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1870: Baseball Is Supposed To Be Fun

4/19/2016

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The base ball match played at Carondelet between the light and heavy weights was decided in favor of the latter.  Three innings were played, the score standing 27 for the heavy weights, and 18 for the light weights.

​-Missouri Repbulican, June 14, 1870

While the coverage in newspapers had, since the end of the Civil War, tended to focus on the best clubs and championship matches, it's important to remember that baseball was a game played by many, many people for fun.  It wasn't all professionals and tours and championships.  Sometimes it was just what used to be called a muffin game - a game played by not particularly good players who were out to have a good time.  I'm sure these games were played just about every day, just as they are now, and they weren't, for the most part, reported upon in the papers.  This is baseball at its purest and finest.  It's the way most baseball games were and are played.  Regardless of how the game is covered by the media, baseball is not just the Major Leagues.  When we talk about baseball, we talk about "play" and "games."  There's a reason for that and I think we tend to forget it.    
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1868: Box Scores From The Tournament

7/1/2015

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One of the features of the fair held last week under the auspices of the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Association was a ball tourney, for which liberal prizes were offered for competition by clubs from all sections.  Much disappointment, however, was experienced fro the fact that but two outside clubs entered, viz.: - the Excelsior, of Chicago, and the Olympic, of Carondelet, a circumstance which had the effect of detracting greatly from the interest evinced in the matches.

-New York Clipper, October 24, 1868
All of the box scores come from the same Clipper article as the above quote.  

And I didn't mention it before, when it was brought up in the Republican, but now that its been mentioned again, I have to address it.  I just love how they are counting the Olympics of Carondelet as an "outside" club.  Carondelet has been part of St. Louis since 1870 and, in 1868, it was just outside the city.  Technically, I guess you could say that the Olympics were not, in 1868, a St. Louis club but, if you said that, I'd be forced to call you pedantic.    
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St. Louis Baseball and the Civil War: On To 1864

9/4/2014

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Last Saturday the “Enterprise” Base Ball Club of this city, and the “Carondelet” Club of Carondelet, played a match game for a ball, in which the St. Louis boys came out “first best” by large odds, leaving the Carondelet players fairly behind, according to a report of the game which has been sent us by Master Plant, the Scorer for the “Enterprise.”  We learn, however, that the beaten party are not yet satisfied, and that another game is to be played to-day.

-Missouri Republican, April 9, 1864

We start our coverage of the 1864 St. Louis baseball season off with a bang and a reference that includes two new clubs: the Enterprise and the Carondelets.  We ended 1863 with two new clubs and begin 1864 with two new clubs.  That's just fantastic.  

I have to warn you, however, that I don't think this is emblematic of the Republican's 1864 baseball coverage because I don't see a lot of references to the game for that year.  I'm going to double check everything but I don't see a lot there and I don't think it's going to take very long to wrap up the 1864 season.       
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Enterprise versus Carondelet In 1864

8/12/2013

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Last Saturday the "Enterprise" Base Ball Club of this city, and the "Carondelet" Club of Carondelet, played a match game for a ball, in which the St. Louis boys came out "first best" by large odds, leaving the Carondelet players fairly behind, according to a report of the game which has been sent us by Master Plant, the Scorer for the "Enterprise."  We learn, however, that the beaten party are not yet satisfied, and that another game is to be played to-day.
-Missouri Republican, April 9, 1864
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