Photos Of The 1876 Brown Stockings

Your 1876 Brown Stockings

As I mentioned yesterday, Paul Batesel sent me the cropped Packy Dillon photo.  He also sent me these pictures, cropped from the above team photo of the 1876 Brown Stockings.  The individual pictures look fantastic and Paul did a great job with them.  Much thanks to him for passing them along.

John Clapp

George Washington Bradley

Herman Dehlman

Joe Battin

Mike McGeary

Denny Mack

Ted McGinley

Ned Cuthbert

Lipman Emmanuel Pike

Bad Dickey Pearce

Paul also sent me the cropped photo of Joe Blong but it was in a different format and I haven't bothered to change it into a jpg yet.  So you don't get to see that.  Sorry.

Also of note, and something that I never considered until just now, the inclusion of McGinley in the photo means that the photo was taken after June 23, 1876, when McGinley joined the team.  For some reason, I always just assumed that the photo was taken at the beginning of the season.

Again, big hat tip to Paul.  These pictures are just great.      

The 1876 Brown Stockings: Dissatisfaction, Recrimination And Envy

To the Editor of the Globe-Democrat:

St. Louis, July 29, 1876.-It is a good rule to let well enough alone, and the Brown Stocking management would have done well to recollect it when they laid off Pearce, who had been playing a beautiful game, and replaced Mack at short. The result might have been the same in the first two Louisville games, but the chances are that it would not. We all see, too, the result of engaging players for the ensuing year in the height of the playing season. Dissatisfaction, recrimination and envy take the place of unity, good nature, and the determination of each player to do his level best. They all laughed at Chadwick when he urged club managers to stop the pernicious practice a year ago. It will be adopted by the League next year for their very preservation.

Umpire

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 30, 1876

When I get to writing up this part of the Brown Stockings' story, I think "Dissatisfaction, Recrimination And Envy" will make a nice chapter title.

By the way, it certainly looks like we have a bit of a shortstop controversy. Mack had a bit more power (and I use the term loosely) while Bad Dickey was probably the better fielder (even if he was forty years old). Six of one, half dozen of the other. Neither covered themselves with laurels in 1876. There's a reason the club picked up Davey Force for 1877.

The 1876 Brown Stockings: Bad Dickey Covers Himself With Glory

The second game here between the Brown Stockings and Mutuals, yesterday afternoon, at the Grand Avenue Park, was witnessed by a small crowd, not over 800 persons being present. The slim attendance was no doubt due in a great degree to the weather, the sky being filled with dark, ominous-looking clouds, which threatened rain at every moment. McGeary was not able to play, not having recovered from the recent injury received to his hand, and Mack played second base, the veteran Pearce assuming his old position at short field, where, during the progress of the game, he covered himself with glory, and demonstrated his ability to still cover the post with honor, as he did in his palmiest days, years ago. The game was at first uninteresting, but the Browns got down to work and did some heavy batting before the close. They knocked poor Matthews' balls all over the field without difficulty, and aided by the miserable fielding of the Mutuals, scored eight runs and blanked the visiting club in the whole nine innings. Pearce and Battin did well at the stick, each securing three safe hits. Pearce batted free and hard, not attempting his fair fouls. The fielding of the Browns was very fair, the greatest feature, and one for which Pearce was enthusiastically cheered, was an exciting triple play, which was made in the sixth inning. Nichols was on third base, and Holdsworth on first. Start stepped up to bat, and drove a red hot liner to Pearce, who caught it, and quickly threw to first to head Holdsworth off, who had started for second. Dehlman caught the ball before Holdsworth could return to his base and then threw to Battin at third, thus cutting off Nichols, who had run in on the fly. The batting on the part of the Mutuals was very poor, Nichols and Hicks being the only men who batted safe, the former securing two and the latter one hit. In the field a number of glaring errors were committed, but Hallinan, with the exception of one ludicrous muff, Start, Nichols, Hicks and Booth did some fine playing.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, June 30, 1876

If you're scoring at home, the triple play went 6-3-5. Also, this was George Washington Bradley's eighth shutout of the year.

After getting swept by the Hartfords, the Brown Stockings rattled off seven wins in their next eight games, the only blemish being the 10-5 loss in Boston on June 15. And they picked up only one game in the standings. After going 7-1 in their last eight games (including six wins in a row), the Brown Stockings still found themselves five games back of Chicago. Between June 17 and July 24, the club would lose twice...and only pick up a half game on the White Stockings.

Thomas McNeary, The Brown Stockings, Eastern Trips And Bad Dickey

It is expected that the new grounds, negotiations for which are proceeding, will be inaugurated with a game with the Chicago Club, after which the St. Louis Club will set out on its first Eastern tour. The new grounds will, it is said, be very near the city (a desideratum the present grounds lack), and very ample both for the players and spectators.

-Chicago Tribune, November 22, 1874

I've been looking at the organization of the Brown Stockings in 1874 and thought this note from the Trib was particularly relevant.

Thomas McNeary was involved in the original meetings organizing the club and had gone so far as to purchase some of the club's stock. However, by the beginning of 1875, he was making plans to place the Red Stockings in the National Association in competition with the Brown Stockings. I had speculated that his plans changed once the Brown Stockings decided to play their home games at the Grand Avenue Grounds rather than McNeary's Compton Avenue Grounds.

The above article shows that the Brown Stockings did not originally intend to play their home games at the Grand Avenue Grounds and were looking for grounds closer to the population center of the city. While I can't say for certain that they were looking at playing at the Compton Avenue Grounds (even though I think it was a bit closer to the center of the city), I do think this lends a bit of evidence to the idea that McNeary got involved with the club in the hope of getting them to play at his baseball grounds.

Also of interest is the notion that the Brown Stockings had originally planned on making an early trip East in 1875. If I'm remembering correctly (and not confusing 1875 with 1876), the Globe was disappointed that the club did not play the Eastern clubs early on and instead opened the season against the weaker Western clubs. These original plans to go East in May helps explain the Globe's sense of disappointment.

Apropos of nothing, about eight times today I came across Dickey Pearce being referred to in 1874 as "Bad Dickey." I know there's been some discussion here and elsewhere about 19th century nicknames and how much they were used at the time and I thought I'd just pass it along. Even Harry Wright referred to Pearce as Bad Dickey in a letter. It is, by the way, a great nickname and reminiscent of Bad Henry Aaron. Oddly enough, B-Ref doesn't have it listed as Pearce's nickname.

The Pearce Game

By far the largest congregation of citizens at a base-ball match were assembled at the park of the St. Louis Browns today (June 7, 1875). The defeat of the Bostons on Saturday, the first the boys of the Hub had received this season, had whetted the almost blunted purposes of the St. Louis citizens and, as the games stood 1 to 1, there was, of course, considerable anxiety manifested to see the boys who had dared to defeat the Reds of Boston. The day was beautiful for ball work, and gave a fair and square chance to both sides to show where the skill and ability lay, and every one is wishing to acknowledge the score in favor of the Bostons. There were several rumors afloat this morning that Pearce, the short-stop of the St. Louis nine, had received money from a prominent merchant on Main street to keep himself out of the way of balls, but there was certainly no evidence of such a transaction in the playing of Pearce, who has only one error charged to him. Bradley, who was carried off on the shoulders of six men after the game on Saturday, on account of the victory of the Browns, fell from his usual standard of pitching, being indisposed from an attack of vertigo. The score stands 15 to 2 in favor of the Eastern club.

-Chicago Daily Tribune, June 8, 1875

So this is most likely Ginsburg's source and it is, at the moment, all I can find regarding accusations against Pearce. Not much meat on the bone. There was a rumor floating around St. Louis the day of the game that Pearce was being paid off and then the Brown Stockings got spanked by the Bostons. Well, a lot of teams got spanked by Boston in 1875 so there's nothing unusual about that.

However, if I'm a St. Louis gambler and bet big money on Boston to win the series, I might be inclined to seek some kind of deal after St. Louis shocked Boston the day before and handed them their first loss. The Browns were a good club in 1875 and actually beat Boston (who only lost eight games overall) twice that year. So I guess it's plausible that the game could have been fixed.

And what's up with Bradley? Vertigo? Really? Did Bradley have a history of vertigo? This is a bit odd. It was insinuated that Bradley was involved in a possible fix against the Mutuals in 1876 and here he is in 1875, in another disputed game, having a horrible game and a rather strange excuse for his performance.

The most likely explanation is that the Brown Stockings got beat by a much better club, Bradley had a poor game due to illness and the Pearce rumor was just a rumor. But the damning thing here is that the rumor was making the rounds before rather than after the game.

A Letter From Dickey Pearce

I found this February 3, 1908 letter that Dickey Pearce wrote to Sam Crane at the Robert Edwards Auction website. It sold for $5287.50 in 2007. Crane was investigating the origins of the curveball and Pearce offered a few thoughts. In the letter, he wrote the following:

Friend Crane - I see by the journal that was sent me from New York I see that you want hear from the old players. I think I am the oldest player. You want the name of the first curved a B Ball not one in front of a bar. I have seen a grate [sic] many but Boby [sic] Mathews was the first that I ever saw when he came to New York with a club from Loway and dumped all that went against him but if you will consult pop Chadwick or Will N. Rankin of the New York Clipper you may get what you are looking for as they have all the records from way back when the ball took its first curve. - Hope that you will meet with success. I remain yours truly - Dicky Pearce.

Here's Another Fine Mess

Did I say something about wanting to look for accusations of game fixing during the Brown Stockings' 1875 season?

In early June (1875), rumors were afloat that a game between the Boston Red Stockings and the St. Louis Brown Stockings had been fixed. Boston won the game 15-2, and gossip hinted that St. Louis shortstop Dickey Pearce "had received money from a prominent merchant to keep himself out of the way of ground balls."

-Daniel Ginsburg, The Fix Is In: A History of Baseball Gambling and Game Fixing Scandals

Well, there you go. During their entire existence and at least once a season, members of the St. Louis Brown Stockings were accused of game fixing. I think Ginsburg's source is the Eagle but I'll have to run it down.

I'm not prepared to state that the Brown Stockings were a corrupt club from head to toe and beginning to end but we have lots and lots of smoke here. Pearce, McGeary, Battin, Blong, Force, and McManus were all accused of game fixing to one extent or another between 1875 and 1877. There were subtle accusations against Bradley during the McGeary incident in 1876. Were all of these accusations creditable? No. But some were. Throw in problems with the umpires that the club employed and rumors that cropped up among the fans from time to time that the team was laying down and it's one big ugly mess.

Now given the times, it's possible that this was something that all clubs went through. I don't know if that's true but there were a lot of accusations flying around and not all of them were true. So it's possible that there were several clubs during the 1875-1877 period who's players were habitually accused of game fixing. If so, we can add the Brown Stockings to the list and move on. If not...

And completely off topic, did you know that Oliver Hardy never said "another fine mess" in a film? He always said "another nice mess." You learn something new everyday.

The 1876 Brown Stockings: An Incident Worthy Of Note

The Clipper weighs in on the McGeary game:

One plain fact was elicited in the week's play, and that was that the St. Louis team, with all playing their level best to win, is one strong enough to successfully cope with the best in the League; but if doing their best can not be insured, the strength they possess becomes comparatively useless...But there appears to be other drawbacks in the composition of the team, which will tell against their record before the season is over. There was an incident connected with this game which is worthy of note. Cuthbert, before the game began, was very active in the field, holding difficult fly balls with ease. After the second inning had ended, though he had not handled the ball in the game, he declined to play further, the alleged cause being "a sore hand." Pearce was put in to play in his stead at left field, and the veteran, when he stepped up to the bat, received a hearty greeting of applause.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, June 1, 1876

The Cuthbert incident was mentioned in a previous post and the insinuation was that Cuthbert left the game in disgust, angered by McGeary's play.

I'm still surprised that there were rumors of game fixing surrounding the club in 1876. It's not that this kind of thing wasn't going on (see the 1877 Brown Stockings) but that I've never heard anything like this in connection with the 1876 Browns. We can now say that, regardless of the facts on the field, there were allegations of game fixing surrounding the Brown Stockings in both 1876 and 1877.

I believe that the most relevant question right now is whether or not there were any allegations made against the 1875 Brown Stockings. As of right now, I'm not aware of any but it seems like we need to take a closer look at that. Allegations of game fixing against the 1875 club would significantly change the story of the 1875-1877 Brown Stockings.

On Neutral Ground (or It's About Frakkin' Time)

It's like we finally get to New Brunswick and instead of finding a White Castle we find a Burger Shack. For those who don't know what that means, all I can say is: Let's burn it down, Pookie!

The following detailed account of the Brown Stockings' game with the Philadelphias, on Wednesday, is clipped from the Cincinnati Commercial:

The seventh game of the championship series between the Philadelphia Club and the Brown Stockings, of St. Louis, was played at Ludlow Park yesterday, in the presence of about 600 spectators. It was a necessity with both clubs to play the game, as the season is drawing to a close, and the clubs entered for the the whip pennant have too many games yet to play to permit of their passing a day in idleness, or in playing semi-amateur clubs, such as the Stars and Ludlows. As a pecuniary speculation the affair was a failure, but as an exhibition of the beauties of the "National Lunacy" it was considerable of a success.

The St. Louis team was as strong a one as the club can muster. Seward was the only substitute in the list, and he fielded and batted up to the highest standard. The Philadelphia nine was also composed of the picked players of the club, and every man at the outset of the game was in his home position. Mr. Mack, of the Star Club, was chosen umpire, and called play at 3: 40 p.m., with the Philadelphias at the bat, they having lost the toss.

The Quakers opened the play in a style that augured well for their success. Murnan and McGeary, the first two strikers, made clean hits for bases, and were each in turn thrown out while attempting to steal second. The throwing of Miller and the skill with which Battin handled the ball are deserving of special note, as the men who were put out in this manner are among the best runners and base stealers in the profession. Their failure to play this point had a very dampening effect on their comrades, and proportionately elated the Browns.

When the St. Louis nine went to the bat, Pike made his base on an error of Murnan after Cuthbert had been retired. Base hits by Battin and Pearce followed, and Pike scored his run, being helped to it by Addy's failure to stop Pearce's hit for a single base. Bradley drove a hot grounder to Fulmer, who failed to stop it, as also did McMullen at center field, these errors giving two more runs to St. Louis. There the tally stopped, however, and no runs were scored on either side in the following inning. In the third inning the Philadelphias got their third blinder, while on a one-base hit by Pearce, and a two-baser by Bradley, two runs were added to the St. Louis score, completing their total for the game. Neither of these runs was earned, as McGeary's carelessness gave Pearce a life at second base on a hit that Addy fielded in promptly enough to have nabbed him had McGeary been quick enough in putting the ball on to Dickey.

The Philadelphias failed to score until the ninth inning. In the fourth inning, Addy was left on third base, and in the seventh inning Meyerle was thrown out at home base while attempting to run in on Miller's throw to Battin to catch Fulmer, who, as a substitute for Snyder, was stealing to second. Meyerle's hit in this inning sent the ball over center field fence, but he was restricted to one base on it. In the ninth inning McGeary made a good base hit to left field, and got second on a wild return of the ball by Cuthbert. A passed ball gave him third, and he came in at Addy's expense, that tricky player hitting to right field and being thrown out at first by Battin.

There were some very clever plays in this game. Battin and Miller, of the St. Louis Club, guarded their positions splendidly, and while Miller's throws were made quickly and accurately, Battin was always on hand to hold them, and it was like walking into a man trap for a Philadelphia player to endeavor to steal to second base. Battin's fielding record in this game is a most remarkable one. Pearce also played well both in the field and at the bat, and displayed his usual excellent judgment in directing his men in their plays.

Te best playing done on the Philadelphia side was done by Meyerle, Snyder and McGeary. Snyder caught without an error, although the pitching at times was quite irregular. Fulmer played poorly at short field, and in the fourth inning was transferred to third base, where he rendered a better account of himself. After this inning McGeary played at short and Meyerle at second base. Addy had one error at right field, but played a lively, skillful game. The victory was the fifth to be placed to the credit of the St. Louis Club, although the Philadelphias in one of the two games of the series in which they were successful, scored sixteen runs against nine consecutive whitewashes of their opponents.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 24, 1875

The final score to this rather odd game was 5-1 in favor of the Brown Stockings.

So the first two batters get on for Philadelphia but are both thrown out trying to steal and then later Bob Addy gets a hit and drives in a run only to be thrown out at first. That's a good bit of strangeness. I don't think I've ever seen the first two batters of a game get on and then thrown out stealing.

Also, we have the Commercial's take on why the game was played in Ludlow: "It was a necessity with both clubs to play the game, as the season is drawing to a close, and the clubs entered for the the whip pennant have too many games yet to play to permit of their passing a day in idleness, or in playing semi-amateur clubs, such as the Stars and Ludlows." The game had to be played because the season was almost over and a club couldn't be wasting their time playing the Stars and the Luds. But wasn't that exactly what St. Louis and Philadelphia were doing? It's kind of a non-explanation. It doesn't address why specifically St. Louis and Philadelphia were playing in Ludlow on September 22, 1875 but rather generally addresses the idea that they needed to play. The game was played because it was necessary to play the game.

What was Philadelphia doing in Cincinnati? We know the Brown Stockings were there wasting their time playing the Stars and the Luds. Did they arrange to meet in the city and play? Was the game arranged before the Brown Stockings left St. Louis? Was the game arranged at the last minute as a matter of convenience?

I think after a week's worth of posts on the topic I may have more questions then when I started looking into this. But that's life. And I was going to post the "Burn it down, Pookie!" clip for you but decided that, besides being NSFW, it was seriously inappropriate at a family-friendly blog like TGOG. But here's the link. Just don't play it around the children.

The Brown Stockings In Kentucky (or Play Harder And With Less Errors)

This is starting to remind me of The Monster At The End Of This Book, which, by the way, was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. Let's see if we can move this along.

The Brown Stockings came to the Cincinnati area, as we've seen, on September 15, 1875 and played the Covington Stars, winning 12-8. Right around this time they signed Joe Blong to a contract for 1876, possibly leading to Blong's "incident" during the Stars/Ludlow exhibition a few days later. On September 17, they played the Luds, winning 27-6. The next day, the Brown Stockings played the Cincinnati Red Stockings:

The Cincinnati Commercial thus describes the unsatisfactory finish of Saturday's game between St. Louis and Cincinnati:

Ninth Inning-Clark went out at first, Sweasy on a fly to the pitcher, and Nichols out at first.

Browns-The game now stood 12 to 9 in favor of the Reds, and a half inning yet to be played by the Browns. Pike, with a safe hit, reached first. Battin struck a fly to right field, which was taken by Wardell very close to the ground. The umpire decided it out, and Pike, who had run to second, was declared out at first. The Browns declared that the ball had not been fairly caught, but picked up. The question was noisily quarreled over by the two clubs, and a crowd of spectators who had rushed in. The umpire holding to his decision, the Captain of the Browns refused to finish the game, and so it ended, the umpire deciding the result to be 9 to 0 in favor of the Reds. It was an unfortunate termination. The Browns, of course, claim that they were unfairly used by the umpire, but there is another side on that claim. Had the Browns paid less attention to the cheers of the crowd for the Cincinnati Club, taken less to heart the decisions of the umpire against them, and played harder and with less errors, it is not at all unlikely that they would have come out winners. But if, under these circumstances, they had played the game out and been beaten in the end, they would stand in a better light before the base ball public than they now do.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 21, 1875

Dickey Pearce stated later that the reason the Browns left the field was that they thought there were three outs and the game was over. I'm not sure that that's believable.

To wrap this up, on September 20 the Brown Stockings made a trip to Louisville to play the Joe Ellick and the Eagles, winning 11-3. Also, on the same day, Philadelphia arrived in Cincinnati and defeated the Reds (Cincinnati, not St. Louis) by a score of 6-5.

Dickey Pearce Sues The Brown Stockings

Richard J. Pearce, one of the oldest professional base ballists in the United States, who for the last twenty years has followed the profession for a living, has had some trouble with the "St. Louis Base Ball Association." Yesterday he filed a suit against that corporation, stating that on the 15th of September, 1875, he obligated himself by written contract to play base ball for defendants from the first of November, 1875, to the first of November, 1876, the stipulations of the contract being that he should receive $1,500 for his services, $100 of which was to be paid in advance. A supplemental contract was also made at the same time, by which it was covenanted that in the event of plaintiff being called upon to act as captain of the club, he should receive an additional compensation of $300. That subsequently the plaintiff did act as captain of the club during the month of May, 1876. The petitioner states that the Association is indebted to him in the sum of $350, $50 of which sum is due on the original contract, and $300 due on the supplemental contract.

The plaintiff is better known as Dick Pearce, the celebrated short-stop, and his pitching into the Association will attract the attention of all who go for home runs. He may catch a hot one when the answer is filled, and may be put out with a foul.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, January 21, 1877

St. Louis Players Wanted At Ludlow, Kentucky

Mr. J.H. Gifford, manager of the Ludlow club, which is being reorganized, writes that he is anxious to engage first-class players. He says that the club will not pay any fancy salaries, but that the men will be sure of their money as fast as it falls due. The organization is in need of a catcher, change pitcher, short-stop and third baseman. Manager Gifford would like to hear from Seward, Pearce, Redmond, Gleason, McCaffrey and other players now in St. Louis. If they will write, stating their lowest terms, an agreement may be arrived at. Out of the material mentioned above a very strong team could be placed in the field.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 5, 1877

At first glance, I was rather dismissive of Gifford's attempt to land the mentioned players for the Ludlows. I particularly liked the part about how he wanted the players to mail him their lowest terms and thought it was funny. But if you look at it, the players that Gifford was targeting were certainly attainable. Dickey Pearce was 41 years old and at the end of the line. George Seward and Billy Redmon weren't big stars and neither played more than seventy big league games. The Gleasons and Harry McCaffrey were youngsters. There was no reason, given enough money, that Gifford couldn't have signed all five.

C. Orrick Bishop And The Brown Stockings

Bishop had played amateur baseball while attending Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, and pursuing legal studies in Louisville. His playing career ended when he opened a law practice in St. Louis during 1867, but Bishop remained active in promoting local amateur baseball. This long-time love for the sport persuaded Bishop to accept a major role in the development of the Brown Stockings. Team officials, impressed by his intimate knowledge of the game, appointed him as managing director and entrusted him with recruiting players for the team. Approaching this mission very seriously, Bishop spent a month away from his thriving legal practice to travel the East Coast in search of ballplayers. He focused his efforts in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, cities whose teams had previously traveled to St. Louis.

Bishop signed three players-shortstop Dickey Pearce, right fielder Jack Chapman, and first baseman Herman "Dutch" Dehlman-from the roster of the 1874 Brooklyn Atlantics. While in Brooklyn, Bishop also secured the services of Lipman Pike, who had played the previous season with the Harford Dark Blues...

Bishop discovered the rest of his starting nine in and around Philadelphia...(specifically among) the Easton, Pennsylvania, amateur team...

Bishop had put together a fine team, and the Brown Stockings' shareholders commended him for performing his duty "in a manner highly satisfactory to his confreres in the new venture." But by hiring a starting lineup of ballplayers born in either New York or Pennsylvania, Bishop had risked alienating some sectors of St. Louis society that yearned to see the city represented by homegrown talent.

-From Before They Were Cardinals

I think the interesting question here is who specifically made the decision to bring in the "Atlantic/Easton professionals." While I had always assumed that it was a collective decision by the Brown Stockings board, Jon David Cash makes it sound here as if it was Bishop's decision alone. As managing director, he was tasked by the board to put together the team and he then proceeded to head East to sign the players. Certainly he had the support of the board in this decision to bring in "outsiders" but a great deal of credit must be given to Bishop.

This decision to bring in the Eastern players was a watershed event in the history of St. Louis baseball and had a tremendous impact on the future of the game in St. Louis. I don't think that it's a coincidence that the Brown Stockings' board was made up of several members of the Union Base Ball Club, whose former president was Asa Smith, the visionary and forward-thinking modenizer of the St. Louis game in the 1860's. Certainly Smith had had a tremendous impact on the thinking of his fellow club members who sat on the Brown Stockings' board and I believe that if Smith had been alive in 1875 he would have approved of bringing in the Eastern players.

Dickey Pearce

One of the original members of the Brooklyn Atlantics in 1855, Dickey Pearce spent most of his adult life on the baseball field. For nearly three decades he covered the ground between second and third base as no other player in his time. Short, stout and slow of foot, Pearce did not look like a star athlete. But he made up for his physical limitations with what Henry Chadwick called "head work." He virtually invented the position of shortstop. A skillful fielder with an accurate and strong throwing arm, Pearce positioned himself on the infield according to the proclivities of the opposing batters and in anticipation of plays. He perfected the deceptive infield fly double play which became a standard defensive ploy until the infield fly rule was implemented. His knowledge of the game, judgment and competitive spirit more than made up for his size and lack of speed.

Pearce was equally innovative at the plate, becoming the prototypical leadoff hitter...he was an effective contact hitter who had a knack for getting on base ahead of his power-hitting Atlantic teammates. He took advantage of the existing rules by developing the "fair-foul" hit, an early variant of the drag bunt...

Pearce played 16 consecutive seasons for the Atlantics before the team broke up after the 1870 campaign. In 1871, Pearce and teammates Bob Ferguson and Joe Start moved to the New York Mutuals in the newly formed National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. He returned to the reconstituted Atlantics for the 1873 and 1874 seasons and played in every game. In 1874, Pearce led the team in batting average, on base percentage, runs, hits, and RBIs. Pearce joined with his former teammate Lip Pike to play for the St. Louis Browns in 1875 and 1876. In 1877, he played for Providence for most of the season, returning to St. Louis to complete his big league career.

Age did not diminish Pearce's enthusiasm for the game. Unwilling to hang up his spikes, he continued to play for local teams in the St. Louis area and later for various minor league clubs. With the spring thaw in March, back in Brooklyn Pearce could be seen playing with younger New York area professional players in preseason practice games at the Parade Grounds. But Pearce was no longer able to financially support himself and his family as a player. To honor Dickey's contribution to the game, in 1881 the New York Mets played a benefit match with a picked nine of veteran players captained by Pearce. The proceeds from the game allowed Pearce to open a "wine saloon" at 7 Boerum Street near the court house in downtown Brooklyn. The establishment became a sort of sports bar, decorated with mementos of Pearce's playing days and stocked with the latest sports weeklies.

Not content with a sedentary life, Pearce was forever drawn back to the diamond. On May 10, 1883, at the newly formed Brooklyn Base Ball Club's inaugural game at Washington Park, a New York Clipper reporter noticed Pearce among the crowd of spectators. According to the Clipper, Pearce was in trim shape and looking for an opportunity to captain and play infield for an Interstate League team. The following year, at age 48, Pearce did return to the playing field as the player-captain of the Quincy, Illinois, baseball club in the Northwestern League.

Although an injury in 1884 finally brought an end to Pearce's playing career, he had one final contribution to make to the game. With the formation of the short-lived Players League in 1890, Pearce was hired to help design and maintain the ballpark for the New York franchise. Constructed in 1890 at the northern end of Coogan's Hollow in 1891, the New York club's ball grounds would be renamed the Polo Grounds, the third and final incarnation of the park that would be home to the New York Giants. Pearce continued to work as a groundskeeper at the Polo Grounds for several years.

Upon his retirement, Pearce moved to Boston and later Cape Cod. He was somewhat of a local celebrity, appearing in numerous Old Timers Games. According to Christopher Price of the Barnestable Patriot (Cape Cod, Mass.), Pearce caught the flu while playing in a 1908 Old Timers Game in Boston. He returned to his Wareham, Massachusetts, home on Cape Cod where he died on September 18.

-From Long Before The Dodgers: Baseball in Brooklyn, 1855-1884 by James L. Terry

A Combination Of Vintage Base Ball And An Old-Timers Game

A game of baseball under the rules of 1868 was played yesterday on the Elysian Fields, Hoboken, by players who were experts at the style of playing in vogue 20 years ago. The game was gotten up as a complimentary benefit for John Zeller, one of the old Mutual Club's players, who has become crippled, by a number of veteran ball players. Several hundered persons were attracted to the grounds by the novelty of the game. At 3 o'clock only nine of the ancient players had arrived, and it was decided to form them into a team by themselves to play against a picked nine of young men under the old rules. The two nines were called the "Olds" and the "Youngs."

The ancients went on the field under the captaincy of "Dickey" Pearce, the once famous short stop of the Atlantics. "Dickey" wore his old-fashioned uniform of gray and red, and were it not for his gray hair and bald head would have looked as much like a ball player as ever. He took up his old position at shor stop and the other eterans distributed themselves over the field...

The old men looked very comical as they went upon the field. Some had no uniforms at all while others had on remnants of suits in which they had played a score of years ago. The old underhand style of pitching was used, and as a result the batting was terrific. The old fellows could hit the ball if they couldn't do anything else, and they dept the youngsters running for about half an hour in each inning. Then the young ones would take their turn and they got along very nicely, as the veterans couldn't stop anything. Mr. Pearce was the only one who made any attempt at real playing and he distinguished himself by some really clever pick-ups and throws. after two innings had been played the old men became tired and winded and the rest of the game was a burlesque. Any kind of a hit was a home run, for the fielders allowed the ball to pass through them and then walked after it. This kind of playing made Mr. Pearce angry and his old-time blood was up. He shouted at his men until his face got red, but they only laughed at him as they sat on the ground to wait for some boys to go after a ball batted to the outfield.

At the end of six innings the Olds had made 36 runs and the Youngs 24. That settled it; the Olds had glory enough, and the game was called...No balls or strikes were called, and all the umpire did was to do as the spectators did-look at the game and laugh.

-From The New York Times, August 23, 1888

The Empires Toss The Yarn And Leather

"The Empires indulged in tossing the yarn and leather about at a great rate at their park yesterday afternoon. At a late hour two 'nines,' composed of ten men each, were picked out and went for one another at a great rate. It was the intention of the boys to play a game between the married and single members of the club, but it had to be abandoned on account of the benedicts staying away; so the two tens were mixed up. Nine innings were played, which resulted in favor of the Spaulding side (over the Barron side, 32-22)."

"In the third inning Ellick, Spaulding and Welch made a very pretty double play. During the game Jimmy Spaulding made a home run. The weather was entirely too cold to play ball, but any amount of fun was indulged in by the players which pleased the 500 or 600 spectators in attendance hugely. Before the game came off, Billy Gorman, of the Empires, in taking a terrible hot liner, got the third finger of his right hand broken. 'Surgeon' Dickey Pearce, being on the ground, set the finger in real professional style."

-From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 12, 1875

Remembrance Of Things Past

We were very proud of our St. Louis Browns, and equally jealous of the Chicago White Sox. One never gets this partisanship out of the blood. Only last Saturday the sculptor, Ruckstull, now sixty-eight, and sunk deep in the hollow of a library leather chair from which he was freely reading Montaigne's archaic French, paused at some mention of memory and said: "What a heaven sent gift memory is!" And then, with an accusing challenge, "Can you name the whole nine of the first St. Louis league team when they won that first series from Chicago in 1874?"

And trying to beat each other to it, we alternated and interfered and reached a flushed crescendo in a run of competing explosions, telling: "Bradley, pitch; Miller, catch; Dehlman, Bannon, Hogue, on bases; Dickey Pierce at short; and in the field? Cuthbert, Chapman, and-and Haight."

But we couldn't remember Chicago. We remembered the whiskers on some of those Lake Front athletes, as luxuriant as those now worn by the Cough Drop Brothers. And all the time the sculptor was commanding attention with a hand on which the hypnotic feature was an ossified contusion of the first phalange of the little finger, pitched to him on our old railroad nine of that epoch.

-From The Print of My Remembrance

Augustus Thomas (pictured above as a young man), author of The Print of My Remembrance, was a playwright and journalist who was born in St. Louis in 1857. As a young man, he worked on the railroad in St. Louis which explains the reference to "our old railroad nine."

I guess I should point out the irony of discussing how wonderful a thing memory is and then not being able to remember correctly the year the Brown Stockings joined the NA. Thomas and Frederick Ruckstull also misidentified the Brown Stockings starting nine. "Bannon" was Joe Battin and I don't know who "Haight" was but the name they were looking for was Lip Pike.

The Atlantic Base Ball Club Of St. Louis

Bill Kelsoe, in A Newspaper Man's Motion-Picture Of The City, makes two references to the Atlantics of Brooklyn playing in St. Louis. He mentions a game played between the Reds and the Atlantics on July 29, 1874 and another between the Empire Club and the Atlantics on May 2, 1875. When I read those references, I was immediately skeptical (as seen in this post).

The Atlantics did come to St. Louis in 1868. They defeated the Union 68-9 on June 27th and then beat the Empire 53-15 two days later. This is the only record of an Atlantics' visit to St. Louis that I can find. The only other link that I can find between St. Louis and the Atlantics of Brooklyn is the fact that Lip Pike, Dickey Pearce, and Jack Chapman all played for the Atlantics before joining the Brown Stockings in 1875.

My assumption was that Kelsoe, who in writing his book used both the records of numerous St. Louis newspapers as well as his own personal recollections and those of his acquaintances, had simply confused the 1868 visit of the Atlantics of Brooklyn with games played in 1874 and 1875 by a St. Louis amateur team also called the Atlantics. He was, after all, writing almost fifty years after the fact and these things happen. When going through my notes, I found a reference to an Atlantic Base Ball Club in St. Louis that supports my assumption. This Atlantic Club was an amateur team that played its home games at the Compton Avenue Base Ball Park owned by Thomas McNeary.

In the April 5, 1875 edition of the St. Louis Globe, there is an account of a game played between the Reds and the Atlantics in which the Reds emerged with a 32-4 victory. Playing for the Atlantics that day were Libby, Price, Williams, Jones, Rippy, Myers, Kelly, Mueller, and Devinney. The Globe states that it was the intention of the Atlantics to join the Missouri State Association that year and compete for the amateur baseball championship of Missouri. The officers of the Atlantics were listed as J. Walter (president), E. Hogan (secretary), George Waugh (treasurer), and L. Meyer (director).

One has to assume, based on this evidence, that the team that defeated the Reds at the Compton Avenue Park in 1874 and the team that was beaten by the Empire at the Grand Avenue Park in 1875 was the Atlantic Base Ball Club of St. Louis and not the Atlantics of Brooklyn.