The Western Team

The St. Louis Reds and Niagaras played a pretty game of base ball yesterday afternoon, on the grounds of the former club, which was witnessed by about 1,000 spectators.  The Niagaras gave the Reds a good close rub, and the game was therefore interesting from the beginning to the close, and was greatly enjoyed by all in attendance.  Both teams had on their new uniforms, which looked so much alike that it was hard to tell at times a Niagara player from a Red Stocking man.

Packy Dillon, the catcher of the Red Stockings, having a sore hand, could not play, so their substitute was put on, Redmond being placed behind the bat, Oran at third, and McSorley in short field.  "Old Swees" took a hand in the game, and played at second base, which position he filled right up to the handle...

The game was the best one that has been played here all season.  The Reds did not "show up" very well because some of their men did not play in their home positions.  The playing yesterday allows that they have got it in them to play a good, rattling game, and in a week or two, under old "Sweez's" coaching they will be able to do much better.

The Niagaras are no "slouches" in handling the ball, and should they improve in batting they will play a first-class game this season and give the Empires all they can do to get away with them.  

-Mears Baseball Scrapbook, Volume 5

It appears that this account of the game comes from the St. Louis Democrat of April 20, 1875.

The most interesting thing about this account, other than finding a Reds/Niagara game in the Mears scrapbook, is the appearance of the elusive John Dillon in the game.  Packy's brother played left field.  Also of note is that Pud Galvin pitched for the Niagaras. 

The Top Twenty Games In 19th Century St. Louis Baseball History: # 14

14. August 17, 1876: St. Louis Reds vs. Cass Base Ball Club of Detroit

Pud Galvin

The game of the tournament began promptly at 3 o'clock, in the presence of 3,000 spectators, the contestants being the St. Louis Reds and Cass club, of Detroit. Not a member of the Michigan organization reached first base, and the Reds played without a single error. The Cass boys wanted to get one base hit to get even with the Mutuals in the morning, but failed. One base hit in two games was all that the Michiganders could get out of [Galvin.] The Reds secured thirteen safe hits, demoralizing their opponents and winning the game (by a score of 11-0)...

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 18, 1876


George Washington Bradley threw the first no-hitter in National League and St. Louis history but James Francis Galvin threw the first perfect game recorded at any level.

Pud Galvin, probably after taking the elixir of Brown-Sequard, had one of the greatest pitching days in the history of baseball.  The Reds were playing in a tournament in Michigan in 1876 and had a doubleheader on August 17th.  Galvin pitched both games and, according to A Game of Inches, threw a no-hitter in the first game and then bested that in the second (after, no doubt, drinking more of his magic elixir) by throwing the first perfect game in baseball history.

The Globe reported that the first game was actually a one-hitter and that Pidge Morgan pitched both games but later corrected themselves, giving Pud his proper due.  They did not, however, mention his magic elixir.

And if you don't know what I'm talking about when I refer to Pud Galvin's magic elixir, try googling "Pud Galvin steroids."      

The 1876 Brown Stockings: Bradley Vs. Galvin

The Stocks made their first appearance in public yesterday afternoon, at Grand Avenue Park, having as opponents the full Brown Stocking nine. Though short-handed-two of their principal players not having yet arrived-the members of the new club acquitted themselves nobly, and the score, at the end of the ninth inning, was only three to one against them. The threatening weather kept many away who would doubtless have been present, but the dark clouds passed over and rain did not interfere with the contest. Simmons, who is to captain the Stocks, lost the toss, and owing to his bad error, McGeary secured an unearned run in the first inning. In the sixth, McGeary and Clapp also secured unearned runs on errors by Ring and W. Gleason. In the ninth inning Monsell reached first on Bradley's poor throw, second on a passed ball, third while a man was being thrown out at first, and home on Johnny Gleason's model base hit over third. The Browns committed but three errors in the field, the two previously mentioned and one by Battin. Ring and W. Gleason were weak in the field, the latter, however, offsetting his errors by one or two brilliant plays. Galvin and J. Gleason played splendidly, the former making some magnificent stops. The pitching was unusually effective, the Browns securing but four base hits, two of which were scratches. Only two safe hits were made off Bradley's pacers. Blapp and Dehlman retired no less than twenty-two players.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 16, 1876

This was a nice duel between two outstanding young pitchers. George Washington Bradley was only 23 years old and about to have his finest season while James Francis Galvin was 19 and still several years away from establishing himself as a great pitcher.

Growing up in St. Louis in the 1980s, I developed a deep appreciation for small ball. So I particularly like how the Stocks scored their run in the ninth. Error, passed ball, fielder's choice, base hit-very nice. The description of how the run scored was also well done.

I Guess Billy Redmon Was A Globe-Democrat Reader

To the Editor of the Globe-Democrat.

St. Louis, February 28, 1876.-Dear Sir: We notice, in your issue of the 27th, that the Red Stocking Base Ball Club have secured the gallant little "short stop," Redmond,...(and) also Galvin, the "home runner" and excellent pitcher. Your reporter must have been misinformed in regard to the above players, as they are both engaged on the Stocks Base Ball Club.

C.Y. Bachelder,

Manager Stocks B.B.C.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, February 29, 1876

The following note from Mr. Redmon, the excellent short stop player, explains itself:

To the Editor of the Globe-Democrat.

St. Louis, February 29, 1876.-Dear Sir: I notice a card in your issue of to-day from the manager of the Stocks Base Ball Club, stating that your reporter must be misinformed when he stated that I would play with the St. Louis Reds during the coming season, and that I had been engaged by the Stocks. Your reporter was right. I will play with the Reds, as I agreed to do last December.

W. Redmon.

One word in regard to Mr. Galvin, the St. Louis pitcher. Last Friday night one of our reporters dropped in at the Reds' headquarters, and not only saw Mr. Galvin sign papers to play with the Reds, but was asked to witness his signature, which he did. Of course, he might have jumped the Reds since then, as some of the ball players are rather slippery. One thing is certain-Galvin is a real good player, and no mistake.

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

The Reds' 1876 Season

The St. Louis Reds made a good record during the season just closed, as will be seen by glancing at the record of the boys given below. During the season they played but one league club, the St. Louis Brown Stockings, which club they played six times, and were always defeated. The Ponies got in 21 runs to the Browns' 38 in the six games, which is not a bad showing. It will be seen by the summary given below that the Reds played ninety-one games during the season, of which they won sixty-seven, lost twenty-three, and one resulted in a tie. All yarn dead balls were used by the Reds when they put in balls, and during the season they did not play a single game with a live ball, and, considering that they had some crack pitchers to face, their batting record stands well-in fact, better than any other club in the country. Redmon stands higher than the great Barnes, of Chicago, and he did not have any live balls to punch, either.

Three "one-nothing" games were played by the Reds, two of them being victories, and one a defeat at the hands of the Syracuse Stars. Two remarkable games were played by the Ponies during the season-one with the Philadelphias, at Philadelphia on the 4th of last July, when the "Phillies" not only failed to make a run, but did not make a single base hit off Galvin in the game, while the Reds made but two errors and got in eleven tallies. The other game was that with the Cass Club, of Detroit, which was played at Iona, Mich., on the 17th of August. The Reds not only skunked their opponents, but did not let them touch first base during the game, not one base hit being made, and the Reds failed to make a single error, while they got in eleven runs on their side of the book.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, November 12, 1876

A couple of notes:

-That's a heck of a lot of statistical information on the 1876 Reds. If I was of a sabermetrical bent, I'd do something with those numbers.

-The comparison of the batting records of Billy Redmon and Ross Barnes, at the very least, neglects the issue of league quality. And that's about all I'm going to say about that.

-The more I think about Galvin's perfect game, the more amazing it seems. The Reds committed 855 errors in 91 games. That's 9.4 errors per game. Against the Cass Club, they played errorless baseball. Maybe it's right and proper that the defense get the credit for the perfect game in that context.

The Reds' Last Game

The St. Louis Reds play their last game of the season this afternoon at Compton Avenue Park with the Grand Avenue nine as opponents. Turn out in force and give the plucky Ponies a parting bumper.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 29, 1876

About 500 people witnessed the game of ball played yesterday afternoon at the Red Stocking Park, between the St. Louis Reds and Solari's Grand Avenue team. The weather was delightful for the sport. It was expected that a real good, close and exciting game would be played, because the Grand Avenue lads have been playing a rattling good game this season, but the result proved otherwise. The professionals had no trouble in running off with their amateur opponents, and when the end of the ninth inning arrived, it was discovered that the Ponies had 28 runs to the Grands' 3. Galvin's pitching was too much of a good thing for the amateurs to get in on, and only one base hit was made off him in the entire game, and that one proved to be a three bagger, which was got in after two men were out and two strikes called. McKenna was the boy who did the business. In the first inning, Whalen made a double play all by himself. Morgan had made a base hit, and stolen to second base, when Croft sent a daisy-cutter towards second, which first gave "Lewis" a knock on the head and bounded into Whalen's palms, and as Morgan had started for third a double play was the result. During the game a fly was sent to right center, and Simpson, the right fielder of the Grands got under it, but failed to hold the ball which bounded at least ten feet towards center field, and was caught while "on the wing" by Smith, and this catch "brought down the house." The Grands were without the services of Zim, their regular pitcher, who is off East, and had he been on hand, the Grands think the game would have turned out a little different, but as the Grands failed to do anything in the batting line, it is hard to see just how the game could have gone differently. The Reds were disappointed in the game, as they really thought they had a nine who would make them work hard to get away with. The Reds did some tall batting, and got in on all the three pitchers the Grands put against them.

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

This, to the best of my knowledge, is the last game played by the 1873-1876 incarnation of the Red Stockings.

There Was Some Talent On That Club

For two or three years before the country had become infected with the base-ball fever, the Globe-Democrat called attention to the fact that there was a nine in St. Louis which, if kept together, would prove as formidable as any in the country, and urged the citizens of St. Louis to give it such encouragement as would insure its permanency. This they refused to do, and the St. Louis Red Stockings were allowed to disband. That the merits of these gallant young players were not overrated, a glance at the great nines of the country will show. The St. Louis Red Stockings have contributed more brilliant players to the professional ranks than any other organization in the country. Johnny Peters, the first to go, was good enough to play short for the club that won the championship; Flint, Houtz and McSorley have aided the Indianapolis nine in achieving their numerous triumphs over League organizations, and the former is thought by many to rank with Clapp as the best catcher in the country; Galvin and Dolan have done more than their seven comrades to secure for the Alleghenies their series of extraordinary successes; Croft, engaged as a substitute for the St. Louis Brown Stockings, by his telling work soon secured a permanent position on the nine; Redmond, as Captain of the Memphis Red Stockings, has piloted that club to many a well deserved victory; Morgan's valuable services in the pitcher's position were snapped up by the Milwaukee professionals, while Magner and Gleason are gaining many friends by their fine work in Columbus and Minneapolis.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, June 2, 1877

The First Perfect Game?

The game of the tournament began promptly at 3 o'clock, in the presence of 3,000 spectators, the contestants being the St. Louis Reds and Cass club, of Detroit. Not a member of the Michigan organization reached first base, and the Reds played without a single error. The Cass boys wanted to get one base hit to get even with the Mutuals in the morning, but failed. One base hit in two games was all that the Michiganders could get out of Morgan. The Reds secured thirteen safe hits, demoralizing their opponents and winning the game (by a score of 11-0)...

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 18, 1876

I was trying to run down some information on George Bradley's 1875 no-hitter yesterday and, as I usually do with things like this, I checked Peter Morris' A Game of Inches. Morris, of course, had some interesting things to say about the no-hitter and on the next page I noticed a reference to a perfect game that Pud Galvin pitched for the Reds on August 17, 1886. I figured I might as well check that out and see if I could find the box score in the Globe.

However, once I found the report of the game in the Globe, I noticed a few discrepancies between Morris' account and the contemporary game account. According to the "Special Dispatch to the Globe-Democrat," the pitcher for the Reds in the game against the Cass Club, and therefore the pitcher who threw the perfect game, was Pidge Morgan and not Pud Galvin. I also found a reference to a game in June of 1876 between the Stocks and the Reds where Galvin was playing the outfield for the Stocks club (and it was implied that he was also one of the club's pitchers) so it's possible that Galvin wasn't even on the Reds in August.

Just as interesting, Morris mentions the first game of the Ionia tournament, played earlier on August 17th, between the Reds and the Mutuals of Jackson. Morris mentions that Galvin, before throwing the perfect game, pitched a no-hitter against the Mutuals. However, according to the game report, the Mutuals had one hit. Morris did mention that the Reds made three errors and the game report has them making two so Morris is correct that three men did reach base for the Mutuals in that game but the discrepancy is in how they reached base. But again, the Globe states that Morgan, rather than Galvin, was pitching.

The reason that this is significant is that Morris states that the August 17, 1876 perfect game against the Cass club was the "first perfect game known to have been pitched at any level" and credits Pud Galvin with throwing the first known perfect game in baseball history. His source appears to be an article in the Ionia Sentinel from August 25, 1876. However, according to the Globe, the pitcher in the game was Pidge Morgan rather than Pud Galvin and therefore, if the Globe's account is accurate, Morgan should be credited with throwing the first perfect game.

Update: In their August 22, 1876 issue, the Globe-Democrat corrects itself. The Globe states that "In the two games at Ionia, Mich., on the 17th, when the Mutual and Cass clubs were Chicagoed by the St. Louis Red Stockings, Galvin instead of Morgan did the pitching, as was stated, due to a telegraphic error."

Galvin was playing with the Stocks in 1876 but there were rumors floating around in March that he had signed with the Reds. On June 21, however, Galvin "signed articles of agreement" to play with the Reds for the remainder of the season. He was obviously on the team in August when the Reds played in the Michigan tournament and did indeed pitch a perfect game against the Cass club. Whether or not the game against the Mutuals was a no-hitter or not is still up in the air. In the end it all depends on which scorer's report you accept. Regardless, Galvin had one heck of a day in Ionia.

An Early Pud Galvin Sighting

On June 11, 1874, the Empires played a banged up Turner Club at the Grand Avenue Grounds. The Turners were missing three of their regulars due to injury and another player "was so indisposed that he could not play up to his standard..." While the Empires went on to win the game easily by a score of 12-2, the interesting thing was who the Turners had on the mound. The Turners pitcher that day was a young man named James Frances Galvin, who would become better known as Pud Galvin, go on to win 364 games in the big leagues, and enter the Hall of Fame in 1965.

Prior to this, the earliest record I could find of Galvin playing in a game was a May 30, 1875 contest between the Reds and the Empires where he played left field for the Empires. That same year, Galvin was signed by the Brown Stockings as their token St. Louisian and played in eight big league games. Late in the 1875 season, he would join a reorganized Reds club for whom he would play in 1876.

E.H. Tobias, in a letter to The Sporting News on January 18, 1896, names the seventeen year old Galvin as a member of the Turner Club in 1874. There also appears to be an even earlier game in 1874, between the Turners and the White Stockings of Chicago, where it appears that Galvin may have been playing second base for the club. However, the box score is a bit difficult to make out and Tobias makes no mention of Galvin playing in the game.

Edit: Tobias also presents records of games in 1874 and 1875 where Galvin was playing with the Niagara Club. So between 1874 and 1876, Galvin would play with the Turners, the Niagaras, the Empires, the Browns and the Reds. Tobias also casts some doubt on Galvin's status with the Browns. While I've read on more than one occasion that Galvin was signed by the Browns because they thought it best to have at least one player from St. Louis on the team, Tobias notes that Galvin didn't join the Browns until well after the season had started and only because George Bradley was ill and unable to pitch.

Pud Galvin's Obituary

James Galvin, the once famous ball pitcher, is dead at his home in Allegheny, Pa., aged 47. He had been ill for four months with (an ailment) of the stomach. Galvin was a product of the famous "Kerry Patch," St. Louis, which produced such players as Scrappy Joyce...and Jack O'Connor. In 1877 he was purchased from Buffalo by the Pittsburg National league club and played there three seasons. He went back to the famous Buffalo organization and played four season, and joined Pittsburg again in 1893, but was released to St. Louis. In 1894 he played in the Eastern league, but his pitching arm gave out. He was appointed umpire in the National league, but lasted only a short time. He started a saloon in Allegheny, but not being a man of business he lost his place. He was foreman for a contractor, and lately a bartender.

I found Galvin's obit at The Deadball Era and it's dated March 8, 1902. While I assume that it originally appeared in The Sporting News, there is no source listed and I was unable to independently verify it.

Egerton R. Williams Popular Indoor Base Ball Game

The Egerton R. Williams Popular Indoor Base Ball Game was a card game that was patented in 1886 and copyrighted in 1889. A "parlor game" put out by the Hatch Litho Co., it consisted of 55 cards, 19 of which had pictures of popular ballplayers. The game also had 18 playing pieces, tan and red circular markers, that most likely were used to represent the players in the field. The game also came with an instructional booklet and a card box.

The cards had rounded corners and a greentone back. Those with images of players contained head-only portraits of two players. Players represented on the cards included Dan Brouthers, Arlie Latham, Charlie Buffington, Bob Caruthers, Hick Carpenter, Cliff Carroll, Charlie Comiskey, Roger Conner, Dave Foutz, Pud Glavin, Jack Glasscock, Silver King, and Curt Welch.

A complete game set is very rare. In 2005, one sold for $31,200. A picture of a complete set can be found at Cycleback’s Online Museum of Early Baseball Memorabilia. Just click the link and scroll about half way down the page.

The individual cards are less rare and are valued at around $300, depending on the quality of the card. In 2006, the Cap Anson/Buck Ewing card was sold at an auction for $2,200.

There seems to have been several of these kind of baseball themed card/parlor games released in the 1880's. Base Ball-A Professional and Social Game of Cards, Game of Base Ball, and Lawson's Base Ball were all released around the same time as the E.R. Williams game. A great source for information on these games is Baseball Games, a Yahoo egroup.

Tom Dolan

"Thomas J. Dolan, at one time one of the very best known catchers in the National League, now drives a fuel wagon for the St. Louis Fire Department.

Dolan learned to play ball with the old St. Louis 'Reds' and he was graduated from there to the Buffalo National League team, where he handled the terrific delivery of Jimmy Galvin.

Ted Sullivan brought Dolan back to St. Louis in 1883 to play with the St. Louis Browns and he left the latter team in the middle of the playing season of 1884 to play with the St. Louis Unions.

On the Browns, Dolan caught the speedy pitching of George McGinnis, Silver King, Elton Chamberlain and Tony Mullane and for the Unions he caught Boyle and Healy.

Before then Dolan faced the best League pitchers and had won a reputation of being one of the best and most reliable receivers in America."

-From The National Game

A couple of quick notes:

• I've yet to find a baseball player or person that Al Spink didn't just love and praise to high heaven. But I'm still looking and will be highly amused when I find the player that Al Spink didn't like.
  
• Happy 87th birthday to Stan Musial, the one and only. Baseball's perfect warrior, baseball's perfect knight.


• I read in the paper today that there is a global shortage of hops. This is nothing but bad. Combine this with a poor global barley harvest and the price of beer is going to go through the roof. These are dark days indeed.


• Things are probably going to be a little slow around TGOG the next day or two with the holiday and all that. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and a perfect time to reflect on all the things that God has given us-plus there's lots to eat and football on tv. The only thing that would make Thanksgiving better is if we held it in early October and we had a baseball playoff tripleheader. But I'm thankful for what I have.

The Glorious Uncertainty Of Baseball

On May 30, 1875, a baseball game was played at the Compton Avenue Ballpark in which, according to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, "the glorious uncertainty of base ball was never more thoroughly illustrated..." The Reds regulars took on "a picked nine sailing under Empire colors" that included Pud Galvin, Tom Dolan, Charlie Levis, and Jim Spaulding. Spaulding was the only player on the team that I can confirm was a member of the Empire Base Ball Club.

The Reds, who had jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first, were cruising along with an 11-3 lead when the wheels came off in the bottom of the seventh inning. The first seven men the Empires sent up to the plate reached base. A poor throw by Art Croft turned a lead off single into a double. A grounder to pitcher Joe Blong should have resulted in a out at third but umpire Lip Pike called the runner safe. A runner reached first on a strikeout when the ball got away from Silver Flint. There was three passed ball and four stolen bases. The Empire scored ten runs, five of them unearned, and took a 13-11 lead. To add injury to insult, Flint took a foul ball to the face and was down for fifteen minutes.

The Empire overcame an eight run deficit and ended up winning the game 16-12.

Say It Ain't So, Pud!

I was messing around at Digg this afternoon and came across an interesting story about Pud Galvin.

According to this story from Pud Galvin.com, Keith Olbermann claims that Pud Galvin was a steroid user. Olbermann "credited Galvin with being the first baseball player to have used performance enhancing drugs. According to Olbermann, the steroid of choice those days was monkey testosterone — a big fad in the late 19th century due to its ability to make men feel revitalized."

First of all, there's a Pud Galvin.com! That's pretty neat. Second, I can't actually post what I think about Keith Olbermann-this being a G-rated, family friendly blog and all. But it looks like he might, for once, be on to some kind of truth.

According to ESPN.com, in this story (check out #7 of the top ten jack*ss moments in sports history), there is a contemporary source that claims that "Galvin was openly taking a potion called the elixir of Brown-Sequard, which was essentially testosterone extracted from animal testicles."

I really don't know what to say but it's not every day that I can post on Pud Galvin, Keith Olbermann, and monkey testicles all at the same time. We're living in very strange days.

Update: This story about Galvin and PEDs even made the stupid Wikipedia. The source for comments in the Galvin wiki article is this piece from NPR which quotes the Washington Post from 1889. The Post wrote "(if) there still be doubting Thomases who concede no virtue of the (Brown-Sequard) elixir, they are respectfully referred to Galvin's record in yesterday's Boston-Pittsburgh game. It is the best proof yet furnished of the value of the discovery."

Olbermann and NPR-that's interesting. Two members of the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy working hand in hand to tear apart the fabric of the national game and, by extension, the country itself. It does fit their narrative though. Columbus committed genocide, the Founding Fathers were a bunch of rich slave owners, and the national game was corrupted by PEDs from the beginning. Why do these people hate America so much?

Pud Galvin Throws A No-No

In 1876, the Reds played in a week long tournament in Ionia, Michagan. The teams involved were competing for $2,000 in prize money, with $1,000 going to the winner of the tournament.

On the final day of the tournament, the Reds played two games against the Cass Club of Detroit and threw Pud Galvin in both games. They lost the first game and needed a win in the second to tie the Cass Club for the tournament lead. With their tournament fate in the balance, Galvin no-hit the Cass Club and the Reds won the game 2-0.

With two teams tied for the tournament championship, a third game was played that Saturday. This decisive game ended up in "an even score" as darkness forced the end of the game and the tournament. Since Galvin had done his duty for the day, Trick McSorely pitched for the Reds in the last game of the triple-header.

There are a couple of interesting things about Galvin's no-hitter. First, according to Elmer Bates, this was the first no-hitter ever thrown in baseball history. While I can't verify Bates' claim, and doubt the veracity of the claim, Bates had an interest in no-hitters and wrote several long pieces about their history. While not an exact contemporary of these events, Bates was a respected baseball writer with the Cleveland Press and the Sporting Life and his voice does carry some weight.

The second interesting thing about the game was the fact that Silver Flint did not catch Galvin's no-hitter. For some time it was believed that Flint had caught three no-hitters in his career, which would have been the record at the time of his retirement-a record since tied by numerous catchers (including Bill Carrigan, Ray Schalk, Luke Sewell, Roy Campanella, Dell Crandell, Jeff Torborg, Alan Ashby, Charlie Johnson, and others). However, Pat Dolan caught the second game on Saturday when Galvin threw the no-hitter. Therefore, Flint only caught two no-hiters during his career and does not hold, or rather share, the record.

October 5th In 19th Century St. Louis Baseball History

In 1884, St. Louis (UA) pitchers Charlie Sweeney and Henry Boyle stop St. Paul without a hit or walk‚ striking out 9 men‚ before rain halts play after 5 innings. But the Maroons lose the game when 2 St. Louis errors allow the game's only run. The Sweeney-Boyle performance caps what is still the premier ML season for no-hitters: 12 in all‚ including one of 10 innings and 7 nine-inning games.

In 1888, Pud "Kid" Galvin becomes the first player in history to reach 300 wins as he beats the Washington Nationals‚ 5-1‚ for Pittsburgh. Galvin allows 4 hits. There are 14 errors in the game‚ 9 by Washington.

-from Baseball Library

Silver Flint

Frank Sylvester Flint, one of the best catchers of the 19th century, was born in Philadelphia on August 3, 1855 and his family moved to St. Louis a few years later. According to the St. Louis Republican, “every boy in St. Louis (at the time) who was but half a boy learned to play and love baseball.” This generalization certainly applied to the young Silver Flint.

Flint first gained notice as a baseball player while playing as an amateur with the Elephant Base Ball Club of St. Louis in the early 1870’s. When baseball enthusiasts decided to enter the top amateur team in St. Louis, the Red Stockings, in the professional National Association, Flint was brought in, at the tender age of 19, to start at catcher, replacing the club’s veteran captain.

This rookie campaign was certainly an interesting one and the young man received several lessons about the nature of professional baseball that year. Flint played in 17 of the Reds 19 games and hit a woeful .082 on a team that won only 4 games. He saw the Red’s starting pitcher, Joe Blong, and starting third baseman, Trick McSorley, removed from the team for crooked play. Shortly after that, the team essentially dropped out of the NA.

With his first pro team, according to William Ryczek, “alive only in that they had not officially disbanded”, Flint, rather than stay in St. Louis with the Reds and scuffle around playing in games against amateur and semi-pro teams, headed to Covington, Kentucky to find employment for the rest of the season. The Covington Stars essentially became the St. Louis Reds East as Flint was joined on the Stars by Blong, McSorley, and Reds reservist, Packy Dillon.

In 1876, Flint was back with the Reds, along with McSorley. The highlight of the year was a no hitter thrown by the young Pud Galvin against the Cass Club of Detroit in a baseball tournament held in Ionia, Michigan. A year later, in 1877, Flint was playing on the Indianapolis Club that won the championship of the International Association, joined again by former Reds teammates McSorley and Charlie Hautz.

With their championship in hand, the Indianapolis Club decided to join the National League in 1878 and Flint enjoyed a bit more success in his second season in the big leagues then he did in his first. Flint hit .224 while playing in 62 of 63 games for a team that was, unlike the old Reds, relatively competitive. Cap Anson certainly had enough respect for the Blues to raid the club and take Flint, Ned Williamson, and Joe Quest for his White Stockings team.

It is in Chicago that Flint found success and fame as a player. While never a great hitter, he certainly had his best offensive years with the White Stockings and as the team found success, winning five pennants between 1880 and 1886, Flint gained a reputation as a stalwart defender behind the plate, an excellent handler of pitchers, and one of the toughest men in professional baseball. Flint even managed the White Stockings for a time after Anson went down with an illness late in the ’79 season.

By the end of his career, Flint, of course, also had a reputation as a drinker and a curmudgeon. A rumor that he had fallen off the wagon in the middle of the season made headlines in 1887, stirring up “a regular hornet’s nest”, according to the Mitchell Daily Republican. Both Flint and Anson had to publicly deny the rumor that Flint had violated his temperance pledge. The veteran catcher also refused to go on Albert Spalding’s world tour in 1888/89 with his Chicago teammates, stating, according to Mark Lamster, “(no) trip for me. I don’t care who goes, but you can rest assured that Silver doesn’t.” While Flint did accompany the tour as far as San Francisco, playing with the All-American Club against his Chicago teammates, his time on the tour was punctuated with several bouts of drunkenness.

Flint also had a falling out with Anson towards the end of his career, as Anson began to phase out his veteran catcher in favor of younger men. In 1885 and 1886, King Kelly was cutting into Flint’s time behind the plate (although Flint was always the number one catcher). By 1887, Flint found himself backing up Tom Daly and would never regain the starting job.

Flint retired from the game after the 1889 season and a benefit was held in Chicago that raised $1,000 to help him ease his way into a post-baseball life. He remained in the public eye in 1890 as the proprietor of a bar in his adopted home town but it doesn’t appear that the business was much of a success.

Packy Dillon

Packy Dillon, who played three games for the 1875 St. Louis Red Stockings of the National Association and had a total of 13 at-bats in the ‘big leagues’, is one of the more obscure players in the history of professional baseball. His tenuous claim to fame is being a catcher on an uncompetitive, tenth place team that dropped out of a borderline major league in the middle of its only professional season during baseball’s “Dark Ages”. His obscurity as a baseball player is matched only by the lack of information that we have about his personal history.

According to baseball reference books and websites, Packy Dillon was born in St. Louis, Missouri and died in Guelph, Ontario on January 8, 1890. He had a brother named John, who also played for the St. Louis Reds and is an even more obscure historical figure than Packy. Those are most of the known facts about Dillon’s personal life and it’s possible to make an argument that none of them are accurate. Even Dillon’s name is up for debate. He’s listed in the Baseball Encyclopedia as Packard Andrew Dillon and at Baseball Reference.Com as Patrick Dillon. Another source lists him as Patrick C. Dillon. His nickname, in contemporary sources, is spelled variously as Packy, Packey, and Packie.

A “Dillon” is listed as a member of the Union Club of St. Louis in the early 1870’s and of the Reds in 1874. While it is an assumption that this is Packy Dillon, it seems a safe one if it is true that Dillon was born in St. Louis and living in the city at the time. The 1875 Reds were, for the most part, made up of the best local amateur players as well as players already on the club so Dillon’s inclusion on the roster in 1875 would presuppose his already being a known commodity in the St. Louis baseball community. The Brooklyn Eagle, on March 9, 1875, published the Reds roster for the upcoming season and listed Dillon as an infielder on the club. In the March 15th edition, Dillon was identified as the Reds starting first baseman. The St. Louis Democrat, in its March 21, 1875 edition, identified Dillon as the Reds starting catcher for the upcoming season. Most references to Dillon in the St. Louis papers identified him as a catcher and it’s possible that the Eagle erred in claiming he was to play first base in 1875. Again, it’s a safe assumption that Dillon was the club’s first baseman or catcher in 1874 or was a top first baseman/catcher on another St. Louis amateur club such as the Union or Empire.

Prominently mentioned in preseason reports, Dillon was one of the Reds who took part in informal practices in mid March before the manager of the Reds had finalized the roster. The first hint of an injury that would ruin Dillon’s NA season was found in the St. Louis Democrat on April 19th. Describing a game between the Reds and the Niagaras that had taken place the day before, it was mentioned that Dillon, “the catcher of the Red Stockings,” could not play because of a “sore hand”.

Dillon made his professional debut with the Reds on May 4, 1875 in a 15-9 loss to the St. Louis Brown Stockings. This game, played at Red Stocking Base Ball Park on Compton Avenue, was the first professional league game ever played in St. Louis. He also played in the first away game by a St. Louis professional baseball team on May 6th, 1875 when the Reds traveled to Keokuk, Iowa to take on the Westerns. Packy Dillon’s final game for the 1875 Red Stockings occurred on May 8th when the Reds beat the Westerns 6-1 to gain the first road victory by a St. Louis professional baseball team. By mid May, the St. Louis papers were reporting that Dillon had suffered a broken hand. His “major league” career had lasted all of three games and 13 at bats

After their 12-5 loss to the Washington Nationals on July 4, 1875, the Reds ceased operations as a franchise in the NA. While the Reds continued to play games against local amateur teams and picked nines and attempted to organize a Southern road trip, their roster was in disarray. Pitcher Joe Blong had been expelled from the team for hippodroming and captain Charlie Sweasy had bolted the club to join the Cincinnati Red Stockings. By August, almost half of the Reds, including Packy Dillon, had left the team to find employment elsewhere. Dillon ended the 1875 season playing for the Covington Stars along with former Reds Silver Flint, Trick McSorley, and the disgraced Joe Blong.

One of the more interesting moments in the Reds eventful 1875 season occurred in November. On the 7th and 11th of that month, the reorganized Reds played two games in St. Louis against a picked nine team. Playing for the picked nine were former Reds Packy Dillon, Trick McSorely, and Joe Blong. Also playing for the picked nine were several members of the 1875 St. Louis Brown Stockings, including Pud Galvin, Lip Pike, and Joe Battin. The Reds lost both games.

In 1876, W.B. Pettit was building a successful professional team in Indianapolis that would eventually join the National League two years later. Raiding the Covington team, Pettit brought in Dillon and two of his teammates to play for Indianapolis in 1876. In 1877, Pettit signed Flint to catch for the Indianapolis club and Dillon was looking for another team. Returning home to St. Louis, Dillon rejoined the Reds for the 1877 season. If Dillon had remained on the 1877 Indianapolis club, a championship team that was celebrated in Indianapolis for many years, it’s likely that we would have more information about the man through the numerous articles written about that team over the years in the Indianapolis press.

After the 1877 season, Dillon is, for the most part, lost in the mists of time. How long his playing career lasted after 1877 is unknown and there are few references to him in the sporting press. In 1881, Al Spinks, speaking about the 1875 Reds, referred to Dillon as a “crackerjack” ballplayer. The Sporting News, in 1886, mentions that Dillon had played in a benefit game for Tom Sullivan on May 8th of that year. Dillon was also mentioned by The Sporting News in their October 4, 1886 issue. Reporting on the death of former Red Tom Oran, it was mentioned that Dillon was now in the “commission business.” There’s a subtle suggestion in the article that Dillon’s playing career had come to an end.

There are several basic questions about Packy Dillon that have yet to be answered. The first and most basic of these involves his real name. Was his first name Patrick or Packard? Was his middle initial ‘A.’ or ‘C.’? Was his last name really Dillon? Or was it Dylan or Dilon or Dillan? The safest assumption is that his name was Patrick Dillon. Packy was a common shortened form of Patrick and it’s tough to imagine a 19th century Irish-American named Packard. There is no reason to believe that his surname was not Dillon other than the fact that baseball players of his time where known to sometimes play under assumed names.

The question of Dillon’s date of birth also needs to be addressed. While all the reference material lists his date of birth as unknown, it’s safe to assume that Dillon was somewhere between 16 and 28 years old in 1875 and therefore he was born between the years 1847 and 1859. The average age of the Reds in 1875 was about 21 and it was remarked upon in the press of the time how young the team was. It was mentioned that one member of the team was 16 and it’s known that Tom Oran and Charlie Sweasy, at 28, were the oldest members of the team. If one believes that Dillon was not the 16 year old team member and that he wasn’t a veteran like Sweasy or Oran then it’s safe to assume that Dillon was in his early 20’s and most likely born sometime between 1850 and 1855.

Another question about Packy Dillon involves his family, specifically the relationship between him and the Reds’ John Dillon. John Dillon, who was usually referred to as ‘Jack’ in contemporary sources, is listed in modern baseball reference material as Packy Dillon’s brother. I have never seen a source that mentions any relationship between the two other than that of teammate. While it is possible that the two were brothers and one would have to assume that there is a basis for the claim, the common nature of the surname ‘Dillon’ in St. Louis in the 19th century leaves open the possibility that the two men were not brothers. This is certainly a serious problem when trying to research Packy Dillon. The identification of a brother is one of the best leads one has when attempting to identify Dillon in contemporary records and if John is not Packy’s brother then most of the leads go cold.

Other questions regarding Dillon that still need to be investigated include his place of birth and his place and date of death. Dillon is listed in modern baseball reference material as having been born in St. Louis. There is no evidence of this that I can find. It’s certainly known that Dillon was living in St. Louis in the 1870’s and 1880’s. However, there is no primary source material that establishes his place of birth or his place of residence prior to the 1870’s. The same holds true for his place and date of death. While secondary source material states that Dillon died on January 8, 1890 in Guelph, Ontario, I have no primary sources that confirm this. While I can not believe that this information is accurate without confirmation from primary source material, I also have not found any definitive source that contradicts this information.

If one accepts the secondary source material as being accurate with regards to his place of birth and his relationship to John Dillon and one makes educated assumptions about his given name and age, then it is possible to find information about Packy Dillon in contemporary records. In general, when looking for Dillon in sources such as census data, birth records, death records, etc, I have based my search on the assumption that his first name was Patrick, his brother’s name was John, he was born in St. Louis in the early 1850’s, and he died in Ontario in 1890. Again, it must be stated that, while it’s logical to assume these things about Dillon, these are nothing but assumptions.

Given those caveats, it is arguable that Packy Dillon was the bastard son of Irish immigrants. A Patrick Dillon was born in 1854 to James and Ellen Dillon, Irish immigrants who would not marry until 1858. While census records state that Patrick was born in St. Louis, it’s possible to imagine that his parents immigrated to America either upon learning of Ellen’s pregnancy or shortly after the birth of young Packy and then settled in St. Louis by the late 1850’s. Dillon also had two younger brothers, John, born in 1859, and James, born in 1864. In the 1880 census, they were living in St. Louis and both James and John listed their occupation as ‘teamsters’ while Patrick listed his as ‘produce huckster’.

This Patrick Dillon was married to Martha F. Dillon. Martha, who is also listed in some sources as ‘Mary’, was born in Ohio in 1859. They had one son, Edward, who was born in St. Louis in 1879. It’s known that Packy Dillon was in the Cincinnati area in 1875 and it’s entirely possible that, while playing with Covington, Dillon met Mary, won her hand, and took his new bride back to St. Louis. Also, there are numerous Patrick and Mary Dillon’s buried next to each other in cemeteries throughout Ontario, where one can assume Packy Dillon was laid to rest.

James and Ellen Dillon’s son John would have been 16 years old in 1875 and William Rzcyek writes that the Reds had a 16 year old on the roster (although he identifies the 16 year old as Trick McSorely who according to most sources was born in 1852). Jack Dillon’s lack of playing time in 1875 (1 AB) could easily be explained by his age and inexperience. It’s possible that the Reds, in the manner of teams at the time, kept the young Jack on the roster simply as a glorified gopher, someone who could take tickets and do the ground keeping.

This Patrick Dillon fits all of the assumptions that we make about Packy Dillon. His name is Patrick. He was either born in St. Louis or, at the very least, was living in St. Louis during the 1860’s-1880’s time period, had a brother named John, and was born in the early 1850’s. By 1890, he disappears from public records, leading one at assume that he might be deceased. There is no other Patrick Dillon in the public records who fits all the assumptions that are made about Packy Dillon. While, of course, it’s impossible to say for sure that this Patrick Dillon is Packy Dillon, the baseball player, I can not find a better candidate.