Archive for June, 2011

 

Bethlehem Steel League (SABR Biography Project)

Organized Baseball faced challenges on several fronts during World War I. Naturally, the able-bodied men employed in baseball were also wanted and even expected to perform in the service, like other men throughout the country. While it is true that many ballplayers performed in battle and other essential tasks, some were placed with their athletic skills in mind and used mainly to play ball and entertain the troops. Thus, Uncle Sam in essence became a competitor for top baseball talent.

Another, more controversial, competitor for baseball talent was the Bethlehem Steel League. Given the choice to ‘work or fight’ by the Secretary of War, some ballplayers chose to work in a war-related industry. Thus, the circumstances were set for the next big threat to Organized Baseball, the industrial leagues of the World War I era. The game’s executives were still reeling from the recent Federal League threat and a consequently strong players union. Of all the industrial leagues nationwide, the Bethlehem Steel League posed perhaps the biggest threat. It attracted dozens of past, current and future major leaguers plus a strong contingent of men with minor league experience.

Bethlehem Steel, an industrial giant, established an internal baseball league among six of its east coast plants in 1917 to entertain its growing workforce during World War I. The rosters were initially filled out by local workers but a few old-time pros and failed minor leaguers were mixed in. The 1917 season opened on May 11 and continued for twenty weeks through Labor Day, September 2, only playing on Saturdays and holidays. The otherwise unskilled ballplayers worked in the plant during the week tightening screws or performing other tasks.

By the following year, local plant executives started bringing in ringers to stock their club’s against league rivals. They hired professional scouts and managers to recruit the finest talent available. About the same time, major and minor league players were receiving draft notices to join the war effort. Ballplayers had to either enlist or find employment in a war-related industry.

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A short-lived club which sent more than its share to the majors

(So titled because the club represented several New Jersey and New York cities at varying times –most popularly known as the Long Branch Cubans)

The Henriquez family, natives of Columbia, arrived in New York on June 14, 1886. They quickly settled in Manhattan and would stay there. The party included Louis Napoleon Henriquez, wife Maria, three daughters and three sons. The boys:

• George, born March 1876
• Carlos Louis (later referred to as Carlos, Carl or Charles, born 5 December 1878
• Ricardo Antonio (later referred to as Richard or Dick), born November 6, 1879

At familysearch.com, the brothers list their mother as Carolina Morales. There are indications – such as the 1900 U.S. Census – that Carolina was from Cuba and perhaps Maria was as well. This may suggest that the family lived in Cuba at some point, which is further strengthened by the sons’:

• Affinity for the island in baseball associations
• Life-long identification as hailing from the country
• Even, in Carlos’s son’s sporting promotions there

From the gap in the children’s ages, Carolina must have died within a few years after Richard’s birth and Louis then remarried to Maria. The new couple later had another son, Louis, as well as a daughter in 1884.

Louis Sr. is listed as retired from the real estate field in the 1900 Census. (He would die later that year.) It is not clear if that is how he made his money initially in Latin America, or just in Manhattan. Whichever is the case, Louis had a good deal of money before emigrating. By the end of 1886, he had purchased two properties in Manhattan for a total of $30,000.

The sons (did not track the youngest Louis) each attended Seton Hall College in East Orange, New Jersey. They then attended medical school at the Ivy League Columbia University in Manhattan: George, Columbia Class of 1901; Carlos, 1900; Richard 1903. George and Carlos practiced medicine but it doesn’t appear that Richard did. He is listed in the real estate business. The brothers each played sports in college and were competitive whist, a card game, players:

• George, ran track
• Carlos, light-heavyweight wrestling champion at Columbia
• Richard, baseball and football at Columbia

New York Times 6/22/1902

(Carlos’ son, by the same name, also went to Columbia and starred in wrestling. He became a renowned professional wrestler in the late 1920s, through the mid 1930s. Later, he served as a wrestling and tennis coach at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and New York University. He was also a sports promoter, working in the U.S., Cuba and Spain.)

Baseball

Carlos and Richard both married in 1906 to young women that were cousins, Janet Long and Gretchen Whitney, respectively. Richard was the best athlete of the bunch and, without a medical practice to hold him back, played ball well into his 30s. He caught and played third base for Columbia in 1901 and 1902 (and probably did so for the Seton Hall Alerts). Soon thereafter, he settled at first base. In 1903, he played for the Madison Athletic Association. He continued to play ball, perhaps as an amateur or semi-pro. In 1907, he played at least one game (on August 10) for Newark in the Eastern League.

Sporting Life 8/17/1907

New York Times 8/11/1907

Long Branch Baseball, 1911-1912

In 1911 and 1912, Richard played for the Long Branch, New Jersey team. Long Branch, like other resort towns, fielded clubs during the summer, often from June to September, for the entertainment of vacationers and, of course, year-round residents. Many Brooklynites and Manhattanites made the short trip to Long Branch each summer for fun, rest and recreation.

Brooklyn Eagle, 1911

As noted in the Brooklyn Eagle article, Richard managed the club. The one 1911 roster (New York Evening Telegram 6 August 1911) found shows all American-style surnames except of course Richard’s. That game, Long Branch played an all-star squad headed by Ty Cobb.

A change was made in 1912. Latin names begin to appear, specifically Cuban ballplayers, creating the genesis of a very strong club:

• Tomas Romanach
• Menditta
• Ramos
• Mike Gonzalez, future major leaguer
• Dolf Luque, future major leaguer

New York Times 6/17/1912

The team was already known as the Cubans. The financing or connections that brought the Cuban ballplayers to Long Branch is not readily known. Carlos Henriquez was intimately involved with the club after 1912. He may have also been a part of the club in 1912, at least financially.

Over the next few years, the Cubans would play a great deal of games versus major league clubs. Considering the Blue Laws in New York City, Brooklyn and New York clubs could conveniently hop to Long Branch for Sunday contests, as would other major league clubs stranded in the area over a weekend. The Henriquezes quickly developed a relationship with the Boston Braves. In fact, Gonzalez made his major league debut on September 28 with the Braves. Luque would do likewise in 1914.

From the fact that Henriquez’s players traveled in and out of Organized Baseball, as did the team in the future, it’s clear that they were lighter-skinned inhabitants of the island nation.

Tomas Romanach

Romanach was initially the shortstop of the Almendares club of Havana. In February 1913, Garry Herrmann of the Cincinnati Reds had his outfielder Armando Marsans, also a Cuban, ink Romanach to a contract. The deal fell through, as did subsequent attempts to sign Romanach over the next couple years. He was hesitant to go without the potential club signing other Cuban players.

For example, Brooklyn business manager, of the Federal league, Dick Carroll tried to sign Romanach in July 1915 – calling him the best shortstop outside the big leagues – but the player wouldn’t go without another Cuban player.

Another matter had to be cleared up by the National Commission:

Sporting Life 2/17/1917

Long Branch Cubans, 1913-1914

In 1913, the Long Branch Cubans joined the new six-team, Class-D New York-New Jersey League. Carlos formally took over the presidency, thus administration, of the club. Richard continued to be field manager and play first base. The Cubans joined the league in March, completing the circuit. Carlos was named league vice president.

On May 11, Luis Padron defeated the New York Giants.

Jersey Journal, 5/12/1913

The Cubans ran away with the pennant, posting a 65-29 record. Luque went 22-15 and Angel Villazon 20-8. The team also included future major leaguers Angel Aragon, Jack Calvo and Mike Gonzalez. Luque’s 22 wins led the league, as did Juan Viola’s 131 hits.

New York Age 7/17/1913

A controversy arose in August. On the 6^th, the Boston Braves purchased Luque, Aragon, Padron and Villazon, a tremendous crew, from the Henriquezes. Frank Farrell of the New York Yankees immediately protested, claiming he had a verbal agreement for $1000 each for Luque, Aragon and Padron. Boston ended up winning the argument but only Luque ever appeared on its roster.

Trenton Evening Times 1/8/1914

In 1914, the Cubans performed in the Class-D Atlantic League (one of several unrelated leagues by that name). They entered the league as representatives of Newark, amassing a 26-11 record as such. They moved back to Long Beach on June 29. Newark already had the Indians of the International League and, with two clubs in the city, the Cubans weren’t drawing well. They finished with a 59-32 record, good enough for second place. The nine included future major leaguers Jose Acosta, Aragon and Ricardo Torres. Some of the aforementioned Cubans were among the list of men that played in both black baseball and the majors. Aragon led the league with a .443 batting average.

Jose Acosta’s No-Hit or Perfect Game vs STL Browns, or perhaps not

Jose Acosta was the brother of Melito Acosta who made his major league debut with Clark Griffith’s Washington Senators in June 1913. Jose would do the same seven years later.

On July 19, 1914, Jose Acosta tossed a no-hitter, or perhaps perfect game, or perhaps neither, versus the St. Louis Browns of the American League. The Browns played the Yankees on the 18th and 20th in New York. The 19^th was a Sunday; in order to skirt blue laws, the Browns hopped to Long Branch, New Jersey for the exhibition contest.

New York Times 7/20/1914

Sporting Life 7/25/1914

Washington Post 8/9/1914

Oakland Tribune 7/20/1914

I exchanged emails with Larry Lester of SABR’s Negro League Committee in 2007. He was kind enough to provide me with another box score that was found:

(reference details lost)

Regardless of the specifics of the contest, Acosta had a great season if he defeated the Browns twice and the Giants once. Here are a couple of other close games:

New York Times 6/22/1914

New York Times 8/9/1914

The Cubans played major league clubs quite often. Under the Long Beach moniker, they played major league clubs an estimated 34 times, claiming 10 victories. (Reference Gary Ashwill and David Skinner)

Long Branch Cubans 1915

The Atlantic League folded after the 1914 season. Carlos Henriquez led the drive to revamp the circuit; it would play on the weekends as an independent league. Carlos served as league president. The Cubans withdrew from the league in mid May. Some familiar names were on the club:

New York Times 3/27/1915

A few other competitive contests:

New York Times 6/7/1915

New York Times 6/28/1915

New York Times 7/5/1915

New York Times 7/26/1915

A subsequent article in the Schenectady Gazette (22 July 1916) claimed that the Cubans defeated major leaguers seven times (out of 14) in 1915 including wins over the Giants, Dodgers and Phillies. Also, “the Cubans lost but 23 out of 186 games played…”

Poughkeepsie Cubans 1916

Henriquez reinserted his Cubans into the independent Atlantic League in 1916; this time representing Poughkeepsie, New York. He was once again named president of the league. In July, he tried to purchase Troy of the New York State League, but that fell through (and Troy moved to Harrisburg).

The Cubans, whether representing Poughkeepsie or not, were usually referred to as the Long Branch Cubans. They played any and all comers – professional, amateur, semi-pro, black clubs, industry or university nines.

New York Sun 7/31/1916

Middletown Cubans 1922-1923

Carlos Henriquez sponsored the Middletown (NY) Cubans during the 1922 and ’23 seasons.

SOURCE LIST

• Ancestry.com
• Baseball-reference.com
• Brooklyn Eagle, 1911
• Familysearch.com
• Gary Ashwill’s Agate Type website  
• Jersey Journal, Jersey City, New Jersey, 12 May 1913
• Johnson, Lloyd and Miles Wolff. Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, Third Edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007.
• New York Age, 17 July 1913
• New York Daily Tribune, 7 June 1901
• New York Evening Telegram, 6 August 1911
• New York Sun, 9 August 1913, 31 July 1916
• New York Times, 1886, 1900-1907, 1913-1917, 1980
• Schenectady Gazette, New York, 22 July 1916
• Sporting Life, 1907, 1911-1917

 

Comiskey and the American League ride into Chicago, 1900 

Virtually since its formation in late 1893, Western League executives had an eye on the Chicago market; however, its territorial rights belonged to the National League. Inserting a top minor league franchise in the city would have caused uproar and, in fact, violated the National Agreement, the compromise linking the major and minor leagues of which the Western League was a party. (The WL was a Class-A minor league, the top classification, along with the Atlantic and Eastern Leagues.) 

Chicago, a strategic hub for rail and water traffic, was the largest market outside of the east coast and, hence, the top baseball community as well. Having a “western” circuit without Chicago seems contradictory; especially as will be displayed in the first couple decades of the 20^th century, the market was strong enough to support hundreds of clubs – professional, semi-professional and amateur. 

Western League president Ban Johnson, an Ohio native and former Cincinnati sportswriter, actually maintained his league office in Chicago. As the Western League solidified itself and proved its viability through the latter part of the 1890s, Johnson and other officials began to seek a greater piece of the baseball pie. They wanted into the larger markets and perhaps ascension to major league status. 

Before the 1899 season, the league dumped its Omaha franchise and moved into the east for the first time – adding Buffalo to its roster. However, it was clear that Johnson and crew wanted more. As it stood, the WL also fielded teams in: 

• Columbus
• Detroit
• Indianapolis
• Kansas City
• Milwaukee
• Minneapolis
• St. Paul

 Columbus would be replaced by Grand Rapids during the season but that move was still insufficient. The St. Paul franchise, owned by renowned former major league manager and first baseman Charles Comiskey, was also floundering. Attendance issues there in 1898 and ’99 had Comiskey looking to relocate. During the latter season, he was rumored to be headed to St. Louis, Toronto, Louisville, Chicago and other hot spots. 

Sporting Life 9/2/1899 (article dated 8/26)

The National League saw itself as vulnerable in 1899. (In hindsight, they assuredly were). After merging with the American Association in 1892, the revamped one and only major league was bloated with 12 teams. In 1898 and again the following season, three clubs finished at least 40 games out of first place. Contraction seemed imminent; several prime localities with established ballparks would soon be available to enterprising minor league magnates. 

With this in mind, talk arose of re-forming the American Association and making another run at it. National League executives were looking at another potential baseball war. The last one cost them dearly – a 10-year payment plan to compensate American Association owners. This was on top of severe financial losses at the beginning of the decade. (Al Spalding, for one, was so disgusted with the state of the game after the Brotherhood fight that he turned over operations of his club to James Hart.) Naturally, belt-tightening commenced – among which a stringent salary cap created universal ill-will among the players.

 The new American Association, though a league on paper only, represented trouble the National League didn’t want to face. With this in mind, National League officials covertly courted Ban Johnson and the Western League to help stave off the potential new major. Since Johnson was located in Chicago, Orphans/Cubs president Jim Hart took the lead in discussions. The pair, and certainly others, met behind closed doors several times during July and August 1899. (The others were in all likelihood John Brush, Frank Robison, Charles Comiskey and Matt Killilea.) 

Seemingly, the National League wanted to incorporate the Western League in a plan to make it a major – one they believed they could control, or at least one that was known in contrast to the mysterious AA. Discussions centered on potential relocations – into the east and into any city that may be dropped by the NL – and favorable park rental agreements. It seems likely that Hart offered to look the other way if Johnson wanted to move into Chicago. (He had previously offered rental at his Chicago park to the struggling Columbus franchise.) It also appears that it was the National League’s idea for the Western League to change its name to the American League – a direct countermove against the similarly-named American Association. 

Sporting Life 7/22/1899

 

The Western League’s season closed on September 11 and Comiskey quickly departed St. Paul for a fishing and hunting vacation. He returned on the 22^nd with the kiss of death – upon questioning, he swore that he had no intention of relocating his club. 

At their meeting on October 11, the Western League formally changed its name to “American League.” By doing so, they seemingly appeased the National League and, more importantly, Johnson now presided over a league with a national designation – one linking the east and west. Though this was merely a figurative name change, it did not go unnoticed. Minor leagues did not straddle the east and west; their range was typically limited. The next logical question was did the newly-named American League intend to challenge the National League, often just referred to as the League? Johnson would deny so over and over for the next year-plus but, more telling, within a month Comiskey would declare his intention to move into Chicago – whether the National League liked it or not. 

At its meeting (a 2-day affair), the American League also expanded its schedule to 140 games – a full five months (an extension of two weeks) to bring it more in line with the National League. They also wanted a revision of the National Agreement. Specifically, the ever-controversial drafting policy and fee schedule. The American League may not have seen itself as a major yet but it did believe it hovered somewhere above Class-A. 

The following month, Johnson and Comiskey embarked on a hunting trip. They emerged in Milwaukee on November 20. After meeting with the other de facto leader of the league, Brewers owner Matt Killilea, they announced their intention to move Comiskey’s St. Paul franchise into Chicago – on the south side (as opposed to the western-based Orphans/Cubs). Killilea paradoxically claimed that “it did not mean that it [the American League] would be in any way antagonistic to the National League.” 

Just a ludicrous, he asserted that the move in no way violated the National Agreement. How this was so is not apparent since a major impetus for the agreement was to establish territorial rights. Johnson may have been relying on his previous secret discussions with James Hart and other National League execs in making the move. However with the threat of the potential new American Association subsided by November, the National League’s memory conveniently failed them. 

The next day Hart answered back – incredulous of the American League’s unilateral assertions. He deemed it “absurd” that a move into Chicago didn’t violate the National Agreement. Sportswriters now had fodder for the entire winter: Was a new baseball war brewing? In this mix Grand Rapids owner/manager Tom Loftus accepted an offer to manage the Orphans in 1900. 

Both leagues held separate meetings in December. The American League’s intentions became more forceful: 

Sporting Life 12/30/1899

A two-plus month lull proceeded to test the patience of the sportswriters, and those seemingly in limbo in St. Paul and Chicago. Another Western League was forming and St. Paul wanted in. Was Comiskey moving? The inactivity of the winter fed the copy but there were signs of the American League and Comiskey’s intentions – outside his continued assertions of relocation. 

For one, the American League began in February 1900 to line up its players for the season – with three-year contracts. This was a bold, not to mention risky and expensive, move that wouldn’t have been undertaken by a league expecting tranquility. Secondly, Comiskey and Johnson were scouting locations for a new park in the Windy City. Entering March, they had narrowed the decision to two spots, ultimately deciding on the corner of 37^th Street and Wentworth Avenue where the Wanderers Cricket Club used to play. It sat four blocks south of the future Comiskey Field. 

The American League was also dropping Loftus’ Grand Rapids club for a move into Cleveland, one of the cities purged by the National League. Two other cities dumped by the NL – Washington and Baltimore – would figure into Johnson’s 1901 plans. Johnson entered negotiations with Frank Robison to rent his ball grounds in Cleveland, League Park. Robison rebuffed the Americans citing the Chicago situation. 

With a thud rather than a bang, Johnson and Hart emerged from a private meeting on March 17 after hammering out an agreement. Details as usual were left to the imagination. Comiskey’s White Stockings would operate in Chicago in 1900. (The American League also moved into League Park in Cleveland.) In retrospect, neither league had been prepared for a fight. A tentative peace would prevail for another year. Johnson would be in a much stronger position in 1901 with the disgruntled players union ready to buck the National League. 

After the turn of April, Comiskey took his men to Champaign, Illinois for spring workouts. They would spend two weeks there and then another in Chicago before the season kicked off. He also designed new uniforms: 

• Home – colored white with white stockings and a red “C” across the chest
• Away – colored gray with white stockings

After a several-day delay because of rain, the White Stockings opened at home on April 21 versus Connie Mack’s Milwaukee Brewers. Both Johnson and Hart attended the opener, a 5-4 Milwaukee 10-inning victory. Comiskey missed the festivities. He was back in St. Paul attending his brother’s funeral. 5200 fans attended the game, 2000 more than the Cubs’ opener. Ten thousand had seen the Cubs open in 1899. 

Chicago Tribune 4/21/1900

The new park, which became known as South Side Grounds, wasn’t quite ready for the season. Construction wasn’t complete on the facility. Bottlenecks characterized Opening Day as the builders were as yet unable to erect gates in the grandstand area. Also, the fence had yet to be covered. In fact, painters were coating it throughout the game, often craning their necks with the crack of the bat, as much to catch a glimpse of the action as self protection. 

The field was the main issue though. A soaking rain over the previous week had created a sloppy, muddy mess. The infield may have been skinned to kick off the season. Grounds personnel flooded onto the field several times during the contest to patch troubled spots and to raise the bases which kept sinking into the mud. The diamond needed sodding and extensive rolling. 

All this could be overlooked. Comiskey was amassing a pennant-winning squad. He would top Mack’s men by four games when all was said and done. 

SOURCE LIST

•  Chicago Tribune, 1899-1900 
• Johnson, Lloyd and Miles Wolff. Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, Third Edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007. 
• Sporting Life, 1899-1900

 

Manuel Joseph Rivera 

Manuel Joseph Rivera, later known as Jim, was born to Puerto Rican immigrants in Brooklyn on July 22, 1922. Growing up in a New York ghetto, Rivera spent over ten years in an orphanage. 

After World War II kicked off, he joined the Army. Rivera ran into trouble when an officer’s daughter accused him of rape. A medical exam showed that the young lady was still a virgin, so charges were amended to attempted rape. Rivera was tried, convicted and court marshaled at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. He served over four years in an Atlanta penitentiary. 

Gainesville (Class-D Florida State League) owner Earl Mann negotiated Rivera’s release from jail so he could join the club in 1949; at age 26, Rivera became a professional baseball player. The rookie outfielder did well, leading the league in runs with 142 and making the All-Star team. 

Rivera opened 1950 with the Class-AA Atlanta Crackers of the Southern League. Over the winter, he met Rogers Hornsby while both were in Puerto Rico for winter ball. Hornsby copped Rivera for $2,500. Hornsby and Rivera would later declare a strong bond for each other. The orphan would be quoted as saying Hornsby “adopted” him and was like a step-father. 

In 1951 he stepped up to the Triple-A Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League. He had a breakout year for manager Hornsby and the club won the league’s championship by six games and via the playoff system. 

Rivera’s strong season attracted the Chicago White Sox who purchased his contract on July 23, 1951 for $65,000, though they allowed him to remain with Seattle through the season. Winning the league’s MVP award, Rivera lead the league in batting average (.352), runs scored (135) and hits (231). He also posted 20 homers and 120 RBI. 

Bill Veeck hired Hornsby at season’s end to manage his American League St. Louis Browns. Hornsby talked Veeck into trading for Rivera. On November 28 a deal was completed. The Browns gave up catcher Sherm Lollar, pitcher Al Widmar and shortstop Tom Upton (quickly traded to Washington for Sam Dente). In exchange they picked up Rivera, first baseman Gordon Goldsberry, pitcher Dick Littlefield, catcher Gus Niarhos and infielder Joe DeMaestri from Chicago. 

The key to the trade for the White Sox’s general manager Trader Lane was Lollar, who provided a potent bat for a backstop. Hornsby, on the other hand, was delighted to have his Seattle protégés Goldsberry and Rivera. He strongly believed that Rivera was one of the game’s foremost budding stars and a top-candidate for Rookie of the Year in 1952.

 The following quotes describe Hornsby’s delight in Rivera: 

I’d rather watch him play than anybody else. He does everything to beat you. He’ll beat you with his bat. He’ll bunt, drag or knock the ball out of the park. He’ll beat you with his outfielding and throwing, and he’ll steal any base most any time. 

They tried to brush him back in the coast league and the more they threw at him, the tougher he got. He can take care of himself, too. Don’t forget, he’s 192 pounds and was a professional prize fighter. An infielder named Pavolic got rough with Rivera in Seattle last summer and only two punches were landed. He knocked Pavolic half way to third base and won that argument.

In a reversal Rivera was shipped back to Chicago on July 28, 1952. 

Rivera was arrested in the White Sox clubhouse on September 29, just after the club’s final game of the season. Mrs. Janet Gater, the 22-year-old wife of an Army statistician stationed at the Fifth Army headquarters in Chicago. She alleged that Rivera raped her in her apartment the night before. Rivera had just approached her after she dropped some books while walking her dog. 

Rivera admitted to having relations with Gater but insisted it was consensual after she invited him into her apartment. Rivera was released on $3,000 but booked in Felony Court the following day. Rivera then insisted on taking a lie detector test and was released again with a $5,000 bond. 

On October 14 the grand jury voted against indicting Rivera. On October 20 Rivera was called into commissioner Ford Frick’s office to account for himself in the incident and his entire history. 

Despite the grand jury ruling, baseball commissioner Ford Frick, in a rare move, sanctioned Rivera for the incident. In Frick’s words: 

To the best of my knowledge, after making a check of the records, this is the first time a commissioner ever had to make a decision on a morals charge. As concerns criminal charges, he has been completely exonerated by the courts, and the commissioner cannot place himself in the position of going over the heads of an American grand jury. At the same time, the commissioner recognizes, as does the Chicago American League club, that they have an obligation to the public to maintain the highest standards of morality among all men who are connected with the game.

With that the commissioner placed Rivera on probation for one year with the requirement that the White Sox report all incidents concerning the center fielder to his office immediately. Chicago was also prohibited from trading or releasing (through waivers) Rivera for that period.

 

Mountain Athletic Club 

Luxury and baseball didn’t really go hand-in-hand at the turn of the 20^th century, especially in the dog days of summer and particularly in a small town. But tucked in the Catskill Mountains of New York State, in the resort town of Griffin Corners, sat a grounds unique to professional baseball. Everything about the park, the athletes that played there and the spectators that viewed the contests set it apart, eclipsing in the minds of those lucky enough to spend an afternoon amid the ambiance the experience they could derive from the largest ballpark in the biggest city the National League could offer. 

It wasn’t merely the aesthetics – a beautifully manicured ball field carved within the mountain terrain, amid rolling hills and a scattering of opulent estates. The trip from town to the park must have been majestic and a welcome amble for those typically confined to city life. Perhaps it was essential that the weather tended to be cooler than many found during the height of summer. Surely that is what attracted many to the area, the ones that erected second homes in the hills. For the spectators, it was also the exclusivity. It was a town, a village really, of the wealthy and the wealthy tend to prefer those that can afford to run in the same circles. 

For the ballplayers, they had a patron saint – well several of them. Unlike the rest of the baseball world, the Catskill club, dubbed the Mountain Athletic Club, was amassed with no thought to profits or losses. They didn’t matter. Baseball in the hills had a benefactor, the Fleischmann family of flour and vodka fame. Charles Fleischmann and his sons Julius and Max wanted to entertain themselves and their vacationing brethren. The team was presented gratis, or virtually so, for all to enjoy. 

The ballplayers? Well, they were in the catbird seat. Not only did they play on one of the best kept fields in the most picturesque settings in all of sports but they had their every whim catered to. There was a stunning clubhouse fully equipped with showers – and an attendant. The crowd was without a doubt of a finer breed than a ballplayer of the era could expect – and this naturally extended to their interactions within the village. Their hotel accommodations would have made any League player envious. Travel? There was a special car for that. Oh, and the pay wasn’t bad either. The Fleischmann millions saw to everyone’s comfort, especially their own. It was perhaps the classiest of all baseball experiences anywhere in the country until the era when most of the ballplayers themselves became millionaires. 

Fleischmann History 

Positioned in the hills of the Catskills, Griffin Corner was, for the most part, inaccessible to the masses during much of the 19^th century. Farmers, there’s always farmers, buy few others called the area home. Like the rest of the nation, the railroad changed that. It linked the area with the rest the network in May 1870. It was another decade before the village’s prospects took a dramatic turn. 

In the early 1880s, Griffin Corners’ resident John M. Blish sold Charles Fleischmann , a resident of Cincinnati, his first parcel of land in the area. Fleischmann, an immigrant from Moravia  , amassed a fortune via his self-named yeast producing plant and distillery. He also had extensive real estate and other business ventures and was heavily involved in politics and philanthropy. 

The family ultimately amassed other plots and erected a grand compound near the railroad depot, composing five mansions and numerous outbuildings. Soon enough, others followed, building spacious summer homes, exceeding $30,000 or $40,000 – significant sums for the day. A resort community was in its genesis; seclusion, mountain views, fresh air and spring water were but few of the attractions. 

Extensive landscaping followed. A deer park and hunting grounds were established. Stables were erected, as were a heated pool and a trout pond. Hotels, restaurants and fringe businesses cropped up and flourished. Ultimately, a lake would be created for boating, water sports, sunbathing and swimming. 

Entertainment 

The abundance of wealth and the pleasing surroundings soon brought an array of performers to the community during the summer months. Broadway stars made the trip, as did opera singers, entertainers of various ilks and, of course, athletes. 

Sports were engrained in the Fleischmanns. They would spend far more on their yachting and horse racing interests, entertainments of the rich, than they ever would on baseball. (As horse racing enthusiasts, the Fleischmanns were well acquainted with Col. Jacob Ruppert long before either dove into major league baseball.) Charles and especially his sons, who grew up amid luxury with idle time, also enjoyed hunting, fishing, boxing and polo. Baseball, though, was the sport of the masses, the national pastime that could and did provide daily entertainment for those that wanted to be a spectator or participant or both. 

Baseball had been played in the Catskills but only sporadically. A small farming community with limited spare time offered few possibilities for organizing contests on a regular basis. The railroad men, as they made their way into the community, did play the game though and would attract their share of viewers at makeshift ball fields. By the early 1890s, local colleges played contests for onlookers in the Catskills. 

By the mid 1890s – probably 1894, the Fleischmanns began sponsoring a town team and contests for the amusement of themselves and their fellow vacationers. Julius, 24 in 1895, and Max, 18, as young men took the field. The original diamond was laid out on the side of the mountain. Gravity, it was said, aided more than a few ball to sail out of reach for a four-bagger. The early teams included college and probably some semi-pro players. The college players were brought in because they were more likely to be gentlemen – a major plus during this rough and tumble era of baseball – and, of course, the fact that they were well-known in the area. 

Honus Wagner 

It is claimed that Honus Wagner played with the Fleischmann club in 1895 before he embarked on his major league career. This seems doubtful. There are no such contemporary accounts. Though in truth, there is little about the early Catskill club before 1899. The Devaleria biography of Wagner makes no mention of it and in 1895 he bounced around to five clubs, none particularly close to the Catskill Mountains. There is a picture from the Catskill Mountain News on March 14, 1863 which may have initiated this claim: 

Honus Wagner, Andy Coakley, Harry Stevens, Granville Whitaker

Frank Riley, Ed Winters, Julius Fleischmann, Max Fleischmann, Art Reynolds

Orson Hitt, Pete Cregan, Red Dooin, Bill Shufelt 

This is clearly not from 1895 or even the 1890s. Coakley would have only been 12 years old in 1895 (and he seems in the picture to be in his twenties). The picture is from the first decade of the 1900s. The Fleishmanns probably brought the men together for some contests during the postseason. Futhermore, I don’t think that is Wagner pitcured. Wagner and Coakley were only an inch apart and this picture shows otherwise.

I don’t necessarily doubt that Wagner played with the Tourists at some point but when? 

There are a couple other interesting things here though. The first is Harry Stevens of vending and hot dog fame. He appears in the photo – probably as an umpire that day. Second, note Julius’ pose. He looks to the right in his pictures (see later team pix) – seems odd, especially since the others are not. It’s also noteworthy that men like Whitaker, Cregan, Shufelt and Dooin kept returning to the club. The perks must have been alluring. (Hitt was a Griffin Corner resident.) 

Mountain Athletic Club Grounds 

A new ballpark was needed, and it would require a lot of blasting; a flat site had to be carved out of the rock. This was done at no little expense to the Fleischmanns. A four-acre plot was first purchased north of the current Wagner Avenue (not named after Honus as some have claimed). 

After extensive leveling, the field was ready for use in 1896. It included a skinned-infield which was meticulously manicured, as was the outfield. No diamond in the country was its superior in this regard. Groundskeeper John Blish, the one who sold Charles Fleischmann his first parcel in the area, saw to it. 

Grandstand seating was provided for the Fleischmanns and 600 of their honored guests. A nominal entrance fee was charged, if at all. It wasn’t necessary though; only a chain link fence surrounded the field. Carriages or individuals could settle pretty much anywhere with minimal to no obstruction. Often the entire community dropped everything to watch the games, bring business to a standstill. 

 

The view was spectacular: 

 

More important to the ballplayers was the spacious, elegant clubhouse. It included three dressing rooms and a man to see to their every need. Few minor leaguers, or even major leagues, had it so good. Visitors were particularly impressed with their reception; they didn’t get such treatment elsewhere. Once a week, a band was a part of pregame activities. Away from the park, the men were housed at one of the fine summer hotels that lined the main streets. 

The park area was donated to the community by the Fleishmanns in 1913 to be used as a community park. For this and other generosities, the area known as Griffin Corners, part of which was already being called Fleischmann, was formally renamed as Fleischmann, New York. 

Mountain Athletic Club 

The grounds, clubhouse and team were dubbed the Mountain Athletic Club by the Fleischmanns. They were also called the Mountain Tourists or simply Mountaineers. At times, they were identified as representing Cincinnati, the Fleischmann’s hometown. Club expenses were met by the Fleischmann including salaries and $150 guarantee for visiting clubs. 

The season began in mid June each year. Typically, the men would arrive around the 15^th and contests would take place within a week. Like all baseball men, the guys had probably been playing since March or April and were thoroughly limber. Some had played college ball into May and others had played elsewhere. It’s interesting that Miller Huggins, a Tourist in 1900, later mentioned that the club was actually a touring Cincinnati group, suggesting that some of the team had already been playing together. There is actually some evidence of this: 

• The MAC headed to Cincinnati in October 1900 to play some contests
• The MAC met the Cincinnati Reds at the beginning of April 1901
• A club called the Cincinnati Mountain Tourists were found playing in Knoxville in April 1902 

Ernest Landgraf, a minor league journeyman, managed the club in 1896. Eventually, the Fleischmann brothers wanted more from their baseball experience – i.e. to play alongside the professionals. (Charles Fleischmann died in December 1897.) When Bug Holliday was released from the Cincinnati Reds at the beginning of July 1898, the Fleischmann sprung into action and got him to come to the mountains. 

1899 

The following year, they dove into professionalism. Their money bought a top club for the 1899 and 1900 seasons. The Fleischmanns’ cousin Herman Blair, a professional manager, helped send some talent their way. Art Reynolds also claimed to be a heavy recruiter. 

The 1899 team included (major leaguers in red): 

• Max Fleischmann, outfield
• Julius Fleischmann, manager, outfield
• Pete Cregan, shortstop,
• Sedgwick, outfield
• Granville Whitaker,   first base
• Tom Donahue,  outfield
• Bill Nye, catcher
• Bill Shufelt, second base
• Lenz, third base
• Fuller, outfield
• Riley, pitcher
• Tom Colcolough, pitcher
• Coakley, pitcher (may have been Colcolough)
• Werner, pitcher
• Ed Winters
• Frank Palen
• Bugs Holliday 

Some of these names could be assumed, to protect their amateur status. Holliday played for the Cincinnati Reds in 1898. Colcolough was released by the New York Giants in mid July. Cregan would make his major league debut in September, with the Giants. In the spring, the Fleischmanns unsuccessfully tried to lure pitcher Cy Seymour, who was holding out from the Giants. 

Tom Donahue was the younger brother of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Frank Donahue. Both brothers were nicknamed “Red.” In the fall, Tom headed to Villanova College, playing both football and baseball for the school. 

With their new batch of professionals, the Mountain Athletic Club began to extensively travel throughout the area for away games. The New York Evening Telegram noted that they could be found “riding in a parlor car, surrounded with luxury that would make a [National] League team envious.” (7/26/1899) 

Among other destinations, they can be tracked at Ilion, Richmond Springs, Weehawken, New Jersey and Jersey City. They didn’t drop too many contests. One loss was at the hands of the Orange Athletic Club and another was to the traveling All-Cubans , a team of foreign-born players organized by Abel Linares. Unlike later All-Cuban clubs, the 1899 version fielded Cubans players with light skin. The MAC also played the Cuban Giants during the summer. 

On August 23 in the Catskills, the All-Cubans defeated the MAC 9-3. The Tourists claimed that they took their opponents lightly and fielded a number of substitutes. That just may be the case, as the next day the MAC exacted revenge 20-2 on a five-hitter thrown by the big righthander Colcolough. The Tourists knocked 19 safeties. 

They proceeded to trounce Jersey City, in Jersey City on the 27^th, 33-3. Back home, the MAC took both games of a doubleheader from Jersey City on September 5. (Colcolough was brought in by the Fleischmanns at $50 a game plus expenses, initially to take on the tough West New York club.) 

In September the Fleischmanns placed a bid to purchase the New York Giants but never sealed the deal. They would later buy into the Cincinnati Reds and even had a small piece of the Philadelphia Phillies. 

1900 

Nineteen Hundred proved to be the heyday of the Mountain Athletic Club. For one, their roster included at least eight past or future major leaguers at various times during the season. Second, it paid off; losses were few and far between. The Sporting News claimed only 4 in 60 contests. The even defeated the National League Reds in October. 

The roster (major leaguers in red): 

• Julius Fleischmann, manager
• Max Fleischmann, outfield
• Red Dooin, catcher
• Barney McFadden, pitcher (another Villanova student)
• Charlie Werner (Warner), pitcher
• Harris, pitcher
• Pete Cregan, outfield
• Miller Huggins, second base
• Hobart J. Valdois, shortstop (from Jersey City club)
• George Rohe, third base
• Mitchell, outfield
• Bill Nye, first base (Possible alias?)
• Jiggs Donahue, outfield
• John ‘Black Jack’ Keenan, pitcher
• Nick Altrock, pitcher
• Doc White, pitcher 

Cincinnati connections: 

Before the season, Max Fleischmann was named vice president of the Cincinnati Reds. Also in 1900, Julius was elected mayor of the city, serving until 1905. Dooin, a Cincinnati native, was a dental student at Xavier University in Cincinnati. (Dooin later remarked that he earned $150 a month with the MAC.) 

Black Jack Keenan, a career minor leaguer, was a Cincinnati native. Jiggs Donahue was also a local guy. He would make his major league debut in September with Pittsburgh. Likewise, Rohe was from Cincinnati; he would join the Baltimore Orioles in 1901. Altrock was another Cincinnati boy. 

The Fleischmanns tried but failed to sign a Cincinnati legend – Hall of Famer Bid McPhee, who was 40 years old and at the end of a long, distinguished career. McFadden joined the Reds in 1901. 

Another Cincinnati resident was Miller Huggins. He was a student at the University of Cincinnati, later earning a law degree. In 1899 with Mansfield, Huggins played under the pseudonym “William Proctor” to protect his amateur status. With Mansfield, he played the outfield, shortstop and third base. It was with the MAC that Huggins switched to second base as a professional. The box scores located in 1900 show Huggins playing under his own name. In 1904 at age 26, he joined the Cincinnati Reds (drafted off the St. Paul roster in September 1903), then owned in part by the Fleischmanns. 

Werner signed with Charlie Comiskey after the 1900 season but didn’t make the White Stockings roster. Doc White was a student at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. before joining the MAC. He then signed with the Phillies for 1901. Cregan was a native of Kingston, New York, located near the Catskills. (Granville Whitaker was also from Kingston.) 

Team photo of the 1900 Mountain Athletic Club: 

 

Here’s a stab at naming the men in the photo (photo appeared in newspapers in August): 

Red Dooin, ??, Doc White, ??

Miller Huggins, Pete Gregan, Julius Fleischmann, ??, George Rohe

Jiggs Donahue, Max Fleischmann, ??, ?? 

In reference to there being different Donahues on the 1899 and 1900 roster, it appears to be just that – different men – and not a point of confusion, even though they played the same position. The 1899 Donahue was specifically identified as Red Donahue of the Phillies’ brother Tom. The photo from 1900 clearly shows Jiggs Donahue. Though he is primarily known for playing other positions, the box scores in 1900 show Jiggs in the outfield. 

Comparing the two photos – 1900 and the earlier Wagner one, it seems to me that Cregan and Max Fleischmann were quite similar in the face. Bouncing back and forth between the four faces makes the identification in the 1900 photo tough for me. Hence, I can be convinced that Max was in the front row and Pete was in the middle row – or vice versa. 

As to the unidentified members – happy hunting. Altrock didn’t join the club until late September or October, so he’s out. Keenan joined the club late as well. I couldn’t find a decent picture of Barney McFadden to make an educated guess. 

The Tourists traveled in an impressive Pullman car. Their uniforms were dark blue with “Mountain” written across the chest in red. As usual, the season in the Catskills kicked off in mid June. 

Huggins later recalled a game versus the Cuban Giants during 1900. Max Fleischmann, at bat, accidentally knocked out the famed catcher Clarence Williams with a blow to the back of the head as Williams rose to throw out a stealing Huggins at second base. 

The MAC was supposed to play the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati on July 16 but the game never came off. Researcher Bob Mayer informs me that instead the Tourists played the local amateur/semi-pro Shamrocks in a doubleheader at League Park. The MAC swept the Shamrocks before an unusually large crowd. Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate a firsthand account of the games. Also, newspaper references place the MAC still on their way to Cincinnati in late July, so the games may have taken place later than expected (or perhaps they had been in Cincinnati and were due to return). (It’s also interesting to note that one reference claimed that the MAC included five former members of the Shamrocks.) 

As of the end of July, one report claimed that the Tourists had only loss one game to date – to Ilion, New York. 

The MAC finally met the Reds on October 2 in Cincinnati. From the Sporting Life reference below, it’s clear the meeting didn’t go well for the major leaguers. The game was a benefit for nearly the 300 pound Cincinnati Enquirer sports editor Harry Weldon who suffered a stoke in February. 

Sporting Life 10/13/1900 

1901 and Later 

The Mountain Athletic Club continued after their stars of 1900 departed but press coverage abated. Probably in large part because of the return to college and semi-pro player dominated clubs. 

The ballpark suffered about $1000 in damage from flooding in April 1901. It would be fixed, and seating expanded to accommodate 5000 over the winter 1902-1903. 

In each year 1901-1902 (and perhaps others), the team kicked off the season in Cincinnati. During those seasons (and perhaps others), the MAC fielded a junior club that played as early as April in New York. In 1901, they won the local championship. 

The Fleischmanns bought the Cincinnati Reds in 1902 with George Cox and Garry Herrmann .

In 1905, a Catskill Mountain League was organized. 

Wagner Revisited 

The question still looms – when did Honus Wagner play for the Mountain Tourists? Again, with the inclusion of Andy Coakley in the picture, it seems clear that the photo stems from the first decade of the 20^th century – sometime between 1901 and 1910, probably 1902-1905. And, Wagner wasn’t in that photo as claimed in the article.

Another clue comes from a Kingston Daily Freeman article dated 24 April 1964. The reporter wrote the article after a discussion with Granville Whitaker’s son and a review of some papers he had, especially a letter from Art Reynolds. (Reynold’s letter places himself as the organizer and driving force behind the club. This may in part be true but it smacks of the numerous self-serving accounts in oral baseball lure. In truth, I’m not sure who Arthur S. Reynolds was. ) 

Whitaker had the same team photo with Wagner, but with a few telling features: 

• The Honus Wagner image is identified as “Dutch Ritsey” of Pittsburgh
• Andy Coakley is identified as “Bill Williams” of the Phillies
• Red Dooin is identified as “Will Moore.” In the Catskill Mountain News photo caption he is identified as Bill Doon. Within the text of the former, he is identified as Bill Doone late of the Phillies.

It’s telling perhaps that the only names misidentified are major leaguers. They may have been playing under aliases and this may account for the lack of contemporary evidence of their involvement. Though, they apparently didn’t mind being photographed. Whitaker’s son inherited the picture from his father which included the assumed names, which further shows the protection of the major leaguers. Along these lines, it seems logical that if the major leaguers chose to play under aliases and not be nationally identified moonlighting that the Fleischmanns, who were major league owners at this time and gods in the Catskills, could certainly see to it. Further extending this – Wagner may have been protected in this way as well and that may explain why there are no contemporary accounts of his inclusion in the team – only verbal recounts decades later.

Dutch Ritsey may have been Claude Ritchey. The height is right.

SOURCE LIST 

• Albany Evening Journal, 11 June 1900, 23 July 1900, 29 October 1900
• Arcadian Weekly Gazette, Newark, New Jersey, November 1896
• Baseball-reference.com
• Binghamton Press, New York, 2 May 1905
• Boston Journal, 13 August 1899
• Brooklyn Eagle, September 1899, 24 June 1900, 6 February 1925
• Buffalo Morning Press, 1 March 1896, 20 July 1900
• Catskill Mountain News, 14 March 1963
• Catskill.net
• Dallas Morning News, 26 August 1900
• Devaleria, Dennis and Jeanne Burke Devaleria. Honus Wagner: A Biography. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995.
• Elmira Morning Telegram, New York, 20 September 1903
• Freeport Daily Journal, Ohio, 19 May 1899
• Hamilton Daily Democrat, Ohio, 7 February 1901
• Jersey Evening Journal, Jersey City, New Jersey, 1899-1900
• Kingston Daily Freeman, New York, 24 April 1964
• Lowell Sun, Massachusetts, 20 October 1902
• Mansfield News, Ohio, 25 February 1901, 12 April 1901
• Mtownhistory.org
• New York Daily Herald, 9 June 1899
• New York Evening Telegram, 26 July 1899, 15 August 1913, 26 October 1917
• New York Evening Tribune, 30 April 1903
• New York Herald-Tribune, 14 August 1899
• New York Sun, 18 April 1897, 1902
• New York Times, 1894, 1901-1903, 1906
• New York World, 11 December 1897, 1 July 1898, 20 August 1899
• Omaha World Herald, 22 March 1901
• Retrosheet.org
• Richfield Daily, Richfield Springs, New York, 17 August 1900
• Rochester Democrat Chronicle, 26 September 1904
• San Antonio Daily Express, 23 July 1899
• San Antonio Light, 11 June 1899
• Skenelib.org
• Sporting Life, 1897-1901
• The Sporting News, 1900-1901
• Thorn, John, “The Last Resort,” Voices, Volume 36, Spring-Summer 2010
• Utica Sunday Journal, 13 August 1900
• Washington Post, 20 September 1899, 24 March 1901, 30 July 1902, 10 August 1913
• Wikipedia.org

 

Seymour R. Church and Martin F. Cosgriff 

 

In 1902 Seymour R. Church self-published one of the first looks into west coast baseball history – Baseball: The History, Statistics and Romance of the American National Game. The work was billed as Volume 1 focusing on the era 1845-1871. 

New York Times 10/5/1902

Church was born on July 14, 1855 in Alameda, California, just outside Oakland and San Francisco. By 1870, the family moved into the city, San Francisco, at the time the largest city in the west. He became a merchandise broker specializing in Muirkirk pig iron, coal, coke and fire brick. He was a member of the popular Cosmos Club, a social organization. 

Church was presumably a life-long baseball fan. It appears that he published his first work in 1891, a lithograph portrait of a California League game from 9 September 1890 between San Francisco and Oakland. Later, around the turn of the century, Church began a ten-cent guide called the Baseball Schedule and Memorandum Book. In total he published four volumes on differing topics. 

In 1900, Church produced his first full-length work, Analyses of Pig Iron. The following year, he published a baseball calendar displaying a lithograph featuring Bill Lange and George Van Haltren that Church commissioned from the renowned West Coast artist Carl Christian Dahlgren. 

In 1902, Church managed some sort of “baseball art gallery,” which seems to be a room or otherwise a part of his trading business located at 307 Sansome Street. There he kept his collection of baseball memorabilia, supposedly putting it on display for associates, clients and perhaps anyone who shared his interest. 

Baseball

That September, Church issued Baseball, which he personally published and distributed. Recently, copies have been auctioned in which Church signed and inscribed a few words to a couple of prominent readers – Willie Keeler and Van Haltren. 

The 14”x11” oversized book sold for $1.50 and contained less than 100 pages. Within the covers, he included a few dozen black and white photos and five signature color plates amid a goofy page numbering system. 

The work contains a few nuggets for the present-day historian, though not overwhelmingly so. It opens with a dedication to Cal McVey, right fielder for the famous Red Stockings of Cincinnati in 1869, who relocated to San Francisco later in life. (In 1900, according to the Census, McVey worked as a policeman in SF.) 

Though the work professes to concentrate on the amateur and early professional era, Church supplies a good bit of photos and discussion of California baseball at the turn of the century. The first chapter even declares the intention to discuss the game, “from its inception to the present time.” Perhaps he didn’t have a clear direction for the work at its onset and later decided to break it into multiple volumes.

 

The first section briefly discusses the Knickerbockers of New York and other NY-area clubs of the 1840s and ‘50s. It then moves into an extensive explanation of the rules and techniques of the game. A brief article follows on Henry Chadwick and includes a signed portrait of the “Father of Baseball” dedicated to Church and dated July 1902. 

Next, Church includes accounts, box scores and lists of a hodgepodge array that he dubs “Famous Games and Players.” His focus is haphazardly applied and one has to wonder why he chose what he did to highlight and especially what he didn’t. Next, he provides a list of “prominent professional of 1871” that holds little value today. 

Next lays the importance of the book in my opinion – a brief recap of Pacific Coast baseball through 1871; though, it is clear that Church was unaware of much of the sport’s early history in the area. Several box scores are provided from 1866-1869 and of special interest are brief recaps of three early games – 2 in 1860 and 1 in 1863. Again, one is left to wonder why he chose what he did and left others out. Perhaps his access to contemporary newspapers and oral lore was limited. 

A valuable “reminiscence” by an old San Francisco third baseman, William Sheppard, is worth the read. Church then dives into Cal McVey who offers a brief personal bio. It’s clear that Church held him in high regard both for his baseball career and whatever personal interaction the two shared. 

The Eagle club of San Francisco is highlighted next with a list of its membership through 1871. 

Martin Cosgriff 

Next, Church presents the most quoted portion of his work – the contributions of Martin F. Cosgriff. 

Martin Francis Cosgriff was born in Ireland in November 1842 and emigrated in 1848, ultimately settling with his family in Boston. He left his widowed mother and siblings in 1858 or ’59 and moved to San Francisco. (His family would later join him.) He is no longer listed in the Boston City Directory after 1858 but doesn’t appear on a similar document in San Francisco until 1861-1862. 

On the coast, he worked as a gardener, toll collector and then conductor. By the end of the decade, he opened a grocery/liquor store with his brother John at the corner of O’Farrell and Hyde Streets. 

In May 1874, the brothers declared bankruptcy and closed the store. Martin took on several odd jobs before settling as a foreman at E.T. Anthony and Company, a dry goods, clothing and general merchandise distributor. During the 1880s, Cosgriff opened his own similar company – M.F. Cosgriff and Company – repackers and balers, general merchandise at 417 Battery Street. 

Back to baseball, Church’s book portrays Cosgriff in two important lights: 

• As a founding member of the Tri-mountains of Boston
• As the man that brought the New York style of baseball to the Pacific Coast 

Presumable Church’s source of this material came from Cosgriff himself. Let’s examine: 

The Tri-mountains were formed by a displaced New Yorker, Edward Saltzman, in 1857. They practiced the New York game, oddly so, in the middle of Massachusetts in which all other teams played a different version of the sport. 

EDWARD SALTZMAN AND THE TRI-MOUNTAINS 

Given the fact that the Tri-mountains were formed in 1857, Cosgriff was only 14 years old at the time. It’s therefore unlikely that he made any meaningful contribution to the ballclub’s formation. This however doesn’t mean that Cosgriff wasn’t influenced by the Tri-mountains or enamored with them. It may be likely that Cosgriff, who grew up playing what we now call the Massachusetts Game, was exposed to the New York Game as well and admired both styles of play. 

Church pulled what he knew about the early game in California from the Pacific Base Ball Guide of 1867: 

This fits exactly with the timeframe of Cosgriff’s relocation. However, unbeknown to Church and perhaps even Cosgriff, the New York Game was indeed known in the Bay Area, even a decade prior to Cosgriff, as John Thorn readily points out in Baseball in the Garden of Eden. A San Francisco Knickerbocker squad was formed by former members, even founders, of the New York Knickerbockers themselves, men who relocated in hopes of attaining wealth during the gold rush. Alexander Cartwright had lived in the area, as did William Wheaton. According to Thorn, in the early 1850s “seven members of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York were in or around San Francisco at the time.” Clearly, the New York Game was known and played in the area long before the Eagle club. 

However, this is not to say that the New York Game was widely known throughout the area by men of playing age by the end of the 1850s. In November 1859 when the Eagles were formed, supposedly providing California with its first taste of the New York Game, Cosgriff was still young – 17. (The original members that could be located were in their 20s and 30s.) 

Church seemingly noticed a discrepancy here. Though Cosgriff claimed to be vital to the “introduction” of the New York Game, that is providing the first baseball, he could not be found on the rolls of the Eagle club (though his brother would be in 1862). This is why Church qualified his statement about Cosgriff – “more of an organizer than a player.” But, hey, what newly turned 17 year old was more of an organizer for a bunch of men than a player? It would have been the opposite. Despite his assertions to the contrary, Cosgriff didn’t bring the first baseball or even the New York rules to the west coast. 

Cosgriff remained in San Francisco after his wife died in 1902. He died 12 years later at age 71. 

Church 

The next quarter of Church’s book encompasses a “Comments” section, which is just a mishmash of various stats, facts, data and narrative. In part, it’s an advertising section for Church’s business and others, probably business associates, friends and clients or others who helped assume costs of publication. Quite a few baseball fans were plugged with short bios and photographs, seemingly for no rhyme or reason other than they held some sort of relationship with the author. Quaintly, he even published a picture of his mailman and his childhood home. 

Church’s business was destroyed by fire soon after the publication of Baseball and he never produced the promised second volume. His baseball collection – the art gallery – was reduced to ashes as well. In January 1904, Church went bankrupt with liabilities exceeding $300,000. He died on October 10, 1905 in Sacramento at age 50. 

Pawtucket Times 1/16/1904

 

All-Star Games of 1858 

Baseball contests during the 1840s and 1850s occurred after one club formally challenged another. There was no such thing as a set schedule. In 1858, the landscape of the organized game still centered around New York City and its neighbor Brooklyn. At a meeting among area clubs that summer, Brooklyn officials challenged the New Yorkers to a match (best 2 out of 3). It was accepted. 

The novelty to the challenge lie in the twist that each city would send forth a so-called ‘picked nine,’ an all-star squad. Picked nines weren’t unique but the fact that the athletes would be drawn from the best clubs was. The contests would thus be the sport’s first true all-star contests – long before the current incarnation. 

Baseball officials recognized the uniqueness to their venture and sensing a heavy turnout decided to charge an admission to the events – a first. Now where could they do such a thing? Not on a corner lot, they needed an enclosed grounds. But none existed at this point in baseball history. The obvious choice was a race track. The Fashion Race Course on Long Island was chosen. It offered 10,000 seats with a potential to accommodate 50,000. 

The infield (of the racing oval) sod was skinned down to the dirt, creating a makeshift diamond. This proved horrible for the upcoming contests as the ground was bumpy and uneven – particularly troubling during an era when a batter was deemed out if the ball was caught on one bounce. Nevertheless, the first contest was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, July 13. Rain, creating a sloppy mess, postponed the game a week. 

On the 20^th, the two sides finally met, first pitch set for 2:30. The city’s top clubs paraded to Long Island in decorated carriages adorned with their team flag and other trimmings. An estimated 7800 ponied up the 10 cent admission price, many watching from their carriages. 

The nines – the sport’s who’s who – included: 

Brooklyn: 

• Matty O’Brien, Atlantics, pitcher
• Joe Leggett, Excelsiors, catcher
• John Price, Atlantics, first base
• John Holder, Excelsiors, second base
• M.P. Masten, Putnams, third base
• Frank Pigeon, Eckfords, shortstop
• Peter O’Brien, Atlantics, left field
• John Grum, Eckfords, center field
• A.E. Burr, Putnams, right field 

New York: 

• Tom Van Cott, Gothams, pitcher
• Charles De Bost, Knickerbockers, catcher
• Louis Wadsworth, Gothams, first base
• S.R Pinckney, Unions of Morrisania, second base
• A.J. Bixby, Eagles, third base
• M.E. Gelston, Eagles, shortstop
• Monson Hoyt, Empire, left field
• Edward Benson, Empire, center field
• Harry Wright, Knickerbockers, right field 

Brooklyn batted first but lost 22-18. 

Approximately 5000 attended the second contest on August 17. 

New stars included: 

Brooklyn: 

• Richard Oliver, Excelsiors
• Dickey Pearce, Atlantics
• Henry Manolt, Eckfords 

New York: 

• Marsh, Harlem
• Turner, Gothams
• James Whyte Davis, Knickerbockers 

Brooklyn took this contest, 29-8, pushing the series to a third game. 

The rubber contest took place on September 10. 

New Stars: 

Brooklyn: 

• Folkert Rapeleye Boerum, Atlantics 

New York: 

• R.H. Thorne, Empire
• Tooker, Gothams
• Simon Burns, Mutuals
• McCosker, Gothams 

The New Yorkers claimed the bragging right with a 29-18 victory. 

The series was still hailed as the penultimate match in the sports history nearly a decade later by historian Charles A. Peverelly. 

Trophy Ball from Game 2, recently sold for nearly $500,000

SOURCE LIST 

• Brooklyn Eagle, 21 July 1858, 18 August 1858 
• New York Times, 21 July 1858, 18 August 1858, 11 September 1858 
• Schaefer, Robert H, “The Great Base Ball Match of 1858: Base Ball’s First All-Star Game,” Nine: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture, Fall 2005, pp. 47-66