A spirited game of base ball was played yesterday on the grounds of the Baltic club, between the Peerless and the Atlantic clubs, in which the Peerless were the victors, the score being 33 to 24.
-Missouri Republican, June 6, 1870
There's nothing in the Republican regarding St. Louis clubs following the visit by the Chicagos until this squib in early June. However, Tobias does mention a few other games during that period, specifically a match between the Lone Stars and the St. Louis Club on May 1, a match between the Aetnas and the Atlantics on May 22, and a match between the Aetnas and the Unions on May 26. So we know that there was baseball being played in St. Louis during May of 1870 but, for some reason, the Republican was not covering it.
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The result of the game between the light and heavy weights last Saturday, having proven unsatisfactory to the latter, they have challenged the "shrimps" for another contest, which was promptly accepted, by naming next Tuesday afternoon for the meeting... At long last, here we are at the end of the 1868 season. I didn't see any mention of the muffin rematch in the Republican, although I didn't look real hard for it.
I have one more thing I want to post from the 1868 season tomorrow and then we'll move on to something else. This new feature in the exhibition, which has caused such universal commendation and given rise to a spirited rivalry among our crack clubs, was inaugurated yesterday under flattering auspices. The committee appointed by the Association, consisting of Col. A.R. Easton, and Messrs. John Young, H.G. Smith, Walter Carr and W.B. Edgar, have spared no pains in arranging the preliminaries, and at 10 o'clock yesterday morning a large crowd were in attendance to witness the contest between the Aetna and Dirigo clubs. The game was intensely exciting, and resulted in the defeat of the Dirigio, by the following score: Aetna, 40; Dirigo, 29. J.H. Smith acted as Umpire. Back to the 1868 season.
When I read this article, I was surprised to see that the Empires got knocked out of the tournament by the Resolutes. Maybe I shouldn't have been. Maybe the club didn't place much importance upon the game and was looking forward to the resumption of their championship series against the Unions. Maybe they didn't put their best nine on the field. Who knows? The Base Ball Tournament during the week of the great exhibition is expected to be an interesting affair. Several good clubs from abroad have given assurances of their purpose to be here. The committee has arranged the order of the playing and have named the Dirigo vs. Etna to begin the games on the morning of the first day. On Monday evening, the Empires vs. Resolute; Tuesday, A.M., Olympic, of Carondelet, vs. Atlantic; Tuesday, P.M., Union, Jr., vs. St. Louis; Wednesday, A.M., the winning club of Monday A.M., vs. the winning club of Tuesday A.M.; Wednesday, P.M., Excelsior, of Chicago, vs. the Unions; Thursday, A.M., winning club of Wednesday, A.M., vs. winning club of Thursday, P.M. Thursday, P.M., winning club of Monday, P.M., vs winning club of Wednesday P.M.; Friday, the winning club of Thursday. The games will commence at 10 o'clock A.M. and 2 o'clock P.M., each day, and any club failing to appear at the time designated the club on the ground will be declared the winning club. I had to read that first paragraph a couple of times and still couldn't make sense out of the tournament schedule. It's transcribed exactly as it appeared in the Republican but the whole thing gets a bit confused when they start trying to explain the Thursday schedule. Not a big deal but let's just note that the paper probably messed things up.
The note about New York clubs playing in the tournament if they had gotten more notice is unrealistic and shows some ignorance of how these clubs scheduled games. They would have needed several weeks notice and certain assurances regarding the amount of money they would receive. Even with that, it's unlikely they would have made the long trip to St. Louis just to play a couple of games. The only reason the big Eastern clubs came to St. Louis during this era was because they were on long, multi-city tours that featured ten to twenty stops and twenty to forty games. They weren't coming to St. Louis just for a tournament. That's not the way things worked in 1868. A State Junior Base Ball Association has been formed, which appears likely to become a strong organization. The Convention at which the organization was effected was well attended, there being the following delegates from the following clubs: I think this a great example of what I was talking about yesterday. There were a lot of clubs in St. Louis and a lot of games being played that weren't being covered in the press. The game was very healthy and rather popular in the city in 1868 and I think the formation of an association of junior clubs is proof of that.
The game played last Sunday between the Resolute and St. Louis Base Ball Clubs, for a silver ball, offered by Mr. Solari, of St. Louis Base Ball Park, was won by the Resolutes. Score, 33 to 22. It's great to find some information about baseball in St. Louis in 1868 that doesn't involve the Unions or the Empires. Baseball in the city at this time was more than just those two clubs or just the clubs that were members of the state association. I understand that those were the big clubs, they played the big games, drew the big crowds, and it was natural to focus coverage on them. But I love to find stuff about the smaller clubs because it gives us a fuller picture of what was happening in St. Louis during the period. The game was popular and there were clubs like the Stonewalls and the Adventures playing all of the time. Their games just generally weren't covered during this period and that's kind of a shame.
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