Baseball in Old Chicago: BaseballChronology

This month's book is on the history of baseball in Chicago in the 19th Century published by the Federal Writer's Project (FWP) in 1939. While it repeats the Doubleday myth and has a few minor factual errors, it is an excellent history lesson for Cubs and White Sox fans who want to learn more about the baseball heritage of their city. But first, let's review how this book came to be.

The writer's project was designed to provide paying jobs to those who could write but were otherwise unemployed, such as journalists, unpublished novelists, high-school teachers and other aspiring writers. According to a February 15, 1943 Time magazine article, over 1000 books and pamphlets were produced at a cost of $27,189,370. Among the FWP writers, whose numbers peaked at 7,500 in March of 1936, Conrad Aiken, Nelson Algren, Arna Bontemps, John Cheever, Ralph Ellison, Kenneth Rexroth, John Steinbeck, Studs Terkel, and Richard Wright.

Perhaps among the most enduring of these mostly ephemeral items were the Life in America series, which included Cavalcade of the American Negro and this month's BaseballChronology Book of the Month: Baseball in Old Chicago.

The book covers the history of baseball in Chicago from the mid 1850s up to the early 1900s. Many of the greatest clubs and best players of the 19th Century called the Windy City home and this makes it a compelling — if brief (64 pages) — book of baseball history despite its focus on one city.

To make it somewhat easy to view, we have published it on three pages. This is the first. Links to the other pages are at the bottom of each page.

Everything from the original book after the table of contents is included, with the exception of a chart showing National League pennant winners and what amounts to an advertisement for the Forest Park Baseball Museum. The photos, which were grouped together on a couple of pages, have instead been spread throughout our text. We will point out any obvious factual errors in the text and have corrected minor textual errors. To avoid confusion, anything we add to the text is enclosed by double brackets and in color like this: [[BaseballChronology note: This is a sample.]]

Compiled and Written by the
Federal Writers' Project (Illinois)
Works Project Administration

Members of the Illinois Project of the WPA Federal Writers' Program are engaged in the preparation of a number of individual studies of the social history of the State. Among these one of the most valuable, both in its revelation of the life of the past and its relation to the interests of today, is the present volume, Baseball in Old Chicago. Here is presented in compact form, for the host of readers who are interested in the national game, the colorful story of its origin and early development in the Chicago area.

Many persons have assisted in the preparation of this book. I wish to express especial thanks to members of the library staffs of the Chicago Public Library, the Newberry Library, the Crerar Library, and the Harper Memorial Library of the University of Chicago; Charles Spink, of Philadelphia, for permission to use material from Spink Sport Stories, written and published by his father, the late Al Spink; the office of Kenesaw M. Landis, national commissioner of baseball; Henry F. Edwards, director of the service bureau of the American League of Baseball Clubs, and Miss Louise Nessel, secretary; Miss Margaret Donahue, secretary of the Chicago Cubs.

Also, I am grateful for the assistance of William E. Golden, deputy clerk of the Cook County Court, Chicago, an old-time player and fan, for enlisting the aid of R. C. Weichbrodt (Skel Roach) now a justice of the peace in Oak Park, Illinois; Charles (Dot) Ebert, minute clerk of the Cook County Court; and Thomas Keegan, bailiff of the Cook County Court, all old-time players.

Finally, I wish to express my sincere appreciation of the work of Edwina Guilfoil of this project, whose research and writing are responsible for the existence of the book, and to Sam Gilbert, Clair Cotterill, W. H. Williamson, and Frank Holland also of the project, who gave valuable assistance.

From the first click of the turnstiles to the last crack of the bat, a baseball game is perhaps the most truly American of anything in the United States. A few other games — cricket in England and pelota in the Basque country of Spain — share this characteristic nationalism, but none approaches baseball in the millions of its followers and the warmth of their devotion.

For baseball is a true growth of the American soil, owing little to or nothing to foreign games, and it holds a place in the hearts of nearly all Americans. What American has never, in his youthful days, held a bat in his hands and whaled wildly at a ball lobbed over the plate by a tow-headed, freckle-faced youngster. What man of mature years has never rubbed his "ketcher's mitt" with lard purloined from his mother's pantry, or counted a genuine league base-ball among his treasures? What man — or woman — has never sat in the stands and yelled, "Sock it, Butch!" or felt a tingling in the spine as Butch obligingly clouted the ball far and wide? Such persons there probably are, but they should be pitied, for they have missed something of their birthright as Americans.

What other game could, in one of its tense moments, inspire dignified judges and bankers to wring their thirty-dollar panamas into pulp, and clerks to smash their ninety-eight-cent straws? What but sheer baseball madness could cause a lady to beat her thousand-dollar parasol to bits over the head of a stranger, as did one famous actress of years gone by? At a baseball game the fan, for an hour or two, lives life in the raw; crude, savage, elemental life, with no law but the law of the jungle: victory to the strongest or craftiest! He shrieks "Kill that umpire!" and for the moment feels he could throttle the unlucky man with his bare hands.

Yet it is only a game, with no actual savagery or brutality in it. If the attendants and officials are vigilant, keeping pop-bottles and other weapons out of reach, no mayhem will be committed. At the end of the game, the real dyed-in-the-wool fan goes home, hoarse, disheveled, limp, but actually purified by his experience. He has blown off his steam, and for another week or another month, depending upon the real gentleness of his nature, he can be a kindly parent and a good citizen. Baseball is an excellent safety-valve.

Some people decry the crudity of baseball, its ungentlemanly attitudes, its frank emphasis on winning, but these are an integral part of the game's Americanism. Baseball has built its own code of sportsmanship, a rough but democratic one: a fair race for all; beyond that, no favors asked or given.

Baseball is just one hundred years old. In 1839, Abner Doubleday, a young civil engineer of Cooperstown, New York, and later a Union general in the Civil War, created the game by laying out a playing field and formulating rules essentially the same as those of today. Since that time our national pastime has gone through numerous changes of rules and organization, but none of these has been fundamental.

The one hundredth anniversary of baseball's beginning is a fitting time to review the early years when the game was reaching those heights of popularity which make it our national game. This brief book is not intended to be a general history of baseball, for that has been written before, but is limited to its formative years in Chicago from the earliest games to 1900.

This year was selected as a stopping point because it marks the beginning of a new era in the game. Before 1900, organized baseball struggled along more or less uncertainly, with the National League the only organization of real strength and permanence. At the turn of the century, the American League came into being, and professional baseball boomed as never before, because of the drive given to it by the rivalry between the two leagues.

Despite its increasing popularity, something went out of baseball, too, around 1900. Having existed primarily as a sport, it was destined to become a business. The old baseball parks were crude and unattractive, but spectators went to see games, not to gaze at the scenery and trimmings provided. It was not as good a show, perhaps, but it was lit up by its own color and not by decorations. The players of that day were a rough and swaggering crew who played for the glory and a little cash, with no hope of breakfast food endorsements or radio engagements.

Another reason for limiting this book to the baseball of the last century is that the last really important changes came in 1887, when the pitcher was given greater freedom in his delivery. Since that time the rule-makers have done little but clarify the rules and smooth out some of the rough spots. Hence the period from the 1890's onward is considered the era of modern baseball.

But the chief reason for going back into the nineteenth century is that baseball after 1900 is adequately chronicled. The records since then are complete and easily available. Sports writers have no difficulty in looking up baseball facts of the twentieth century, but when they delve into the earlier years they discover a mass of conflicting stories, incomplete records, and fragmentary material. This is especially true when their search has to do with some particular player or team.

This book is further restricted to the teams and players of Chicago. Chicago holds a position in baseball second to none. Its franchise in the National League is counted as the first in honor of William A. Hulbert, the Chicagoan whose efforts made and preserved the league, of which Chicago and Boston are the only surviving charter members.

Chicago teams asserted their supremacy early, and have been strong contenders for national honors in most years. More important than this, however, is the claim for Chicago's leadership advanced by the late Charles A. Comiskey. "Commy" once said that Chicago is the best baseball city in the country, because of the loyalty displayed by Chicago fans, who support their teams enthusiastically, in bad years as well as in good ones.

And so this book is an attempt to re-create for the fan of today the half-forgotten, almost legendary exploits of diamond heroes who wore handle-bar mustaches and caught barehanded behind the bat, scorning mitts and gloves as sissy inventions when they were first introduced. It is not a record book, with dreary pages of tabulations and massed statistics. Meant to be read and enjoyed, it is an endeavor to bring to life again those heroic players who spread the fame of Chicago on the baseball diamonds of the nation. Here on these printed pages walk the spirits of Cap Anson and Al Spalding; of Kelley, Dalrymple, and Gore, mighty sluggers of their time; of fleet-footed Jimmy Wood and Billy Sunday; of Pfeffer and Williamson, greatest infielders of their day; of Tom Foley, who first brought "big-league" baseball to Chicago; of Pinkham, Clarkson, Goldsmith, and Corcoran, great among the old-time hurlers, and lesser stars who have made Chicago baseball great.

When First Played
Just when baseball was first played in Chicago is uncertain. Probably there were games between pick-up teams before the newspapers considered the new game worthy of notice, but as Chicago was only a raw frontier village in 1839 when Abner Doubleday gave the game its present form, it is not likely that the early settlers had much time or inclination for organized sports. Baseball appears to have gained a foothold in Chicago some time in the 1850's, for on July 21, 1858, a convention was held by the Chicago Base Ball Club, at which the rules governing the Association and Congress of Base Ball Clubs of New York were adopted by local teams.

A team called the Unions is said to have played in Chicago in 1856, but the earliest newspaper report of a baseball game is found in the Chicago Daily Journal of August 17, 1858, which tells of a match game between the Unions and the Excelsiors to be played on August 19. A few other games were mentioned during the same year.

Baseball on the Prairies
No account of Chicago baseball would be complete without some notice of the game as played elsewhere in the Middle West. There were well established teams throughout the state of Illinois as early as those of Chicago, if not earlier. Indeed, the Lockport Telegraph of August 6, 1851, tells of a game between the Hunkidoris of Joliet and the Sleepers of Lockport, that antedates anything similar for Chicago.

Certainly the prairies of Illinois, Iowa, and other nearby states have produced many fine baseball players, and since pre-Civil War days the game has been a favorite sport of Midwestern youth. The records of these players and their teams are closely related to Chicago baseball. The prairie teams were natural rivals of Chicago teams, and many of their players rose to stardom after coming to play on the Chicago teams. In early days the prairie states were a reservoir of talent on which Chicago drew to rise to baseball fame.

While the game was looked upon at first as a somewhat effete pastime, largely because the famous Knickerbocker Club of New York tried to make it a "gentlemen's game" like cricket, its wholesome qualities made a strong appeal to the vigorous young men of the Middle West, so that this section was not slow to follow the lead of the East in adopting the game.

Baseball Truly American
In a small book like this there is no room for a long discussion of the origin of baseball, but the national character of the game demands some notice of its beginnings. Beyond all question it is an American game, and owes little or nothing to other countries. While Doubleday, as already noted, made baseball what it is today, the game was played in some form before he drew up his rules. Oliver Wendell Holmes mentioned it as having been played by his college mates in 1829, but what he referred to was probably not baseball as we know it. Still, some similar game was played before Doubleday's time, and his contribution, great as it was, only served to make it a really good game.

The notion that cricket is the ancestor of baseball is not to be accepted. There is only a slight resemblance of the one game to the other, while the differences are too great to admit any close relationship. Baseball appears to owe much more to a game called "town ball," which was played on a square field, with four bases, one at each corner of the square; a home plate on one side of the square, midway between the first and fourth bases, with the pitcher's box in the middle of the square. As town ball was strictly an American invention, it will be seen that baseball is well removed from any suspicion of a foreign origin.

First National Organization
Although the regulations of the Knickerbocker Club served as a guide to other baseball organizations, the rapid growth of the game between 1850 and 1860 made some general organization desire able. In 1858, representatives of many prominent clubs met and organized the National Association of Base Ball Players. This body not only governed the rules and regulations of its members, but made its influence felt in state and local organizations, which either submitted to its authority, or adopted its rules.

Baseball and the Civil War
Baseball's growth was retarded by the Civil War. Some writers state, however, that the war had a beneficial effect on the game, because the soldiers brought back a taste for the sport, acquired from playing it in army camps. That may be true, but on the other hand, the absence of these young men from their homes during the war years had a dampening influence on the development of the game. Many prominent clubs disbanded during the war years, among them the Excelsiors of Chicago, and baseball, so far as Chicago was concerned, practically ceased to exist as an organized sport. It seems likely that if its progress had not been thus hindered, the game would have reached its peak of development at an earlier date.

Fortunately, the rebound after the war was rapid. In the Chicago Daily Republican of August 17, 1865, we read:

Other Teams of the 1860's
Although the years from 1865 to 1869 brought the revival of other baseball clubs in Chicago, the Excelsiors were the most prominent and defeated other local teams consistently. However, baseball activity was running so high in the period that there were dozens of similar amateur teams, some newcomers, others bearing names of pre-war clubs. Many were insignificant and short-lived, but several challenged the supremacy of the Excelsiors, among them the Atlantics, the Eurekas, the Ogdens, and the Garden City team; of these, only the Atlantics were serious rivals.

First Baseball Tournament
The first baseball tournament* in which Chicago teams participated was held in Rockford. This small city holds the honor of having risen to base-ball fame and success before Chicago did. Rockford appears to have had a greater proportion of fans among its population than was usual at that time, and already its Forest City team, later to achieve national prominence, was known as a strong outfit. In June of 1866, Rockford citizens decided to hold a tournament to decide the baseball "championship of the Northwest." They offered as first prize a gold baseball of regulation size (weight not given), and as second prize a gold-mounted bat made of rosewood. Not to be outdone in enthusiasm, the ladies of Rockford added two contributions to the prize list: a bouquet for the best batter, and a floral wreath for the one who made the most home runs.

^•Dubuque appears to have held a tournament in 1865, but there is no record that Chicago had entries.

Clubs entered were the Atlantics of Chicago; the Detroits of Detroit; the Bloomingtons of Bloomington, Ill.; the Cream Citys of Milwaukee; the Empires and the Schaffers of Freeport, Ill.; the Excelsiors of Chicago; and the Forest Citys of Rockford. The Excelsiors won and brought home the golden baseball, a silver tea set for the most graceful playing, and the floral wreath, which went to J. W. Stearns for making the most home runs.

Second Tournament
So successful was the Rockford tournament that Bloomington staged another in the early autumn. An even more impressive entry list included the Union and Empire clubs of St. Louis; the Olympics of Peoria; the Pacifics of Chicago; the Perseverance club of Ottawa; the Louisville and Olympic clubs of Louisville; the Cream Citys of Milwaukee; the Forest City and Empire clubs of Freeport; the Capitol club of Springfield; the Hardin club of Jacksonville, Ill.; two Quincy clubs; and the Excelsiors of Chicago. A feature of this tournament was a specially built amphitheatre designed to allow spectators to witness two games at once. Just how this could be done without considerable neck-straining the early chronicler neglected to state. Again the Excelsiors were victorious, taking the series in impressive style.

National Aspirations Nipped
Followers of the Excelsiors were feeling quite chesty when the season of 1867 opened. As winners of two tournaments the previous year, they felt that their team was ripe for national honors. Formerly, the haughty clubs of the Eastern states, believing baseball on the prairies to be greatly inferior to the brand played in their section, scarcely deigned to notice the Middle West. But in 1867 the National club of Washington D. C., reputedly the best of the Eastern teams, decided to make a tour of the West. Their visit to Chicago was made the occasion of another tournament. This time the Excelsiors went down to ignominious defeat, losing to the Nationals by a score of 49 to 4, on July 27.

Newspapers Accuse Nationals
The surprise of the tournament, what today would be called an upset, was the defeat of the Nationals by the Rockford Forest City club, in a game played July 25, by a score of 29 to 23. As the Excelsiors had beaten the Forest Citys in a game not long before this, the Chicago newspapers considered them the better team. Not content with twitting the Washington club over its defeat at the hands of a backwoods team, as they styled the Forest Citys, some of them went a bit too far, and insinuated that the Rockford team's victory was not strictly on the level. One paper in particular made a direct charge that the contest was thrown, partly for the sake of getting better attendance at the later games of the tournament, and partly for the benefit of gamblers.

This was one of the first times on record, if not the very first, in which suspicion of crooked playing was voiced openly about an important team, and, the charges were absurd. The Rockford club, fast becoming known as the strongest of the Western teams, happened to catch the Nationals on an off day. It was the only game lost by Washington on its tour. The writer who made the accusation was probably inspired more by enthusiasm for the local teams than by malice, and his paper subsequently apologized to the visitors.

[[BaseballChronology note: Read more about the Nationals mid-western tour in Henry Chadwick's Game of Base Ball (1868), the BaseballChronology Book of the Month for April, 2008.]]

Rise of Professionalism
The incident of 1867 showed how seriously the fans were beginning to take their baseball. One thrust in the newspaper accusation touched a sore point — the matter of gate receipts. Up to this time baseball was played primarily for the sake of the sport. The clubs were amateur groups that had banded together for the purpose of playing the game. Admission fees were charged merely to defray expenses; but with attendance figures running into the thousands at the more important games it soon became evident that there was money in baseball. Still, this was not the only reason for the advent of paid teams. There is no doubt that during the 1860's local pride had in some instances caused the offering of inducements to promising players. Probably this was done on what we would now call a semi-professional basis — finding jobs for the men and helping them in other indirect ways. Up to 1868, there were no clubs on a frankly professional basis, with a salary list and a definite schedule of payments.

Cincinnati's Red Stockings are generally conceded to have been the first out-and-out professional team. There is evidence that they received money for playing in 1868, and in 1869 they startled the baseball world by coming out in the open and announcing themselves professionals. Commenting on the move, the National Chronicle said, "Had the Cincinnati Base Ball Club depended upon home talent it would never have been heard from outside of its own locality, and determined to have the best nine in the country, the club selected the best players to be found in the Eastern clubs, and paid them $1,000 each to play from April to October." Evidently professional baseball was not as yet a high road to prosperity.

First Chicago Professionals
After the Chicago amateurs had gone through the season of 1868 and 1869 with but little success, it was apparent that Chicago could not compete against the strong teams that had obtained good players by paying them. In the fall of 1869, a professional organization to be known as the Chicago Base Ball Association was formed. Potter Palmer was the president, and the list of organizers included the names of many other distinguished Chicago men, such as W. F. Wentworth, General Phil Sheridan, N. C. Wentworth, C. B. Farwell, S. J. Medill, J. M. Higgins, W. W. Sprague, D. A. Gage, and others. Twenty thousand dollars was subscribed, and it was planned to offer a flat salary of $1,200 for the season, which was expected to lure players away from clubs paying less.

As manager and general factotum, they engaged Tom Foley, proprietor of the city's principal billiard hall, whose chief qualification for the post appears to have been that he was in close contact with the sporting element of his day.* Under such auspices Chicago plunged into organized professional baseball.

End of an Era
With the organization of the Chicago professional club came the formation of professional teams all over the country. Amateur baseball was henceforth to be played only in the schools and colleges, and by sand-lot and juvenile nines. Many chroniclers are inclined to shed a tear over the passing of amateurism, yet on the whole it was a healthy development. Amateur teams could not stand the strain of traveling expenses, problems of management, maintenance of grounds, and at the same time keep themselves free from suspicion like that of 1867.

Among the teams listed as professionals before the opening of the 1870 season there were, in addition to Chicago and the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the Atlantics and Eckfords of Brooklyn, the Athletics of Philadelphia, the Kentuckys of Louisville, the Mutuals of New York, the Marylands of Baltimore, the Nationals of Washington, the Trimountains of Boston, and others of almost equal prominence. Only the Chicagos, the Cincinnatis, the Kentuckys, the New York Mutuals, and the Marylands were salaried teams. The others were paid with shares of gate receipts or with political jobs. Rockford's Forest City club is not mentioned as being professional at this time, but there is no doubt that it paid its players in some way as early as 1870 and probably before that.

Baseball Enthusiasm
The 1865-1869 era witnessed a phenomenal growth of public enthusiasm for the game. Baseball is admittedly one of the best sports from the spectator's viewpoint, with ample action and thrills and few details of the play that cannot be clearly seen. A match game between two first-class nines was then, as now, sure to attract large crowds, and in the 1860's the baseball fan was already an established institution. Perhaps he had not reached the stage of umpire-baiting and bottle-throwing, but his partisanship was suitably hot and often noisy.

Beginning of Baseball Writing
Some one has said that the spirit of baseball depends upon three things; the players, the fans, and the sports writers. The latter have done much to make baseball what it is, by keeping the fans well informed, and creating public interest in the teams. In the early days, the newspapers touched rather lightly on the games, but by the post-Civil War period, many reporters could write in technical fashion. If they did not originate such terms as "muffed the ball" and "hot grounder," they at least helped to bring them into general use. Like the writers of today, also, they were adept at making the other team's victory look like a fluke, and finding consolation in the "superb fielding" or other good points of the losing club.

"Muffin" Games and Other Oddities
It seems that nearly every man of the period, regardless of age or athletic ability, attempted to play baseball. Chicago had dozens of obscure amateur teams, representing commercial institutions like the Field-Leiter department store, Potter Palmer's, and Farwell's. Some were formed by postoffice and opera house workers. Others were made up of groups like the Telegraphers, for perhaps a game or two, but without permanent organization. One game played between two teams of Chicago Aldermen was described by a newspaper writer as the "basest ball yet."

The steel wire referred to is the framework of the hoopskirts worn at the time. Baseball in hoopskirts! It must have been a sight worth going miles to see!

Another whimsical form of baseball was the widely prevalent "muffin" games. In its narrowest sense, "muffin" was simply a match between inexperienced players, sometimes the least skillful members of the big clubs. A "muff" or "muffin" became a bit of baseball jargon denoting a bad play, but the old-time muffin games were something more than mere exhibitions of bungling and inexperience. The players made their lack of skill a feature of the play rather than a drawback, and turned their performance into a burlesque exhibition that was sometimes quite funny. Outfielders would lie down on the grass, and do no more than point a lazy finger in the direction a hit had gone, to help some more energetic member retrieve the ball. Small sums of money were often secreted under the bases, on the understanding that the first runner to reach that base could claim it as a reward, or a keg of beer would be placed at second base as an incentive to the hitters and baserunners. It was then against the rules of some muffin games to catch a fly ball.

Making the New Chicago Team
During the winter of 1869-1870, Manager Tom Foley went to work at his task of getting together a group of first-class ball players for Chicago. It was not as easy as had been expected. The plan of offering $1,200 as against the prevailing rate of $1,000 a season established by other teams proved to be no strong inducement in luring players, and in several instances it was found necessary to raise the ante. To get William H. Craver, star catcher of the Haymakers of Troy, N. Y., $2,500 was required. The services of Jimmy Wood, who was to play second base and act as captain, were obtained for $2,000. Other members of the team, according to the Lakeside Monthly, a Chicago periodical of that time, received $1,500 each. Among the famous Eastern clubs raided by determined Manager Foley were the Athletics of Philadelphia, the Eckfords of New York, and Troy and Lansingburgh teams.

As there were no players' contracts or reserve rules at the time, Foley's action in outbidding other clubs was just as ethical as that of a businessman who offers higher pay to the crack salesman of a rival concern. Nevertheless, Foley's raiding caused great bitterness of feeling, especially among Eastern sports writers, who were possibly a bit jealous of the idea that Chicago was out to challenge the superiority of their vaunted Eastern clubs.

Unfair Tactics Charged
Eastern writers ridiculed the upstart pretensions of the Chicago Club, calling it "Foley's What-Is-It," and jeering at the notion that a team so organized and directed could prove successful. They also alleged that Foley obtained some of his players by getting drunk with them, and, while they were pleasantly fuddled, advancing them sums of money. At least one player admitted having taken money from Foley, but denied having agreed to play for Chicago.

"Revolvers" Frowned Upon
The Eastern scribes coined the term "revolver" which, as applied to baseball meant, not a shooting iron, but a player who jumped from one team to another. They cited the case of Fred Treacey, a former Brooklyn player, who in 1870 joined the Chicago Club after having been a member of five other teams in the space of three years. Charlie Hodes, another member of the new team, was also tagged as a revolver.

All these bitter words and harsh accusations are but evidence of the chaotic conditions that marked the start of professional ball playing. Several years elapsed before clear-visioned men saw the need of a strong hand to prevent the worst abuses of a commercialized sport.

Chicago Gets New Ball Park
Up to this time, Chicago baseball clubs had used their own club grounds, or one of the numerous fields about the city, mostly on what is now identified as the near West Side. Two of the better playing fields were the one at West Lake and May Streets, and Ogden Park, at the foot of Ontario street, home of the Ogden Skating Club. Ogden Park was used later by amateur clubs for many tournaments and exhibition games. But now, with a brand new professional nine, facetiously called the $15,000 club, the organizers of the Chicago club had to have a suitable park, one that could accommodate the thousands of paying customers that were expected. They chose Dexter Park as the home of their high-priced stars, and improved the field. Not new to baseball, for important games had been played there before — it was the scene of the disastrous tournament with the Washington Nationals in 1867 — Dexter Park was really a race track, with the baseball diamond inside the oval.

CHICAGO BASEBALL PARKS DOWN TO 1900

Ogden Park. At the foot of Ontario street. Used by the Excelsiors and other amateur teams prior to 1870.

Dexter Park, 42nd and Halsted streets. Used by amateurs before 1870, and by Chicago's first professional team in 1870.

Lake Park. A city-owned tract of land on the Lake front at the foot of Washington and Randolph streets. Used as a baseball field by the professional team of 1871 and amateur teams of 1872-1873.

Twenty-third Street Park. State and 23rd streets. Used by the professional teams of 1874-1875, and by the first National League teams of 1876-1877. In the fall of 1877, the city council again leased the Lake Park grounds to the Chicago club, which continued to play there until 1884.

Loomis Street Park. Congress and Loomis streets. Home of the White Stockings from 1884 until 1893.

West Side Park. In the block bounded by Lincoln, Wood, Polk, and Taylor streets. Used by the Chicago National Leaguers from 1893 until after 1900.

Original South Side Park, at 35th street and Wentworth Avenue. Used by the short-lived Chicago Brotherhood League, in 1890, under the management of Charles A. Comiskey.

No Sun Field in Those Days
Today ball diamonds are laid out so that the right fielder, first baseman, and second baseman are the only players who face in the general direction of the afternoon sun. But the Chicago promoters arranged Dexter Park so that the catcher and batter looked into the sun, while the fielders had it at their backs. It probably did not occur to them that this was not desirable for the spectators, who were also looking west — they had in mind making it as easy as possible for the fielders. It was as good an arrangement as any from the playing standpoint of that day, for the pitchers had enough difficulty getting the batters out, without having the fielders blinded.

Seats for the Ladies
For the accommodation of red-hot fans, a special stand was built inside the track enclosure, curving around the home plate and first and third base lines. The upper tiers of seats were demountable, so that they could be taken down and not obstruct the view when races were held on the track. This seating arrangement provided for 12,000 persons, and in addition, a part of the race track grandstand and the clubhouse balconies could be used. Altogether there was an estimated capacity of 30,000 persons, which must have been more than enough for a city the size of Chicago.

There was even a special stand for the ladies built, and their presence at the game was looked upon as a desirable feature of the patronage. One writer expressed the belief that they would have a refining influence upon the game, and tend to repress the objectionable practices so often displayed by crowds of men. Perhaps he meant swearing at the umpire.

Location of Dexter Park
Dexter Park was located about six miles southwest of what is now the loop, in the vicinity of 42nd and Halsted streets, where the International Amphitheatre now stands. Many people considered it entirely too far out. The pall was connected with the city by a steam railroad and a street car line, but the street cars of that day were horse cars, and a six-mile ride in a horse car was not a pleasant experience. There was also "a smooth, attractive carriage-way," over which the swells went bowling along in their buggies, oblivious of the heat and dust and everything save the fact that they were doing it in style; a good nag could make the distance in a little more than half an hour.

Players on the New Team
The roster of the Chicago club of 1870, which underwent some changes during the playing season, was as follows: William H. Craver, catcher; W. Poyne, pitcher;* Charles Hodes, shortstop; Michael McAtee, first base; James Wood, captain and second base; Edward Pinkham, third base; Edgar Cuthbert, left field; Martin King, center field; Fred Treacy, right field; Levi Meyerle, alternate pitcher; William Flynn, substitute. Pinkham, whose name sometimes appears as Pinkerton, alternated as pitcher, and seems to have borne the brunt of the pitching duties for the season. Ed Duffy was hired later as shortstop.

* Mystery surrounds this player. His name also appears as Burnes or Byrnes, and be dropped out of sight soon after the season began. [[BaseballChronology note: No player named W. Poyne pitched for the White Stockings and their actual roster for 1870 is here.]]

Officers of the club were David A. Gage, president; W. F. Wentworth, vice president; W. Lowe, secretary; William F. Tucker, treasurer; J. W. Bute, corresponding secretary; and the convivial Tom Foley, manager.

Origin of the White Stockings
The uniform adopted consisted of a blue cap, white shirt, blue pants, white stockings, and white buckskin shoes. In imitation of Cincinnati, it was inevitable that sports writers should christen the team White Stockings. The name stuck, was borne by Chicago teams right down to the turn of the century, and after being discarded for a time, was later revived for Comiskey's American League club.

It is true that Cap Anson's team, in the later years of his management (1890's), came to be called the Colts, a name that stuck until they were christened the Cubs. Anson himself was responsible for the change of name, however, because he referred to the green players on his teams as a bunch of colts. There was no good reason for the change, any more than there was for calling the Washington team the Senators, when they were entitled to be called the Nationals.

One point that is often argued in the Hot Stove League can be settled. The present Chicago National League club is the lineal descendant of the first professional Chicago team. On the other hand, the White Sox carry the proudest name in Chicago baseball, rescued from oblivion by the late Charles A. Comiskey.

[[BaseballChronology note: Not quite. The team ceased to exist following the 1871 season. That another one from the same city took the same name at some future date is of no consequence. The Cubs are descended from the 1874 White Stockings.]]

Spring Tour of the White Stockings
Spring training camps and training tours did not exist in 1870. Yet it is remarkable to read that the White Stockings, as a sort of overture to the season, went South during the spring of that year. Apparently there was no idea of training behind the tour, for the Chicago Club had already engaged in several games before leaving for the South late in April, among them a contest with the students of the old University of Chicago.

The Southern tour was highly successful, and marked by a number of incidents gratifying to Chicago fans. The Eastern papers, still irked by Chicago's bid for baseball honors, pooh-poohed the string of White Stocking victories, asserting that they had played only inferior clubs.

The New York Clipper, however, made amends for the smug attitude of most Eastern papers, by saying that Chicago was "not to be sneezed at" in a review of its first four games. Before leaving for the South, the White Stockings had defeated the Amateur and Garden City clubs of Chicago by scores of 75 to 12 and 48 to 2, respectively; and had opened their tour in St. Louis with victories over the Union and Empire teams by scores of 41 to 1 and 36 to 8.

Largest Score on Record
The most notable game of the White Stocking's barnstorming tour was played at Memphis, Tenn., where Chicago defeated the Memphis Bluff City club 157 to 1. This is claimed to be the largest score ever made in a game between two regularly organized teams.* The carnage was featured by a terrific display of batting power by the White Stockings, who made something over 120 safe hits. The actual number (possibly much higher) cannot be given accurately because of the peculiar method used in scoring hits, but the White Stockings made 119 "first base hits," and 181 total bases on hits.

*In 1869, two amateur teams of Buffalo, the Niagaras and the Columbias, played a game won by the former, 209 to 10.

Up to the sixth inning the Bluff City nine "held Chicago down to 84 runs." By that time they were so tired chasing the ball that the score was nearly doubled in the last three innings.

"Get on With the Rat-Killing"
Manager Foley seems to have been a grim-humored chap. Before the visit of the White Stockings, the Cincinnati Red Stockings had defeated another Memphis club by a score of 100 to 2. Believing themselves superior to the other locals, the Bluff City boys had made bets that they would score from five to ten runs against the White Stockings, who, they thought, could not possibly be better than the Cincinnatis. At the end of the seventh inning they begged the White Stockings to let them score a few more runs and then call the game, for it was growing late. As the Chicago Tribune reported the game, "Tom Foley and Jimmy Wood, valuing victory of the club far beyond the pecuniary interest of outsiders, stubbornly refused to let up an atom, and ordered the boys to go on with their 'rat-killing,' which they did most effectually." The time of this merry-go-round performance was three hours and twenty minutes.

First Shut-Out Game
The White Stockings also distinguished themselves by chalking up what is said to be the first shut-out game, whitewashing the Atlantic club of New Orleans, 51 to 0. Beyond question there had been some earlier contest of one sort or another in which one team failed to score. But the game at New Orleans was a scheduled match between two organized teams, and as such was unprecedented in the records. Shut-out games were rare in those days when the pitcher was handicapped by a straight-arm delivery and was compelled to pitch high or low as the batter demanded.

After picking up another victory at Ottawa, Ill., on the way home, the White Stockings returned to Chicago in triumph, not having lost a game on the tour. True, the Southern teams they had been shellacking were only amateur nines, and not the best in the country, at that; but what of it? In seven games they had piled up a total of 368 runs to their opponents' 43, and had made baseball history with two record games. Chicago at last had a ball club which promised to hold its own with the best in the country. Chicago's baseball fever was up to about 108 degrees, a circumstance highly pleasing to the promoters and backers of the club.

Training Methods of 1870
Baseball managers and trainers of today who are troubled by the listless playing of their athletes might do well to study the methods of Tom Foley. On their arrival in Memphis to play the Bluff City club, reports the National Chronicle, "Not all the party was feeling well, the change of water since leaving home having begun to show its effects in producing bowel complaint. However, a few hours' rest, a wholesome dinner, and above all plentiful doses of the brandy and Jamaica ginger, with which Tom Foley . . . was largely provided for such emergencies, sufficed to bring about a better physical condition all around."

We have all seen teams that could use a little ginger, and if it produced results like those at Memphis, it surely would be justified.

Crowing over Rockford
While the Chicago Club wanted to win national prominence, there was also an intense desire to down the famous Forest City club of Rockford. It was humiliating to the people of Chicago that Rockford should have the better team, and the pre-eminence of the Forest Citys in the Northwest had led, as much as anything, to the attempt to create a first class nine in the Windy City. As the baseball reporter of the Chicago Times put it:

The occasion of this victory song, which started out: "The Chicago nine warmed them. They warmed them well. They can do it again . . . ," was the defeat, on June 16, 1870, of the Forest Citys by a score of 28 to 14.

The game started with King of Chicago facing the "statuesque" star pitcher of the Rockford nine, later to be an important figure in Chicago baseball. The reporter goes on to say:

Record for the Season
In spite of this decisive victory over Rockford, and several other important successes, the season's record of the 1870 team was not altogether successful. Although on November 2 the Chicago Evening Mail and the Chicago Evening Post voiced claims to a national championship for the White Stockings, their assertion was based largely on two victories over the New York Mutuals late in the year. Such is the chaotic condition of the records of that time that it. is difficult to name a champion for the year. Newspaper files are incomplete, and the National Association of that time did not concern itself with awarding championships. Games were scheduled on a go-as-you-please basis, and the mythical national title was principally a matter of opinion, based upon such comparisons as could be made from the games played.

Although the Mutuals of New York claimed the national championship in the early fall, having scored wins over some of the best professional teams, including Chicago, they were afterwards beaten by the White Stockings, and their claim seems but little better than that of the Chicago Club. The Atlantics of Brooklyn are sometimes mentioned as the 1870 champions, but they split even with the White Stockings in two games.

Comparison with other Teams
On September 7, 1870, the Evening Post published the following review of the White Stockings' record up to that date:

However, the above list of games is far from complete, and as the team continued to play until about the first of November, several important victories and defeats are not included. Among these were two games with their arch-rivals of the Middle West, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, in which the White Stockings were victorious at Cincinnati on September 7 (score, 10 to 6), and also at Chicago on October 13 (score, 16 to 13).

Walloping of the Red Stockings
The double defeat of the Cincinnatis overshadowed everything else in the season, and alone would have made it a successful year in the minds of many fans. The first game, played at Cincinnati, rocketed baseball excitement to a new height in Chicago, and throughout the Middle West.

Both teams were determined to trounce their opponents. The Cincinnatis wanted to put the baseball upstarts from Chicago in their places, while the White Stockings felt that their chief mission in baseball was to prove that Cincinnati no longer ruled the West. Hoping to bolster their pitching staff, the White Stockings tried unsuccessfully to obtain the services of William Arthur Cummings, star pitcher of New York, who is credited with being the first to throw curves. Pinkham, the regular White Hose pitcher, proved adequate, however, and the stellar performances of Catcher King and Shortstop Duffy outshone anything the Reds had to offer.

Second Verse Same as the First
Partisans of the Red team claimed that their first loss was on the fluke order, with bad umpiring more or less responsible. For the return match Robert Ferguson (Cincinnati's own selection) of the Brooklyn Atlantic club was engaged as umpire.

Hundreds of Cincinnatians poured into Chicago on special trains to witness an expected crushing revenge, and by game time Dexter Park was jammed with more than 12,000 spectators. Once more the White Stockings outbatted and outfielded the visitors from Ohio's Rhineland, with Duffy again the bright star for Chicago.

With his accustomed japery, the Chicago Times reporter wrote the following lead to his story:

Internal Troubles of the Club
The White Stockings of 1870 appear to have done as much scrapping off the diamond as on it, and this was no doubt a factor in their slightly spotty record. The mixture of merchant chiefs, war heroes, and sporting characters in the "front office" was just a little too mixed up to jell properly, and, after some heated spats and shake-ups of the officers, the shareholders began to realize that while professional baseball might be a business, it was not quite the same as keeping a store or running a hotel. Like any other new enterprise, it had to go through a period of growing pains before it could get on a smooth-running basis. The difficulties, both in playing and management, were in the nature of a midsummer slump, for, after the internal troubles had been ironed out, the team got back into a winning stride and ended the season as it began, with impressive victories.

Sports Writers Turn Sour
Some of the local writing fraternity, who had hailed the White Stockings early in the season as the coming baseball wonders of the world, turned sour on them by early fall. There was a general impression in those days that to be really good, a team had to win practically all its games. Several sports writers attacked the club with a savageness not at all warranted by the facts. Here is a sample from the Chicago Daily Republican:

A writer in the Lakeside Monthly pleaded for the complete rejection of professionalism. Especially bitter over Chicago's effort to make baseball a money-making business, he says:

*However, the Chicago club of 1870 was not actually incorporated. It appears to have been a subscription affair; each shareholder giving a certain amount to the working capital.

Professional Association Formed
The most important baseball development in 1871 was the formation of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. The old National Association, weakened by professionalism, had proved itself utterly helpless in dealing with the new situation.

Irregularities of every sort had grown to the stage of anarchy. Gambling was on the increase, and ugly charges like those published by the Chicago papers in 1867 now had too much truth in them to be ignored. Throwing games at the behest of the gamblers was no longer a mere suspicion. It was a fact.

Aside from the gambling and hoodlumism that were taking hold of baseball, other abuses demanded correction. Particularly troublesome were the revolvers, players who jumped from team to team, the great sore spot of 1870. A lesser evil was the complete lack of control over game schedules and playing conditions, a circumstance that made the award of national championships a most difficult problem.

Although its aims were good, the Professional Association accomplished little in the way of reform, and during five years of existence devoted itself principally to the question of settling the championship. It made a few minor changes in the rules, but did little or nothing to correct the abuses that were threatening to kill the national game.

Chicago Club Incorporated
The White Stockings were first incorporated in January, 1871. Illinois statutes of that time contained no provision for baseball corporations, but the charter was drawn up under the Act of February 24, 1859, entitled: An act for the incorporation of benevolent, educational, literary, musical, scientific, and missionary societies, including societies for mutual improvement, or for the promotion of the arts.

As baseball seems to have little to do with any of the aims mentioned in the act, it soon became the subject of many jocular inquiries, such as "Was it meant for the mutual improvement of the gamblers?", "Was it a benevolent society for the benefit of the stockholders and players?", and "Perhaps it is a missionary league to carry the gospel of base ball to more benighted communities."

New Grounds Sought
Dexter Park, it was decided, was too far from the heart of the city. Not all the grandiose improvements projected the year before had been made, and its capacity was never anything like the estimated 30,000, in its early prospectus. Moreover, the canny backers felt that the expense of transportation was a factor in cutting down attendance.

With the shortcomings of Dexter field in mind, permission to use the tract of land on the lake front, at the foot of Washington and Randolph streets was obtained from the city. Although it was called Lake Park, it seems to have been anything but parklike, for the ground was strewn with broken bottles and rubbish, and required extensive renovation. Early in March the Chicago city council voted to give the use of Lake Park to the Chicago club. Thus the team for the first time, had a playing field in the heart of the city.

More Sour Notes Sounded
In spite of the White Stockings' impressive late season record, and their better-than-average season of 1870, some newspapers refused to be enthusiastic over the club. Professionals had not yet won the complete support of the press. On March 29, 1871, the Illinois State Journal said:

Greatest Hitting Rally
What is described as perhaps the greatest ninth-inning rally in the history of baseball occurred in a game with the Olympics of Washington on May 16, 1871. The score stood 7 to 0 against Chicago when they came to bat in the ninth. According to Tom Foley, Captain Jimmy Wood shouted, "We need a run from every man on the team. See that we get them!"

Batting more than once around before three outs were made, as was required in those days, the Chicagoans scored their nine runs. Fred Treacy drove two terrific home runs to far left field, and other players contributed timely hits.

As the runs piled up, the fans went wild. In the excitement, Lotta Crabtree, the famous actress, hit a stranger over the head with a costly parasol, smashing the gentleman's silk hat and ruining her sunshade. Old-timers swear that there was never anything like it in baseball before or since.

Newspapers Can't Stand Slumps
The season of 1871 was much like that of 1870. After winning several unimportant early season games, the White Stockings slumped in June, much to the distress of the local scribes, who still clung to the notion that a good team ought to win everything in sight. When a team called the Actives from Clinton, Iowa, defeated the Chicagos on June 27, the writers waxed Biblical. Said the Evening Mail of June 28:

Throwing of Games Again Charged
The sports reporter of the Evening Mail, who seems to have become particularly disgusted with the efforts of the white-hosed team, vented his spleen again a few days later. On July 1 he said:

"A morning sporting paper says the cause of the White Stockings' last ignominious defeat was 'weak batting' just so — superinduced by heavy betting."

Old Time Pitchers Fragile?
This reporter of the Mail certainly looked at the game with tongue-in-cheek, for he was scornful of he growing art of baseball writing. In the issue of August 22 he states:

Contend for Championship
Nevertheless, by October 1 the White Stockings were regarded as one of the country's stronger teams, and had at least an outside chance to win the championship. On that date the Chicago Republican had this to say:

Although they were successful in disposing of the Bostonians, the White Stockings later lost to the Philadelphia Athletics in the deciding series of the year, and the championship went to Philadelphia.

Great Chicago Fire of 1871
In the meantime, baseball in Chicago had been brought to an abrupt end. The last home game was played October 7, with a local amateur team. On the evening of October 8, a fire started in the O'Leary barn at the rear of 137 DeKoven street that was to make even more history than the fiery baseball war of 1871.

Actually, the Chicago fire had no immediate effect on baseball in 1871. The season was nearly over, and the locals played out their eastern tour, finishing the year with a surplus in the treasury. Adrian C. Anson, in his autobiography, A Ball Player's Career, gives the impression that the members of the Chicago team were left stranded and destitute by the fire. As Captain Jimmy Wood was voted a bonus of $500 on November 20, and as the season was virtually over, it is hard to see how the fire could have affected the players, except through possible loss of their personal belongings. However, at the meeting of November 20 "the Chicago Base Ball club was declared to be extinct," indicating that no plans were made for the following year.

[[BaseballChronology note: Cap Anson's book will be a future BaseballChronology Book of the Month selection.]]

Seasons of 1872 and 1873
Anson is also authority for the statement that the Chicago club dropped out of existence in 1872 and 1873. But, as Anson was playing in the East those years, he was not in close touch with Chicago baseball affairs.

He is correct to the extent that the Chicago club was not entered in the Professional Association race in either year, but it did exist as a semi-professional organization, with Tom Foley still at the helm, and several of the former players on the team.

This semi-professional club found the going tough, Chicago people, busy rebuilding the city, had little time for baseball games. Professional teams, hippodroming around the country, skimmed the cream of exhibition-game attendance. The Chicago clubs of 1872 and 1873 were no better drawing cards than such old, well-established amateur nines as the Actives and the Libertys.

Seasons of 1874 and 1875
In 1874, a rejuvenated White Stocking team re-entered the National Association. It was a fair team, but the best of the Midwestern players had gone to Eastern clubs, and available men were not of championship caliber. Although the White Stockings managed to set back some of the powerful Easterners in a few games, the year's record was mediocre, and aroused little interest among local fans. Boston won the National Association pennant for the third straight time.

The season of 1875 was no better, Boston took its fourth pennant, and Chicago was an also-ran. But local fans were encouraged, before the close of the season, by an announcement that Chicago was to have a brand-new ball club, made up of some of the greatest National Association stars. On July 20, the Chicago Tribune stated that White Stockings officials, in making plans for 1876, had obtained contracts with the following players: Pitcher, Spalding, of Boston; catcher, White, of Boston; first base, Devlin, of Chicago; second Lase, Barnes, of Boston; third base, Sutton, of Philadelphia; shortstop, Peters, of Chicago; left field, Glenn, of Chicago; center field, Hines, of Chicago; right field, McVey, of Boston; substitutes, O'Rourke of Boston, and Golden and Warren of Chicago.

Although the team did not have all the players announce^d in the Tribune list, it was gratifying news for the loyal fans who wanted to see Chicago again a strong contender. Who and what were behind this startling announcement? The forceful personality of that baseball enthusiast extraordinary, William A. Hulbert.

"The Man Who Saved the Game"
Hailed by Chadwick and other writers as the man who saved the national game, William A. Hulbert of Chicago is one of the greatest personalities in old-time baseball. Never a professional ball player himself but devoted to the game, he wanted Chicago to have a baseball club equal to any in the country.

Hulbert was disgusted with baseball conditions in the early 1870's. Player-snatching and contract-jumping had become the popular pastime of managers and players. It was considered too great a hazard to back a ball club financially, in view of the difficulties of holding a good team together once it was organized. Gamblers had muscled into the sport, and the fixing of games was an open scandal.

Enlists Aid of Spalding
When offered the presidency of the Chicago club in 1875, Hulbert decided to see what could be done to put the game back on the right track. While considering the offer, he met A. G. Spalding, then playing on the Boston team. Although Spalding's team had won the pennant three successive years and could not complain about game-throwing, Spalding felt, like Hulbert, that the time was ripe for more stringent governing rules.

With Spalding's assistance, Hulbert signed up Barnes, McVey, and White of the Boston club, and Anson and Sutton of the Philadelphia Athletics. These, along with Spalding, formed the nucleus of a powerful team, to which it was planned to add outstanding members of the Chicago club of 1875 — Hines, Glenn, and Peters.

National League Formed
Feeling that something more than a good team was necessary to protect his interests, Hulbert arranged a secret meeting at Louisville with managers from St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Louisville, at which he first disclosed his plan to organize a National League of Professional Baseball clubs, under rules which would protect both the players and the club management.

At a later meeting (February 2, 1876), attended by managers of leading Eastern clubs, Hulbert dramatically locked the door when the session began. As Spalding relates the incident, in his history of baseball, Hulbert then announced:

"Gentlemen you have no cause for uneasiness. I have locked the door simply to prevent intrusion from without, and incidentally to make it impossible for any of you to go out until I have finished what I have to say to you."

[[BaseballChronology note: Albert Spalding's book will be a future BaseballChronology Book of the Month selection.]]

What he had to say seems to have been plenty. He told the assembled officials that the abuses of the game had to be corrected if professional baseball was to survive. He scored the National Association for its failure to remedy the situation, and wound up by producing the constitution for the new league.

"Hulbert completely dominated the situation," says Spalding, "Although some of these men were personally guilty of the corruptions of which he spoke, at the end of the interview they were docility itself. They recognized Hulbert as a power."

Hulbert Made the League
Hulbert's dominating influence was felt for years. Although he nominated Morgan G. Bulkeley of Hartford, afterwards governor of Connecticut, as first president of the league, he himself succeeded Bulkeley before the year was up, and continued as president until his death on April 10, 1882.

During these critical formative years, Hulbert's strong hand served to keep baseball on the road he had outlined for it, and made itself felt when evil conditions had to be dealt with. In 1877, four members of the Louisville club were expelled from organized baseball for throwing games, and for forty-four years thereafter no similar action was necessary in big-league baseball.

Hulbert was described by those who knew him as a large man, with a forceful, magnetic personality. He was the good-fellow type in his off hours, but stern and dominating when necessary. A hard business head, he easily became the great baseball leader of his time.

Fittingly, the first National League pennant was won by the city that cradled the league, Chicago. Hulbert's endeavors were crowned with victory. The team which carried off the prize entered the new league with the following players: A. G. Spalding, pitcher, captain, and manager; James L. White, catcher; A. C. Anson, third base; Ross Barnes, second base; Cal A. McVey, first base; J. P. Peters, shortstop; J. W. Glenn, left field; Paul A. Hines, center field; Robert Addy, right field; J. F. Cone, Olcar Bielaski, and F. H. Andrus, substitutes.

"Anson Toed the Plate"
The new spirit of baseball created in Chicago by this team is shown by a story in the Chicago Evening Journal of September 26, 1876, when the White Stockings had clinched the pennant. The Journal, in previous years lukewarm toward Chicago baseball, had the following to say: