The St. Louis Red Stockings 1874 season

To the Editor of the Democrat:
As there have been rumors set afloat in regard to my leaving the Empire Base Ball Club, I will thank you for space enough to say that I left them and joined the St. Louis Red Stockings without any consideration whatsoever. Had I been asked to play with Empires next season, I should have done so. I have no ill-feeling toward the Empires, and my joining the Reds will, in all likelihood, cause them to play a better game, as well as the Reds, and the admirers of the game will be gainers thereby. I play ball for pleasure only, and to whatever club I belong, I awlays do my best to win. - George Seward
(St. Louis Democrat, January 11, 1874, pg. 2.)

Additional rumors floated about in February that the Red Stockings might turn professional.(2) By early February, it was clear there would be no professional club in St. Louis in 1874. Later that month, Seward decided to stay with the Empires amidst rumors the Empires were trying to recruit Johnny Peters. In March, the Singer Sewing Machine company fired Peters, Morgan and Blong, leadeding to speculation that the Reds would fold. The Post-Dispatch reported "Peters, who is hand in glove with George Seward, may lend the plaid stocking lads [the Empire club] his valuable aid, in which event they will be as much strengthened as though a professional guarded the second bag for them" (March 5, 1874, pg. 4). Peters stayed with the Reds, and the Reds returned their entire season-ending lineup from 1873, except for Dean, who was replaced with John Dillon (Packy's older brother). In late March, the club secured property near the Pacific Railroad machine shop, at the corner of Compton and Gratiot, for a ball field.

The grounds in question have been laid out and are enclosed by a high fence, a neat little club-house having also been erected at the main entrance.

Covered stands for the accomodaion of the fair sex have also been built, and it is the intention of those having the enterprise in hand to make the field first class in every respect.

The grounds, which have been leveled off and rolled, are in good condition for playing purposes, and the absence of grass on the infield will materially help the fielders as soon as the ground hardens a litle. The field can be reached by the Market street cars, the Chouteau avenue cars and the Blue Line.
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 27, 1874, pg. 4.)

Red Stockings Park was scheduled for its first game on April 23, 1874 against the Chicago White Stockings, of the National Association, who came to St. Louis for two weeks to play games against the local clubs as a tune up for their season. They arrived on April 20 and beat the Empires (who were playing their first game of the season) by a score of 24-2 on April 21. On April 23, they played the Red Stockings at the Grand Avenue park, as the Compton field was too wet to use. The Reds lost by a score of 6-0. An error by Redmond in the sixth led to four of the runs.

The game of base-ball yesterday afternoon between the White Stockings and the Red Stockings resulted in favor of Chicago by the extraordinary score of six to nothing. The contest was the finest ever witnessed in St. Louis and the most brilliant ever played between an amateur and a professional nine... Neither nine had scored at the close of the fifth inning, the first instance of the kind on record.
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 24, 1874, pg. 4.)

The team - P. Dillon, J. Blong, A. Blong, Peters, Redmond, McSorley, Morgan, and J. Dillon, with Hines in place of Mulhall - went up to Chicago on May 5. They played four games against the White Stockings on consecutive days, losing them all. They returned home after the fourth game on May 9 and began to prepare for their first match of the season against the Empires, scheduled for May 24 at Red Stockings Park. A few days before the game, Chicago manager Nick Young lured Reds second baseman Johnny Peters and Empire pitcher Dan Collins to the Windy City. The departure of Peters opened a hole in the roster filled by a host of players as the season progressed. The Reds won their first game of the season by beating the Empire, minus their top starter, by a score of 14-5.

Records for June are sparse. At the close of the month, the Reds beat the visiting Keokuk Westerns 14-9, and on July 5 they defeated a visiting club from Chicago (which claimed to be the amateur champions of Chicago) by a score of 21-11.(3) According to Al Spink, George Bradley played in his first game with the Red Stockings in this game (filling the roster slot vaccated by Peters).

Cracks began to show in the club over the next month. On July 12, the Reds played the Rowenas, and Tommy Oran, of the Empires, played third base while Redmond caught in place of P. Dillon. The papers noted that using Oran was against the rules of the day, as he had not been properly released by the Empire. The following weekend, in a rematch against the Empire, Joe Miller, of the Keokuk Westers, took second base. The Reds beat the Empires 14-9 at the Grand Avenue Grounds. Both games were subsequently ruled a forfeits by the Reds for using an ineligible player.

One week after their second game against the Empire, the Reds played the professional Atlantics at Red Stocking Park.

There was much disgust over the Reds play. Dillon, catcher, lost his head in the third inning because Redmon made a wild throw over to first base, and refused to catch; then Redmon went behind where he was not at home, making a "dead give away" of the whole game.
(E.H. Tobias, The Sporting News, January 25, 1896, pg. 5.)

The Reds were down 5-2 after three innings. The St. Louis Democrat stated Dillon moved from behind the plate due to a sore hand in the fifth, when the Atlantics scored seven runs. The Missouri Republican didn't even mention Dillon and Redmond swapping places, but noted after the third inning "The balance of the game was too monotonous to detail, being an uninterrupted succession of whitewashers for the Reds, and the Atantics making as many runs as they pleased. The latter improved as they got warmed up, while the Reds played wilder and wilder..."(4) The paper also made the following observation about the Red Stockings.

The Reds, it is proper to say, are simply an amateur club of St. Louis, being mostly made up of young men employed in various capacities about town, the bulk of their practice hitherto having been confined to matches with their local rivals, the Empires. The game yesterday showed their lack of practice at every turn. They lacked discipline as a body and skill and self-posession as individuals. Finding themselves badly over-matched, they seemed to lose heart and nerve altogether after the third innings, and almost failed to make the game interesting for the Atlantics.
(Missouri Republican, July 27, 1874, pg. 8.)

As if to show it could get worse, the week after the debacle against the Atlantics, the Red Stockings lost to the Niagras 19-17. "In the second inning, John Dillon, who had been playing left, quit, the Reds playing the third and fourth innings with but eight men. Morgan having arrived when the fifth inning began, he went into left field and played there until the ninth inning, when he pitched."(5) Morgan allowed seven runs in the ninth after McSorley allowed eight in the eigth, blowing the 14-4 lead they had going into that eighth. Tobias described it as "a game lost... on account of internal discord and not on the merits of the players."(6)

The Red Stockings followed up with two more consecutive losses, to the Keokuk Westerns and the New York Mutuals, before setting out on a short road trip on August 18. The club takes only nine players on the trip. Packy Dillon, Joe Blong, Andy Blong, Dan Morgan, Billy Redmond, and Trick McSorley were the core of the club all season long. Tom Oran played with the Reds on and off all season after his first game against the Rowenas. Spike Brady played his first game with the Reds against the Atlantics and was a regular with the club after that. The final player was identified in the box scores as "Fox"; that name may have been an alias. After winning the first game of their trip in Quincy, the club went to Keokuk to play the Westerns. After two innings "the 'sub' of the Reds, McBrady, who was scoring, suddenly folded up his paper and went to gathering up the bats, with the remark 'that's enough.' He was assisted in the gathering up game by the captain, Andy Blong."(7) Blong pulled the club because he objected to a call by the umpire in the previous inning. The Gate City article continued:

The pets of St. Louis will stand in disrepute hereafter with all who witnessed their performance here yesterday. In conversing with the nine at the Hardin House last evening, we found that at least half their number disapproved of the proceedings and severely censured the action, while Maxwell(8) and Oran threatened to retire from the nine.
(St. Louis Democrat, August 22, 1874, pg. 4, quoting from the Keokuk Gate City of August 21, 1874.)

The Reds forfeited the game to Keokuk and received no gate receipts for their actions. They moved on to Springfield, IL, where they defeated the Springfield Liberty despite only having eight players (Redmond being sick), and then went to Chicago, where their game against the Franklins was rained out. They returned from the trip only having played two of the four intended games.

After returning from the brief road trip, the club was routed by the Baltimore Canaries by a score of 22-7. With one final lost to the Chicago White Stockings in October, their combined record against National Association clubs was 0-11 for the season.

The championship series against the Empires resumed with Game 3 on September 27. The Reds won both prior games on the field, but their second win was ruled a forfeit loss due to the participation of Joe Miller, of the Keokuk club. The Reds lost Game 3 by a score of 9-19, with the game being called after the top of the 7th when the crowd got into a fight with the police, who were trying to puch the crowd back from the field of play. The Empires scored 6 more runs in the 7th before the game was called. Game 4 was played the following weekend, and the Empire clinched the Championship with an 8-1 victory. The Reds won the next two games against the Empire, Game 5 of the series, and an exhibition game on October 25. They lost their final game of the season on November 8 to the Empire, with Johnny Peters putting in a appearance at third base. The forfeit loss cost them the Championship by the rules of the day: Five games played, 2 wins for the Reds, 3 wins for the Empires.

The final record for the club (in known games) for 1874 was 13-16 (counting the wins on the field); accounting for the forfeits, it was 11-18. Removing the games against the National Associaton clubs, the Reds were 11-7, inclunding four wins against the Empires (on the field). But they still hadn't met the goal of claiming the State Championship from the Empires.

The 1873 season

The 1875 season

Games identified to date for 1874

Game No.	Date	Opponent	Outcome	Notes
1	April 23, 1874	Chicago White Stockings	L 0-6	Played at the Grand Aveneue Grounds as the Compton Park field was too wet
	April 27, 1874	Chicago White Stockings	Rained out
2	April 30, 1874	Chicago White Stockings	L 10-31	First game at Red Stockings Park
3	May 2, 1874	Chicago White Stockings	L 13-39	Red Stocking Park
4	May 6, 1874	Chicago White Stockings	L 7-14	In Chicago
5	May 7, 1874	Chicago White Stockings	L 1-26	In Chicago
6	May 8, 1874	Chicago White Stockings	L 3-8	In Chicago
7	May 9, 1874	Chicago White Stockings	L 0-15	In Chicago
8	May 24, 1874	Empires (Game 1)	W 14-5	Red Stocking Park
9	June 21, 1874	Rowenas	W 13-11	Red Stocking Park
10	June 28, 1874	Keokuk Westerns	W 14-9	Red Stocking Park
11	July 5, 1874	Chicago Blue Sox	W 21-11	Red Stocking Park
12	July 12, 1874	Rowenas	W 15-5	Later ruled forfeit loss due to ineligible player (Tom Oran)
13	July 19, 1874	Empires (Game 2)	W 14-9	Grand Avenue Gounds; later ruled forfeit loss due to ineligible player (Joe Miller)
14	July 26, 1874	Brooklyn Atlantcs	L 2-27	Red Stocking Park
15	August 2, 1874	Niagras	L 17-19	Red Stocking Park
16	August 9, 1874	Keokuk Westerns	L 6-16	Red Stocking Park
17	August 16, 1874	New York Mutuals	L 5-22	Red Stocking Park
18	August 18, 1874	Quincy Occidentals	W 25-14	Quincy, IL
19	August 20, 1874	Keokuk Westerns	Forfeit	Keokuk, IA
20	August 21, 1874	Springfield Liberty	W 16-13	Springfield, IL
	August 22, 1874	Chicago Franklins		In Chicago; cancelled due to wet grounds
21	August 27, 1874	Baltimore Canaries	L 7-22	Red Stocking Park
22	August 30, 1874	St. Louis White Stockings	W 31-14	Red Stocking Park
23	September 2, 1874	Staten Island Oneidas	W 12-4	Red Stocking Park
24	September 6, 1874	Niagras	W 20-6	Red Stocking Park
25	September 20, 1874	St. Louis White Stockings		Reds Park
26	September 27, 1874	Empires (Game 3)	L 9-19	Red Stocking Park
27	October 4, 1874	Empires (Game 4)	L 1-8	Grand Avenue Park
28	October 15, 1874	Chicago White Stockings	L 3-17	Red Stocking Park
29	October 18, 1874	Empires (Game 5)	W 6-5	Grand Avenue Park
30	October 25, 1874	Empires (Exhibition game)	W 7-5	Red Stocking Park
31	November 8, 1874	Empires (Exhibition game)	L 3-6	Grand Avenue Park

Twenty-seven different players appeared in the boxscores found to date for the Red Stockings from 1874. The core of the club, McSorley, Morgan, the Blong brothers, Redmond, and Dillon all played in over 20 games of the games identified so far.

Player	# games	Years with Reds
John McSorley	27	1873-1875	Jumped to the Covington Stars in 1875
Dan Morgan	27	1873-1877	Played in more than 180 games from 1873-1877
Andy Blong	26	1873-1874	Retired after the 1874 season
Billy Redmond	25	1873-1877	Played in more than 180 games from 1873-1877
Joe Blong	24	1873-1875	Jumped to the Covington Stars in 1875
Packy Dillon	21	1873-1877	After being injured at the start of 1875, Dillon played with the Covington Stars in the second half of the season
Zach Mulhall	17	1873-1875	Appeared in just two games in 1875
John Dillon	15	1874-1875	Brother of Packy Dillon
Spike Brady	11	1874
Tom Oran	10	1874-1876	Joined the club from the Empires mid-season
John Peters	7	1873-1874	Joined the Chicago White Stockings early in the 1874 season
Art Croft	6	1874-1876	After joining the club late in 1874, was with the club the entirety of 1875 and 1876.
Fox	5	1874	Joined the club in August for a road trip to Keokuk, Quincy, Springfield and Chicago. Possibly an alias for Cortes Maxwell, a star athlete at Yale who graduated in 1875. Cortes was the son of Andrew Maxwell, who was business partners with Joseph Mulhall.(7)
Hines	4	1873-1874	Played four games with the club on a road trip to Chicago in May after Mulhall was unable to go
Dunning	3	1874	Most likely an alias, as name was put in quotes in some articles
Mitchell	2	1874
White	2	1874; 1876-1877	White is identified as an old Reds sub in 1877
Mike Brannock	1	1874
Cafffey	1	1874
Gafney	1	1874
Hamilton	1	1874
Charlie Houtz	1	1874-1875
Mack	1	1874
McBride	1	1874
Joe Miller	1	1874	From Keokuk; played on game
Williams	1	1874
Paddy Quinn	1	1874	After the second game of the series in Chicago, the papers all reported that Quinn, of the Aetnas, would take P. Dillon's place behind the plate in the third game. The box scores the next day all list Dillon as catching, but the St. Louis Democrat reported Quinn "stood behind the bat for the Reds, as Packey Dillon could not play."(9)

When the Singer Red Stockings changed their name to the St. Louis Red Stockings and formally challenged for the State Championship in 1873, F. Williams (first name Fred, per Tobias) was identified as the secretary for the club, a role he also held again per newspaper reports in 1874. In 1873 Mr. W.B. Spencer of the Red Stockings umpired some local games, but there is no indication of what his role was with the club. Aside from these two names, there is no idicatiion in the newspapers of the time (at least the ones I've been able to look at so far) of who the club officers were in 1873 and 1874. This is in contrast to clubs like the Empire Base Ball Club, for whom a complete set of officers was published in the newspaper every year from 1871 through 1875.

E.H. Tobias reported that "In February, 1875, the Red Stocking Club organized as an out-and-out professional club with a capital stock of $12,000, the bulk of which was held by Thomas McNeary, who became president and manager with Andy Blong as vice and J.McNeary secretary."(10) Tobias indicated McNeary founded the Red Stocking in 1873, but the first mention of McNeary in connection with the club in contemporary papers in in 1875, when he was clearly identified as the manager and travelled with the club. (Indeed, in 1874, when the club went to Chicago, it was J. Williams who went with the team and sent reports back to St. Louis.) McNeary himself claimed in 1880 that he was the sole leasee of the Compton grounds and owner of the improvements (i.e. the park), which would imply he funded the construction of the park in 1874. It seems reasonable to believe that he was in control of the club from at least the start of 1874, if not from its beginnings in 1873.

(1) "Local Short-Stops," St. Louis Democrat, January 8, 1874, pg. 4.

(2) "Base Ball News," St. Louis Democrat, January 28,1874, pg. 4. The Democrat reported that the Red Stockings would be reserving "the Base Ball Park" (presumabaly the Grand Avenue Park) for Saturdays in the coming season "in the event of the Red Legs deciding not to organize a professional club. Should they make arrangements for a professional nine they will probably lease grounds for their exclusive use..." The Red Stockings did in fact lease the field at Compton and Gratiot for a park for 1874, even though they did not go professional.

(3) The Chicago papers mocked the victory. "The St. Louis papers seemed to be quite elated over the defeats of a picked nine of amateurs from Chicago, few of whom belong to regular amateur clubs, and all being out of practice. While in St. Louis, they styled themselves the champion amateur nine of Chicago, all of which goes to show the softness of St. Louis papers in general. As not one of the players belong to the Franklins, the recognized champions of the Northwest, their claim to that honor is totally unfounded." ("Base Ball in St. Louis, Chicago Inter Ocean, July 8, 1874, pg. 5.)

(4) "An Exciting Game at Compton Park Yesterday," Missouri Republican, July 27, 1874, pg. 8.

(5) "Reds and Niagras," St. Louis Democrat, August 3, 1874, pg. 4.

(6) "Close of 1874," The Sporting News, January 25, 1896, pg. 5, a part of the series by E.H. Tobias.

(7) "Red Stockings Abroad," St. Louis Democrat, August 22, 1874, pg. 4. The Democrat is quoting an article from the Keokuk Gate City of the previous day about the match, played on August 20.

(8) The player noted in the account of the Keokuk game, Maxwell, never appeared in the box scores; Fox played in both games of the road trip, and a few more games in St. Louis after the club returned. There was in St. Louis at the time a player with Yale named Cortes Maxwell who was a star pitcher and second baseman for the Yale club.(7) Cortes Maxwell settled in Keokuk with a few years, where he resided until his death in 1925 at the age of 74. "Local Personals," Missouri Democrat, May 17, 1872, pg. 4. "Young Maxwell, of this city, and a member of the class of '74, Yale College,... is also a pither in the University nine, selected to play the Harvard University and Boston clubs." Maxwell pitched at least once for the Empires in 1872, and in 1874 was a member of the Union club in St. Louis. He was the son of Andrew Maxwell, of the firm Maxwell, Scaling & Mulhall (as in Joseph Mulhall, father of Zach Mulhall).

(9) "Base Ball," St. Louis Democrat, May 10, 1874, pg. 2.

(10) The Sporting News, February 8, 1896, pg. 5. He gave the composition of the club as John McSorley, Andy Blong, Joe Blong, Charles Houtz, Jerry Seward and Charlie McCall (all of the Empire Club), William Redmond, Packy Dillon, Dan Morgan, Zacn Mulhall.