National Association

Elizabeth Resolutes History

By Patrick Mondout

The Resolute Base-Ball Club of Elizabeth (or "Elizabeth Resolutes") were a short-lived franchise in the National Association (NA). The team represented Elizabeth, New Jersey.

At a glance... ELIZABETH RESOLUTES Franchise Facts Established 1866 Disbanded  1873 Located Elizabeth Executives Charles Garrighan Year by Year Results W L % 1873  2 21 .087 Affiliations NABBP (1866-1872) National Association (1873) Postseason/Titles NA Titles (0) Nicknames Resolute of Elizabeth (1873) Ballparks Waverly Fairgrounds (1873) Top Performances Single-Season Career

The team had its roots in the old NABBP and were founded in 1866. The team "went professional" for the 1873 and joined the NA. Their captain and main attraction was Doug Allison, who had starred with the undefeated 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings. His brother Art Allison ended up leading the team in runs, hits, batting and tied Henry Austin for the team lead in RBIs.

The team had existed as an amateur team for years before adding Allison and a few other professionals from other teams for the 1873 season. All that was really required to enter your team for the NA championship was a $10 application fee.

The Resolutes played their 8 home games at the Waverly Fairgrounds located in nearby Waverly, New Jersey, though that town has since been incorporated into Elizabeth.

Although some Philadelphia and New York-based teams played Sunday games in New Jersey to get around local laws prohibiting games on that day and the Brooklyn Dodgers played some games at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City in the 1950s, the Elizabeth Resolutes and the 1915 Newark Peppers of the Federal League are the only two major league teams to call the state home.

National Association 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.
Blackguards and Red Stockings by William J. Ryczek
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

David Nemec, the tireless 19th Century Baseball researcher, has also written a novel called Early Dreams, which takes place during this era and features real-life characters such as Cap Anson, George Wright, and Henry Lucas.

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.