Image from Old Judge card set	Charles Alcott Born: July, 1857 Died: January 14, 1920 Goto Baseball Reference for Charles Alcott 3b Majors: No
	St. Louis Position: 3b First game: May 3, 1888 Last game: May 6, 1888 # of games: 2	Signed by St. Louis on October 25, 1887. Released by St. Louis on May 7, 1888 and signed with Mansfield on June 4, 1888. Player profile from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (March 11, 1888).

Charles began his professional career in 1882 with the Merritt ball club in Camden, NJ, alongside Tug Arundel, who caught for the Merritts. Between 1883 and 1886 he played for several clubs in the eastern leagues, where he developed a reputation as a solid ball player. In 1887 he played for five different clubs in Pennsylvania, the last of which was Hazleton in Central Pennsylvania League. He was signed by Von der Ahe on October 25, 1887. ¹

There are reports as early as October 2 that Von der Ahe was interested in signing Alcott, although the Whites were not formally accepted into the Western Association until October 26.

He was identified in pre-season reports as the projected starter at third base for the Whites. During spring training in 1888 he played third base in almost every pre-season game up to the last couple of stops on the Whites road trip. He did not play on opening day, although he was listed in the pre-game lineup. He started his first regular season game on May 3, which the St. Louis Globe Democrat described as his "reappearance". He started the Whites next game as well, on May 6, and then he was released the following day. The Sporting Life reported that Alcott "was a good thrower, but he could not run the bases and as a sticker he did not amount to much" (May 16, 1888). He signed with Mansfield in the Tri-State League in early June 1888 and was released by that club just over a month later. He later appeared with London and Albany in the International Association. In 1889 he was back with Mansfield, and his professional career ended in 1890 in Altoona. He continued to play semi-professionally around Camden for the next few years.

Charles Alcott was born in 1857 in Camden, NJ. ²

The 1900 Census reports his birth date as July 1858, but most sources give just the year as 1857.

He was the youngest of six children of Logan and Elizabeth Alcott. In 1870, the entire family still lived together. His father and two older brothers were in the coal business. A third brother was a cart driver, while two sisters made neckties. In 1874, his father died in April, and brother William died in November. ³

A tribute to William appeared in the Camden New Republic on November 14, 1874, written by Walt Whitman.

In 1880, Charles is still living with his mother and an assortment of relatives with a job described as laborer. Within a couple of years, Alcott started his professional baseball career, which ran until 1890.

After his baseball career ended, he returned to Camden, New Jersey. He married Della Browniller, likely in 1890 or 1891, and had one son (Charles Jr.). During the 1890s he had a variety of jobs. His wife died in 1898 at the age of 46, and the 1900 Census has Charles living alone as a widower. ⁴

I have found no record of what happened to his son.

That same year, he took a job as a night watchman for the Fourth Ward, which job he held until he died. Charles Alcott died on January 14, 1920 at the age of 62 of pneumonia. His obituary in the Camden Courier-Post (January 15, 1920) notes his nickname while playing was "Shad".

Why did Alcott figure so prominently in the pre-season reports and spring training for the Whites, only to be dropped a week or so into the season? After playing in every spring training game, he missed the last four (against Rockford and Dubuque), which suggests that he may have been injured towards the end of spring training. The injury to Jack Crooks in mid-April opened a chance for Parson Nicholson to play regularly with the Whites. It is likely that Nicholson's play (and a lack of space on the Browns) pushed him onto the Whites, as he was formally transferred from the Browns to the Whites at the end of April. If Alcott was hurt at the end of spring training, the return of Crooks, plus the play of Nicholson, could have left Alcott as the odd man out. He was cut at about the same time that Tug Arundel played his first games with the Whites in early May. He did not leave St. Louis immediately, however; he appeared in a game for a local club called The Spaldings against the Missouri Amateur Athletic Club team (MAAC) on May 20, 1888. Alcott went 2-4 in a Spalding loss facing Joe Murphy, who was pitching for MAAC.

Date	Pos	AB	R	BH	2B	3B	HR	SB	PO	A	E	BB	HPB	K
5-3-1888	3b	5	1	3	1			0	2	1	2
5-6-1888	3b	4	0	0				0	1	0	1			1
2 Games		9	1	3	1	0	0	0	3	1	3	0	0	1