The 1884 Maroons: The St. Louis Scheme

Henry V. Lucas and Ellis Wainwright, St. Louis capitalists, have rented a large plot of ground at Twenty-fifth and Biddle streets, and intend fitting it up for base ball purposes. Mr. Lucas said to-day that his grand stand alone would cost him $8,500, and that he intended putting a first-class team in the field. Flint, Williamson, and Gore, of the Chicago Club, are here and it is rumored that they have been negotiating with the management of the new club. Flint especially seems to be a warm friend with Mr. Lucas. It is said that Mullane and Deasley, of the present St. Louis Club, have been approached, and this is the reason they have not signed with the old organization. It is known that Purcell and three other players of the Philadelphia Club are going to "jump" that organization and go into the St. Louis scheme. It is also known that negotiations have been in progress with Keefe and Holbert, of the Metropolitan nine. The new club, it is said, will be a member of the new Union Association.

-New York Times, October 25, 1883

Died Of The League

The Indianapolis management is endeavoring to engage McSorley and Houtz, of the Covington Stars.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 27, 1876

The Cincinnati Gazette of Thursday says: The Stars have gone to pot. The club was formally disbanded last night. No games are expected for the balance of this season, and it has hardly been a paying institution this year. We believe the club stands "square" with its nine. The epitaph on this club might be, "Died of the League." The rule forbidding the playing of any League club with them starved them out. Houtz, Flint, McSorley and Golden will leave to-night for Indianapolis.

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

According to this report, Covington disbanded on Wednesday, July 26th. Indianapolis must have been trying to grab some of their players before the club disbanded and I assume it's possible that this added to their troubles. Regardless, the Stars were a fascinating club and played a significant role in the history of St. Louis baseball. Even their demise effected the careers of several St. Louis players and the National League. I have a soft-spot in my heart for the 1875-1876 Covington Stars.

We Have Witnessed Many Worse Games Than This

Last Monday a large number of the male population of Ludlow visited the new Star Base Ball Grounds, at the head of Madison street, Covington, to witness the great game between the much-talked of and loudly advertised "Shining Stars" (see Covington news in all the Cincinnati dailies,) and the famous St. Louis Reds. The Stars having defeated the Ludlow club when it was in its infancy, and the Ludlows having made four runs in their game with the Reds, keeping their score down to 13, and whitewashing them five times, an easy victory was anticipated for the Covington boys.

A crowd estimated at between 3,000 and 4,000 was on the ground when game was called, about 4 o'clock, and as the larger proportion of those in attendance were Covingtonians, the enthusiasm was unbounded. When the Asterisks began to toss the ball, just to show how they were going to do it, the crowd applauded, and smiled pityingly at the St. Louis boys, especially poor Blong, the lame pitcher, and Houtz, the first baseman, who, in practicing, muffed every other ball. Some of them felt sorry for Sweasy, too-he had seen better days, when he belonged to a club which could play almost as well as the Stars. Then there was a delicate-looking boy named Flint, who was going to try to catch!

All of this was preparatory. The Reds went to the field, when game was called, with the air of men determined to do their best, even though their cause was hopeless. The Stars went to the bat, and for some reason, unexplained as yet, they didn't make any runs. The Covington people winked and smiled, and "guessed" the boys were throwing off on the Reds, to make it appear like a close game. But the St. Louis boys were evidently not let into the secret, for in their half of the the first inning they scored 8.

In the second inning the Stars seemed undecided as to whether they would merely "tie" the Reds, or make it 16 to 8; but after some reflection and consultation, they concluded to give their opponents a still better chance, and generously permitted themselves to be whitewashed a second time. The St. Louis boys, not to be outdone in matters of this kind, also scored a goose egg.

When the third inning had been played, and the score stood 9 to 0, it began gradually to steal over the minds of the Covingtonians that if the Stars were really going to score two to one, they had arrived at a point in the game where it was necessary to make a start-just the smallest kind of a start. This conclusion was made known to the directors, who communicated the same to the Nine.

Then, after the Umpire had remarked "Out on first," three several times, the still Shinning Stars went to the field, and the St. Louis, still in the dark as regards the intentions of their opponents, went to the bat, and after a reasonable time spent in exercise, left the score 14 to 0.

At this state of the proceedings Coroner McCabe, in a very excited manner, asked if any one had heard from Campbell's Creek. Our reporter, who has an aunt living in that vicinity, lost all further interest in the game, and in his struggles to get within speaking distance of the man of inquests, lost his score card; and to add to his misfortunes, he was lost in the large crowd, and failed to hear any of the Campbell's Creek news. The rest of our report, therefore, is made up from our exchanges, principally the Covington papers...

We have witnessed many worse games than this; and we believe that with close application, much practice, harmony, discipline, &c., the Stars will be a very good club by next summer...

-Ludlow Reporter, July 3, 1875

This may be the best account of a 19-0 game I've ever read. Good stuff.

The First Game

Grand Avenue Park presented a decidedly animated appearance yesterday afternoon, on the occasion of the opening base ball game of the season, between the red-legged champions of Boston, who, owing to their skillful play and gentlemanly deportment, were always prime favorites in St. Louis, and the Indianapolis Club, which has decided to make its home here for the remainder of the year. The crowd reminded one of old times, when the enthusiasm manifested for the National game was unbounded. While the park is not as large as in previous years, it is still amply sufficient for all practical purposes, and the "diamond," thanks to Superintendent Solari, is in perfect condition. Nothing is lacking to make the visitor comfortable, and the seating capacity is equal to anything but an extraordinary emergency. That great interest is still taken in the game was manifested by the presence of so many spectators from all branches of life, and the demonstrative manner in which they received the rival athletes...Clapp, Croft and Flint were quickly recognized, and each was accorded an ovation...The Reds won the toss, and after the third inning had everything their own way, having all the luck and the best of the umpiring...It was evidently an off day for the Hoosiers, six of whom could do nothing with the stick, while all except Croft, Flint, Shaefer and Williamson were shaky in the field...No brilliant play was exhibited on either side outside of the pitching and catching, which was a model display, and a fine catch each by Leonard and Warner. While a majority of the spectators would have preferred seeing the Bostons beaten, the applause was distributed in an impartial manner.

The disagreeable feature of the contest was the boorish conduct of Burdock, who, as usual, had more to say than all others pub together, and who, by his idiotic shouting, endeavored to disconcert the opposing players at critical points of the struggle. His appeals to the umpire were based on the most childish pretexts imaginable, and the respectable people present were surprised that Harry Wright did not sit down on him.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 10, 1878

Boston won the first game of the series, 6-3.

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

Silver Flint and Covington

The Stars, of Covington, Ky., have got Joe Blong, John McSorley and Packey Dillon, of the St. Louis Reds, and Dennis McGee (Mack), of the St. Louis Empires, playing on their nine, and yet they are not satisfied, as a telegram was received from them yesterday for Flint, the excellent catcher of the St. Louis Reds. Flint, who, by the way, is as true as steel, is with his club at Louisville, and will not be apt to jump to the Stars as Blong and McSorley did. If the Stars keep on sending to St. Louis for talent, they will soon have a nine that will be able to play a decent game of base ball.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 5, 1875

If you look around, you'll find secondary sources that say that Flint played for the Stars in 1875 but I've never seen any evidence of that and, in fact, the contemporary sources make it pretty clear that he was with the Reds the entire season. This piece in the Globe, at the very least, shows that the Stars certainly had an interest in Flint.

A New Base Ball Club

Henry V. Lucas and Ellis Wainwright, St. Louis capitalists, have rented a large plot of ground at Twenty-fifth and Biddle streets and intend fitting it up for base ball purposes. Mr. Lucas said to-day that his grandstand alone would cost him $8,500 and that he intended putting a first class team in the field. Flint, Williamson, and Gore, of the Chicago Club, are here and it is rumored that they have been negotiating with the management of the new club. Flint especially seems to be a warm friend of Mr. Lucas. It is said that Mullane and Deasley, of the present St. Louis Club, have been approached, and this is the reason they have not signed with the old organization. It is known that Pureell and three other players of the Philadelphia Club are going to "jump" that organization and go into the St. Louis scheme. It is also known that negotiations have been in progress with Keefe and Holbert, of the Metropolitan nine. The new club, it is said, will be a member of the new Union Association.

-The New York Times, October 25, 1883

Flint Playing With The Elephants In May 1875

It's difficult for me to look at Dillon's games with the Reds, as I did yesterday, without considering Silver Flint, who replaced Dillon in the lineup. When specifically Flint joined the Reds is a question that's still up in the air but based on information provided by E.H. Tobias, it's clear that Flint was still playing with the Elephants as late as May 9, 1875. Tobias, in the February 8, 1896 issue of The Sporting News, provides the box scores of two games that Flint played in for the Elephants. The first was a game against the Reds on May 2 and the second was against the Empires on May 9.

However, while it's obvious that Flint was still playing with the Elephants in early May, he certainly already had established a relationship with the Reds. In the May 4, 1875 game against the Brown Stockings, Flint was playing for the Reds. Tobias wrote that the Reds were shorthanded, missing Trick McSorley, and used Flint, "late of the Elephants," at third base.

Flint replaced Dillon as the Reds' starting catcher after the May 8 game in Keokuk. Dillon had suffered a hand injury in the spring and it was reported in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat at the time that Dillon was still injured as the season began. It appears that Dillon tried to play through the injury, was unsuccessful, and Flint replaced him in the lineup. What is unclear is when specifically Flint joined the club. It's possible that he had already joined the club after the game on May 2 and played in the May 9 game with the Elephants because the Reds didn't take him on the road trip. On the other hand, after the trip to Keokuk Charlie Sweasy may have come to the conclusion that Dillon was physically unable to get the job done behind the plate and at that point brought Flint into the fold. But regardless of how it went down, after the Reds returned from Keokuk, Flint was the starting catcher and played in the remainder of the Reds' championship games.

The Browns Of The Interregnum

(The) original Brown Stocking Club which first represented St. Louis in the National League...died in 1878 when the news came that Hall, Devlin, Nicholls, and Craver had been expelled from the Louisville Club for crookedness. This announcement was a death blow to the St. Louis Brown Stockings Club of that year by reason of the fact that Devlin and Hall, two of the expelled players, had signed with St. Louis for the following season. In 1879 St. Louis had no baseball to speak of. In 1880 a nine called the St. Louis Browns, under the management of the veteran Cuthbert, played games on the co-operative plan and furnished patrons with the only base ball that was going that year. That nine included Cuthbert, Shenck, Decker, McDonald, Croft, McGinnis, Pearce, Bowles, Cunningham and Morgan. This team played twenty-one games, losing but one, and that to the Louisville Reds, a semi-professional organization, by a score of 14 to 8. Its success in fact led to the organization of what is now known as the Sportsman's Park and Club Association, a company which was really organized for the purpose of refitting the present Sportsman's Park for baseball purposes. After the park had been fully equipped the Brown Stockings of the previous year were asked to reorganize and take possession of it. This they did with a nine which included the Gleason brothers, Baker, Seward, McCaffory, McSorley, McGinnis, Magner, McDonald, Gault and Cuthbert. This nine, like that of the previous year, played great ball, and the famous Akron team was the only nine it met that year that proved too much for it. It was so successful, in fact, that in the fall of 1881 steps were taken to put a professional team in the then talked of American Association.

-From The Sporting News, October 11, 1886


Al Spink had much to do with the Interregnum Browns and wrote the following in The National Game:

At this time my brother William Spink was the sporting editor of the Globe-Democrat and I held that sort of position on the then Missouri Republican, now the St. Louis Republic. After the failure to land a professional team in St. Louis in 1878 we did our best and worked together to replace the game here on a substantial footing.

But the baseball-loving public, disgusted at the way they had lost the splendid team they had hoped for, would have none of it.

Out of the remnant of the old St. Louis professional team we organized a nine that included holdover veterans like Dickey Pearce, Edgar Cuthbert, Lipman Pike, Mike McGeary, Joe Blong, Arthur Croft, Charles Houtz, Tom Sullivan, Packie Dillon, Danny Morgan and others.

This team played games on Sundays sometimes at Grand Avenue Park, now Sportsman's, and sometimes at the Reds' Park on Compton avenue, to which Shakespeare would have termed a beggardly array of empty benches. One day in the summer of 1878 we went to the pains of bringing the Indianapolis Browns here, a team that had won the championship of the International Association and that included in its ranks such famous players as the "only" Flint and the "only" Nolan.

But this team and our picked nine of professionals did not take in enough money at the gate at its initial game to pay the street car fares of the twelve players on the Mound City bob-tailed cars from the park back to their hotel quarters downtown.

The season of 1879 was as unfruitful of results as that of the season which preceded it. A picked up team of left-over professionals was again organized, called the St. Louis Browns and it stood ready to play any team of players that happened on Sundays to drop into Grand Avenue Park. During the close of the season of 1879 the game showed signs of returning to life, and with my brother William, I again set out to reconstruct the old edifice and bring it back to its own.

Together we brought about the meeting which at the close of the season of 1880 led to the organization of the Sportsman's Park and Club Association, an organization effected for the purpose of fitting up Grand Avenue Park for baseball purposes. This organization included Chris Von der Ahe, president; John W. Peckington, vice president; W. W. Judy, treasurer; and A. H. Spink, secretary.

The Grand Avenue Park, which at this time contained a weather beaten grandstand and a lot of rotten benches, was torn away and in its place was erected a new covered stand and an open "bleachers."

Sitting out in the field early in the spring of 1881 before the new grandstand was completed, I organized the St. Louis Browns of that year, Edgar Cuthbert, the only one of the old professionals still remaining in the city assisting me in the selection of a nine which included George Baker and George Seward, catchers; George McGinnis, pitcher; Edward Gault, first base; Hugh McDonald and Dan Morgan, second base; Jack Gleason, third base; William Gleason, short field; Harry McCaffrey, center field; Edgar Cuthbert, left field; and John T. Magner, right field.

It was agreed as we all sat there on the green sward that we would work together to build up the sport and each player promised to be prompt at each game, to do his level best at all times and to take for his pay just as small a percentage of the gate receipts as the general welfare of the park and its owners would allow.

On Sunday, May 22, 1882, these grounds were really opened with an exhibition game between the newly organized St. Louis Browns and the St. Louis Reds. The Reds won by 2 to 1...

Despite the good attendance at this opening game between the Reds and Browns the outlook seemed cold and bleak, for St. Louis stood badly then in the eyes of the outside world.

A Nice Picture Of Silver Flint

This image of Silver Flint came from the October 30, 1886 issue of The Sporting News.

The Reds Have A Bad Road Trip

Bill Kelsoe writes in A Newspaper Man's Motion-Picture View Of The City about a baseball game that took place on July 14, 1875 between the St. Louis City Council and a group of St. Louis newspaper reporters.

"A new City Council was elected in the spring of 1875," he wrote, "some of the members being ardent baseball fans, the same as many of the newspaper reporters here. While the Browns were on their first, or maybe it was their second eastern tour, advantage of their absence to use Grand Avenue Park, now called Sportsman's Park, was taken by two nines representing, respectively, the press and the city government...The game was played on the afternoon of July 14, resulting in a victory for the reporters."

Kelsoe goes on to write that "(while) the St. Louis reporters were having a holiday game with our City Fathers...the original St. Louis Browns, were defeating the Atlantics at Brooklyn by the score of 2 to 1. The following day they won a second game in Brooklyn, making their sixth victory, without a single defeat since leaving home the week before, the other victims being the Philadelphias and the New York Mutuals, with two defeats each. The St. Louis Reds...were in Cincinnati for two games, one being with the Covington Stars across the river, which they won, losing the other."

This reference to the Reds playing in Covington in July of 1875 seems to come from Kelsoe's personal recollection and therefore can't be taken at face value unless confirmed by another source. However, it is rather significant because it speaks to why the Reds stopped playing championship matches after July 4, 1875.

Most of the general histories that mention the Reds erroneously claim that the team ceased operations after July 4th. The various reasons given for this are that the Reds never planned on making an Eastern road trip, they didn't have the money to make a road trip, or the players refused to make a road trip. The fact is the Reds made at least two major road trips after July 4th. The first was the trip to Cincinnati and Covington and the second was to Little Rock. Couple these with an earlier trip to Keokuk and Chicago and it doesn't seem that the Reds had problems making road trips. While they did disappear from the history of major league baseball after July 1875, the Reds were still a viable operation and soldiered on until the late 1880's.

However, the fact remains that the Reds did cease playing games against other NA teams after July 4th. The most likely reason for this is two-fold. First, it appears that they had difficulties scheduling games against the Eastern teams that precluded them from making an Eastern road trip. At the same time, the team fell apart. Joe Blong was either expelled from the club for "hippodroming" or bolted the team for greener pastures. Either way, on June 29, 1875, Blong signed a contract to play with the Stars of Covington, Ky. Shortly thereafter, Charlie Sweasy jumped ship and joined a team in Cincinnati and Packy Dillon and Trick McSorley joined Blong on the Stars. Although it's unclear, Silver Flint may also have joined the Stars. In the middle of the season, the Reds lost half their team and were left scrambling to find enough players to field a nine.

One question I always had was how did Blong, Sweasy, Dillon, McSorley, and possibly Flint all end up playing baseball in the Cincinnati area after July 4, 1875? Kelsoe may have provided the answer. If the Reds are in Cincinnati and Covington in early to mid July and at the same time their players are jumping to teams in Cincinnati and Covington, it would follow that the Reds were raided by the local teams during the road trip. It's very likely that if Blong was already playing for the Stars, he might have enticed his former teammates to jump ship.

Another question that remains is why so many of the Reds were willing to jump ship in the middle of the season? It's unlikely that there's one simple answer for that. The influence of Blong would certainly explain some of it. Sweasy's connections in Cincinnati probably played a role. Sweasy himself, an outsider brought in at the last minute and a man known to be difficult to deal with, likely made for a divisive clubhouse and may have drove some people away. The lack of on the field success couldn't have been good for morale. If the Reds were truly a co-op team then the lack of a promise of an Eastern road trip would have hurt the players financially and had them looking for greener pastures. Added together, all of this put a great deal of pressure on the club and its players.

If Kelsoe is correct, and again I believe we need another source to confirm it, then we can place the break up of the Reds' NA team in mid July when they made a road trip to Cincinnati and Covington. While the situation is still unclear and many questions remain, Kelsoe gets us one step closer to figuring out what happened to the Reds in July of 1875.

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.

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.

The Reds Get Their Revenge

The Reds ended their tumultuous 1875 season with a four game series against the Stocks. Playing at the Compton Avenue Park, the two teams met on four Sunday afternoons in October. The Stocks, bidding to become the unofficial champions of St. Louis, defeated the Reds in the first game, upset the Empires on October 10th, and then beat the Reds again in the second game of the series.

The Stockyard nine was on a roll when they met the Reds for the third time on October 24th. But the Red Stockings, "chagrined at the double defeat" and playing before a crowd of more than 2,000 people, jumped on their rivals and took a quick 4-0 lead. The rout was on and the Reds took the third game by a score of 12-2.

On October 31st, the two teams met for the final game of the series. The game was a barn burner. The Stocks were leading 5-3 after two innings when the Reds scored one in the third and five in the fourth to go ahead 9-5. Coming back, the Stockyards scored three in the bottom of the fifth to cut their deficit to one run. The Reds immediately answered back in the top of the sixth with two more runs to put the game away. The final score was 13-9. In their final game of the season, the Reds managed to half the series and regain a bit of their pride.

The Reds nine, in these final games of 1875, was, due to the turmoil of the summer, a bit different than the nine that competed in the NA. The team consisted of Charlie Houtz (1b), Art Croft (2b), Dan Collins (3b), Billy Redmon (ss), John Magner (LF), Tom Loftus (CF), Tom Oran (RF), and a battery of Silver Flint (C) and Pidge Morgan (P). In game two of the series, Croft pitched in place of Morgan, who was home with his pregnant wife. In that game, Welch played 2b in place of Croft and "the substitute" Roe replaced Loftus in center field. The Globe-Democrat singled Welch out for poor play in game two and wrote that his fielding "lost the game".

Bow Down To Your Machine Masters

I came home from work last night and my internet connection was down. Stupid Charter Communications. I have nothing good to say about those people. Anyway, since my machine masters wouldn't allow me to access my blog or the news or anything for that matter, I picked up the copy of David Nemac's The Beer & Whiskey League that's been sitting untouched on my desk for a few weeks and figured I'd read that while watching the Cards get smoked by the Brewers.

Within the first 35 pages, I found a few things that got me excited. First, was a reference to the Browns opening day game in 1882. According to Nemac, the umpire for that game was Charlie Hautz, former first baseman for the 1875 St. Louis Red Stockings. On page 27 of the book was a great team picture of the 1882 Pittsburgh Alleghenys and in the back row of the picture was Joe Battin, the former Brown Stocking who had been blacklisted in 1877. Best of all, on page 34, was a team picture of the 1879 Indianapolis Hoosiers that included Silver Flint, Trick McSorley, and Charlie Hautz. I have pictures of Flint and McSorley but I've never see one of Hautz.

For me, pictures are important. I have a tough time relating to these ballplayers based on nothing other than names, numbers, and words in a book but if I can put a face to the name then that person becomes real to me. I have an affinity for Trick McSorley simply based on his picture-he looks like somebody that I'd like (plus he's got the cool nickname).

Before last night, I could never get a handle on Charlie Hautz and when I'd talk about the players on the 1875 Reds, I'd always forget him. Now, because of the picture in Nemac's book, Hautz is a real person to me, I can visualize what he looks like, and that makes it easier for me to write about him.

Joe Blong

One of the more interesting players in the history of 19th century St. Louis baseball, Joe Blong played a total of 136 games in the NA and the NL between 1875 and 1877. A pitcher and outfielder, Blong was college educated, a member of a politically influential family, and was expelled from three teams in three years for “dishonesty, desertion, and unfaithful conduct”. In November of 1877, he was officially blacklisted and never played another game in the major leagues.

Joseph Myles Blong, the son of Irish immigrants, was born in St. Louis on September 17, 1853. He and his brother Andrew attended the University of Notre Dame in the late 1860’s, where they were members of the baseball team. When Blong made his major league debut in 1875, he, along with Cap Anson, became the first Notre Dame alum to play in the big leagues. Blong was married to a woman named Mary in 1880 with whom he had four children (Joseph, Mae, John, and James). In the 1880 census, Blong listed his occupation as painter. He died in 1892 and is buried at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis.

While details about his personal life are rare, much more is known about Blong’s baseball career. After his playing days at Notre Dame were over, Blong returned to St. Louis where he played on amateur teams with his brothers Andy and Tom. When the St. Louis Red Stockings entered the NA in 1875, Blong was added to a club that already included his two brothers as members. In the spring of 1875, as the Reds got ready for the season by playing various amateur teams and picked nines, Blong played first base, second base, the outfield, and pitched for the team. By the time the NA season began in May, Blong was selected as the Reds main pitcher.

The 1875 season was an eventful one for Blong. He certainly had a disappointing record on the mound, officially going 3-12 for the Reds with a 3.35 ERA and an ERA+ of 72. While his performance was certainly not what the Reds had been hoping for, Blong did throw a few gems that showed the potential he had as a pitcher. On May 11th, he held the Chicago White Stockings to six hits and one run in a 1-0 Reds loss. That game, according to Baseball Library.com, was the lowest scoring game in baseball history at the time. Also, on May 23rd, Blong threw a two hitter against the Keokuk Westerns. The Reds won 7-1 although the game, because it was played on a Sunday, did not count in the official standings.

On June 29, 1875, just five days before the Reds played their last NA game, Blong signed a contract with the Stars of Covington, Kentucky. The circumstances under which Blong left the Reds and joined the Stars are not exactly clear. While it’s possible that he simply left the team for greener pastures, most sources state that he was quietly expelled from the Reds on suspicion of crooked play. The St. Louis Globe Democrat, in an article on October 31, 1875, stated that Blong was kicked off the team for “hippodroming”.

However it happened, the Reds had lost their main pitcher to the Stars and ended their pursuit for the whip pennant. And while Blong was the first to leave the team, he was certainly not the last. Captain Charlie Sweasy soon left the sinking ship for Cincinnati. Blong was joined on the Covington club by Silver Flint, Packy Dillon, and Trick McSorley. It’s not known how these players all ended up in Covington. There is enough evidence to believe that McSorley had also been expelled from the team for crooked play and may have had no other options. It’s possible that a Covington official may have raided the Reds for players. Blong may have sowed dissension in the clubhouse and enticed several of his teammates to follow him to the Stars. It’s likely that all of these things played a role in splitting up the 1875 St. Louis Red Stockings.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Blong’s departure from the Reds is the role that his brother Andrew may have played. Andrew Blong was born in St. Louis in 1850 and had a long, successful political career in the city before his death in 1909. He served as a police commissioner, a member of the police board, and as chairman of the St. Louis Democratic Party Central Committee. An upstanding member of the community, Andy Blong was also a member of the Red Stockings Base Ball Club. He had played for the team in the past and, in 1875, represented the team at the 5th annual convention of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in Philadelphia. While Mr. McNeary (possibly Tom McNeary), as club secretary, ran the day to day business of the club, Andy Blong was certainly involved in the management of the Reds. There are several sources that list him as Club President and another as Business Manager. Whatever his role, it’s likely that Andy Blong was involved in whatever decision the Reds made regarding the status of his brother.

While the rump Red Stockings soldiered on in St. Louis, Blong was in Kentucky with his new team and some of his old teammates. But the honeymoon in Covington didn’t last very long. In late September, Blong jumped from the Stars to W.B. Pettit’s Indianapolis club. Again the circumstances are less than clear. One source claims that Blong was expelled from the Stars on September 23rd for throwing a game against a Cincinnati team.

Was Blong expelled from both the Reds and the Stars in 1875 for throwing games? Blong certainly took a beating in the press in the off-season. An unnamed Reds official stated in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle that Blong would “not be eligible to play (with) any reputable club in the future” although he did play on a picked nine team against the Reds in November of 1875. That month, the Eagle chastised the St. Louis Brown Stockings for signing Blong for the centennial season and named Blong to their “all-rogue” team. The St. Louis Globe Democrat also chastised the Browns for signing Blong. While it’s possible that this sense of outrage was simply a result of Blong’s disregard for a contract, the Globe Democrat’s article from October 31st, that stated that Blong was expelled from both the Reds and the Stars for “hippodroming, must be taken seriously. The contemporary sources paint Blong as a scoundrel at best and, at worst, as a man lacking honesty and character. The red flags were certainly up.

Playing mostly in the outfield, Blong had an uneventful 1876 season for the Brown Stockings while enjoying his best year statistically. In 1877, he was named team captain. Captain Blong was not having a good year at the plate that year when the Brown Stockings went to Chicago in late August to take on the White Stockings. On August 24, 1877, Chicago beat St. Louis 4-3 in just another game in the dog days of the season. However, later that month, Blong and teammate Joe Battin were named by a group of Chicago and St. Louis gamblers as “willing partners” in the fix of the August 24th game. “Crooked play has been discovered in the St. Louis nine,” said an article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, “and a dispatch from St. Louis says that (Davey) Force, Battin, and Blong have been expelled with forfeited pay.” The scandal would lead to the blacklisting of Blong, Battin, Force, and teammate Mike McGeary in November of 1877.

Joe Blong’s big league career was over. Even though he was able to catch on with “the Springfield nine” in 1878 and was playing baseball with the Union Club of St. Louis as late as 1884, Blong would never again be allowed to play baseball in the major leagues. While the incidents with the Reds and Stars are open to interpretation, Blong was specifically named, by gamblers, in a fixing incident while with the Brown Stockings and would be persona non grata in Organized Baseball for the rest of his life.

Silver Flint Part 2

By the fall of 1891, Flint, most likely as a result of his alcoholism and a “wide open policy” with money, was broke and homeless. He was also very ill. His former wife, M.S. Flint, found him wandering the streets and took Flint in, nursing him and paying for his doctor’s bills. By late October, he was bed ridden and diagnosed with tuberculosis.

Flint died on January 14, 1892 and he was laid to rest next to his parents in St. Peter’s Cemetery in St. Louis. At his funeral, Anson, who admitted that he had not treated Flint well in his final days as a player, broke down and wept like a child. In an obituary in the Herald Dispatch, of Decatur, Illinois, it was stated that “Flint was regarded for years as the best catcher on the diamond.”

Silver Flint had the reputation, through the first fifty years of baseball history, as one of the finest catchers to have ever played the game. It was proclaimed in the Indianapolis Star in 1915 that “(as) a fielder and thrower Flint might be compared to Buck Ewing…He was by long odds the greatest catcher of his day.” Anson also heaped praise on his former catcher. “(I) cannot see a catcher anywhere as good as Silver Flint,” Anson stated in 1895. According to George Gore, Flint was the greatest catcher of all time. “He knew more than any other man with the mask,” Gore said in 1912. “He had the greatest head of any man in the business. Nobody before or since could touch Flint…Every pitcher he ever handled he made a star…Once Frank took them in hand they all developed into stars. He could make cracks out of every pitcher who ever toed the slab.” Paul Hines also stated, in 1913, that Flint was the greatest catcher who ever lived.

Flint had a well earned reputation for physical toughness. In an article on Flint in an 1888 issue of the Decatur Weekly Republican, the headline simply states “He Is Tough” and the article goes on to say how it seems as if Flint was made of cast iron. A 1910 Washington Post article on Flint declared that “(he) was a horse for work. His stamina caused a feeling of awe among players and fans, for he caught incessantly in spite of many broken fingers and a smashed nose.” Flint, of course, was a catcher in the days before gloves, masks, chest protectors, and shin guards which added to the esteem in which he was held by more modern viewers of the game. The amount of abuse that Flint took behind the plate is illustrated by Flint’s admission to friends that he had broken every joint in every finger in both hands at least once, that his nose had been broken frequently, and that he had lost several teeth while playing the game. There are also several stories, that may be apocryphal but which added to Flint’s reputation for toughness, about how he had attempted to use a glove and a mask in a game but had tossed them aside after a few pitches, proclaiming them to be a hindrance.

One interesting note about Flint is how common stories about his hands are. Cap Anson was particularly fond of telling stories about Flint’s “money makers”. “Silver’s hands were battered into so many angles that when spread out they resembled pretzels,” he said in 1896. “Silver’s hands were one of the sights the sporting fraternity sought when visiting Chicago.” In 1904, Anson went on to say that Flint’s “fingers were like the gnarled and knotted branches of a scrub oak. Rheumatism in its worst stages never gave a person such a pair of hands.”

Toward the end of his playing days, a story made the rounds in the press about Flint meeting a surgeon while both men were waiting for a train. The surgeon got a good look at Flint’s hands and wanted to take him to the hospital, insisting that all of his fingers would have to be amputated. Silver Flint just laughed at him.

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.