National Association

St. Louis Brown Stockings History

By Patrick Mondout

The St. Louis Club of St. Louis (or "St. Louis Brown Stockings") were a team that played during the last season of the old National Association (NA) and the first two seasons of the successor, the National League (NL). 

At a glance... ST. LOUIS BROWN STOCKINGS Franchise Facts Established 1875 Disbanded  1877 Located St. Louis Executives C.O. Bishop  Year by Year Results W L % 1875  39 29 .574 1876  45 19 .703 1877  28 32 .467 Affiliations National Association (1875) National League (1876-1877) Postseason/Titles NA Titles (0) Nicknames St. Louis of St. Louis (1875) St. Louis Brown Stockings (1875-1877) Ballparks Grand Avenue Park (1875-1877) Top Performances Single-Season Career

Two teams from St. Louis joined the NA in 1875. The first was the successful amateur team known as the Red Stockings. They didn't last the season, but the Brown Stockings finished a strong fourth and improved to second in the National League's first season. A large difference between the two teams was that the Brown Stockings went east to find players for their team (with the help of Al Wright, who essentially acted as a scout for the team) while the Red Stockings were staffed with the best of the two amateur teams (the Empires and Red Stockings).

The uniforms of the new team were described as "real pretty" by the Chicago Daily newspaper:

The uniforms of the St. Louis nine consists of brown stockings, white flannel breeches, white knit tight-fitting shirts with short sleeves and a monogram St. L., in brown, on the bosom, white box-shape flannel cap, and white belt with Grecian stripes of brown in it. The uniform is very neat, and looks real pretty.

Seven of the club's 10 players on the 1876 roster later became managers, perhaps the highest percentage of all-time.

The team disbanded with heavy (for the time) debt and while immersed in the scandal that brought down the Louisville Grays, having signed two of the players who who were later banned from baseball for throwing games.

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.