Full Description
This book completes the series of histories of the clubs and players responsible for making baseball the national pastime that began with Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870 (McFarland 2011). Forty clubs and hundreds of pioneer players from the first hotbeds of New York City, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts are profiled by leading experts on baseball's early years. The subjects include legendary clubs such as the Knickerbockers of New York, the Eckfords and Atlantics of Brooklyn, the Athletics of Philadelphia, and Harvard's first baseball clubs, and fabled players like Jim Creighton, Dickey Pearce, and Daniel Adams, but space is also given to less well remembered clubs such as the Champion Club of Jersey City and the Cummaquids of Barnstable, Massachusetts. What united all of these founders of the game was that their love of baseball during its earliest years helped to make it the national pastime.
Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction (William J. Ryczek)
Timeline of the Pioneer Era (Robert Tholkes)
Note on Sources and Usage (Peter Morris)
Chapter One: New York City and Vicinity E
Introduction (William J. Ryczek)
Knickerbocker Base Ball Club (John Thorn, William J. Ryczek and Peter Morris)
New York Base Ball Club (a.k.a. Washington BBC, Gotham BBC) (John Thorn)
Magnolia Base Ball Club (John Thorn)
Active Base Ball Club (Gregory Christiano)
Eagle Base Ball Club (Gregory Christiano)
Empire Base Ball Club (Gregory Christiano)
Mutual Base Ball Club (William J. Ryczek)
Union Base Ball Club of Morrisania (Aaron W. Miller)
Chapter Two: Brooklyn E
Introduction (Peter Morris)
Excelsior Base Ball Club (William J. Ryczek and Peter Morris)
Putnam Base Ball Club (William J. Ryczek)
Atlantic Base Ball Club (Craig B. Waff and William J. Ryczek)
Pastime Base Ball Club (Peter Morris)
Star Base Ball Club (Craig B. Waff, William J. Ryczek and Peter Morris)
Eckford Base Ball Club (William J. Ryczek and Peter Morris)
Contest Base Ball Club (Peter Morris)
Chapter Three: New Jersey E
Introduction (John G. Zinn)
Pioneer Base Ball Club of Jersey City (John G. Zinn)
Excelsior Base Ball Club of Jersey City (John G. Zinn)
Liberty Base Ball Club of New Brunswick (John G. Zinn)
Nassau Base Ball Club of Princeton (John G. Zinn)
Eureka Base Ball Club of Newark (John G. Zinn)
Irvington Base Ball Club (John G. Zinn)
Olympic Base Ball Club of Paterson (John G. Zinn)
Champion Base Ball Club of Jersey City (John G. Zinn)
Chapter Four: Philadelphia E
Introduction (John Shiffert)
Olympic Base Ball Club (Richard Hershberger)
Athletic Base Ball Club (Richard Hershberger)
Equity Base Ball Club (Peter Morris)
Keystone Base Ball Club (Peter Morris)
Pythian Base Ball Club (Jared Wheeler)
Chester Base Ball Club (Peter Morris)
Marion Base Ball Club (Richard Hershberger)
Chapter Five: Massachusetts E
Introduction (Peter Morris)
Lowell Base Ball Club (Benjamin Dettmar)
Pioneer Base Ball Club of Springfield (Peter Morris)
Lawrence Base Ball Club of Harvard (Peter Morris)
Harvard Class of '66 Base Ball Club (Peter Morris)
Eagle Base Ball Club of Florence (Brian Turner and John S. Bowman)
Lightfoot Base Ball Club of North Brookfield (Peter Morris)
Chemung Base Ball Club of Stoughton (Peter Morris)
Kearsarge Base Ball Club of Stoneham (Peter Morris)
Clipper Base Ball Club of Lowell (Peter Morris)
Cummaquid Base Ball Club of Barnstable (Peter Morris)
General Bibliography
About the Contributors
Index
