Archive for September, 2010

Excerpt from William Ridgely Griffith’s The Early History of Amateur Base Ball in the State of Maryland:

 

1862-1864

“The advent of pleasant weather has had the effect to renew these healthful sports [baseball and cricket], and on Saturday last parties of young men and boys visited the suburbs in every direction to participate in the pleasures which they afford. The exercise is invigorating and tends to the development of the physical strength, and at the same time cannot interfere with mental improvement. And, besides, the effect is not immoral, as while so engaged they cannot participate in the baleful pleasures which so abundantly abound in all populous communities.”[i]

And so the 1862 season kicked off in early May. Unfortunately, baseball research hits a wall in 1862 and throughout the war. Games were still played but it’s obvious that the frequency diminished compared to the previous year. It may be that the main contemporary newspapers, the Sun and American, just didn’t cover the sport with zeal. The war was the pressing topic. “With so many sportsmen marching off to war, and with civilian anxieties focused on battlefield news, interest in playful contests naturally waned.”[ii] Or it may be that families were busier; the war proved a financial boon for the city.

Baltimore would soon be down to about a half dozen clubs. No Maryland clubs were a part of the National Association of Base Ball Players from 1862-1866. A perusal of Marshall Wright’s National Association of Base Ball Players shows that most teams stayed close to home form much of the war, which is probably to be expected.

The Baltimore Base Ball Association met in April and purchased a nice ‘silver ball’ to be presented at the end of the year to the city’s champion, the member club that proved itself above the others that season. Silver ball series would be played throughout the 1860s.

Two games draw attention from 1862. On June 14, the Maryland club headed to D.C. and played the Nationals. Maryland eked out a close one, 33-31. “Subsequently the Maryland boys were handsomely entertained.”[iii] On July 19 on Madison Avenue, the Pastimes topped Maryland 30-21 before a large crowd of men and women.

On July 4, 1863, the Pastimes played an intra-squad game at their grounds on Madison Avenue. Their first nine had changed slightly. Louis Mallinckrodt took over in the box for the departed Fred Henry. Hervey Shriver took over third base as Weidner moved to center. Other changes include George Popplein at shortstop and John Sears in fight field. Charley Lewis moved to left field and Dr. Thomas Brown was a substitute, playing where needed.

On Saturday August 8, the Pastimes hosted the Nationals of D.C. The visitors arrived in the early morning and were entertained until game time. The Pastimes won 35-15 and then played the perfect host. “After a ride to the country the two clubs dined at Mr. Haffcke’s saloon. The bill of fare embraced many delicacies of the season, and was served up in a style equal to any first class hotel. The company did not rise until the evening had far advanced, having devoted much time to sentiments, cheering table talk and brief speeches. The base-ball clubs are composed of our best young men in the city, and conducted with strict regard to morality and decorum.”[iv]

On Saturday September 12, the Nationals returned the favor, hosting the Pastimes at the Ellipse. The game wasn’t decided until the eighth inning when Baltimore scored seven to claim a 25-20 victory. “The spectators then dispersed, feeling satisfied that it was one of the best contested games ever witnessed in Washington. These clubs are the champions of their respective cities, the Pastime now being Champions of the South.”[v] It was the Nationals’ turn to honor their guests. “The Baltimoreans were sumptuously entertained, and returned home much pleased with their trip.”[vi]

Ball clubs played during the work week or on Saturdays; Blue Laws prevented the activity on Sundays, and they were enforced. For example, a February 1864 account in the Baltimore Sun described, “Policemen…made a descent upon a crowd of boys playing base ball within the city limits, and arrested twenty-one of them. Justice Johnson fined each of them $1 and costs, which their parents were compelled to pay to prevent the boys from going to jail.”[vii] Pertaining to another case in March, “[Three] young men were arrested yesterday morning by policemen…, charged with pitching cents and playing base ball on Sunday.”[viii]

In May the season opened. “It is gratifying to notice that several of the base-ball clubs of Baltimore are reorganizing for the approaching summer and fall seasons, and several will hereafter play regularly on the green sward.”[ix] On June 18, the Maryland club headed to D.C. for a contest at the Ellipse with the local Jefferson club. Maryland won handily 54-34.

In his book William Griffith described an event in 1864.[x] It was routine for groups of soldiers to watch local games and even to participate at times. During one of the Pastimes’ intra-squad games, Griffith was approached by some Pennsylvania soldiers who wanted to join in. Griffith assented and the soldiers promised to return shortly with a makeshift nine to take on the Pastimes. Griffith, amusingly, says he was duped; he later realized he was approached by Al Reach[xi] and Dick McBride, a pair of big-time ballplayers.[xii]

On September 12, Maryland took on Jefferson again in D.C. However, Jefferson took the victory this time. “After the game the Baltimoreans were handsomely entertained by the Jefferson.”[xiii]

LEW CARL

Over 30 boys/men grew up playing baseball in Baltimore in the 1860s that eventually made the majors, including the National Association. Thirteen have known birthdates that make them at least 17 years old by the end of the decade, which puts at least part of their achievements in the era examined here. They are: Lew Carl, born in 1832; George Popplein, 1840; George Keerl, 1847; Wally Goldsmith, 1848; Robert Armstrong, 1850;[xiv] Mike Hooper, 1850; Ed Mincher, 1851; Tommy Johns, 1851; Bobby Mathews, 1851; Ed Atkinson, 1851; Frank Sellman, 1851; Henry Kohler, 1852; Jim Gilmore, 1853. The two oldest, by far, were Carl and Popplein. Mathews was clearly the best Baltimore-born player of the 19^th century; in fact, he was the best until Babe Ruth.

Lewis Adolph Carl was born on February 25, 1832, four years before the reference sites place his birth date. Plus, he was actually born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, not Baltimore as suggested again by the sites.[xv] By age 18, he was working as a shoemaker.[xvi] It appears that he had quite a few run-ins with the law during his 20s, mainly for fighting, assault; his favorite weapon was a brick.[xvii] He was also arrested twice for attempted murder, in 1858 and 1879.

In 1862, he enlisted in the Maryland 4^th Infantry, on the Union’s side. He mustered out as a captain in May 1865.[xviii] Carl returned to Baltimore after the war and became involved in Republican politics and baseball and worked as a clerk in a custom house. In 1867, he’s listed as an officer with the Enterprise club of Baltimore and continued to play ball through the 1870s into his late thirties.[xix] He appeared in one game at catcher in the National Association on September 9, 1874 to help fill out the Baltimore Canaries roster. Hometown boy Bobby Mathews pitched that day in Baltimore for his New York Mutuals.

Carl later worked as a government clerk in Washington D.C. before moving to Newark, New Jersey in the early 1880s. In poor health in 1884, he applied for an invalid pension as a Civil War veteran.[xx] He died the following May at age 53.

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[i] Baltimore Sun, 5 May 1862, page 1

[ii] George B. Kirsch, The Creation of American Team Sports, page 81

[iii] Baltimore Sun, 16 June 1862, page 4

[iv] Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser, 10 August 1863

[v] William Ridgely Griffith, The Early History of Amateur Base Ball in the State of Maryland, 1858-1871, page 35

[vi] Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser, 17 September 1863

[vii] Baltimore Sun, 29 February 1864

[viii] Baltimore Sun, 21 March 1864, page 1

[ix] Baltimore Sun, 28 May 1864

[x] Griffith couldn’t place the exact year of the event. He thought it was either 1863 or ’64 but Dick McBride enlisted in July 1864 so that places the event in that year. “Civil War Veterans who played Major League Baseball Research Project,” Society for American Baseball Research, Sabr.org, ongoing

[xi] It seems Griffith was incorrect in identifying Reach. He was still a New Yorker in 1864 and no record of him serving during the war was found. In all likelihood, it was a different ballplayer that Griffith misidentified years later as Reach.

[xii] William Ridgely Griffith, The Early History of Amateur Base Ball in the State of Maryland, 1858-1871, page 36-37

[xiii] Baltimore Sun, 15 September 1864

[xiv] Nailing down the correct Robert Armstrong has proved difficult; even Retrosheet.org gives little assistance. It may be a good bet that he was a clerk for the firm Armstrong, Cater and Company. However, this is based on nothing other than the fact that that company had a strong amateur baseball club in Baltimore during the 1870s and ‘80s.

[xv] Data taken from Familysearch.com which also jives with the 1850 U.S. Census and other Censuses, christened 3/14/1832, son of Joseph and Charlotte Carl

[xvi] 1850 U.S. Census, when he enlisted his occupation was listed as shipping clerk

[xvii] He was arrested multiple times for assault, at least twice for using a brick to hit someone.

[xviii] His obituary lists him as a Lieutenant-Colonel, a rank he attained in the Maryland National Guard.

[xix] In 1877, Carl is listed on the roster of the Wilmington Quicksteps.

[xx] SABR Civil War Veterans

 

St. John’s College, today known as Fordham University, fielded its first baseball team, known as the Rose Hills, in September 1859. They are known for participating in the first collegiate baseball game played with nine men per side on November 3 that year versus St. Francis Xavier College, another Jesuit school. Fordham won that day 33-11.

However, St. Francis was a college preparatory high school located in Manhattan. The actual St. Francis Xavier College was located in Nova Scotia. Considering this, I’m not sure this qualifies as a college game. There is also a good possibility that the St. John’s squad that day was also high schoolers.

 

FRED HENRY

Frederick Porteous Henry was born on July 21, 1844 in Cranbury, New Jersey.[i] In his youth he was educated in New Jersey, Germany and France. In 1861 at age 17, the 6’-tall Henry was elected as the main starter for the Pastimes of Baltimore. He was probably a member of the Waverly club before the Excelsiors and Waverlys merged. William Griffith claims Henry “was the first to pitch slow curve and drop balls.”[ii] This is among the earliest claims that a baseball hurler curved a pitch.[iii]

Sporting Life 4/8/1916

By early 1863,[iv] Henry was pitching for Princeton. On October 26, 1863, he defeated the Athletics of Philadelphia, a tough competitor and member of the NABBP, 29-13. A game recap noted Henry’s “heavy twist that was extremely irregular.”[v] The Princeton Nassaus also defeated three Brooklyn NABBP clubs, the Excelsiors, Stars and Resolutes that season.

Henry studied at Princeton for two years and received a medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York in 1868. He then moved to Philadelphia where he practiced for over 50 years, until his death on May 24, 1919.[vi]

CRICKET

A convention of cricket clubs took place in Baltimore in October 1859 with the following teams in attendance: Atlantic; Baltimore; Chesapeake; Franklin; Hygea; Maryland; Monumental; Olympic; Patapsco; Pickwick.[vii] Noting the names, it’s not hard to see where some baseball clubs derived. Various listing of cricket box scores show some familiar names in baseball circles in the 1860s.

Baseball took over in 1861, no matter how long and devoted the fans and players of cricket were. By 1863, scarcely a cricket match was taking place in the city. Only the Hygea club survived the Civil War and that has been attributed to the fact that many its members were born in England. They had to play out of town teams as no local competition existed.

BALTIMORE BASE BALL ASSOCIATION

A major step in the evolution of Baltimore baseball was taken on Wednesday July 17, 1861, the formation of the Baltimore Base Ball Association. “The object of the association is to improve, foster and perpetuate the American game of base ball, and the cultivation of kindly feeling among the members of the different clubs in the city.”[viii] The call to unite was placed by the Waverly club. Delegates were present from: Atlantics; Chesapeakes; Continentals; Druids; Empires; Marylands; Olympics; Peabodys; Potomacs; Waverly. Conspicuously absent was the Excelsior club.[ix] The following officers were elected:

• President, James Whitehouse (Druid)
• First vice president, Eugene Van Ness (Waverly)
• Second vice president, John Price, (Maryland)
• Recording Secretary, James B. McNeal (Chesapeake)
• Corresponding secretary, John M. Coulter (Continental)
• Treasurer, Jacob Weidner (Waverly).[x]

The association met again in September, adding the Exeter, Ivanhoe and Marion clubs. The officers changed a bit as well.[xi]

CIVIL WAR

The first bloodshed of the Civil War took place on April 19, 1861 in Baltimore as Massachusetts soldiers switched train stations, headed to D.C. They were heeding a call from President Lincoln for Union troops. The regiment’s presence sparked a riot on Pratt Street with shots being fired from both sides. Sixteen were killed, four soldiers, twelve citizens.

Maryland was a torn state, an essential one for the union. It was indeed a Southern state with legalized slavery but many of the citizens sided with the North. Lincoln acted swiftly in quelling many of the Confederate loyalists, imprisoning them and declaring martial law for a time. The governor, a Union sympathizer, even refused to convene the senate so a vote couldn’t be taken for secession.[xii]

According to William Griffith, quite a few of the members of the Waverly and Excelsior clubs headed south and joined the Confederacy during the fall and winter of 1861.[xiii] This may account for the merging of the clubs, as separately they may not have survived. Captain William H. Murray, 24, of Waverly, for one, was killed at Gettysburg.

Throughout the war, Union troops camped in Baltimore, some at Flat Rocks beginning in June 1862.[xiv] Baseball was played at these camps and surely with the worn-in diamonds at the Druid Hill site. For example ( from fcassociates.com):

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[i] Passport application dated 30 June 1890

[ii] William Ridgely Griffith, The Early History of Amateur Base Ball in the State of Maryland, 1858-1871, page 32

[iii] It was later verified by Henry and at least two teammates, including his catcher, Sporting Life, 8 April 1916, page 13

[iv] He played second base for the Princeton Nassaus on May 22, 1863 versus the Athletics of Philadelphia, New York Clipper, 13 June 1863 (The date is listed as March 22 in Marshall Wright’s book)

[v] Unidentified source, sourcing linkage provided on page 90, Peter Morris’ A Game of Inches

[vi] Princeton Alumni Weekly, Volume 19

[vii] Baltimore Sun, 8 October 1859

[viii] Baltimore Sun, 22 July 1861

[ix] Maybe because they were floundering and on the verge of merging

[x] Baltimore Sun, 22 July 1861

[xi] New officer listing: Whitehouse, president; James T. Graham, Empire, first vice president; William H. Gill, Ivanhoe, second vice president; McNeal, recording secretary; J.O. Norris, Atlantic, corresponding secretary; M. Caughey, Maryland, treasurer. Others include: B.W. Turner, Druid; George Haslup, Olympic; George C. Payne, Atlantic; O.F. Peregoy, Chesapeake; William Griffith, Maryland; J.T. Robinson, Olympic; W.T. Brady, Potomac; Edwin W. Spear, Peabody; Robert Bayley, Empire. Baltimore Sun, 21 September 1861, page 1

[xii] Jessica Cannon, “Riots, Baltimore, 1861”

[xiii] Baltimore Sun, 4 October 1894

[xiv] 1^st Maryland Regiment, Baltimore Sun, 12 June 1862, page 1

 

1861

Local players couldn’t wait for the season to kick off in 1861. The Excelsiors continued in the NABBP. The Peabody club began practicing in the cold of February. One of their men broke two fingers catching a ball during the activities. As predicted, participation in baseball – play, practice, games and clubs – exploded. At least 48 formal clubs fielded nines during the year. Many had first and second nines.[i] The Atlantics[ii], for one, had a junior club; others probably did as well. It is likely that other strictly junior clubs fielded nines as well. To accommodate the explosion, new fields were formed. Some were well established, others ad hoc. Contemporary accounts identify three other main locations – on East Lafayette Street behind Maryland Hospital, a site just north of Patterson Park and at a location on Charles Street Extended.[iii]

The following is a list of known local clubs in 1861:

TEAM	LOCATION (if known)	HOME GROUNDS (if known)
Alpha
Amateur
Atlantic	West End
Balmoral
Baltimore
Bolton
Chesapeake		East Lafayette Street[iv]
Chester
Columbia
Comet
Continental	Northwest	Madison Avenue
Deluge
Druid	Northwest	Madison Avenue
Empire
Eutaw
Excelsior	West	Madison Avenue
Exercise
Exeter	Old Town	Charles Street Extended
Franklin
Freethinking
Greenmount
Hiawatha
Highland
Home
Ivanhoe		Madison Avenue
Jackson
Jefferson
Lafayette
Liberty
Marion
Maryland	Northwest	Madison Avenue
Monumental
National	East	North of Patterson Park
Olympic	Northwest	Madison Avenue
Oriental	Northwest	Madison Avenue
Osceola
Pastime	Northwest	Madison Avenue
Peabody	Northwest	Madison Avenue
Potomac
Prospect
Quickstep	Northeast
Royal
Union
Washington		Charles Street Extended
Watson
Waverly
Western		Charles Street Extended
Zephyr

 

Some familiar names begin to crop up in 1861. William Ridgely Griffith was an officer with the Ivanhoe club. He also umpired for various other teams. George Popplein, who played in the professional National Association in 1873 with the Baltimore Marylands, was a member of the Maryland club in 1861. At some point during the season, Griffith briefly joined the Maryland club. A couple of weeks later, he and George and Andrew Popplein departed for the Pastimes.

1861 Games (incomplete list)

	Date	Opponents	Winner	Grounds	Score
Sat	April 6	Oriental v Baltimore (2nd)	Baltimore	Madison Ave.
Sat	April 27	Baltimore v Ivanhoe	Ivanhoe	Madison Ave.	66-38
Tue	April 30	Peabody v Druid	Peabody	Madison Ave.	37-32
Thu	May 9	Peabody v Druid	Peabody	Madison Ave.	49-45
Sat	May 11	Baltimore v Ivanhoe		Madison Ave.	26-26
Fri	May 17	Maryland v Peabody	Maryland	Madison Ave.	24-16
Sat	May 18	Washington v Western	Washington	Charles St.	64-8
Sat	May 25	Maryland v Peabody	Maryland	Madison Ave.	14-8
Wed	May 29	Excelsiors v Waverly	Waverly	Madison Ave.	34-32
Fri	June 7	Chesapeake v Washington		E. Fayette St	INC
Thu	June 20	Empire v Peabody	Empire		55-44
Sat	June 22	Washington v Union	Washington		18-12
Sat	June 29	Royal v Bolton	Royal	Madison Ave.	39-15
Sat	June 29	Peabody v Atlantic	Peabody		37-22
Sat	June 29	Lafayette v Amateur	Lafayette		40-9
Sat	June 29	Continental v Chesapeake	Continental
Tue	July 3	Empire v Peabody	Empire		48-46
Thu	July 25	Peabody v Atlantic	Peabody	Madison Ave.
Mon	July 30	Exeter v Alpha	Exeter		52-45
Thu	August 15	Waverly v Maryland	Waverly		37-29
Wed	August 21	Zephyr v Exeter	Zephyr	E. Fayette St.	58-20
Wed	August 28	Highland v Exeter (2nd)	Exeter		17-6
Fri	August 30	Marion v Exeter	Exeter		24-20
Tue	September 3	Alpha v Exeter	Alpha		63-47
Thu	September 12	Watson v Deluge	Watson		28-22
Thu	September 12	Marion v Atlantic	Marion		72-35
Sat	September 21	Maryland v Pastime	Pastime	Madison Ave.	38-14
Sat	September 21	Atlantic v Marion	Atlantic
Sat	September 21	Balmoral v Hiawatha	Balmoral		42-11
Thu	September 26	Zephyr v Alpha	Zephyr		46-32
Thu	September 26	Olympic v Franklin	Olympic		36-22
Thu	September 26	Osceola v Marion	Osceola
Thu	September 26	Exeter v Greenmount	Exeter		26-24
Thu	September 26	Watson v Exercise	Watson		24-11
Thu	September 26	Peabody v Chesapeake	Peabody	E. Fayette St.	33-14
Thu	September 26	Eutaw v Columbia	Eutaw		44-23
	October	Zephyr v Washington	Zephyr		41-25
Sat	October 12	Bolton v Monumental	Bolton		50-47
Sat	October 12	Jefferson v Chester	Jefferson		46-32
Sat	October 19	Home v Comet	Home		10-1
Fri	October 25	Exeter v Greenmount	Exeter	Madison Ave.	49-21
Sat	October 26	Watson v Jefferson	Jefferson	E. Fayette St.	42-9
Sat	October 26	Maryland v Nats (DC)	Maryland	Madison Ave.	17-10

 

The listing of games shows clearly that baseball was in full force in Baltimore in 1861. “Friendly contests…take place daily among the clubs of the city; the only stake being a bat or a ball. The games are generally witnessed on fine days by large gatherings of the friends of the contestants, ladies and gentlemen, and the recreation is exceedingly innocent and health-giving.”[v] Matches generally occurred by way of an oral or written challenge; schedules were a long way off.

Little trouble seems to have come from bringing the crowds together. “A very effective police arrangement exists at the [Madison Avenue] grounds, and the best of order is preserved on all occasions.”[vi] The only real trouble that could be found from accounts that year was a fight involving a police officer. At the Park House during a game, he became involved in an altercation over politics and was fired for drinking on duty. Perhaps the presence of many women of all ages helped keep the crowd in line. The crowd also may have been on the genteel side as well. Accounts of troubles with pickpockets throughout the city were pervasive, so perhaps the ball fan had to be on the lookout.

Besides the Excelsior-Waverly rivalry, a few others cropped up as well. After Peabody defeated Druid twice on April 30 and May 9, Maryland challenged the victors. A “championship” took place on May 17 and the following Saturday, the 25^th. Maryland took both games. The latter was noteworthy for its low scoring, a total of only 22 runs. Exeter seems to have been quite active and competitive on their part of town and in all likelihood this fanned some flames.

The biggest rivalry, however, existed between the two oldest clubs, the Excelsiors and Waverly. After being humiliated in 1860, the Excelsiors again lost twice to Waverly. The dominance and other factors, mainly the impending war, led to the merging of the two clubs. The Excelsiors met on Thursday August 15 while Waverly was on the field versus Maryland. The city’s oldest club formally changed its name to the Pastimes. New officers were elected, a mix of Excelsior and Waverly men:

• President, James A. Courtney (from Excelsiors)
• Vice President, Nicholas P. Chapman (Excelsiors)
• Secretary, Nielson Poe (Waverly)
• Treasurer, Eugene Van Ness[vii] (Waverly)
• Officer, Thomas Mitchell (Excelsiors)
• Officer, Hervey Shriver (Excelsiors)
• Officer, Phillip H. Minis (Waverly).[viii]

The Waverly club met (at the Pastimes’ clubhouse) on Monday August 26, presumably to formalize the union.[ix] The membership immediately voted to form a new first nine that would head the team through 1862: Van Ness, catcher; Frederick Henry, pitcher; William Pennington, first base; Thomas Mitchell, second base; Jacob Weidner, third base; William Griffith, shortstop; Louis Mallinckrodt, left field; Charles Lewis, center field; Morris Orem, right field. Besides the merging, the club took on several new members: N. Gregg; Griffith; Henry; Otis Keilholtz; James Knox; Charles Krebs; J.T. Norris; Welch Owen; Alexander Popplein; George Popplein; Charles Woods.[x]

The new Pastime uniform entailed a blue cloth cap with a leather visor, a white flannel shirt with a large “P” in blue on the front and blue cloth pants.[xi] They retained a Wednesday and Saturday game schedule, taking over the Waverly field. The Excelsior field was taken over by the Maryland club.[xii]

By Griffith’s recollection, the Pastimes played three times in 1861 after the merger, arising victorious in each contest. This, however, couldn’t be confirmed. They did in fact defeat Maryland on September 21. These two teams, Pastimes and Maryland, emerged from the pile as the dominant clubs of the decade.

Another game of note took place on Saturday October 26. The Nationals of Washington, D.C. took on Maryland at the Madison Avenue grounds. A large turnout saw Maryland win a close, low-scoring contest 17-10. The parties retired to William Shamburg’s restaurant on Liberty Street for post game festivities and a supper banquet.

The Baltimore Sun summed up the season: “So far as outdoor practice is concerned, the indulgence of the athletic sports of the season base ball and cricket – is about over [for the season]. The past year has witnesses the formation of a number of base ball and cricket clubs, though more of the former for the reason that sport was the most popular. Composed exclusively of the young men and youths of the city, mostly employed in sedimentary pursuits, the amount of good derived from the exercise of play, and the development of the muscle and frame, is almost incalculable, to say nothing of the social relationship engendered by the associations in their friendly contests for the victory of the field.”[xiii]

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[i] During the game’s early era, the first nine were elected to their positions by a vote of the club. Clubs could actually have a membership exceeding 100.

[ii] The Atlantics were created by some the best West End cricket players.

[iii] This is more than likely and incomplete list.

[iv] The Chesapeake field was also referenced in one account as being located on Jefferson Street.

[v] Baltimore Sun, 29 July 1861, page 1

[vi] Baltimore Sun, 31 May 1861, page 1

[vii] Died in Baltimore March 31, 1900

[viii] Baltimore Sun, 17 August 1861, page 1

[ix] As the Waverly team name can no longer be found in use, Baltimore Sun 26 August 1861, page 2

[x] Baltimore Sun, 4 October 1894

[xi] William Ridgely Griffith, The Early History of Amateur Base Ball in the State of Maryland, 1858-1871

[xii] According to Griffith, the Pastimes’ club full membership fluctuated between 60 and 125 members.

[xiii] Baltimore Sun, 26 November 1861

 

Richard Hershberger was kind enough to share a few clippings from his files pertaining to September 1860. Here they are:

Pertaining to the Waverly-Excelsior Game on 9/10 

Baltimore American 9/11/1860

 Baltimore Republican 9/11/1860

 

Pertaining to the Brooklyn Excelsiors Visit

Baltimore Republican 9/22/1860

 

ARTHUR GORMAN

The formative years of baseball in Washington D.C. were heavily influenced by a Baltimorean, Arthur Pue Gorman. He was a founder of one of Washington’s first base ball clubs, the Nationals in 1859, playing for and eventually becoming the club’s president. He was a driving force behind the game’s first western barnstorming tour in 1867 and headed the National Association of Base Ball Players, the sport’s governing body. After leaving the game for a political career which culminated in the U.S. Senate, Gorman served as counsel and confidant of the game’s power base. It’s even claimed that D.C.’s famed baseball nickname, the Senators, derived from Gorman’s stature within the game and the city and his ever-presence at the ballpark. Until his death in 1906, Gorman held a special place in the game’s history, as a member of the Mills’ Commission which eventually “unearthed” the historical origins of the game and declared General Abner Doubleday as its founder.

Gorman was born Woodstock in Howard County, Maryland in March 1839. His grandfather was engaged in cattle trade with some Baltimore interests and was thus lured to the area, moving to Old Town. Peter Gorman, Arthur’s father, a rock quarry owner, worked as a contractor and supplied granite and stone for public projects, government buildings, bridges and to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Gorman granite could be found in the pillars of the old Treasury building in Washington, D.C.

Through his father’s contacts, Arthur became a page[i] in the U.S. Senate at age eleven in 1850. There, Gorman struck up a friendship with Illinois Senator and perennial presidential candidate Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas helped Gorman land a full page position with the Senate in 1851. Gorman later advanced to messenger, assistant doorkeeper, assistant postmaster, and finally postmaster of the Senate in 1863. Gorman’s friendship with Douglas led the Senator to invite Gorman into his household and to hire him as a private secretary and may have accompanied Douglas during the Lincoln-Douglas debate tour of 1858. Gorman also befriended Tennessee Senator Andrew Johnson, among others. Gorman’s networking led to an extensive tour of Union military camps in the east and west.

While in D.C. in the late 1850s, Gorman began playing with and representing various amateur base ball clubs. He often gathered after work with other government employees to play on makeshift fields on the property of the U.S. Capitol or at the south end grounds of the Executive Mansion near the incomplete Washington Monument. The plot, set up during President Buchanan’s term, came to be called the White Lot. Today the area is known as the Ellipse.

In the fall of 1859 two separate groups of government workers met in Washington and formed the area’s first baseball clubs, the Potomacs and the Nationals. The members were not among the nation’s rich but rather among the fortunate at the time to boast a steady paycheck from the government, especially with the upcoming war turmoil. Many worked as clerks for the Treasury or other departments. The Nationals’ president, James Morrow, was a clerk in the pension office. Joseph L. Wright, vice president, was the official doorkeeper of the U.S. House of Representative. Gorman, the club’s secretary, performed a similar duty in the Senate.

The Potomacs adopted their home field as the Ellipse and even joined the NABBP for a few games in 1860. Despite a few on-the-field successes, including participating in the sport’s first intercity contest with Baltimore, the Potomacs faded away and disband by the following season. The Nationals, a typically patriotic name for the era, would forge on and carve new ground for the sport that would soon surpass many others.

The first recorded baseball game in D.C. took place on May 5, 1860 between the Potomacs and Nationals at the Potomacs’ home field on the President’s Grounds. The Potomacs won 35-15. The Nationals hosted another contest on July 2 at their grounds near the Capitol at 6^th and 7^th Streets and Maryland Avenue, N.E. Second baseman Gorman scored six times in the Nationals’ 46-14-victory. Gorman also pitched in the early contests. The two clubs battled back and forth during 1860, culminating with a “championship” contest in late October at the Capitol field. The Potomacs won bragging rights, 32-16.

After the Potomacs disbanded, the Nationals adopted the Ellipse as their home field and joined the NABBP. Baseball did not die in the nation’s capital during the war. Quite the contrary, D.C. was a hub of sports activity during the war. The Nationals continued to play ball in and around D.C., battling local clubs such as the Jeffersons and Unions. They also took on various soldier nines as they traveled through the area. The Nationals played frequently at the Ellipse, the Capitol field and at various local forts and encampments or wherever troops and an empty field could be found within a short trip from the city. For example, on July 2, 1861 the Nationals faced the top nine players from the 71^st New York Regiment at the Ellipse, losing 41-13. The 71^st were headed to Manassas, Virginia where they would soon suffer heavy losses at the Battle of Bull Run, the war’s first major land conflict. A weakened 71^st nine would meet the Nationals in August 1862 at Tenleytown, Maryland. The Nationals would take that contest 28-13.

After the first loss to the 71^st New York Regiment, the Nationals virtually dominated all competition from 1861-1863, attracting large crowds along the way. In a game versus the newly-formed Jefferesons in May 1862 Gorman, now team captain, swatted three home runs in route to a 62-22-victory.

By the summer of 1863, Gorman was elected president of the club. He made two trips to Brooklyn to lure the Eckfords’ Al Reach to Washington. With the death of James Creighton in October 1862, Reach, a lefthanded second baseman, became perhaps the top player in the country. Ultimately, Gorman’s efforts proved fruitless as Reach agreed to terms with the Athletics of Philadelphia. Gorman’s offer may have indeed been sweeter but Reach preferred playing closer to his Flushing, Long Island home and jewelry business. Though Creighton was in all likelihood the game’s first professional, Gorman’s pursuit of Reach clearly and publicly established the precedent.

Gorman’s friendship with now President Johnson led to special privileges for the Nationals. Johnson was a big fan of the Nationals, often watching them at the Ellipse and was even known to let federal workers take a break to view the games. He was the first president to refer to baseball as “the national game.” He also instructed the Marine band to entertain whenever the Nationals were competing. Gorman also gained permission from the President in March 1866 to expand a building on White House property in order to store baseball equipment. Giving his permission Johnson lamented, “These clubs are composed of some of the most worthy young gentlemen in Washington and are highly worthy of any aid we can give them.”

In 1866 Gorman withdrew from playing ball to concentrate on his Senate duties and club president responsibilities. Eighteen Sixty-Seven proved to be Gorman’s finest year in the game and formally one of his last. At the December 12, 1866 convention of the National Association of Base Ball Players Gorman became the association’s first southern president.

In April 1867, the Nationals lured 20-year-old second baseman George Wright from the Unions of Morrisania, giving him a fictitious job in the Treasury Department. The position was fictitious, not the pay. The Nats also raided New York clubs of five other players, including third baseman George Fox and left fielder George Fletcher. Keeping a strong core of returnees, the Nationals set out to take the sport’s first western tour.

The team played ten games and traveled over 3000 miles. In Cincinnati the Nats defeated the Red Stockings and their crack pitcher Harry Wright 53-10. It was the Reds only loss of the season. The humiliation sparked the club to push aside the amateur ideal and hire Wright for $1200 at the end of the season to captain the club and build a winner that would soon top all others on the east coast and west.

In 1880 Gorman was elected to the U.S. Senate from Maryland. He quickly became a leader of the Bourbon Democrats and was the unquestioned leader of the Democratic Party in Maryland for the next two and a half decades. In 1884, he became Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (modern title) and directed Grover Cleveland’s successful presidential campaign. He later chaired the Democratic caucus as minority and majority leader from 1890-98, before there were formal leaders.

Arthur Gorman died of a heart attack in June 1906 but gave one other lasting gift to his friends in baseball. Though he passed before the final committee report in December 1907, Gorman, at the behest of Al Spalding, was one of the seven members of the Mills’ Commission which concluded that “the first scheme for playing baseball, according to the best evidence obtainable to date, was devised by Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown, N.Y. in 1839.”

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[i] He was initially an extra, working when others couldn’t.