May 4, 1875
On May 4th, the Brown Stockings opened the season playing the cross-town
Red Stockings (a successful local amateur club which joined
the National Association hoping to use its local roots to outdraw the imported Brown
Stockings) at the Red Stockings' home field of Compton Park. The
Brown Stockings defeated their hosts 15-9 after carrying a 14-1 lead into the eighth inning.
Given the difference in experience between the two clubs, the outcome was hardly unexpected.
The Post-Dispatch gave a complete accounting of the game in the May 5 paper.
