A Record Of Which They May Well Be Proud

In November of 1875, as the St. Louis Red Stockings were wrapping up their season, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, a notorious pro-Reds paper, provided a look back on the season. While modern reference material have the Reds finishing at 4-15, the Globe reported that the Reds had played 18 championship games with a record of 4-14. Sadly, they did not give the Reds' record in non-NA games.

The article reported that the Reds planed to hold a meeting on November 8th at the Laclede Hotel in St. Louis, with the intention "to place a Centennial nine in the field, composed entirely of home talent..." The Globe was well aware of the machinations that were taking place leading to the end of the NA and the birth of the NL. They believed that, when reorganized, the Reds would be the class of "the second tier" of teams, those left out of the NL.

As to the season just past, the Globe stated that "the Red Stockings made a record of which they may well be proud. The nine, with the exception of Sweasy, the veteran who 'coached' them during the early part of the season, was made up of St. Louis players...had they been properly treated by the leading clubs, they would have stood better at the close of the season..." The Globe had complained all season about the way the Reds had been treated by the Eastern powers as well as by Chicago and the Brown Stockings.

Their main point of contention was that the powers would not schedule games with the Reds. They believed that the Reds should have gotten agreements about the schedule in the early part of the season and thought it a mistake to begin the season without scheduling commitments from Eastern teams. The Globe also had some unkind words about the Brown Stockings and their refusal to schedule more than two games with the Reds.

This is an interesting take on events being that most modern accounts of the 1875 season state that the Reds never had any intention of going on an Eastern road trip and they existed as a Western co-op team simply to give Eastern teams another opponent in the West. This contemporary account by the Globe contradicts that interpretation. The Globe states that the Reds would have gone East in 1875 if they could have scheduled the games. Essentially, the Globe's position was that the Eastern teams ignored the Reds and didn't want them in their parks.

The Globe also believed that it would have been better for all involved if the Reds had remained an amateur club. "Each amateur organization is allowed one professional for training purposes, and, had the boys not entered for the whip pennant, they would have been the champion amateur club of the country. St. Louis can, without a doubt, get together a finer team of non-professionals than any other city in the Union."

The Globe believed, given the competitive nature of the Reds' games against the "clubs of first class" and their winning record against the NA's second division, that if the Reds had consolidated the amateur talent in St. Louis for the purpose of competing for the amateur championship rather than the professional championship then the Reds would have been the best amateur team in the country. Regardless of whether this is true or not, I think this reflects the heavy bias in St. Louis in favour of amateur baseball.

More On Packy Dillon

While researching Packy Dillon, I was convinced that I had identified Dillon in the 1880 census. You can find my reasoning in this post. One of the main reasons that I believed Patrick Dillon to be the son of James and Ellen Dillon, besides the fact that they had a son named John and they were of the appropriate age, was that both the Patrick Dillon family and the James Dillon family were listed next to each other in the 1880 census. I assumed that this implied a family relationship.

The interesting thing is that I probably have the right guy but I got the family wrong. Based on an e-mail conversation with Peter Morris and Jason Christopherson, it is almost certain that the Patrick Dillon in the 1880 census is Packy Dillon. However, it's just as certain that this Dillon is the son of John and Alicia Dillon, not James and Ellen Dillon.

In the 1860 census, there is an entry for a James Dillon, a 36 year old butcher who was born in Ireland and living in St. Louis. James was married to the 26 year old Alicia Dillon, who was also born in Ireland, and the two had six children: Stephen (already living on his own in 1860), Edward (age 17), James (12), John (10), Patrick H. (8), and Mary E. (2). I had seen this entry in the census and believed that this Patrick Dillon was the second best candidate after the 1880 census Dillon. It turns out that they're the same person. Patrick H. Dillon is the Patrick Dillon of the 1880 census. Patrick H. Dillon is almost certainly Packy Dillon of the Reds.

Patrick H. Dillon died in July of 1902 and is buried at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis. In the same cemetery lot is James Dillon, Edward Dillon, Mary Dillon Clark, and Alicia Mullen. This is the Dillon family from the 1860 census. Alicia Dillon remarried after the death of James and her second husband, Alexander Mullen, is buried in the lot. Also burried in the lot are two children who died in November of 1877 and are listed as "twins of Patrick Dillon".

Peter Morris found a death record for the twins in the Missouri Archives that list the twins as the children of Patrick and Martha Dillon. The twins prove that Patrick Dillon of the 1880 census is Patrick H. Dillon of the 1860 census. It also proves that Packy Dillon most likely died in St. Louis in 1902 and not in Guelph, Ontario in 1890. Jason's research leads one to conclude that the baseball playing Dillon who died in Guelph was Andrew Dillon not Packy Dillon. Both were catchers of an approximate age and their information was most likely confused when the Baseball Encyclopedia was put together.

One of the keys linking Patrick H. Dillon to Packy Dillon is Patrick H.'s wife Martha F. Dillon. In the 1880 census, Martha F. is listed as having been born in Ohio. It's known that Dillon was in the Cincinatti area in 1875, playing for the Covington Stars. In the death notice of one of her children, Martha's maiden name is listed as Baggot and in the 1860 census Martha Baggot, age 1, is living in Cincinnati with her family. On the Civil War pension card of Martha Baggot's father, Francis Baggot, a Martha F. Dillon is listed. So it seems that Patrick Dillon met Martha while playing with Covington, won her hand, and took her home to St. Louis.

Patrick and Martha Dillon were married in 1876 and had six children: the twins who died in 1877, Edward (born around 1880), Loyola (@ 1885), Marie (@1886), and Jerome (@1888). Patrick, along with his brothers, was working as a butcher until around 1879. After that he was a vegetable peddler at least through the late 1880. After that his occupation is unknown. Peter believes that Dillon gave up baseball after the birth of the twins in 1877.

Martha Dillon lived a long life, passing away sometime in 1931 or 1932. She and her children lived on a farm on Lemay Ferry Road in St. Louis. She's listed as a farmer as early as 1909 so it's possible that Patrick Dillon bought a farm sometime in the late 1880's or early 1890's.

After seeing the records from Calvary Cemetary, the census data on Martha Baggot Dillon, and the death record of the Dillon twins, I have no doubt that Patrick H. Dillon is Packy Dillon.

I'd like to thank both Peter Morris and Jason Christopherson for their time, effort, and help. They both unselfishly shared their research on Packy Dillon with me and I very much appreciate it.

George Munson

George Munson was a prominent baseball man in the late 19th century. A sports writer, the secretary and manager of the St. Louis Browns during their championship run, and an entrepreneur, Munson was described by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as “more nearly an institution than an individual…”

Munson was born in Iowa in 1861 and entered Cornell University in 1876. According to the Cornell Alumni News, Munson took “an optional course and did not graduate.” Leaving the university in 1879, he moved to St. Louis and took a job as a sports writer with the St. Louis Republican where he worked with David Reid.

In 1885, Reid was working for the Post-Dispatch and had taken a job as secretary of the St. Louis Browns. In the late afternoon on May 1st, Reid became ill and went to the house of his friend Munson to lie down. He never recovered and died the next evening at the age of 37. Munson replaced his friend as secretary and manager of Chris Von der Ahe’s Browns.

Described by the Post-Dispatch as “the business head of the organization,” Munson would see the Browns to four consecutive championships from 1885 to 1888. He was involved in every facet of the team from player procurement to selling advertising space on the outfield wall.

In October of 1887, according to the New York Times, Munson was in New York to arrange games at Washington Park in Brooklyn and at the Polo Grounds between the Browns and their NL champion opponents, Detroit, as part of the “world’s championship” series. When asked how he felt about his team’s chances after they had dropped two of the first three games, Munson said, “Will our boys win? Well, to prove what I think about the matter I have a well filled wallet that I am willing to risk on the result.” Regardless of Munson’s confidence, the Browns lost the fifteen game series ten games to five.

Munson had a rather tumultuous relationship with Von der Ahe, which given the character of Der Boss President is not exactly surprising. The Post-Dispatch wrote that Munson and Von der Ahe “were estimated to have quarreled four times a day-that is, (Von der Ahe) did the quarrelling and…Munson did the work.” Von der Ahe certainly did admire and appreciate the work that Munson did for the Browns, at least after Munson had moved on. Der Boss never found another employee who could compare to Munson and referred to him, simply, as “the best”.

Munson was elected as the first president of the Base Ball Reporters Association of America. The group was formed in 1897, according to Harold Seymour in Baseball: The Early Years, “for the purpose of bringing about a standard method of scoring games and to advance the interests of baseball through the press.”

In 1890, Munson had had enough of Von der Ahe’s drama and left the Browns to work with the new Players League. The New York Times reported in January of 1890 that “George Munson, late Secretary of the Browns, is busy getting things in shape for a Brotherhood ball club in St. Louis. He said today that he had $50,000 subscribed. He is negotiating with the Players League, and seems confident that St. Louis will be admitted to the circuit.” When his plans for a St. Louis team in the Players League fell through, Munson went to Chicago and took a job as secretary for the PL’s Pirates, who were managed by his old friend Charles Comiskey and had several other former Browns on the roster. In May of 1890, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, he was involved in a failed attempt to transfer either the Pittsburgh or Cleveland NL team to St. Louis.

In 1891, Munson was the editor of Reach’s Official American Association Base Ball Guide and was involved in raising stock for an American Association team in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that year that Munson was working for the Cincinnati team as secretary and was a stockholder in the club. He also went back to work that year as a press agent and advisor for Von der Ahe, whom he would continue to work for until 1894.

It was in his capacity as advisor to Von der Ahe that Munson was involved in one of the more bizarre incidents in baseball history. According to the New York Times, in March of 1891, Munson, Von der Ahe, Von der Ahe’s attorney Walter McEntire, and Al Spink “called upon Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Thomas Estep to swear out a warrant, charging conspiracy” against Mark Baldwin. Baldwin, a big league pitcher with the Pittsburgh NL club, had been hired by the League to get AA players to jump their contracts and sign with NL clubs. Baldwin had targeted Browns ace Silver King and Columbus player Jack O’Connor, both of whom were living in St. Louis. While Estep saw “no ground for a criminal warrant”, Baldwin was eventually arrested and jailed on bribery charges. In The Beer & Whiskey League, David Nemec writes that “Von der Ahe then pulled strings to have the case delayed so that Baldwin would be detained indefinitely in St. Louis and would be unable to continue his poaching for the League.” “Baldwin,” according to Seymour, “did not like being thrown into a jail infested with cockroaches and bedbugs, and retaliated against Von der Ahe’s harassment with a suit for $20,000, charging false arrest and malicious prosecution. Four years later a jury awarded him $5,000.” The only good thing to come of this mess was that Pittsburgh, Baldwin’s employer, gained a permanent nickname. Because of their poaching of AA players, the Pittsburg National League Baseball Club would forever be known as the Pirates.

In the mid 1890’s, Munson was involved in attempts to sell the Browns. As Von der Ahe’s financial and personal life deteriorated into tragedy, Munson was unable to broker a deal that would save Der Boss’s empire. By 1894, the two parted ways for the final time.

After his time with the Browns, Munson was involved in numerous entrepreneurial ventures. The Post-Dispatch wrote that “…Munson dabbled in skating rinks, racetracks, theaters, newspapers, theater programs, dog shows, horse shows, and nearly every other variety of enterprise calculated to attract public attention. Most of his adventures were successful.”

Munson died of pneumonia on March 8, 1908, leaving behind a wife, Lizzie, and two children, Porter and Daisy. His obituary in the Post-Dispatch was rather glowing. “He knew more people than any other one man in St. Louis ,” it said, “and was known by more…When the question of how a broken-down baseball player or any other member of the fraternity was to be taken care of in life or in death came up, George Munson was the man relied on to get the necessary contributions. In every public charity he was always a busy figure.”

Scandal!

Autobiography Of An Unimportant Person by Minnette Slayback Carper was published in 1937 and provides a picture of everyday life in late 19th century St. Louis. Minnette, pictured above, was born in St. Louis in 1868 and lived there until 1902. Her autobiography was based upon the diary that she had kept since 1870.

In April of 1888, the young Minnette Slayback met a "gentleman" of dubious morals who proposed a rather scandalous outing. "...(That) evening Paul Rossire, a friend of Talbot Simpson's came to call, with a letter of introduction," she wrote. "He was a very handsome chap, - startlingly good-looking, with very black hair and beard, and beautiful teeth that enhanced a humorous smile. Devoted to singing, and playing the piano; brought me a box of candy - quite astonished us by wanting us to go to the base-ball game. We did not know any women who went to a base-ball park! We would have to ask Mama."

There is no record in the autobiography of whether or not she took Mr. Rossire up on his offer. Given the shocked tone of the diary's entry, it's unlikely that Mr. Rossire ever got to first base with Minnette. One would have to assume that he struck out with the fetching Miss Slayback.

In all seriousness, Minnette Slayback Carper was a member of a rather wealthy and prominent St. Louis family. Her statement about not knowing any women who went to baseball games says more about her upper class, Victorian upbringing than it does about the popularity of baseball among 19th century women in general.

The Ball Game

I found this video over at American Memory, a Library of Congress website that "provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. " It's a 30 second film called "The Ball Game" that was produced by Thomas Edison in 1898. According to the American Memory website, "The Ball Game" was "(photographed) from one camera position behind home plate...(and) shows a baseball game in progress." Baseball Almanac states that the game was between two amateur teams from Newark, New Jersey.

You can download a better version of the film here.

The St. Louis Whites

The St. Louis Whites were, essentially, a minor league team for the St. Louis Browns. They played part of one season in the Western Association in 1888, compilling a record of 10-18 before dropping out of the league on June 20th. The Whites were owned by Chris Von der Ahe and managed by former St. Louis Red Tom Loftus. David Nemac writes in The Beer & Whiskey League that "(so) top-heavy were the Browns with raw and untested players in the spring of 1888 that Von der Ahe formed the St. Louis Whites as a kind of farm team..."

The cards posted above are from the Old Judge set and picture Whites' players Henry Hines, Harry Staley, Fred Nyce, and C. Alcott.

Kid Baldwin

Clarence G. Baldwin, according to the June 1, 1889 edition of the Clipper, "first attracted attention as a player in 1881, when he was a member of the St. Louis Reds, a noted organization of the Mound City at that time." SABR's Biography Project essay on Baldwin seems to contradict this.

According to David Ball, "(the) young Baldwin began to play baseball after his family moved to St. Louis, where he attracted attention catching for a crack local club called the Stars. St. Louis journalist Al Spink would later remember picking up Baldwin, "a spare built lad of sixteen"...on a North St. Louis lot one Sunday to fill in when a visiting team of semiprofessionals called the Eckfords came in from Chicago without a battery."

The Reds Invade The Great White North

In the September 20, 1886 issue of The Sporting News, John Magner states that "the old Reds" played a game in London, Ontario against a team called the Tecumsehs. While he doesn't give a date for the game, Magner does say that Art Croft was still playing with the team at the time. Since Magner joined the Reds in 1876 and played for Cincinnati in 1879 and Croft was playing for the Brown Stockings in 1877, Indianapolis in 1878, and a co-op Browns team in 1880, the game was most likely played either in 1876 or in the early 1880's. Magner gives neither the date nor the score of the game

Abraham Lincoln And Baseball

Technically, Abraham Lincoln, having nothing to do with the history of 19th century St. Louis baseball, is outside the purview of this blog. But I live across the river from St. Louis in Illinois, Abe Lincoln is our favorite son, and I feel like posting on our boy. Since it's my blog, I guess I can do what I want.

The picture posted above is a drawing called "Lincoln's Notification" and when I saw it, I vaguely remembered the story that went with it. I had heard the apocryphal story of how Lincoln was notified of his election while in the middle of a baseball game and knew I had read something about it. So I started digging and found a long piece on Lincoln and baseball in Baseball in Blue & Gray.

"While there is precious little evidence that Lincoln actually played, watched, or even paid attention to baseball," George Kirsch wrote, "nevertheless there are several tales that connect him to the sport. Certainly as president, Lincoln had ample opportunity to see a baseball game. Before, during, and after the (Civil War) baseball clubs competed on the President's Grounds near the White House in Washington D. C. In June 1865, just two months after his assassination, the New York Herald announced that a feature match would be played there in August between the Atlantics of Brooklyn and the Athletics of Philadelphia. That journal added that the slain president had "expressed a wish to see a game of the kind." Albert G. Spalding also contributed to the folklore of Lincoln and baseball. A few years after spinning his yarn about Doubleday and Cooperstown, Spalding claimed that he had received a letter describing the visit of a Republican committee that traveled to Springfield, Illinois to notify Lincoln of his selection as the party's nominee for the presidency. According to Spalding, the men found him "engaged in a game of Base Ball." When a messenger alerted him to the imminent arrival of the delegation, he replied: "Tell the gentlemen that I am glad to know of their coming; but they'll have to wait a few minutes until I make another base hit.""

Kirsch also quotes stories by Winfield Scott Larner and Frank Blair. Larner claimed that Lincoln and his son Tad had watched games played in Washington , "cheering with their fellow fans". Blair tells a great story about how Lincoln, during visits to his family, "loved to play town ball with the youngsters on the lawn."

In his book, Kirsch stresses how Organized Baseball attempted to tie together the Lincoln legend, baseball mythology, and American nationalism in an attempt to further the popularity of 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.

Silver King

Since I already posted pictures of Caruthers and Foutz, I might as well do Silver King. When the subject of the greatest pitching staff of all time comes up, the St. Louis Browns of 1885-1888 have to be in the discussion. 1887 was the only year when Caruthers, Foutz, and King were all on the team together and each won 25 or more games. Tough to do better then that.

The card is from the 1887-1890 Old Judge series.

Dave Foutz

The above image of Dave Foutz comes from one of my favorite pieces of 19th century baseball memorabilia, the 1887/88 Scrapps set that was issued to celebrate the championship series between the St. Louis Browns and the Detroit Wolverines. According to Cycleback's Online Museum of Early Baseball Memorabilia, ""(little) is known about the orgins of these unusual cards. It was once incorrectly theorized that they were tobacco cards. Most likely they were 'punch-outs' from a kids album. The cards are die-cast and embossed, similar to the 1880's Team Player Die-Casts."

Parisian Bob Caruthers

The Allen & Ginter's World's Champions tobacco card set was released in 1887 and is considered the first significant card set issued. There were ten ballplayers in the 50 card set (which also included boxers, billiard players, wrestlers, and the like) and the cards were inserted in packs of Allen & Ginter cigarettes. A complete set of the ten ballplayers in the right condition is valued at over $78,000.

Above is the Bob Caruthers card.

A quick note: I want to welcome all the readers from Whiteyball to my little blog and thank Dustin for the link. Whiteyball is one of my favorite sites for info on all things Birds On The Bat.

The Big Boys Come To Town

Through 1866, baseball in St. Louis was a local affair, with local amateur clubs vying for supremacy amongst themselves. That changed on July 22, 1867.

On that day the National Base Ball Club of Washington came calling and showed the local boys how it was done. The Nationals were in the middle of a historic three week tour of the Midwest, putting on a showcase for Eastern baseball, and visiting Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Rockford, and Chicago. On the tour, the only loss the Nationals suffered was to the Rockford club, who upset the Eastern power behind the pitching of the young Albert Spalding.

The St. Louis clubs didn't put up much of a struggle. On July 22nd, the Nationals defeated the Unions 113-26. The next day, they beat the Empires 53-26.

George Wright (pictured above) recalled both games. "It took us four and one-half hours to play the game (against the Unions), while the thermometer registered 104," he said. "The next day we beat the Empires...in six innings..." Wright had the scores of the two games as 123-26 and 52-26.

The visit by the Nationals was precipitated by the Union club's membership in the NABBP in 1867. The Empire and Atlantic clubs joined in 1868 and the big boys kept coming to town. In 1868, the Nationals, the Union of Morrisania, the Excelsiors of Chicago, the Atlantics of Brooklyn, and the Buckeyes of Cincinnati all visited St. Louis for matches. Between 1869 and 1874, the visits continued, with the highlight being the two matches the Cincinnati Red Stockings played against the Unions and Empires on September 15th & 16th in 1869.

By the end of the 1874 season, St. Louis baseball supporters were tired of taking their lumps from the top teams in the nation. They were specifically sick of the beatings they were taking at the hands of the NA's Chicago White Stockings. These losses led directly to the formation of St. Louis' first two professional teams-the Reds and Brown Stockings-in 1875.

The St. Louis Blue Stockings

The Blue Stockings were, according to the Globe Democrat, "a crack colored organization" that played in St. Louis during the 19th century. The sources that I have mention that they were active in 1875 and were preparing for the 1876 season.

In November of 1876, the Blues formed a joint stock company and were in the process of obtaining operating funds for the centennial season. They had already raised $1000 and signed 11 players for 1876.

The players under contract for 1876 were Doug Grant (P), Phil Smith (C), Peter Hays (1B), George Taxlar (2B), Jim Bailey (3B), Henry Day (SS), Wm. Pitts (LF), George Jones (RF), Wm. Collins (CF), Wm. Richardson (Sub), and R. Sharp (Sub).

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.

The Union Vs. The Empire

"In late May of 1861 Wilkes' Spirit of the Times reported that the pitcher of the Union club of St. Louis planned to resign from his team to accept a commission in the Second Missouri Artillery after leading his team to victory in a championship match against a city rival, the Empire nine. According to the writer, 'the boys console themselves with the hope that the balls he will pitch at the foes of his country's flag, may be as successful in putting down their insolent presumption, as were those pitched against his civil opponents yesterday, in humbling the more honest pride of the former Champions of Base Ball in St. Louis.'" from George B. Kirsch's Baseball in Blue & Gray

A couple of thoughts:

• The writer for the Spirit of the Times has a comma fetish (while I don't think I'm in any position to criticize anyone else's writing, I'm just saying that's a lot of commas).
• This account re-enforces the Merritt Griswold letter in which Griswold writes about his Cyclone club disbanding in 1861, with "the boys" going off to fight on one side or the other.
• The Spirit of the Times piece refers to the Empire club as the "former Champions". I read that as meaning that the Empires were recognized as being champions of St. Louis in 1860. If we take Griswold at his word and the first match game under the New York rules was played in St. Louis in July of 1860 then I find it interesting that things got organized enough to declare a champion for the 1860 season. I'm not sure if I believe that this is any type of "official" championship but rather just a recognition of the Empires being the best team in the city.
• This certainly establishes the Empires and Unions playing in 1861 and possibly as early as 1860.

Harry Steinfeldt

This is a picture of a Harry Steinfeldt baseball card from 1911, the year after he got jobbed by Franklin Pierce Adams. Of course I'm having difficulty summoning up a lot of outrage for this St. Louis boy turned traitor.

Charlie Sweasy

Charles James Sweasy, a member of the 1869/70 Cincinnati Red Stockings, was born on November 2, 1847 in Newark, New Jersey to John H. and Rachel Sweasy. According to the 1850 census, he had two brothers, George (b. 1835) and John H. (b. 1842), and three sisters, Henrietta (b. 1833), Sarah (b. 1840), and Eliza (b. 1840).

Sweasy first drew attention as a ballplayer in the mid 1860's while playing as a second baseman for amateur teams in the Newark area. In 1866 and 67, he was playing second for Irvington (N.J.) in the NABBP. One of his teammates was Andy Leonard, another future member of the 1869 Red Stockings. In 1868, Sweasy moved to the Buckeyes of Cincinnati, where he played both second and third. There is a reference in his obituary in the New York Times to Sweasy playing for "the Lancaster Red Stockings" and being managed there by Harry Wright in 1868 but there is no other evidence to support this. The Buckeye team also included Andy Leonard and Dick Hurley, who would join Sweasy the next year on the Red Stockings.

In 1869 and 1870, Sweasy was playing for the Cincinnati Red Stockings. He appeared in all 57 of the Red Stockings’ victories in 1869, playing second base. In 1870, he appeared in 73 of 74 games, again all at second base. According to The Advocate, Sweasy was paid $800 in 1869. Although there were a few players making more, specifically the Wrights, this was the "standard rate" for Reds players. In 1870, it is suggested that Sweasy was involved in a salary dispute, asking for a $200 raise (a salary that would have made him the third highest paid player on the team). It's unclear whether he got his raise. However, if the account is true, this might make Sweasy the first baseball player ever to hold out for more money.

It's interesting to note that Sweasy listed his occupation in the 1870 census as "ballplayer". With baseball still transitioning from a purely amateur game to a full time profession and there still being some controversy surrounding the professionalization of the game, to list one's occupation as ballplayer was fairly unique. It is known that Sweasy was, as Harry Wright said in The Sporting News in 1866, a hatter by trade and practiced that profession after his playing days ended. There is also a reference to his being a hatter in 1869. So while he had an "honest" profession, Sweasy choose to identify himself as a professional baseball player in 1870.

After the Reds broke up following the 1870 season, Sweasy lived a journeyman's life, officially playing for eight teams in seven years. While he lived the vagabond's life of a fringe player, Sweasy actually captained at least three of the teams he played for: the 1871 Olympics of Washington D.C., the 1872 Forest City Club of Cleveland, and the 1875 Red Stockings of St. Louis. While the statistical evidence shows that Sweasy was not much of a player (at least in the batter's box), the panache that he earned playing with 1869/70 Red Stockings usually guaranteed him not only a spot on a roster but also the field manager's job. It seems that more than one team used Sweasy's "fame" to establish their own credentials.

In 1875, when the Reds of St. Louis transitioned from a top local amateur team to a professional team in the NA, they stocked their team with local amateur talent. Every member of the St. Louis Reds made their professional debut in 1875-except for Charlie Sweasy. Sweasy, the only player with any “big league” professional experience, was brought in by Reds’ management in mid April to the captain the club. This is in contrast to the Brown Stockings of St. Louis who joined the NA in the same year and stocked their team with the best eastern ballplayers they could buy.

The results of this were what you would expect. The Browns had a decent season, finishing fourth in the league with a record of 39-29. The Reds were not competitive in the NA in 1875, finishing with a record of 4-15, good for tenth place. The Reds, for numerous reasons, ceased league operations after a game on July 4, 1875. Regardless of whether or not the Reds had difficulties scheduling games against other NA teams or the players refused to make a scheduled road trip or the team ran out of funds or a combination of these, the Reds NA season was finished.

After the Reds ended their NA season, several members of the team, including Sweasy, bolted the team and ended up playing out the season on various professional teams in the Cincinnati area. One would have to conclude that Sweasy, who had had lived and played baseball in Cincinnati, played a role in getting his teammates jobs in the area, although Joe Blong may also have had something to do with this. Sweasy not only finished the 1875 season playing for the reorganized Cincinnati Red Stockings, he also signed a contract to play for them the following year.

While Sweasy's career in the major leagues ended with Providence in 1878 (were he was involved in Paul Hines' controversial unassisted triple play), he continued to play baseball with various minor northeastern teams through the 1881 season. It was reported in his obituary that he was forced to retire in 1882 "on account of rheumatism."

After his playing days, Sweasy lived a nomadic life, living in various towns in the northeast. In 1886, it's reported that he was living in New York City. In 1890, Newark. In 1897, Providence, Rhode Island. In 1900, Sweasy was living by himself in a house in Irvington, New Jersey.

Sweasy, who died on March 30, 1908 of tuberculosis, had a reputation for being "difficult". Between the salary dispute, Harry Wright's later descriptions of Sweasy, and the numerous teams he played for, it's easy to see how this reputation developed.

Another interesting note about Sweasy comes from The Mexia Evening News. In 1922, an article in the paper appeared that stated that Sweasy was alive and living in Fort Worth, Texas. “…(He) is seventy-five years of age and in feeble health…He has prospered in business and is passing his last days in comfort.” Of course, Sweasy had been dead for fourteen years.

Patsy Tebeau

Here's a picture of Patsy Tebeau from 1888.