1.
Sportsman's Park
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Sportsmans Park was the name of several former Major League Baseball ballpark structures in the central United States, in St. Louis, Missouri. All but one of these were located on the piece of land, at the northwest corner of Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street. The physical street address was 2911 North Grand Boulevard, in 1923, the stadium hosted St. Louiss first NFL team, the St. Louis All-Stars. Baseball was played on the Sportsmans Park site as early as 1867, the tract was acquired in 1866 by August Solari, who began staging games there the following year. It was the home of the St. Louis Brown Stockings in the National Association, originally called the Grand Avenue Ball Grounds. Some sources say the field was renamed Sportsmans Park in 1876, the local papers also still used the alternate name Grand Avenue Park until at least 1885. The first grandstand—one of three on the built in 1881. At that time, the diamond and the grandstands were on the southeast corner of the block, the park was leased by the then-major American Association entry, the St. Louis Brown Stockings, or Browns. The Browns were a strong team in the mid-1880s. When the National League absorbed the strongest of the old Association teams in 1892, soon they went looking for a new ballpark, finding a site just a few blocks northwest of the old one, and calling it New Sportsmans Park, which was later renamed Robison Field. They also changed colors from Brown to Cardinal Red, thus acquiring a new nickname. When the American League Browns moved from Milwaukee in 1902, they built a new version of Sportsmans Park and they initially placed the diamond and the main stand at the northwest corner of the block. This Sportsmans Park saw football history made and it became both the practice field and home field for Saint Louis University football teams, coached by the visionary Eddie Cochems, father of the forward pass. These included a 39–0 thrashing of Iowa before a crowd of 12,000, robinson launched an amazingly long pass in the game against the Jayhawks, which was variously reported to have traveled 67 or 87 yards in the air. College Football Hall of Fame coach David M. Nelson called the extraordinary, considering the size, shape and weight of the fat. Sports historian John Sayle Watterson agreed, in his book, College Football, History, Spectacle, Controversy, Watterson described Robinsons long pass as truly a breathtaking achievement. St. Louis finished with an 11–0 record in 1906, outscoring its opponents 407–11, the previous wooden grandstand was retained as left-field bleachers for a while, but was soon replaced with permanent bleachers. The Cardinals came back to their home in mid-1920, as tenants of the Browns, after abandoning the outdated
2.
St. Louis
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St. Louis is an independent city and major U. S. port in the state of Missouri, built along the western bank of the Mississippi River, on the border with Illinois. Prior to European settlement, the area was a regional center of Native American Mississippian culture. The city of St. Louis was founded in 1764 by French fur traders Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, in 1764, following Frances defeat in the Seven Years War, the area was ceded to Spain and retroceded back to France in 1800. In 1803, the United States acquired the territory as part of the Louisiana Purchase, during the 19th century, St. Louis developed as a major port on the Mississippi River. In the 1870 Census, St. Louis was ranked as the 4th-largest city in the United States and it separated from St. Louis County in 1877, becoming an independent city and limiting its own political boundaries. In 1904, it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Summer Olympics, the economy of metro St. Louis relies on service, manufacturing, trade, transportation of goods, and tourism. This city has become known for its growing medical, pharmaceutical. St. Louis has 2 professional sports teams, the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, the city is commonly identified with the 630-foot tall Gateway Arch in Downtown St. Louis. The area that would become St. Louis was a center of the Native American Mississippian culture and their major regional center was at Cahokia Mounds, active from 900 AD to 1500 AD. Due to numerous major earthworks within St. Louis boundaries, the city was nicknamed as the Mound City and these mounds were mostly demolished during the citys development. Historic Native American tribes in the area included the Siouan-speaking Osage people, whose territory extended west, European exploration of the area was first recorded in 1673, when French explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette traveled through the Mississippi River valley. Five years later, La Salle claimed the region for France as part of La Louisiane. The earliest European settlements in the area were built in Illinois Country on the east side of the Mississippi River during the 1690s and early 1700s at Cahokia, Kaskaskia, migrants from the French villages on the opposite side of the Mississippi River founded Ste. In early 1764, after France lost the 7 Years War, Pierre Laclède, the early French families built the citys economy on the fur trade with the Osage, as well as with more distant tribes along the Missouri River. The Chouteau brothers gained a monopoly from Spain on the fur trade with Santa Fe, French colonists used African slaves as domestic servants and workers in the city. In 1780 during the American Revolutionary War, St. Louis was attacked by British forces, mostly Native American allies, the founding of St. Louis began in 1763. Pierre Laclede led an expedition to set up a fur-trading post farther up the Mississippi River, before then, Laclede had been a very successful merchant. For this reason, he and his trading partner Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent were offered monopolies for six years of the fur trading in that area
3.
Chris von der Ahe
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Christian Friedrich Wilhelm von der Ahe was a German entrepreneur, best known as the owner of the St. Louis Brown Stockings of the American Association, now known as the St. Louis Cardinals. Von der Ahe arrived in New York City but quickly moved to St. Louis, later, he bought out the store owner and expanded business by establishing a saloon in the back of the store. He named the team the Browns and hired future Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey to play first base, Von der Ahe took a very active role in the team, even though he knew almost nothing about baseball. He was the first baseball owner with a significant public persona, with his thick German accent bushy mustache and showmanship, he was as much of a story as his players. The Browns dominated the American Association, winning four league championships starting in 1885, and the baseball, beer. He made $500,000 off the team alone. He set the price at 25 cents, hoping fans would spend money on beer. As a result, the Browns led the league in attendance, the term fan is sometimes attributed to von der Ahe. In 1885, von der Ahe erected a statue outside of Sportsmans Park, not of any of his star players. A sportswriter from Denver mockingly dubbed the statue Von der Ahe discovers Illinois, although eccentric, von der Ahe made a number of innovations, including operating a farm club called the St. Louis Whites. Also, tradition holds that von der Ahe was the first to sell hot dogs at the ballpark, Von der Ahe billed himself as the Millionaire Sportsman. In 1887, after a showing in the World Series. In 1891, he was majority owner of the Cincinnati Kellys Killers which played for part of one season in the American Association. In 1892 the team joined the National League after the American Association folded, by this time, Comiskey had lost patience with von der Ahe and left for the Cincinnati Reds. Without Comiskey, the Browns quickly became a last-place team, legal problems plagued von der Ahes ownership, especially in the later years. The league, which prohibited gambling on its grounds, disapproved of the race track, the press called the facility Coney Island West and nicknamed von der Ahe Von der Ha Ha. With losses still piling up, von der Ahe resorted to selling off his best players, in 1898, part of the ballpark burned down during an April game with Chicago, his second wife divorced him, and his bondsman kidnapped him for not paying his debts. In a highly publicized trial connected with the fire, von der Ahe lost his baseball team, the Browns changed hands twice and changed their name twice, first to the Perfectos and then to the Cardinals
4.
Ned Cuthbert
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Edgar Edward Ned Cuthbert was an American professional baseball player. Cuthberts baseball career began in 1865 with the Keystone Club of Philadelphia, after two seasons as a second baseman and outfielder with the Keystones, he moved across town to the West Philadelphia club, playing only four games for them before joining Philadelphia Athletics. With Cuthbert, the Athletics won national championships in 1867 and 1868, a solid batsman and outfielder, Ned jumped to the Chicago White Stockings in 1870. Cuthbert was with a number of teams in the National Association and its successor, the National League, playing in Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. After game-fixing allegations surfaced as part of the Brown Stockings 1877 season, Brown Stockings ownership officially withdrew from the National League, Cuthbert played with the semi-professional Brown Stockings and the St. Louis Red Stockings. Von der Ahe purchased the Brown Stockings in 1880, changed their name to the Browns, in 1882, Cuthbert became the player/manager for the St. Louis team of the newly formed American Association. However, according to Peter Morris A Game Of Inches, base-stealing was part of baseball well before 1865, Ned Cuthbert died of endocarditis in St. Louis, Missouri, and was laid to rest at Bellefontaine Cemetery. List of Major League Baseball player–managers Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Baseball Almanac The Dead Ball Era
5.
St. Louis Cardinals
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The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. Busch Stadium has been their home ballpark since 2006, with origins as one of the early professional baseball clubs in St. Upon the discontinuation of the AA, St. Louis joined the NL in 1892, at time, they were called the Browns. One of the most successful franchises in history, the Cardinals have won 11 World Series championships. Their 19 National League pennants rank third in NL history, in addition, St. Louis has won 13 division titles in the East and Central divisions. While still in the AA, St. Louis won four league championships, the Cardinals have won 105 or more games in four different seasons and won 100 or more a total of nine times. Cardinals players have won 20 league MVPs, four batting Triple Crowns, and three Cy Young Awards. Baseball Hall of Fame inductees include Lou Brock, Dizzy Dean, Bob Gibson, Whitey Herzog, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Medwick, Stan Musial, Branch Rickey, Red Schoendienst, Ozzie Smith, and Bruce Sutter. In 2016, Forbes valued the Cardinals at $1.6 billion, making them the 7th-most valuable franchise in MLB, their revenue the year was $300 million. Since their purchase in 1995, owner William DeWitt, Jr. s investment group has seen enormous growth from the $147 million purchase price, John Mozeliak is the general manager and Mike Matheny is the manager. Professional baseball began in St. Louis with the inception of the Brown Stockings in the National Association in 1875, the NA folded following that season, and the next season, St. Louis joined the National League as a charter member, finishing in third place at 45-19. George Bradley hurled the first no-hitter in Major League history, the NL expelled St. Louis from the league after 1877 due to a game-fixing scandal and the team went bankrupt. Without a league, they continued play as a barnstorming team through 1881. For the 1882 season, Chris von der Ahe purchased the team, reorganized it, and made it a member of the American Association. 1882 is generally considered to be the first year existence of the St. Louis Cardinals, the next season, St. Louis shortened their name to the Browns. Soon thereafter they became the dominant team in the AA, as manager Charlie Comiskey guided St. Louis to four pennants in a row from 1885 to 1888. Pitcher and outfielder Bob Caruthers led the league in ERA and wins in 1885 and he also led the AA in OBP and OPS in 1886 and finished fourth in batting average in 1886 and fifth in 1887
6.
St. Louis Brown Stockings
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The team is the forerunner of, but not directly connected with, the current St. Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball team. After the conclusion of the 1877 season, a scandal involving two players the Brown Stockings had acquired led the team to resign its membership in the NL. The club then declared bankruptcy and folded, the Brown Stockings did not meet a complete demise, however. Organized by outfielder Ned Cuthbert, a few members of the club continued to play the following year. They played whomever they could, wherever they could, and still managed to draw crowds and make a profit, Grand Avenue Grounds – the Brown Stockings home field – was later the site of Sportsmans Park. Outfielder Lip Pike, the previous home run champion in the NA, was again a top hitter. Eighteen-year-old Pud Galvin is credited with leading the league in ERA despite pitching just 62 innings, the Brown Stockings finished 39–29 and in fourth place in their only season in the NA. The St. Louis Brown Stockings entered the National League as a team the following season along with five other former NA teams. George Bradley pitched the first no-hitter in Major League history on July 15,1876 and it was one of Bradleys 16 league-leading and record-setting shutouts that season and his 1.23 ERA also led the league. Bradley and Pike led the Brown Stockings to a 45-19 record, the Brown Stockings won the series. With Bradley losing his effectiveness due to an arm injury in 1877, the Grays and Brown Stockings both filed for bankruptcy in the aftermath of the scandal. However, the Brown Stockings continued to play as an independent barnstorming team on a basis from 1878–1881. However, at time, popularity for baseball was low. The 1879 team started off by winning 24 of their first 25 games, however, the team encountered a different kind of problem. To avert the issue, they played more competitive teams from out of town, in spite of narrowing the competitive gap, St. Louis kept winning, and, as a result, more and more fans started showing up later in the year. The 1880 season was another polar season mixed with antipathy and surging fever, august Solari, who leased Grand Avenue Park, was on the last year of the lease and the gate receipts did little to dissuade him from forgoing resigning the lease. In fact, he threatened to dismantle the ballpark, Cuthbert, who also worked for Von der Ahe at his Golden Lion Saloon, urged him to promote the team more. At this time, Von der Ahe still had not made the realization of baseballs popularity
7.
National Association of Base Ball Players
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The National Association of Base Ball Players was the first organization governing American baseball. The first convention of sixteen New York City area clubs in 1857 practically terminated the Knickerbocker era, the last convention, with hundreds of members represented only via state associations, provoked the establishment of separate professional and amateur associations in 1871. Because the amateur successor never attracted many members and it convened only a few times, beside the playing rules and its own organization, the Association governed official scoring, match play, a championship, amateurism, and hippodroming or the integrity of the contest. It permitted professionalism only for the 1869 and 1870 seasons, in its December 1867 meeting, its rules committee voted unanimously to bar any club composed of one or more colored persons, effecting the first known color line in baseball. By the end of 1865, almost 100 clubs were members of the organization, by 1867, it had over 400 members, including some clubs from as far away as San Francisco and Louisiana. Because of this growth, regional and state organizations began to assume a prominent role in the governance of the sport. The NABBP was initially established upon principles of amateurism, however, even early in its history some star players, such as James Creighton of Excelsior, received compensation, either secretly or indirectly. In 1866, the NABBP investigated Athletic of Philadelphia for paying three players including Lip Pike, but ultimately took no action against either the club or the players. To address this growing practice, and to restore integrity to the game, clubs desiring to pay players were now free to declare themselves professional. Cincinnati was the first to so declare and among the most aggressive in recruiting the best available players, twelve, including most of the strongest clubs in the NABBP, ultimately declared themselves professional for the 1869 season. Conflict arose, however, between amateur and professional interests, important issues included how the championship was to be decided and regulating players jumping from one team to another. As a result, in 1871 most of the professional clubs broke away to found the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. The NABBP continued for two years thereafter in a diminished status before disbanding into state and regional organizations. Contrary to the name, NABBP members were clubs not players. Generally the clubs joined the association and retained membership by sending delegates to the annual convention, the number of clubs at the convention, and thus in the association, increased from 16 to 25 to 50 by spring 1859. This list gives the sixteen who convened in 1857 followed by the three members who survived to be charter members of the National League in 1876, none of the sixteen did so. Dates refer to NABBP membership, not baseball activity or legal organization, but not all clubs retained membership annually, in particular, Newark, New Jersey is one of the cities across the Hudson River from New York. Eight Newark clubs were members and two more clubs from Newark, Empire in 1858 and Eckford in 1870, played matches with member clubs
8.
National League
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Both leagues currently have 15 teams. The two league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the inaugural World Series, after the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement, the two leagues formalized the World Series as an arrangement between the leagues. National League teams have won 48 of the 112 World Series contested from 1903 to 2016, the 2016 National League champions are the Chicago Cubs. By 1875, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was dangerously weak, additionally, Hulbert had a problem—five of his star players were threatened with expulsion from the NAPBBP because Hulbert had signed them to his club using what were considered questionable means. Hulbert had a vested interest in creating his own league. After recruiting St. Louis privately, four western clubs met in Louisville, Kentucky, Boston Red Stockings, the dominant team in the N. A. Hartford Dark Blues from the N. A. Mutual of New York from the N. A. St. Louis Brown Stockings from the N. A, the only strong club from 1875 excluded in 1876 was a second one in Philadelphia, often called the White Stockings or Phillies. The first game in National League history was played on April 22,1876, at Philadelphias Jefferson Street Grounds, 25th & Jefferson, the new leagues authority was tested after the first season. The National League operated with six clubs during 1877 and 1878, over the next several years, various teams joined and left the struggling league. By 1880, six of the eight members had folded. The two remaining original NL franchises, Boston and Chicago, remain in operation today as the Atlanta Braves, in 1883 the New York Gothams and Philadelphia Phillies began National League play. Both teams remain in the NL today, the Phillies in their original city, the NL encountered its first strong rival organization when the American Association began play in 1882. The A. A. played in cities where the NL did not have teams, offered Sunday games and alcoholic beverages in locales where permitted, the National League and the American Association participated in a version of the World Series seven times during their ten-year coexistence. These contests were less organized than the modern Series, lasting as few as three games and as many as fifteen, with two Series ending in disputed ties, the NL won four times and the A. A. only once, in 1886. Starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1887, the National League began to raid the American Association for franchises to replace NL teams that folded and this undercut the stability of the A. A. Other new leagues that rose to compete with the National League were the Union Association, the Union Association was established in 1884 and folded after playing only one season, its league champion St. Louis Maroons joining the NL. The NL suffered many defections of star players to the Players League, the Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York franchises of the NL absorbed their Players League counterparts. The labor strife of 1890 hastened the downfall of the American Association, after the 1891 season, the A. A. disbanded and merged with the NL, which became known legally for the next decade as the National League and American Association
9.
Charles Comiskey
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Charles Albert Charlie Comiskey, also nicknamed Commy or The Old Roman, was an American Major League Baseball player, manager and team owner. He was a key person in the formation of the American League, Comiskey Park, the White Sox storied baseball stadium, was built under his guidance and named for him. Comiskey was inducted as an executive into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939, Comiskey was born on August 15,1859, in Chicago, the son of Illinois politician John Comiskey. He attended public and parochial schools in Chicago, St. Ignatius College Prep and he played baseball at St. Comiskey started his playing career as a pitcher, and moved to first base after developing arm trouble. He is credited with being the first to play hitters off of first base and he entered the American Association in 1882 with the St. Louis Brown Stockings. He managed the team during parts of its first seasons and took over full-time in 1885, leading the Browns to four consecutive American Association championships and a close second in 1889. He also played and managed for the Chicago Pirates in the Players League, the Browns again, Comiskey left Cincinnati and the majors in fall 1894 to purchase the Western League club in Sioux City, Iowa and move it to Saint Paul, Minnesota. He had compiled a.264 batting average with 29 home runs,883 RBI and 419 stolen bases, as a manager, he posted an 839-542 record. The St. Paul Saints moved to the South Side as the White Stockings of the renamed American League for the 1900 season, the American League then declared itself a major league starting in 1901. As owner of the White Sox from 1900 until his death in 1931, Comiskey oversaw building Comiskey Park in 1910 and winning five American League pennants, Comiskey was notoriously stingy, even forcing his players to pay to launder their own uniforms. Traci Peterson notes that, in an era when professional athletes lacked free agency and she writes, Charles Risberg and Claude Williams made less than $3,000 a year. Joe Jackson and George Weaver made only $6,000 a year, eddie Cicotte had been promised a $10,000 bonus if he could win 30 games in a season. When Cicotte closed in on the 30-game goal, Comiskey had him benched to keep him from reaching the mark, Comiskeys stated reason for having manager Kid Gleason bench Cicotte was that with the Sox headed for the World Series he had to protect his star pitchers arm. In one incident, he promised his players a bonus for winning the 1919 pennant — the bonus turned out to be a case of flat champagne, however, he initially defended the accused players and, in an unusual display of largesse, provided them with expensive legal representation. Indeed, the White Sox promptly tumbled into seventh place and would not be a factor in a pennant race again until 1936, five years after Comiskeys death. Comiskey is sometimes credited with the innovation of playing the first base position behind first base or inside the foul line, later he had played a large role in the dissolution of the National Commission, baseballs former body of authority, following a quarrel with Ban Johnson. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939, Comiskey died in Eagle River, Wisconsin in 1931. Comiskeys son J. Louis inherited the team but died a few years later, the trustees of his estate were going to sell the team, but J. Louis widow Grace was able to gain control of the team and avoid a sale
10.
Chicago White Sox
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The Chicago White Sox is an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League Central division. The White Sox play their games at Guaranteed Rate Field. They are one of two league clubs in Chicago, the other is the Chicago Cubs, who are a member of the National League Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf. One of the American Leagues eight charter franchises, the Chicago team was established as a major baseball club in 1900. The club was called the Chicago White Stockings, but this was soon shortened to Chicago White Sox. The team played games at South Side Park before, in 1910. The White Sox won the 1906 World Series with a team dubbed the Hitless Wonders, and the 1917 World Series led by Eddie Cicotte, Eddie Collins. The 1919 World Series was marred by the Black Sox Scandal, in response, Major League Baseballs new Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned the players from Major League Baseball for life. In 1959, led by Early Wynn, Nellie Fox, Luis Aparicio and manager Al Lopez and they won the AL pennant in 2005, and went on to win the World Series. The White Sox originated as the Sioux City Cornhuskers of the Western League, in 1894, Charles Comiskey bought the Cornhuskers and moved them to St. Paul, Minnesota, where they became the St. Paul Saints. In 1901, the Western League broke the National Agreement and became the new major league American League, the very first season in the American League ended with a White Stockings championship. However, that would be the end of the season as the World Series did not begin until 1903, the franchise, now known as the Chicago White Sox, made its first World Series appearance in 1906, beating the crosstown Cubs in six games. The White Sox would win a pennant and second World Series in 1917, beating the New York Giants in six games with help from stars Eddie Cicotte. The Sox were heavily favored in the 1919 World Series, huge bets on the Reds fueled speculation that the series had been fixed. This set the franchise back, as they did not win another pennant for 40 years. The White Sox did not finish in the half of the American League again until after club founder Charles Comiskey died and passed ownership of the club to his son
11.
Dubuque, Iowa
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Dubuque /dəˈbjuːk/ is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2013, its population was 58,253, making it the tenth-largest city in the state This city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin and it serves as the main commercial, industrial, educational, and cultural center for the area. Geographically, it is part of the Driftless Area, a portion of North America that escaped all three phases of the Wisconsinian Glaciation and it is one of the few large cities in Iowa with hills, and a tourist destination featuring the citys unique architecture and river location. It is home to five institutions of education, making it a center for culture. Dubuque has long been a center of manufacturing, but the economy grew rapidly, by 2005, the city led the state and the Midwest in job growth, ranking as the 22nd fastest-growing economy in the US. Alongside industry, the city has large health care, education, tourism, publishing, the first permanent settler in what is now Dubuque was Quebecois pioneer Julien Dubuque, who arrived in 1785. In 1788, he received permission from the Spanish government and the local Meskwaki of American Indians to mine the rich lead deposits. Control of Louisiana and Dubuques mines shifted briefly back to France in 1800, then to the United States in 1803, following the Louisiana Purchase. The Meskwaki continued to mine with full support of the U. S. Government until 1830, the current City of Dubuque was named after Julien Dubuque, settled at the southern end of a large flat plain adjacent to the Mississippi River. The city was chartered in 1833, located in unorganized territory of the United States. The region was designated as the Iowa Territory in 1838, and was included in the newly created State of Iowa in 1846, after the lead resources were exhausted, the city became home to numerous industries. Dubuque became a center for the industry because of its proximity to forests in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Also important were boat building, brewing, and later, the railroad industry, between 1860 and 1880, Dubuque was one of the 100 largest urban areas in the United States. Iowas first church was built by Methodists in 1834, since then, Iowans have followed a variety of religious traditions. Beginning in the century and into the early 20th century, thousands of poor German. The citys large Roman Catholic congregations led to its designation as the seat of the newly established Archdiocese of Dubuque, numerous convents, abbeys, and other religious institutions were built. The ethnic German and Irish descendants maintain a strong Catholic presence in the city, nicholas E. Gonner, a Catholic immigrant from Pfaffenthal in Luxembourg, founded the Catholic Publishing Company of Dubuque, Iowa. Early in the 20th century, Dubuque was one of sites of a brass era automobile company, in this case Adams-Farwell, like most others
12.
Cincinnati Reds
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The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. They were a member of the American Association in 1882. The Reds played in the NL West division from 1969 to 1993 and they have won five World Series titles, nine NL pennants, one AA pennant, and 10 division titles. The team plays its games at Great American Ball Park. Bob Castellini has been executive officer since 2006. The origins of the modern Cincinnati Reds can be traced to the expulsion of a team bearing that name. Both were important activities to entice the citys large German population, while Hulbert made clear his distaste for both beer and Sunday baseball at the founding of the league, neither practice was actually against league rules in those early years. On October 6,1880, however, seven of the eight team owners pledged at a league meeting to formally ban both beer and Sunday baseball at the regular league meeting that December. Only Cincinnati president W. H. Kennett refused to sign the pledge, when these attempts failed, he formed a new independent ballclub known as the Red Stockings in the Spring of 1881, and brought the team to St. Louis for a weekend exhibition. The Reds first game was a 12–3 victory over the St. Louis club, upon arriving in the city, however, Caylor and Thorner discovered that no other owners had decided to accept the invitation, with even Phillips not bothering to attend his own meeting. By chance, the duo met a former pitcher named Al Pratt, the ploy worked, and the American Association was officially formed at the Hotel Gibson in Cincinnati with the new Reds a charter member with Thorner as president. The club never placed higher than second or lower than fifth for the rest of its tenure in the American Association, the National League was happy to accept the teams in part due to the emergence of the new Players League. This new league, a failed attempt to break the reserve clause in baseball. Because the National League decided to expand while the American Association was weakening and it was also at this time that the team first shortened their name from Red Stockings to Reds. The Reds wandered through the 1890s signing local stars and aging veterans, during this time, the team never finished above third place and never closer than 10½ games. At the start of the 20th century, the Reds had hitting stars Sam Crawford, seymours.377 average in 1905 was the first individual batting crown won by a Red. In 1911, Bob Bescher stole 81 bases, which is still a team record, like the previous decade, the 1900s were not kind to the Reds, as much of the decade was spent in the leagues second division
13.
Road (sports)
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A road game or away game is a sports game where the specified team is not the host and must travel to another venue. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions, each team has a location where it practices during the season and where it hosts games. When a team is not the host, it must travel to games. Thus, when a team is not hosting a game, the team is described as the team, the visiting team, or the away team. The venue in which the game is played is described as the stadium or the road. The host team is said to be the home team, major sporting events, if not held at a neutral venue, are often over several legs at each teams home ground, so that neither team has an advantage over the other. Occasionally, the team may not have to travel very far at all to a road game. These matches often become local derbies, a few times a year, a road team may even be lucky enough to have the road game played at their own home stadium or arena. This is prevalent in college athletics where many schools will play in regional leagues or groundshare. The related term true road game has seen increasing use in U. S. college sports in the 21st century, while regular-season tournaments and other special events have been part of college sports from their creation, the 21st century has seen a proliferation of such events. These are typically held at sites, with some of them taking place outside the contiguous U. S. or even outside the country entirely. In turn, this has led to the use of true road game to refer to contests played at one home venue. In some association football leagues, particularly in Europe, the teams fans sit in their own section. Depending on the stadium, they will either sit in a designated section or be separated from the home fans by a cordon of police officers. However, in the leagues in England, supporters may be free to mix. When games are played at a site, for instance the FA Cup final in England which is always played at Wembley Stadium. This results in each team occupying one half of the stadium and this is different from other sports, particularly in North America, where very few fans travel to games played away from their home stadium. Home and away fans are not separated at these games
14.
Jumbo McGinnis
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George Washington Jumbo McGinnis was a Major League Baseball pitcher from 1882 to 1887. McGinnis started his career with the St. Louis Brown Stockings of the American Association and was one of their top pitchers, from 1882 to 1884, he pitched over 300 innings and won over 20 games each year. He later played for the Baltimore Orioles and the Cincinnati Red Stockings and he died at the age of 80. List of St. Louis Cardinals team records Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
15.
Eddie Fusselback
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Edward L. Fusselback, was a professional baseball player who played pitcher and catcher in the Major Leagues from 1882 to 1888. He would play for the St. Louis Browns, Baltimore Monumentals, Philadelphia Athletics, Fusselback was the only player in the American Association to record a save in 1882. Fusselback died after shooting himself, three weeks after his brother, William D. Fusselback, Jr. killed himself, list of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
16.
Sleeper Sullivan
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Thomas Jefferson Sullivan was a catcher in Major League Baseball. Sullivan stood at 57 and weighed 175 lb. Sullivan was born in Ireland in 1859 and was raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He started his baseball career in 1877, when he played for two teams, the New England Leagues Lowell Ladies Men and the League Alliances Evansville Red. Sullivan then moved to the International Association in 1878 and the Northwestern League in 1879, in 1881, Sullivan joined the National Leagues Buffalo Bisons and made his major league debut on May 3. Sullivan was the Bisons second-string catcher, in 35 games, he batted.190 with 15 runs batted in. After the season, Sullivan jumped to the American Associations St. Louis Brown Stockings and he was the teams starting catcher in 1882, playing in 51 games, but he had the lowest batting average and OPS+ of the teams regulars. He also ranked second in the league in passed balls, with 97, the following season, Sullivan played eight games for St. Louis and one game for the Louisville Eclipse, with a batting average of.207. In 1884, he played two games for the Union Associations St. Louis Maroons, Sullivan last appeared in a major league game on May 29 of that year. By 1886, Sullivan had moved back to the part of the country. His primary position for Danbury and Reading was shortstop, Sullivan played in the Atlantic Association in 1889 and 1890 and in the New England League in 1891. His last stop would be the Eastern League in 1892 before ending his baseball career. Sullivan earned the nickname Sleeper because of his unfamiliarity with Pullman sleeper cars in an era when baseball teams traveled by train and he died in St. Louis in 1909 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Sleeper Sullivan at Find a Grave
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Bill Gleason
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William G. Bill Gleason was a shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1882 through 1889 for three different teams of the American Association. Listed at 5 ft 8 in,170 lb. Gleason batted and he was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His older brother, Jack Gleason, was also a ballplayer, Gleason entered the majors in 1882 with the St. Louis Browns, playing for them six years before joining the Philadelphia Athletics and Louisville Colonels. His most productive came in 1887, when he posted career numbers in batting average, runs, hits. A member of three St. Louis champion teams from 1885 to 1887, in 1883 and 1885 he led the league in games played. In an eight-season career, Gleason was a.267 hitter with seven runs and 298 RBI in 798 games, including 613 runs,111 doubles. Incomplete data shows him stealing 70 bases and getting hit by 52 pitches, Gleason died in his native St. Louis at the age of 73. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Bill Gleason at Find a Grave
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Jack Gleason
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John Day Jack Gleason was a 19th-century professional baseball player who primarily played third base. His younger brother, Bill Gleason, also was a ballplayer, Gleason appeared in one game for the St. Louis Brown Stockings of the National League in 1877, that teams last season. He then played in the American Association for the St. Louis Browns in 1882 and the beginning of 1883, from 1884–1885 Gleason played for the St. Louis Maroons during their only season in the Union Association and their first in the National League. He played his last season in 1886 for the Philadelphia Athletics back in the American Association and he later managed the San Francisco club in the Pacific Coast League in 1906,1907 and 1909. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
19.
Charlie Morton (baseball, born 1854)
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Charles Hazen Charlie Morton was an American Major League Baseball outfielder, manager, and League executive. As a manager, he led a team members included the first African-American players in Major League history. After retiring from the leagues, Morton served intermittently as an official. Morton played for, and managed in, the American Association, with the Toledo Blue Stockings in 1884 and he played one season prior to managing,1882, and managed the 1890 Toledo Maumees after his playing career was over. He compiled a career record of 121 wins and 153 losses. He was the manager for the 1884 Toledo Blue Stockings, who had transferred into the American Association from the Northwestern League after the 1883 season. It was this team that included Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother Welday Walker, on August 10,1883 before a scheduled exhibition game, Cap Anson and his Chicago White Stockings had told Morton that his team would not play on the same field as the Walker brothers. Even though he had initially given Walker the day off due to injuries and he did this to force Anson to either play or lose his portion of the gate receipts. Anson decided to play that day, but when Chicago came to town the following year, after his playing career, Morton spent much of his time as an executive, most notably as the founder and president of the Ohio–Pennsylvania League during its existence from 1905 through 1912. By the end of its lifespan, the league had enlisted the membership of no less than 40 ball clubs based in over 20 cities. Morton also served as an official, umpiring a number of games during the 1886 season and he died in Massillon, Ohio at the age of 67, and was buried at Glendale Cemetery in Akron, Ohio. List of Major League Baseball player–managers Career statistics at Retrosheet
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Baseball positions
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Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each, who take turns batting and fielding. A run is scored when a player advances around the bases, Players on the batting team take turns hitting against the pitcher of the fielding team, which tries to prevent runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways. A player on the team who reaches a base safely can later attempt to advance to subsequent bases during teammates turns batting. The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the team records three outs. One turn batting for both teams, beginning with the team, constitutes an inning. A game is composed of nine innings, and the team with the number of runs at the end of the game wins. Baseball has no clock, although almost all games end in the ninth inning. Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century and this game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. By the late 19th century, baseball was widely recognized as the sport of the United States. Baseball is now popular in North America and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, in the United States and Canada, professional Major League Baseball teams are divided into the National League and American League, each with three divisions, East, West, and Central. The major league champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series, the top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League. The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games is difficult to trace with precision, a French manuscript from 1344 contains an illustration of clerics playing a game, possibly la soule, with similarities to baseball. Other old French games such as thèque, la balle au bâton, consensus once held that todays baseball is a North American development from the older game rounders, popular in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It, A Search for the Roots of the Game, by David Block, suggests that the game originated in England, recently uncovered historical evidence supports this position. Block argues that rounders and early baseball were actually regional variants of other. It has long believed that cricket also descended from such games. The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, David Block discovered that the first recorded game of Bass-Ball took place in 1749 in Surrey, and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. William Bray, an English lawyer, recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford and this early form of the game was apparently brought to Canada by English immigrants
