Featured Partner
Charlton's Baseball Chronology - 1870
March
| March 26 |
The first game of the season is played in Brooklyn at the old Star Grounds in Carroll Park. The amateur Star Club plays a practice game against a hand picked nine‚ including such renowned stars as Lipman Pike‚ Flanley‚ and George Hall. Candy Cummings pitches the Stars to a 5-inning‚ 19-7. |
| March 27 |
In a letter to the editor published in today's New York Sunday Mercury‚ Cincinnati Red Stockings' manager Harry Wright writes about hand signals‚ "There is one thing I would like to see the umpire do at (a) big game‚ and that is‚ raise his hand when a man is out. You know what noise there is always when a fine play is made on the bases‚ and it being impossible to hear the umpire‚ it is always some little time before the player knows whether he is given out or not. It would very often save a great deal of bother and confusion." (as noted by Bill Deane) |
April
| April 9 |
The amateur Stars‚ behind the pitching and hitting of Candy Cummings‚ wins‚ 27-8‚ over a hand picked nine that includes Chapman‚ Ferguson‚ and Pike. Candy has 3 singles and a home run. |
| April 21 |
For the first time‚ two major teams open the season by playing a practice game. A crowd of 1‚200 pays $.25 apiece to enter the Capitoline Grounds and see the Atlantics defeat the Unions of Morrisania‚ 24-10. |
| April 25 |
Cincinnati begins a week of play in New Orleans with a 51-1 rout of the local Pelicans team. The Chicago White Stockings will soon arrive in town‚ marking the first time teams have gone this far south for spring training. |
| April 29 |
The Chicago White Stockings open their season in St. Louis‚ whipping the Union Club‚ 47-1. |
May
| May 4 |
At Memphis‚ the Cincinnati Red Stocking defeat a local team‚ the Orientals‚ 100-2 in a game stopped at the end of six innings. |
| May 7 |
The highly regarded Mutuals of Brooklyn are soundly whipped by the amateur Stars‚ 14-3‚ behind the "dodgy delivery" of Candy Cummings. |
| May 12 |
In Cleveland‚ the Cincinnati Red Stockings defeat the Forest City Blue Stockings‚ 12-2. |
| May 13 |
The Unions of Morrisania‚ losing 6-3 in the 9th to the Philadelphia Athletics‚ score 4 runs inn the 9th to win‚ 7-6. Dick Higham helps with a home run. |
| May 14 |
The Atlantics open their season with a close‚ 8-1‚ win over the Stars. The Stars outhits the Atlantics‚ 8-6. |
| May 20 |
Gardner Brown‚ 15‚ is killed in Denver‚ N.H. while playing baseball. The ball strikes him on the head. |
| May 25 |
In Baltimore‚ the Atlantics of Brooklyn edge the Maryland Club‚ 13-12. |
| May 30 |
In a drizzling rain in Philadelphia‚ the Atlantics lose to the Athletics‚ 18-13. |
| May 31 |
The visiting Forest City of Rockford club‚ losers to the Mutuals yesterday‚ 21-13‚ rally today to beat the Mutuals‚ 17-16. The Mutuals blow a 14-4 lead as LF John Chapman drops 3 fly balls in the late innings. . |
June
| June 3 |
At Dexter Park in Chicago‚ 3‚000 fans watch the new White Stockings beat the Forest City club of Cleveland‚ 15-9. The game is marred by several wrong decisions by the umpire in favor of Chicago. |
| June 13 |
In New York‚ a crowd of 7‚500 pay $.50 each to watch the Red Stockings defeat the Mutuals‚ 13-3‚ in the first game of Cincinnati's Eastern tour. |
| June 14 |
After 84 straight wins‚ the Cincinnati Red Stockings lose 8-7 to the Atlantics of Brooklyn in the greatest game of the year. Twenty thousand spectators watch at the Capitoline Grounds. The Reds had won 24 games this season and 60 last year without a loss. Today's game‚ played with a "dead ball"‚ is tied at the end of the 9th inning 5-5 and at that point Reds captain Harry Wright turns down a proposal that the game be called a draw. The Reds score twice in the 11th‚ but the Atlantics counter with 3 in their half. Bob Ferguson scores the winning run in the last of the 11th on a hit by George Zettlein. After the game a telegram to Cincinnati is sent: Atlantics 8‚ Cincinnati 7. The finest game ever played. Our boys did nobly but fortune was against us. Eleven innings played. Though beaten‚ not disgraced. (signed) A.B. Champion‚ Cincinnati Baseball Club." |
| June 15 |
Asa Brainard pitches a 5-hitter as the Red Stockings start a new winning streak‚ beating Morrisania‚ 14-0. |
| June 18 |
Henry Chadwick says‚ "For the fifth time during the week's games‚ the Red Stockings lose the toss and were sent to bat‚ and as George Wright takes his stand and faces Cummings for the first time‚ the crowd is on the tip-toe of expectation to see whether George can hit the Star pitcher's horizontally curved balls‚ for it is in the delivery of a ball which curves in or out to the right or the left as it leaves the hand of the pitcher that Cummings' effectiveness as a pitcher lays." |
| June 22 |
A huge crowd is on hand in Philadelphia to watch the Athletics take on the Red Stockings. Cincinnati scores 2 in the 9th to win‚ 27-25. George Wright‚ who earlier has a home run‚ scores the winning run. |
| June 25 |
From the Spirit of the Times‚ June 25‚ 1870‚ baseball with attitude: "RED STOCKINGS VS. ATHLETICS-PHILADELPHIANS DEFEATED BY TWO RUNS. Philadelphia‚ so-called from the Greek by the Quakers who founded it‚ has long since changed in every particular but its name. Brotherly love there now means brotherly among the residents‚ but mankind outside the limits of that over-grown village is held in positive contempt‚ and when a stranger is dropped down there the people cannot make the fact too evident. Fortunate for the outside world‚ after the strongest exhibition Philadelphians could give this side of physical force of their own greatness‚ their inflated bodies were pricked‚ and they were reminded that the world without was entitled to some little recognition even from Philadelphians." |
| June 28 |
One of the earliest documented uses of a glove (as noted by author Darryl Brock) occurs in the Cincinnati Red Stockings game against the Washington Nationals in D.C. In a cable to the Cincinnati Commercial‚ a sportswriter wrote‚ "[Doug] Allison caught to-day in a pair of buckskin mittens‚ to protect his hands." Allison‚ the regular catcher‚ suffers from bruised and "split-open" hands‚ and the Reds have played 8 games in 9 days. |
|
The first of the annual series between the Atlantic and the Mutuals is played before 3‚000 fans‚ one of the smallest crowds since 1864. Interest has diminished since the Red Stockings left town. The Atlantics score 5 in the 9th to win‚ 15-13. |
July
| July 2 |
In Cincinnati‚ the Forest City Club loses to the Red Stockings‚ 14-13. |
| July 3 |
As reported in today's New York Clipper‚ the Knickerbocker Baseball Club of New York is formally withdrawing from the National Association of Base Ball Players to protest the evils that seem to be inherent in professionalism. This will be a forerunner of a strictly amateur association. Speculation is that the professionals will form their own association. |
| July 4 |
The Red Stockings beat the Forest City Club‚ 24-7. in Cincinnati. |
|
In Philadelphia‚ the Athletics use a lively ball to defeat the visiting Mutuals‚ 24-15. Sensenderfer has 2 singles and 3 home runs for the locals. |
|
In Brooklyn‚ the Atlantics defeat the White Stockings‚ 30-20. Bob Ferguson has 6 hits and totals 17 bases. Henry Chadwick says‚ "Using a lively ball the game has an abundance of batting and a lack of the fine points of the game." |
| July 9 |
After losses to Atlantic‚ Mutual‚ and Union of Morrisania‚ Chicago finally win their first game in New York. The White Stockings beat the amateur Star Club of Brooklyn‚ 9-5. |
| July 11 |
At Rockford‚ The Cincinnati Red Stockings score 8 runs in the 9th inning to tie Forest City at 16 apiece. Darkness ends the game in a tie. |
| July 18 |
Harvard University visits Cincinnati and almost defeats the mighty Red Stockings. Behind 17-12 going into the bottom of the 9th‚ the Reds score 8 runs to win‚ 20-17. George Wright has a bases-loaded double in the 9th and Doug Allison knocks in the winning run. |
| July 23 |
Five thousand spectators jam Dexter Park in Chicago to see the White Stockings play the visiting Mutuals of New York. Mutuals P Rynie Wolters holds the White Stockings to 3 singles and no runs‚ winning 9-0 for the first shutout game in big-time baseball history. George L. Moreland (Balldom‚ 1914) noted that previous to today's game only five shutout games had ever been played. The New York Herald will use "Chicagoed" from now on to signify a shutout; the term survives until at least the late 1890s. |
| July 27 |
After 104 victories and several road defeats‚ the Cincinnati Red Stockings lose their first game at home to the visiting Athletics of Philadelphia 11-7. |
August
| August 1 |
With the Mutuals playing in Cincinnati‚ the NYC sporting good store of Peck & Snyder displays the inning-by-inning score on their window by means of telegrams. Soon‚ Nassau Street between Ann and Beckman is blockaded. After the Mutuals fight back from a 9-1 deficit to take the lead‚ a mighty yell goes up. But the final telegram reads‚ Reds‚ 15‚ Mutuals‚ 12. |
| August 9 |
The Mutuals even their series with the Atlantics by winning their 2nd meeting‚ 9-5. |
| August 15 |
Forest City of Cleveland loses their first game in the East‚ 15-9‚ to the Atlantics. Forest City is led by Jim White‚ considered the best catcher in the country. |
| August 16 |
Fred Goldsmith‚ an 18-year-old pitcher invited by Henry Chadwick to demonstrate his curve ball at the Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn‚ succeeds before a large crowd. Chadwick observes: "That which had up to this point been considered an optical illusion and against all rules of philosophy was now an established fact." But Chadwick will soon credit Candy Cummings with the discovery of the "crooked pitch." Goldsmith will win 20 or more games each year between 1880 and 1883. |
| August 18 |
The versatile Jim White of Forest City pitches a two-hit‚ 13-0 victory over the heavy hitting Eckford Club. It is the first time in history that Eckford has been shut out. |
| August 20 |
The Forest City Club edges the Star Club‚ 9-7‚ scoring 2 runs in the 9th inning. |
| August 29 |
The Mutuals host the Philadelphia Athletics and score 5 runs in the top of the 9th inning to tie the score. The Athletics score 5 in their half to win‚ 12-7 (baseball custom has a coin flip giving the winner the choice between "ins" and "outs." The games are not considered completed until both teams have played 9 innings) |
September
| September 2 |
In Cincinnati‚ the Atlantics of Brooklyn lose their 2nd game in a row‚ 14-3. |
| September 5 |
In Cleveland‚ the Atlantics lose their 3rd straight‚ as Forest City takes them‚ 15-13‚ The Atlantics score 10 runs in the 5th inning after 2 are out to come back from a 14-1 deficit. |
| September 7 |
The Chicago White Stockings travel to Cincinnati‚ and bring along their own umpire. With the help of some questionable calls‚ Chicago wins‚ 10-6. George Wright is missing from the Reds lineup. |
| September 15 |
The Philadelphia Athletics travel to Brooklyn's Union Grounds to play the Mutuals. A crowd of 4‚000 is on hand‚ paying 50 cents apiece‚ lured by the appeal that it is a match game and not a practice game. The A's score a run in the 9th to take a 10-9 lead‚ but the Mutes tie when Alphonese Martin scores and win when John Hatfield scores on Fergy Malone's passed ball. |
| September 22 |
The Mutuals of New York win the Championship for 1870 by defeating the Atlantics 10-4 at the Union Grounds before 10‚000.. The game has such national interest that telegraph wires are strung and inning-by-inning results are sent nationwide. |
| September 24 |
In a close game in Brooklyn‚ the Chicago White Stockings score 5 in the 8th to beat the Atlantics‚ 9-4. |
| September 26 |
In Philadelphia‚ the White Stockings continue their excellent play with a 12-11 victory over the Athletics. Philadelphia does not have the services of their 10-year vet Dick McBride‚ out with a sore hand. The Whites score 4 in the last of the 9th to win. |
| September 27 |
Back in NY to accept a challenge from the Mutuals to play a series for the 1870 Championship‚ now held by the Mutes‚ The White Stockings win‚ 22-11. The match attracts 10‚000. |
October
| October 13 |
The return game in the Chicago-Cincinnati series is played at Chicago's Dexter Park. The game is tied after 8 innings‚ but in the 9th the White Stockings score 8 and the Reds 5 for a 16-13 final. |
| October 15 |
The Forest City Club of Rockford hosts Cincinnati. Al Spalding holds the Reds to 6 hits and hits a home run‚ one of 3 in one inning‚ as the Red Stockings lose‚ 12-5. |
| October 19 |
After losing the 1st game of a new series in Brooklyn‚ 11-7‚ on the 17th‚ the Atlantics travel to Philadelphia to play game 2. Dick McBride holds the Atlantics to 6 hits as the A's win‚ 15-3. George Zettlein did not make the trip so the Atlantics play the game with 8 players. |
| October 22 |
With their home-and home series standing at 1-1‚ the Cincinnati Red Stockings meet the Athletics in Philadelphia‚ winning 15-8. |
|
The Forest City Club of Rockford visits Chicago on a raw and chilly day and loses to the White Stockings‚ 10-6. |
| October 24 |
Before 2‚000 spectators in Philadelphia‚ the Athletics down the New York Mutuals‚ 17-12. |
| October 25 |
A crowd of 3‚000 is on hand at the Union Grounds as Cincinnati's Asa Brainard limits the champion Mutuals to 5 hits‚ as the Red Stockings win easily‚ 7-1. |
| October 26 |
In Philadelphia‚ the Cincinnati Red Stockings take on the Atlantics of Brooklyn‚ losers of 17 games this year. The Atlantics score 5 in the last of the 9th to beat the mighty Reds‚ 11-7. |
November
| November 1 |
In Chicago‚ the Mutuals of New York play the White Stockings at Dexter Park before 6‚000 people. With Chicago leading 7-5 after 8 innings‚ the Mutuals score 8 runs in the top of the 9th. In the bottom of the 9th‚ Chicago adopts a waiting game and Wolters‚ the Mutuals pitcher‚ loads the bases on walks‚ and complains that the umpire is not calling strikes. A few hits and passed balls makes the score 13-12 in favor of the Mutes when McAfee‚ the next batter for the Whites‚ lets a dozen balls go by without swinging. Wolters throws up his hands and walks off. The ump reverts the score to the 8th inning and the Whites win‚ 7-5. Chicago has now defeated the Mutes twice since they took the Championship away from the Atlantics. The controversial ending of the game makes the Mutual club unwilling to give up the Championship. The New York Clipper says‚ In 1867 the Union club happened to defeat the Atlantics two games out of three of the regular series them played between them-only one series being played between clubs at that time. By this victory a precedent was established giving the championship title only to the club that defeated the existing champions two games while they were the champions. Of course this is an. absurd rule but it has prevailed ever since." |
| November 2 |
The Mutuals‚ on the road all night from Chicago‚ play badly in Cincinnati and lose to the Red Stockings‚ 23-7. |
| November 10 |
At the New York State Base Ball Convention in Albany‚ a motion prevails that no club in New York composed of colored men should be admitted to the National Association. a critical Henry Chadwick‚ writing in the New York Clipper on the 19th‚ reports the following: |
|
When the new clubs were proposed for election‚ Mr. Barnum‚ of the Gotham club‚ in order to save time‚ moved to suspend the rules so as to elect by one ballot. Mr. W. R. Macdiarmid of the Star club of Brooklyn‚ then moved to amend the motion‚ by providing that in case any of the clubs to be elected should be composed of colored men‚ their claim to membership should be void. This was unanimously adopted; and thus‚ for the first time in the history of the National Association‚ was a political question introduced as a bone of contention in the council of the fraternity. The mischievous influence of this resolution will undoubtedly be felt in the forthcoming convention‚ and to the Star club of Brooklyn and its partisan delegate will the National Association be indebted for introducing such an element of discord into the proceedings of the National Convention. After the introduction of this fire brand‚ an election for officers was proceeded with. In view of the action taken by the New York State Convention‚ we would suggest that the colored clubs of New York and Philadelphia at once take measures to organize a National Association of their own. |
| November 18 |
The Union Baseball Ground in Brooklyn will be abandoned next year‚ and a street will be coming through the enclosure. This will leave only two enclosed parks in the vicinity‚ Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn and the Union Baseball park at Tremont. |
|
Henry Chadwick followed up the following week by writing‚ on the 26th‚ that Hugh Macdiarmid's resolution barring black was not even supported by his own club. |
|
At a meeting of the Star Club‚ held at their rooms in Brooklyn‚ the following resolution was adopted: |
|
That the motion of one of our delegates in the late New York State Convention of Base Ball Players in regard to the admission of colored clubs to the State Association‚ involving‚ as it does‚ a question of a political nature‚ the introduction of which‚ in this club‚ cannot fail to prove prejudicial to that harmony which is so essential to our success as an organization‚ does not meet with our sanction or approval. |
| November 21 |
The Executive Committee of the Red Stockings Baseball Club issues a circular to the members announcing their determination not to employ a professional nine for 1871. Club president A.P.C. Bonte says that ". . . .we have arrived at the conclusion that to employ a nine for the coming season‚ at the enormous salaries demanded by professional players [the total payroll for 1869 was $9‚300] would plunge our club deeply in debt. Bonte concludes by stating that "[we] have resolved to hire no players for the coming season." |
| November 30 |
The 14th annual convention of the National Association of Base Ball Clubs is held in New York‚ the attendance of delegates being smaller than any previous convention. William Wansley‚ Ed Duffy‚ and Thomas Devyr are reinstated to professional baseball‚ and William H. Craver is expelled for dishonorable play. Rule changes include allowing the batter to overrun 1B after touching it. |
