National Association

Newburgh Hudson Rivers

By Patrick Mondout

The Hudson River Base Ball Club of Newburgh (popularly known as the Newburgh Hudson Rivers) were a mid-19th Century team in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP), the first national baseball organization. The club was organized in the spring of 1859, though it did not join the NABBP immediately.

At a glance... NEWBURGH HUDSON RIVERS Club Facts Established 1859 Disbanded  1869 Located Newburgh, NY Uniform White shirt & cap; blue pants. Officials William C. Miller (president 1859-63) David A. Scott (president 1864-66) Capt. Henry Robinson (vice- president 1859-60) Dr. L.S. Straw (vice-president 1861-62) William L. Smith (vice-pres. 1863-64) W.H. Kelly (vice-president 1865-66; secretary 1864) A.S. Cassidy (secretary 1859-63) A. Mapes (secretary 1865) Lewis B. Halsey (secretary 1866) Year by Year Results   W L T 1859 3 3   1860 2 1 1 1861 1 3   1862 4 1   1863 1 4   1864 6 3   1865 8 6   1866 7 3   1867 3 3   1868 1 0   Affiliations NABBP (1857-1870) Pennants NABBP None Nicknames Hudson River of Newburgh Ballparks (South and Johnson streets)

A number of charter members of the club (Straw, King, Miller, and Reeve - see rosters below) had previously been members of the Newburgh Base Ball Club, which had been organized in 1856. The teams co-existed in the small town in the early 1860s - even sharing the same field on the corner of South and Johnson streets (with a square shaped clubhouse for the Newburghs and an octagon shaped clubhouse for the Hudson Rivers) - until the older club disbanded. It is unknown why a second club was formed and had so many members of the older club so quickly.¹

See also: National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, Defunct Leagues, 'Early Baseball' FAQs.

When Newburgh resident Charles Peverelly was preparing his book on American pastimes, he sent a letter to each major club asking for any information they might have. Here is the relevant portion of the response he received from Lewis B. Halsey, secretary of the Hudson Rivers for 1866:

"We have not been defeated in a return game by any club outside New York and Brooklyn. In those cities we have lost games with the Excelsior, Star, Eckford, Mutual, and Gotham; which clubs we have never defeated in any game. The Unions, of Morrisania, have won a home-and-home match. We have won from the Empire, Eagle, Enterprise, Resolute, and Mystic Clubs... Mapes was a great loss, both in efficiency of the nine, and to the welfare of the club. He was widely known as a ball player and was not to be excelled in his position by any one... We frequently receive clubs from the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and we cordially extend a general invitation to all clubs in good standing to visit our beautiful city in the future... The organization has always commanded the respect and esteem of our citizens, and now stands, very high in this community."

The reference to Mapes was to their pitcher and outfielder who died some time before the 1866 season. Mapes may well have been the star of the Newburgh club, but it was Andy Leonard would go on to fame as a member of the undefeated Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869. The first Irish-born major leaguer would later star in both the National Association and National League.

The club was perhaps the finest in its area during the mid-1860s, but did not win any pennants. The highlights - despite the scores - have to be the Excelsiors visit while on their tour in 1860 (the first-ever tour by a baseball club, even if it was just in the state of New York), the July 4, 1862 home loss to the reigning champion Brooklyn Eckfords and, only in retrospect, the two victories over the Unions of Lansingburgh. Why? Because that team (later known as the Troy Haymakers) is the only team the Hudson Rivers beat that later played in the National Association.

The club disbanded around 1869, though teams with the same name existed in the 1870s and beyond. A reunion game featuring members of the original Hudson Rivers was played on the Newburgh Base Ball Association grounds in Washington Heights on September 23, 1886. ²

* The Eckfords were the NABBP champions at the time of this match.

Here are known playing members of the Hudson Rivers by year:

NOTES:
1. Newburgh, her institutions, industries and leading citizens : historical, descriptive and biographical by John J. Nutt, published in 1891. Page 328 is invaluable.
2. Ibid.

"Rosters" are compiled from surviving boxscores and may not be complete and players may have played at more positions than indicated. Other games may have been played for which we no longer have a record of. Most of the statistical information and rosters come from Marshall Wright's groundbreaking book, The National Association of Base Ball Players 1857-1870 (see bibliography below) with additional data from contemporary box scores and accounts. The latter include contributions from the New York Times, the New York Clipper, the New York Daily Times, and Spirit of the Times: A Chronicle of the Turf, Agriculture, and Field Sports.

National Association of Base Ball Players sources/bibliography:
Baseball: The Early Years by Harold Seymour.
Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search For The Roots Of The Game by David Block.
Baseball in Blue and Gray: The National Pastime during the Civil War by George B. Kirsch.
Early Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1825-1908 by Dean A. Sullivan
The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 by Marshall D. Wright.
Playing for Keeps: A History of Early Baseball by Warren Goldstein.
When Johnny Came Sliding Home: The Post-Civil War Baseball Boom, 1865-1870 by William J. Ryczek

General Baseball History sources/bibliography:
Baseball: A History of America's Game by Benjamin G. Rader.
Baseball: A Film By Ken Burns (PBS DVD)
The Formation, Sometimes Absorption and Mostly Inevitable Demise of 18 Professional Baseball Organizations, 1871 to Present by David Pietrusza.
The Great 19th Century Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball, 2nd Edition by David Nemec.
Early Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1825-1908 by Dean A. Sullivan.
Middle Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1900-1948 by Dean A. Sullivan.
Late Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball 1945-1972 by Dean A. Sullivan
Past Time: Baseball as History by Jules Tygiel
America's National Game: Historic Facts Concerning the Beginning, Evolution, Development and Popularity of Baseball by Albert Spalding
Total Baseball: The Ultimate Baseball Encyclopedia by John Thorn, et al.