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. 

It Must Have Been Picnic Season

First Grand Annual Picnic will be given by the members of the Baltic Base Ball Club at Pecan Grove, Ill., Sunday, June 25th.  Cars leave Terre Haute Depot at 8 A.M.  No intoxicated liquors will be on the ground.  Cars return at 6 P.M.

-Missouri Republican, June 25, 1865


Yesterday, we saw that the Jackson Club was holding a picnic and now we see the Baltics doing the same.  It must have been the cool thing to do.  More importantly, this shows that the social function that a ball club served had not been completely consumed by the growing competitive nature of the game.  These were still social clubs and not just baseball teams.

The reference to Pecan Grove, Illinois, is puzzling because I can't find a town in Illinois by that name.  It's possible, based on quick research, that it may have been in Greene County but that might have been a bit far to travel in 1865.  It's an odd reference.   

The Second Nine Of The Baltic Club

Local Editor Missouri Republican - Sir:  A match game of base ball came off yesterday on the old Commercial grounds, between the Baltic (second nine,) and the Independent Base Ball Clubs, which resulted in the defeat of the latter [by a score of 33-14.]

-Missouri Republican, June 5, 1863


Again, I'm talking about the fact that there was more baseball going on in St. Louis during the Civil War than I previously believed.  Here we see the Baltics, who were one of the antebellum clubs, still playing in 1863 and fielding two active nines.  In fact, just above this notice was a report of another game played between the two clubs that resulted in a victory for the Independents.  I haven't sat down and put a list together but, if I did, I'm reasonably certain that the number of clubs, adult and junior, that were active during the 1861-1864 period exceeded the number that were active during 1859-1860 period.  Not all of those clubs were active during the entire period but there were a substantial number of clubs and a substantial number of games being played as the war was going on.

Also of interest here is that the above notice was sent to the paper by the secretary of the Baltic Club, Shepard Barclay.  Barclay also was the field captain and pitcher for the Baltic's second nine that day.  After the war, Barclay would play for the St. Louis University and Union clubs but at this point he was a fifteen year old kid.  It probably says something about the nature of baseball in Civil War St. Louis that a fifteen year old held such a prominent position in what was, at that time, one of the oldest active baseball clubs in the city.

Note:  I see that I posted the box score to this game earlier this year, when I was first going through the Civil War era papers, but I think it's worth noting again, in light of the fact that I'm drawing different conclusions based on the evidence.  After almost two thousand posts and six years of blogging, it gets tough to remember sometimes what I've posted what I've not posted.            

Speaking Of Match Games During The Civil War...

A match game of base ball came off yesterday on the old Commercial grounds, between the Baltic (second nine) and the Independent Base Ball Clubs, which resulted in the defeat of the latter.

-Missouri Democrat, June 5, 1863


Two days before this game was played, Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the North and was heading for Pennsylvania.

Of note here, besides the fact that this was a rare match game played in St. Louis during the Civil War between two senior clubs, is that Shepard Barclay was pitching and captaining the Baltic Club.

The Semi-Professional Baltics

The following, from the New York Clipper, indicates that St. Louis will have more than one semi-professional club next season:

The directors of the newly-organized Baltic Club, of St. Louis, Mo., met at the Phoenix Hall December 12, when, a correspondent informs us, six of the nine were selected, as follows: H. Wilson, J.H. Mills and S.T. Bodine, fielders; W.W. Burke, short-stop; Mayne, of Bloomington, Ill., third base; George Stout, Cincinnati, O., second base. Eugene White, of Philadelphia, will fill the position of catcher, providing he can secure a release from the Aetnas of that place. Harry Woodall, of Iowa, will be the pitcher. Malone, of the Irvington (N.Y.) Club will play at first base. None of the players are over nineteen years of age. The directors are negotiating for the Lafayette Park Grounds. The club will probably come East in June.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 24, 1876

The O.K. Grounds

A very interesting game of base ball came off on the O.K. grounds Sunday (August 27), between the Hope, Jr. and Baltic, Jr. clubs in which the Hope, Jr. came off champions.

-St. Louis Daily Press, August 29, 1865

Really the only thing of interest here, besides more documentation of the rebirth of the game in St. Louis during 1865, is the reference to the O.K. Base Ball Club. Tobias mentions the club as existing in the postbellum period but I don't have much more information about them. I'd like to know more about them but I just don't.

Let Us Cross Over The River And Rest Under The Shade Of The Trees

A match game of base ball was played at Gamble Lawn, Saturday evening, between the "Baltic" and "Young Commercial" base ball club, which was decided in favor of the latter (by a score of 34-25).

-Missouri Democrat, May 11, 1863

This is rather significant because, at the moment, this is the only record of a match game played in St. Louis during the Civil War (excluding the questionable April-June 1865 period). All other references are to intramural club games.

Not only was this game played during the war, it was played right in the middle of the war when things were as bad as they could be. The future of the Union, in May of 1863, was very much in doubt. To put it in context, the battle of Chancellorsville was fought during the first week of May and Lee launched his second invasion of the North on June 3. Gettysburg would be fought less then two months after this game was played. This game took place at the height of the war.

And just to add a bit more color, Stonewall Jackson (pictured above) died on May 10, the day before the game was played.

Another note of interest is the reference to the "Young Commercial" club. It's unknown if this is a reference to the Commercials, a junior auxiliary of the club or a completely unrelated club. One would imagine that the first or second option is most likely.

Wonderfully On The Increase

An outstanding match of base ball came off last Sunday, at two o'clock, near the Abbey, on the grounds of the Resolute Base Ball club. The contest was between the Hope and Baltic Clubs, and resulted in the defeat of the later (by a score of 30-15)...

An unusually large number of spectators were on the grounds, and the game passed off pleasantly.

There are now five base ball clubs in this city-the Empire, Resolute, Hope, Baltic and Eureka, and we learn that they all are in a flourishing condition.

As peace is about dawning upon us, and the winter months are gone, sports of all kinds are reviving. Outdoor sports and gymnastic exercise are wonderfully on the increase.

-St. Louis Daily Press, May 10, 1865

A few quick notes before I comment on this rather informative article:

The umpire for the game was James Brennan of the Resolute Club and the scorers were Jas. Graham for the Hope and P. Dillon for the Baltic. One would have to assume that this was not Packy Dillon of Red Stocking fame, as he would have been twelve years old at the time.

Playing for the Hope that day was Richardson, c; Seaman, p; McMahon, 1st; Wiber, 2nd; Reed, 3rd; Rutherfur, ss; Verhein, lf; Ruble, cf; and McDonald, rf. Playing for the Baltic was Donnelly, ss; Delaghy, c; Reilly, 1b; Nugent, 2b; Clancy, 3b; Mahoney, cf; Cooke, lf; Farrell, rf; and Wilker, p. The field captains were Joseph Reed for the Hope and Edward Donnelly for the Baltics.

The Hope Base Ball Club is mentioned by E.H. Tobias as among "the very first of regularly formed clubs in St. Louis..." I have no record of them playing in the antebellum period but Tobias groups them with other antebellum clubs. It's unknown if they were active during the war, had reformed in 1865 or if this is an unrelated club that assumed the name.

The location of the game was at the Abbey Race Track Grounds. Tobias writes that the "Atlantic Club having established itself on new grounds at the Abbey race track played an inaugural game on Sept. 14 (1870) with the Empire Club...The grounds were not in suitable condition but one prior game having been played upon it." We now know that the site, which was located near the intersection of Page Blvd. and Whittier St. (southwest of the Fairgrounds and northwest of St. Louis University), was used as a baseball grounds as early as 1865.

The thing that really stands out for me is how quickly the game rebounds from the interruption of the war. This article mentions five clubs and there were several more that would become active by June of 1865. While we are now assuming that there was substantially more baseball activity during the war years then previously believed, it certainly had declined from the dozen or so clubs that were playing in 1860. By the summer of 1865, baseball in St. Louis had recovered to the point that there were as many clubs active in the first summer of peace as there were during the last summer before the war.

However, the question still remains, in my mind at least, as to whether or not the war was actually over in May of 1865 and whether these games should be classified as having been played during the war or as postbellum games. In this article, the statement that "peace is about dawning upon us" gives one pause. The logical conclusion of that statement is that peace has not, as of yet, dawned and that the war was still going on. Certainly, the war was in the process of ending and was, for all intents and purposes, over. But the Confederate Cabinet held a meeting on May 5, 1865 and Jefferson Davis wasn't captured until May 10th. Andrew Johnson stated that the war ended with Davis' capture. So if we go by the word of the President of the United States, the Hope/Baltic game was technically played while the war was still going on.

Just to continue the discussion of when the war ended, it should be noted that General Jeff Thompson, who was in charge of the military district of Arkansas, didn't surrender until May 11, and that Confederate forces in North Carolina didn't surrender until the next day. The Battle of Doaksville, the last battle of the war, was fought on June 23, 1865. And as I've mentioned previously, the last Confederate force surrendered in November of 1865. This was the CSS Shenandoah (pictured above), which continued hostilities throughout June and was heading to attack San Francisco in August when it received word of Lee's surrender.

The Baltic Base Ball Club in 1864

The first anniversary game of the Baltic Base Ball Club will be played on Monday, May 1st. All friends and lovers of the game are respectfully invited to attend, near the terminus of the Fifth street railroad.

-St. Louis Daily Press, April 30, 1865

The Baltic Club was mentioned by E.H. Tobias as one of the clubs that took part in a torchlight parade in 1865, welcoming back the Empire Club after they returned victorious from their trip to Freeport, Illinois. The significance of this notice in the Daily Press, however, is in the fact that if the Baltics were celebrating their first anniversary in May of 1865 then the club was founded in the spring of 1864.

Again, as I mentioned a few days ago when talking about the Laclede Club in 1861, the source material, up to this point, was unanimous in stating that the Empires were the only baseball club active during the war years. But if the Baltic Club was founded in the spring of 1864 then it is most probable that they were playing baseball that year. What's the point of forming a baseball club if you're not going to play baseball?

While I haven't, as of yet, found the records of any club other than the Empires playing baseball during the 1861-1864 era, I think it's only a matter of time. At this point, I have little doubt that there were clubs besides the Empires active in St. Louis during the Civil War.