National Association

Middleton Mansfields History

By Patrick Mondout

The Mansfield Base-Ball Club of Middleton (or "Middleton Mansfields") were a team in the old National Association (NA). The team represented Middleton, Connecticut.

At a glance... MIDDLETON MANSFIELDS Franchise Facts Established 1869 Disbanded  1872 Located Middleton, Connecticut Executives B. Douglas, Jr. T.W. Ratcliff Year by Year Results W L % 1872  5 19 .208 Affiliations NABBP (1869-1871) National Association (1872) Postseason/Titles NA Titles (0) Nicknames Mansfield of Middleton (1872) (city was referred to as Middletown in contemporary reports) Ballparks Mansfield Club Grounds (1872) Top Performances Single-Season Career

The Mansfield team was founded as an amateur club in the old NABBP in 1869. The team performed well rolling up 8-2 and 21-13 records in their first two seasons.

The widely reported financial success of a number of the 1871 National Association clubs led some to believe that all you needed to do to make a fortune was to turn your local nine into a professional team, pay your $10 entry fee to the NA, and rake in the cash during the season. Even backers in tiny Middleton, Connecticut thought so. They were sadly mistaken.

As you might expect for a team from such a small market, the expenses were too high and it disbanded in mid-August. They exited with a 5-19 record, but not before launching the Hall of Fame career of 21 year old 'Orator Jim' O'Rourke. O'Rourke hit only .273 for Middleton, but he would finish in the top 10 in hitting 12 times and left the NA tied with Lip Pike for the all-time single season major league home run record (that Barry Bonds now holds). Yes, his six home runs in 1875 entitle him to that distiction.¹

Notes:
1. That is, unless you do not consider the National Association a major league. We do. Major League Baseball does not. George Hall tied (or set) the record in 1876. A complete list of all the single season home run leaders from virtually all the leagues is here.

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.