George Wright leaves the Boston Red Caps for Providence, Rhode Island (1879)

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1879, Boston Red Caps, George Wright, Harry Wright, Jim O'Rourke, Lew Brown, Providence

So, Harry and George Wright parted ways from the Red Caps in 1879. Providence, Rhode Island was eager. They were hungry. They decided they could dethrone Boston from the top of the National League.

How could they do it? They decided to raid their “neighbor’s kitchen”. They decided to split up the Wright brothers.

George Wright was the younger of the two but very talented. He was very popular in Boston. The fans nicknamed him “Our George”. Like most players, he had a price as well as an ego. Providence figured out they could take advantage of that. They wanted to win the pennant.

Providence approach George and he decided to listen. So he bolted for Rhode Island. He didn’t go alone though. He took Jim O’Rourke with him. Jim was Boston’s best hitter.

He also persuaded Lew Brown, a great catcher and outfielder to go as well.

Why did O’Rourke go? He was in a feud with management. He became one of the games first hold outs. He refused to sign a contract. This is how bad it was then for players. He objected to paying $20 a year for the uniform and 50 cents a day for travel expenses. Both sides were suborn and wouldn’t budge. The fans took up a collection to pay for it. O’Rourke left anyway.

The fans were outraged. Who could blame them? They lost three of their best players. And they lost them to an upstart like Providence.

What happened as a result? Providence won the pennant! The Braves ended the season second with a 54-30 record and 5 games behind.

George Wright

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First 4th of July game played in 1871 – Guest blog by Keith Spalding Robbins

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1871, Al Spalding, Andy Leonard, Cal McVey, Ft. Bragg, George Wright, July 4, Keith Robbins, Ross Barnes

Boston Red Stockings

As we know, the Braves are the World’s Oldest Continuous professional franchise, so it was fitting that the team played an Independence Day holiday game at Ft. Bragg. Yet this was nothing new for the team, for they might have played in the first 4^th of July Holiday game in organized baseball as well.

After the Old Reds collapsed the team’s players moved to two teams, the defunct Washington Olympics, an existing National Association team, and other players went on to form the Original Red [Stockings] Sox of Boston.

The games in question were a two day event played on the 3^rd and then the 4^th in back Cincinnati as a Holiday event game. It was billed as a reunion game for the “Old Reds” vs a hybrid team comprised of players two National Association clubs, who were not Reds.

The Old Reds team that took the field was neither an old timers team as many players were still active, although some players were no longer in baseball; nor quite an All Star team, as many who took the field that day would be considered All-Stars by current standards. [Andy Leonard, Ross Barnes, AG Spalding, Cal McVey, Harry Wright, Asa Brainard, Harry Schaffer…]

The New York Clipper of July 15, 1871 noted that the game was though entertaining, was not so skillfully played and ended in a 13 to 15 score with the Old Reds taking the loss. Given the lack of losses by the Old Reds, the fans were rather shocked with end result. Reds fans could take solace that if Hall of Fame Shortstop George Wright had played the Old Reds would have won. For those who bet on the Reds only to win would have found themselves on the list of delinquent accounts.

One of the former Reds who was now the star Washington pitcher was Asa Brainard, whose name is the traditional baseball lexicon rational for why we call the best pitcher the “Ace.”

On the fourth the two teams recombined and played another game in front of a full house of adoring baseball fans some 5000 fans including many ladies. Called the “sugar” game, it was played on a cool and breezy summer day. Behind the pitching of baseball’s new ace [AG Spalding] who outpitched baseball’s original ace [Asa Brainard], the final result was 7 to 3. “Braves win, Braves win, Braves win…” as Chip Carey used to say on TBS summers ago. The Clipper noted that the pitching on both sides was good, the catching was simply superb, the fielding was excellent, and the umpiring was of a model description, strict, impartial, and displaying sound judgement.

Thus we can say on games played to honor America and its independence the best baseball team to call on are the baseball’s oldest nine, the team we call the Braves.

 

 

The four seceders – 140 years later – Guest blog article by Keith Spalding Robbins

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1876, 1896, Al Spalding, April 13, Boston Red Caps, February 2, George Wright, Harry Wright, Keith Robbins, Ross Barnes, Rule 21, Will Hulbert

Guest blog article by Keith Spalding Robbins

Al Spalding

While for the Original Boston Red Stockings fan the players as “The Seceders,” little is known why they left.  In leaving the Old National Association the National League was created. And now as spring of 2106 approaches, the MLB will enter its 140^th season with only the Braves and Cubs as its continuous member clubs.  Thus Major League Baseball is the oldest and longest continual professional sports league on the Planet.

What is not mentioned in the 1 November 2015 posting on “The Seceders” is the core reason for the need of the National League to replace the National Association. This fundamental principle is one rule that is still in part of the game of today.  The answer can be found in a speech given on Harry Wright Day (April 13, 1896) at the 20^th Anniversary of the National League.  With George Wright in attendance this speech was given by one of the seeder’s himself, none other than AG Spalding himself.

The First Global Sports Franchise – Guest blog article by Keith Spalding Robbins

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1874, Al Spalding, Andy Leonard, Boston Red Stockings, Deacon White, George Wright, Harry Wright

The First Global Sports Franchise – Guest blog article by Keith Robbins

Al Spalding

With the MLB Stars venturing to Cuba this week for a long awaited Goodwill Tour, baseball shows itself as not just the National Pastime, but as “The World’s Favorite Pastime.”

The Braves lead the International charge for Baseball, both at the team level and at an individual fan level, and with typical Braves flair these international efforts were both an utter failure and glorious success.

Lets first take a look at the teams’ failure. When one goes online looking at the Braves 1874 Championship season, there is a curious gap of no games played in the month of August. Was it a month-long rainout, a financial catastrophe, or something more sinister?

No, it was a month long International Baseball Road Trip. The Bostonians were on the other side of “The Pond,” playing baseball and cricket in the United Kingdom. From July 30 to August 25 the Bostonians played 14 baseball exhibitions and seven cricket matches. The baseball games featured Bostonians of lore:  Deacon White, Ross Barnes, Cal McVey, AG Spalding, Andy Leonard,  George and Harry Wright and Harry “Silk Stockings” Shafer, Their baseball opponents were the old rivals – the Original Athletics of Philadelphia led by AJ Reach “Cap” Anson, and a young Thomas Murnane.

For the record, on the field the Bostonians were successful winning 8 of the 14 games played. On the cricket grounds, the combined team lead by the old Cricketers of the Wright brothers and AJ Reach. and went undefeated according the 1889 Spalidng Guide.

However, at the box office and in hearts of the British viewers, the trip was a total failure; as the 1889 Spalding Guide reported, “In fact, the Britishers did not take to the game kindly at all.”

Yet in baseball there is the other side of the box score, and in this the Braves are esponsible for an international baseball success.

The Braves are part of the foundation of Baseball becoming the National Pastime of Japan.

During the dynasty years of the Red Stockings, the Japanese baseball tradition begins with avid Japanese born Braves fan and railroad engineer Hiraoka Hiroshi. When he returned to Japan he brought with him  a love of the game and a set of baseball equipment. After business hours Hiroshi enthusiastically taught his fellow railroad staff the game and soon established the Shinbashi Athletic Club (SAC), the first private baseball club in Japan. As noted by Sayuri Guthrie-Shimizu in her book, “Transpacific Field of Dreams,” Hiroshi sent his favourite Boston baseball pitcher and now baseball equipment mogul a letter in in early 1884 bemoaning the sacristy of baseball equipment in Japan. Soon before the start of the 1884 baseball practices in Japan, the SAC received a gift box worth $500 to $600 in 1880s dollars worth of baseballs, bats, gloves, and catchers masks. (in 1880, $500 dollars could buy you a nice house in Boston). Along with this care package a hopeful letter that baseball in Japan would “rise like the sun.”

Thus we can glean three International strikes from the history of  Braves Baseball:

1. Why did AG Spalding and World Baseball Tourists not go to Japan in 1888-89? Because baseball was already there courtesy of the Original Red Stockings and the first Japanese super fan Hiraoka Hiroshi.
2. Feeling sad that an Asian born player scored the winning run or pitched a shutout against your hometown favorite Braves? Take heart and show respect to that player for it was the Braves that played a significant role in bringing baseball to Asia over a century ago.
3. The next time you hear baseball referred to as the National Pastime, say its a myth, Baseball is the actually “The World’s Favorite Pastime;” and, it was the Braves that played a vital role in beginning baseball’s international Goodwill mission.

Sources:

N/A (2012-05-12). Spalding’s Baseball Guide and Official League Book for 1889 (Kindle Locations 1713-1780).  Kindle Edition.

Guthurie-Shimizu, Sayuri, Transpacific Field of Dreams: How Baseball Liked the United States and Japan in Peace and War. University of North Carolina Press, 2012. pp 20-31.

Aliens, Old Timers, Magnates, and “the Gun.” (June 21, 1897) – Guest blog by Keith Robbins

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1897, Al Spalding, Andy Leonard, Boston Beaneaters, George Wright, Jack Manning, John Morrill, June 21, Old Timers, Pitching Gun, Tommy Bond

Guest blog article by Keith Robbins

Box Score June 21 1897

This day in Braves history is a day of baseball superlatives of the intercontinental and scientific type. It was the unequivocally the most unique game ever played was seen by a countless number of fans at the old baseball grounds. (Box score courtesy of Sporting Life, Volume 29, Number 14.)

As for Aliens, we look to the IRS definition of the term, in which we in today’s terminology would classify the Braves opponent that day as a non-resident aliens: the Australian Baseball Tourists of 1897.

As for the Old Timers, the box score shows many of the best of the 19^th Century Braves. While all baseball fans know of George Wright, and AG Spalding, and former Braves players Tommy Bond, Jack Manning and Harry “Silk Stockings” Schafer and Andy Leonard were once household names.  Others were not, such as Harry Ayer who remains unknown to baseball-reference.com to this day, and others lost to history, such as the third Wright Brother of baseball, Sam Wright, a career .168 average no doubt helps.

As for the Magnates, the superlatives associated with this game continue beyond the players. The official scorer was the inventor of the Box Score, Hall of Famer Henry Chadwick. The umpires were team owners: the infamous magnate. Tammany Hall operative and team wrecker of the Orioles and Giants, Andrew Freedman, and former Braves owner George Appleton who called the bases.  What would be today’s equivalent? The Boss behind the plate, Ted Turner calling the bases?

Pitching Gun

As for “the Gun,” this game was a live test of a horribly bad experimental piece baseball equipment known as either Prof. Hinton’s Pitching Cannon or the Princeton Pitching Gun.  It was developed by Oxford educated and Princeton Mathematics and baseball fan, Professor Charles W. Hinton. This contraption was part cannon, part rifle, electric battery, and thoroughly and completely terrifying. Powered by a .38 caliber cartridge, it shot baseballs in the general direction of helmetless batsmen. The muzzle length was adjustable, allowing for fast balls or change ups, and the ball could be made to curve, drop or slide by adjusting its “leather” fingers.

The box score indicates that one major issue was control, as “the Gun” was credited for one wild pitch, and one walk, and allowed four runs in two innings of game finishing relief work.  We also have three passed balls by a typically sure handed Honest John Morrill.

The 1897 Australian baseball tourist team had more courage than baseball skills.  The team was oversold by their manager and promoter as being “cleaver batsman” and “play excellent ball” as noted by the San Francisco Call, but in fact, some of the players did not know how to wear a baseball glove nor how to field. They were mercilessly ridiculed by the American media wherever they played and yet were supported by baseball’s leadership in arranging games, finding viable competition, and offering generous hospitality, in the form of free tickets and after game banquets to honor the foreign baseball tourists. The Spalding Guide of 1898 graciously described the baseball tourists from down under as having much to learn, and were “simply not in it.”

These old Red Stockings – Beaneaters were exemplary nineteenth century gentlemen of the highest order, as their ten recorded errors enabled a 27-13 Aussie Victory. It was one of just a handful for the tourists.  Nevertheless, the Sydney Morning Herald called the trip “A Total Failure” and this day has been lost and forgotten. Australian baseball is still recovering from the aftershocks of the trip.

While taking the field armed with pitching cannon, might redefine the term international friendly; due to their generosity and hospitality, both on the field and off, these old Braves understood the game of international baseball.

The Decline and the “reserve clause” (1879)

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1879, Boston Red Caps, December 6, George Wright, Harry Wright, Reserve Clause

Harry Wright – Boston Red Caps – 1879

Harry Wright, the Braves manager (then known as the Red Stockings and Red Caps) had a stunning run of success. Four straight National Association pennants from 1872-75. Then the National League formed and he won the first 2 out of 3 championships. Quite a run for sure.

Then in 1879 things began to go south for him and the Boston Red Caps. But it didn’t only affect him. It affected major league baseball for a long time to come. It was the year the “reserve clause” was created due to problems created by Harry and his brother’s George problems.

The Reserve Clause’s inception was in 1879, when it was proposed as an unofficial rule known as “the Five Man Rule.” It would allow teams to reserve players for each season, unless a player opted out of his contract and did not play in the league for a year. While the rule was not secret, teams started to sign other teams’ “reserved players,” thus encroaching the rule. These controversies caused the National League to instate the rule officially on December 6, 1879

And so, in 1879 the Braves, under Harry Wright, ended up 54-30 in second place, 5 games behind the champions.

Moving your brother around (1878)

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1878, Boston Red Caps, Double Play, ERA, Ezra Sutton, George Wright, Hall of Fame, Harry Wright

Harry Wright – Boston Red Cap manager

Imagine your brother being the manager? Well, Harry Wright managed his brother George for the Boston Red Caps (now known as the Atlanta Braves) in 1878. He decided to move him back to short stop from second base. He moved Ezra Sutton from short to third base. The move paid off, as sometimes they do. George led the league in team fielding at .947 for the only time in his Hall of Fame career.

The Red Stockings led the league in double plays with 48. They also placed second in ERA with 2.32 to Cincinnati. Their move to end up in first was real. It was Harry’s third season and he would have his second championship in a row.

And he had his brother with him.

Not easy but you could see it coming (1879)

Tags

1879, George Wright, Providence

George Wright – Boston Red Stockings

You are the younger brother. Your older brother is very talented but so are you. You don’t want to be in his shadow. Pretty natural. So that was the case with George Wright. Very talented. No doubt about it. But it was hard for him. His older brother was in the lime light. 12 years his senior. He was the “Father of Professional Baseball”. What do you do?

Well, in 1879, after working side by side for a decade, you part ways and leave the team (the Boston Red Caps, now the Atlanta Braves) that you both play for. And it has some very far reaching and perhaps unexpected consequences. you leave Boston and head not to far away to Providence. Not easy but you could see it coming.

1871 Season Overview (Boston Red Stockings)

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1871, Al Spalding, Boston Red Stockings, Cal McVey, Charlie Gould, Dave Birdsall, Frank Barrows, Fred Cone, George Wright, Harry Schafer, Harry Wright, Ross Barnes, Sam Jackson

Imagine only playing 30 games. Compared to our 162 now it is hard to imagine. But that is what it came to in 1871 for the Boston Red Stockings.

We ended up in 2^nd place (tied with the Chicago White Stockings) behind the Philadelphia Athletics. This was the first year for the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players.

Source: Wikipedia

Here is what the roster looked like that year.

Pitchers

• Albert Spalding
• Harry Wright

Catchers

• Cal McVey

Infielders

• Ross Barnes
• Charlie Gould
• Sam Jackson
• Harry Schafer
• George Wright

Outfielders

• Frank Barrows
• Dave Birdsall
• Fred Cone
• Harry Wright

Manager

• Harry Wright

 

1876 Boston Red Caps

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1876, Andy Leonard, Bill Parks, Boston Red Caps, Dick McBride, Foghorn Bradley, Frank Whitney, George Wright, Harry Schafer, Harry Wright, Jack Manning, Jim O'Rouke, Joe Borden, John Morrill, Lew Brown, Sam Wright, South End Grounds, Tim McGinley, Tim Murnane, Tricky Nichols

Boston Red Caps 1876

1876 was the first season for the Braves (then known as the Boston Red Caps) when the National League was formed. While this was the first season for the National League, it was not the first season for the Braves.

They were a charter member of the National Association which had its first season in 1871. So the Red Caps had been playing together for 5 years already.  The team name was changed to the Boston Red Caps to avoid confusion with the new Cincinnati Red Stockings team. Some of the players from the previous year’s team defected to other ballclubs, so the team finished further down in the standings this season.

The Boston club was initially known as the Red Stockings, because four of its key players had come from the famous 1869-1870 barnstorming team known as the Cincinnati Red Stockings and took the nickname with them to Boston

They would have 39 wins and 31 loses (39-31 .557%) finishing 4th. They ended up 15 games behind Chicago who was the champion. They would score 471 runs and allow 450 runs. They were 19-17 at home and 20-14 on the road. As you can see, this was not a 162 game season.

Harry Wright was the manager and they played the season at South End Grounds I. The first South End Grounds was opened on May 16, 1871. The last game was played on September 10, 1887. The ballpark’s stands were demolished later that month to make way for a new structure.

Joe Borden – Pitched 29 games and played 16 in right field. At age 22, he had a 11-12 record with a 2.73 ERA. He pitched 218.1 innings giving up 51 walks with 51 walks.

Foghorn Bradley – Pitched 22 games and 4 at right field. At age 22, he had a 18-5 record with a 2.14 ERA.

Lew Brown – A right handed catcher with a .210 batting average. He was only 18 and the youngest player. He led the team with 6 triples and 2 home runs. Lew also struck out the most on the team with 22.

Andy Leonard – Second base and left field

Jack Manning – Pitched 34 games.

Dick McBride – Pitched 4 games and played 1 in right field.

Tim McGinley – Played 9 games catching and center field.

John Morrill – 23 games as catcher and 37 at second.

Tim Murnane – 69 games as first baseman who batted left and threw right. The only left handed batter on the team.

Tricky Nichols –  Pitched 1 game.

Jim O’Rourke – An eventual Hall of Famer with 60 games in left field and the team best 327 batting average. Jim had the most hits with 102. He had the second most doubles with 17. Jim led the with 43 RBI’s. 15 walks was the most on the team.

Bill Parks – Played 1 game as left fielder.

Harry Schafer – 70 games at third base

Frank Whitney – 24 games in left and 10 in right field.

George Wright – Eventual Hall of Famer with 68 games at short stop and the second best batting average at .299. In 70 games, he led the team with 72 runs scored. He also had the second most hits with 100. He led the team with 18 doubles. George tied Lew Brown with 6 triples.

Harry Wright – Eventual Hall of Famer and played 1 game as right fielder.

Sam Wright – Played 2 games as short stop.

A gutsy move by Harry Wright (1877)

Tags

1877, Ezra Sutton, George Wright, Harry Wright

English: Ezra Sutton, Boston Beaneaters, 3rd Base, 1879 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ezra Sutton started with the Braves (then known as the Boston Red Caps) in 1877. He came to the Braves from Philadelphia. Manager Harry Wright placed the infielder in the lineup as a shortstop. That was a gutsy move since his brother George was currently playing the position. He moved George to second base. It was the only year George would not play shortstop.

It paid off for Harry. Sutton drove in 39 runs that year. That was good enough for third in the league that year. The Braves ended up winning the pennant 7 games ahead.

$15,000 (1871)

Tags

1871, Boston Red Stockings, George Wright, Harry Wright, January 20, National Association

Ivers Whitney Adams knew a very good thing when he saw it. He was very interested in professional baseball. He had seen the Cincinnati Red Stockings and what professional players could do. Cincinnati had won the first 89 games they played. Imagine that!!!

So on January 20, 1871 he invested $15,000 to create the Boston Red Stockings (now the Atlanta Braves). They joined the National Association. Mr. Adams became the first President of the club. It started at Boston’s Parker House. Harry Wright and his younger brother George were at that meeting. They had played for Cincinnati. They would both play for Boston.

And so … it began. That is all it took.

They still play today. They are the Atlanta Braves.