Baltimore Baseball: The Beginning, 1858- 1872 Brian McKenna Contents Preface 3 Chapter 1 What is Base Ball? 6 Chapter 2 Genesis Stories 22 Chapter 3 Baseball Establishes a Foothold, 1860 29 Chapter 4 A Place to Play 46 Chapter 5 Catching the Baseball Bug, 1861 63 Chapter 6 War Years, 1862-1864 73 Chapter 7 Black Baseball in Baltimore 85 Chapter 8 Baseball Revives after the War, 1865 89 Chapter 9 Baseball Spreads Far and Wide, 1866-1867 104 Chapter 10 Best before the Babe 127 Chapter 11 Revolving, Gambling and Game-fixing, 1868-1869 138 Chapter 12 Baseball Enters a New Era, 1870-1872 157 Appendix A Baltimore Baseball Clubs, 1859-1870 181 Appendix B Baltimore Baseball Games, 1860-1870 190 Appendix C Baltimore Ballplayers and Club Officers of Note 214 Appendix D Baltimore Baseball Grounds 234 Appendix E Baltimore Baseball Uniforms 238 Appendix F Yearly Champions 243 Appendix G Club Constitution and By-laws 248 Bibliography 254 Notes 261 2 Preface Are the 1860s relatable to the 21st century viewer? Stating the obvious, the mid-1800s were much different than today. So much has changed and we see ourselves as somehow different from the people that lived then and, thus, removed from the era. It’s not just the advances in medicine, science and computers, the automobile, tall buildings, electronics, digital communication and the 24-7-365 instantaneous media. It is also true of the sport – base ball, then a two-word phrase. Even though it was already being called the ‘national game’ and played with gusto far and wide few baseball enthusiasts today care to delve into the game before 1900, much less the genesis of the sport decades earlier. Random dates are offered by many to define the modern era, perhaps 1969, 1920 or 1901. By definition then, the nineteenth century was not modern. But neither was it a Stone Age. All the elements we so treasure about the game today were there in the 1890s, and many in the 1860s. True, we have a much different way of following and studying the game today, but that’s not baseball; that’s communication – radio, television, mass media, print media, digital media, electronic scoreboards, expensive sound systems. So how do we get a feel for 1860s baseball? That’s the question I keep asking myself. What was it like to be a fan? How did players view the game? We are crazy about baseball today for several reasons in general. First, it was the game of our youth. It’s what we did, followed, adored. Second, we love to watch the best of the best pit their skills against each other knowing that any given day, any inning, any at bat has the potential to offer a surprise or two, give us confirmation or just allow us to celebrate and enjoy the ups and downs of competition. Third, we love the game in part because of its rich history. No sport’s past has been followed and analyzed like baseball, both in the narrative and through numbers. Well, how does this relate to the 1860s? Like today, back then ball playing was the game of their youth as well. Albeit, it might have been a different version than the product played on a formal level before, during and after the Civil War. But, it was still a bat and ball game and everyone knew the ins and outs to some degree. In fact, they grew up playing a variety of such games 3 depending on neighborhood preferences and varying availability of equipment, number of players on-site that day and available grounds. Nearly everyone could recall playing ball as a child, doing so under various rules and names. So they could easily adapt to the specific game we know today – perhaps even more so than we could adapt to a new style in the 21st century. And they loved to watch the game as well, follow their teams and root for their favorite players. There was even a special grandstand devoted to female admirers, of the sport presumably. But surely, this was the favorite hangout of more than a few players. Battles for championships and bragging rights occurred annually in Baltimore. News of jaunts of Baltimore clubs up the east coast, to Washington D.C, and Richmond and out west were eagerly followed; some locals even went along for the ride. And what a party it was when the top clubs from around the country took the train to Baltimore and a carriage ride up Madison Avenue to the very edge of Baltimore at that time to the only enclosed grounds in the city. The foreign clubs arrived at the depot to hoopla and handshakes, were then whisked to a lavish meal and camaraderie with their opponents, paraded to the ballpark, admired and cordially treated for the most part during the contest, and then paraded again to another meal and a round of speeches, partying into the night. The fans of the day loved the game and followed it as best as they could. And herein lays a big difference between us and them. There was little history and no sophisticated sports media in Baltimore in the 1860s. They hungered for daily news of their newly adopted pastime, not just of their favorite teams but of the top clubs around the country. Some might subscribed to the sporting paper, the New York Clipper, and fewer still might lay their hands on a copy of Beadle’s Dime Base-Ball Player. A regular baseball column never developed in Baltimore during the amateur era. Local coverage could be sporadic and often unreliable. But what Baltimoreans did have was ball games, the essence of the matter, and their friends and other fans to chat up while the contests ensued. Clubs were playing match games, scrimmaging or practicing every day in all corners of the city. Of course, the big contests took place up Madison Avenue, behind a fence and admission fee beginning in 1866, but that’s only part of the story. Hundreds were hitting, fielding and throwing every week and 1000s were watching them and reveling in the skills or lack thereof they witnessed. Ballplayers were much more accessible then as well; in fact, they were probably your friends, neighbors or old school chums. Local hangouts popped up among ballplayers and fans, not just saloons but at local retail outlets or other gathering spots. And surely every neighborhood had a go-to guy to get the scoop on recent gossip and upcoming events. The baseball craze hit Baltimore hard and never really subsided. From our end though, would we today recognize that game? Some things stand out. The frills weren’t there – no concrete and steel stadiums, elaborate scoreboards, skyboxes, hot and varied concessions, microbrews, radar guns, video highlights, slow-motion replay, infield shifts and manager challenges. Though, the diamond itself looked essentially the same, save the manicured grass, ivy walls, advertising blasts, often-raked infield, elevated-mound, warning track and foul 4 poles. Yet, foul lines were drawn with chalk by 1860 and it became expected to line the batter’s and pitcher’s area by 1870. Home plate was circular and there was no bullpen to speak of. What would seem odd though was the underhand pitching from 45 feet and no catcher’s equipment, batting helmets, fielding gloves or umpiring crew. Imagine, no catcher’s equipment with bats, balls and bodies buzzing about home plate. Understandably, neither the catcher nor the umpire stood directly behind the bat, much less squatted which was decades away. For a few years, you’d be surprised to see an out made on a one-bounce catch in the middle of the diamond. Yet, fielding was more challenging with no gloves and bumpy fields and scores that resembled the National Football League more so than Major League Baseball. But this just might play into the wheelhouse of those that crave action rather than a tight pitcher’s duel. In retrospect though, you’d recognize a lot and wouldn’t have much trouble following the action and fitting in. During the major contests, there was congestion around the ballpark, difficulty parking, drunken fans and even pickpockets. Groundskeepers maintained the fields and occasionally there was entertainment during the game. There were ticket gates, 9 innings, 3 outs and ninety feet between bases. Players changed clubs often, just like today. At the end of the decade, some might be surprised to see an out-of-town scoreboard made possible by telegraph and pony express. The men on the field looked essentially the same as today with baseball caps, knee britches and long colorful socks by the end of the decade. There were league rules and guidelines, home- versus-home series, city to city jaunts, championship games, interracial contests, dominant clubs, disagreements, home plate collisions, dedicated sportswriters, gambling, tension between the pitcher and batter, full box scores, 9-0 forfeit rule, and players jumping between clubs for a better deal. The ball of the 1860s, though slightly larger than today, already had the familiar figure-8 stitching. Before the full-blown professional era arrived in 1871, the game already looked a lot like it does today. We might cock our heads a few times to figure out a nuance or two and understand the vernacular but the thrill of competition and enthusiasm of the crowd would reel us in. Perhaps, we’d even enjoy the absence of commercial breaks, batters fumbling with their protective gear, conferences on the mound, elaborate and frequent pitching changes and annoying color commentators.