing thing, I'm truly blessed, and I thank them all.

Person George Munson

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The Long Drawn Out Fraud

Throughout the whole season of 1866 the rivalry between the Union and Empire Clubs grew in intensity and the success of the latter had embittered the feelings of the former to a red hot degree when both clubs left St. Louis on Sunday night, Sept. 9, 1866, for Bloomington, Ill., to participate in a tournament to be held under the auspices of the Agricultural Fair Association of that city at which a number of prizes were to be awarded. Both clubs were represented by their best players and a goodly number of their respective club members, all filled with anxious hope that their favorite might win the highest honors in the five-day contest with the clubs from Chicago and other cities that had been announced as having entered the tournament...After arrival at Bloomington the entries were found to be as follows: Excelsior, Atlantic, Monitor, Pacific and Excelsior, Jr., of Chicago; Empire, of Freeport; Olympic, of Peoria; Hardin, of Jacksonville; Monitor, of Lincoln; Perseverance, of Ottawa, and the two St. Louis Clubs. It was early developed to Capt. Jerry Fruin's Empire clubbers that the honors of the tournament would not be permitted to go out of the State of Illinois and this part of the programme was faithfully carried out.

In arranging the order of play the Empire was loaded down, handicapped to the utmost limit in order that it should not win. Notwithstanding the gross injustice done and felt, Fruin and his men concluded to show their mettle and abided by the arranged order of play which, briefly stated, caused the Empire Club to open the tournament by a game with the Pacific, to play each day with on of the other clubs and to close the tournament with the Excelsior Club, which game was the only one that club played during the week. And to add to the flagrant wrong, after the Empire club had beaten every opponent and the last day came around when the Excelsiors were to play, that club was permitted by the management to select the best players from the other Chicago Clubs and to make surety doubly sure an umpire was selected, who did not dare to have the Empire win and this game still stands upon record as occupying the longest time, six hours and twenty minutes, through the efforts of the Umpire, Mr. Thomas, of the Freeport Club.

In placing his team for this match Capt. Fruin was forced to dispense with the services of Norton, third baseman, he having injured a hand the previous day and Tobias, who had not played during the week, having been engaged in his duties as secretary of the club, was assigned to third base, much against his own wishes then and to his own sorrow since, as a broken, crooked finger will attest. This accident happened in the second inning and through the perversity of the Excelsiors captain, Tobias was forced to remain in the game, though unable to use his right hand enough to hold up a bat. The Excelsiors played a waiting game all through by which Quinn, pitcher of the Empires, was required and did pitch 208 balls in two innings. Among the Excelsior players were Bancker and Williard, of the Harvard University nine, and Oliver, of the Eureka club of Newark, N.J. Interfering with base running was also one of the Excelsior accomplishments to which the Empire players were unaccustomed, as Bob Duncan demonstrated by splitting one player's pants wide open in front with his spikes on purposely getting in his way.

The crowd that witnessed this final game was a large and respectable one, running up in the thousands, more than half being ladies who did not hesitate to express their admiration and approval by numerous floral gifts, cheers and waving handkerchiefs at every success of an Empire player, and when the long drawn out fraud culminated in a score of 31 to 10 in favor to the Excelsiors, the applause was weak and soulless. Having been deprived of the just right to a fair and impartial game the Empire Club refused to accept anything but what they were entitled to, the first prize, though tendered the second. The list of prizes was as follows: First senior club, a gold ball and gold mounted bat; second senior club, a gold mounted bat; First junior club, a silver ball and bat; second junior club, a silver mounted bat; best pitcher, silver ice urn and goblets; best catcher, emblematic breast pin; best thrower, silver pitcher; fastest runner, silver mounted belt; largest number of home runs, silver goblet; best first baseman, silver cup and saucer; second baseman, silver jewel case; third baseman, two silver cups; left and center fielder, each a silver cup; and shortstop, a silver cake basket. Of the players' prizes the Empires received eight out of the nine, losing only that of pitcher...

The Union Club having failed to win a single game during the tournament was entitled to the consolation prize and on their return home went into winter quarters. The decadence of base ball at Agricultural Fairs dates from the day of the above game, September 15, 1866.

-E.H. Tobias, writing in The Sporting News, November 16, 1895

Kid Carsey

Wilfred Carsey pitched for the Browns in 1897 and 1898 when the franchise was at its nadir. After being acquired from Philadelphia in a trade for Ed McFarland, Carsey went 3-8 for the Browns with an ERA of 6.00 and an ERA+ of 73. In 1898, Carsey went 2-12 with an ERA of 6.33 and an ERA+ of 60. He also got some time at second base and in the outfield for the Browns that year. Carsey was one of the players shuttled off to Cleveland by the Robisons in 1899-so Kid Carsey had the privilege of playing for the worst baseball team of all time.

Interestingly, the most similar pitcher to Carsey, according to Baseball Reference, is Jaime Navarro.