Brown, white
38-488: Brown Stockings may refer to various former baseball teams: St. Louis Brown Stockings , now St. Louis Cardinals Davenport Brown Stockings , now Quad Cities River Bandits Worcester Brown Stockings , a.k.a. Worcester Worcesters Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Brown Stockings . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
76-546: A fast trotting horse named "Clarence" in a 100-yard sprint at Baltimore's Newington Park , and won by four yards with a time of 10 seconds flat, earning $ 250 ($ 6,400 today). Baltimore went bankrupt after the season, so Pike headed off to captain the Hartford Dark Blues for the 1874 season. The Dark Blues were a poor team, but Pike had another fine season, slugging .574 to lead the league, and coming in 2nd with an on-base percentage of .368. Pike abandoned
114-573: A hearing was set up by the sport's governing body, the National Association of Base Ball Players . In the end, no one showed up to the hearing, and the matter was dropped. By 1869 , the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first openly professional team, and Pike's hearing, farcical as it seems to have been, paved the way for Harry Wright 's professionalization of baseball. The Athletics were very successful, but Pike
152-517: A new league that could rival, and compete, with the National League. Further, the parties involved chiefly represented cities the NL had excluded. NL-imposed restrictions upon Sunday play and alcohol consumption at their parks was prohibitive to the very means these owners made their fortune. Ultimately, owners of the expansion teams announced the establishment of a new all-professional league called
190-550: A professional baseball club based in St. Louis , Missouri , from 1875 to 1877, which competed on the cusps of the existences of two all-professional leagues—the National Association (NA) and the National League (NL). 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 game-fixing scandal involving two players
228-435: A profit, leading to play again the following two years. The Brown Stockings regained some of their former success—enough of it that, despite the recent scandal, fans of the team seemed to exhibit a short memory and began to show interest in recreating another professional St. Louis baseball team. In 1881, when German immigrant Chris von der Ahe —owner of a grocery store and saloon who was initially ignorant about baseball—saw
266-478: A semi-professional basis from 1878 to 1881. Despite the team disbanding after the 1877 season, five members of that team – second baseman / manager Mike McGeary , outfielder Ned Cuthbert , shortstop Dickey Pearce , third baseman Joe Battin and pitcher Joe Blong all comprised a team, also called the Brown Stockings, to informally play in 1878. However, at this time, popularity for baseball
304-490: A single extra base hit in 18 at-bats over 5 games. His play was so poor as to arouse suspicions, and Pike found himself banned from the National League that September. He was added to the National League blacklist in 1881. He turned to haberdashery , the vocation of his father, and spent another 6 years playing only amateur baseball. He was reinstated in 1883. In 1887, the New York Metropolitans of
342-647: Is credited with leading the league in ERA (1.16) despite pitching just 62 innings , a very small total compared to the league leader in innings pitched ( Al Spalding with 570.2). The Brown Stockings finished 39–29 and in fourth place in their only season in the NA. Like the White Stockings in Chicago (established 1871 ), the Brown Stockings adopted uniforms and acquired a nickname by descent with variation from
380-441: The 1877 season. The Reds finished last. Pike was still a top-quality player, leading the league in home runs for the 4th time in the 1870s. However, age was starting to catch up with the 32-year-old Pike. He began the season as the 8th-oldest player in the league, and was the 4th-oldest player of the 1878 season. The 1878 Reds played very well, though. They finished 2nd, but Pike was replaced by Buttercup Dickerson halfway through
418-760: The American Association from the Hotel Gibson in Cincinnati on November 2, 1881. With that act, the St. Louis newspapers lauded Von der Ahe for resurrecting a "corpse" and transforming it "into the liveliest being imaginable." Lip Pike Lipman Emanuel "Lip" Pike (May 25, 1845 – October 10, 1893) the " Iron Batter ", was an American star of 19th-century baseball in the United States . His brother, Israel Pike , played briefly for
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#1732772673419456-418: The American Association gave Pike another chance. At 42, he was the oldest player in baseball. The only game he played was more of a sending off than a new start, though, and Pike headed back to his haberdashery once more. Pike died suddenly of heart disease at the age of 48 in 1893. The Brooklyn Eagle reported that "Many wealthy Hebrews and men high in political and old time baseball circles attended
494-506: The Baltimore Canaries . Pike had another excellent season, leading the league in home runs again (with 6), RBIs (60), and games (56), and coming in 2nd in total bases (127) and extra base hits (26), 3rd in at bats (288), 5th in doubles (15) and triples (5), 9th in slugging percentage (.441) and stolen bases (8), and 10th in hits (84). In 1873 , Pike led the league in home runs for the 3rd consecutive season, hitting 4, and
532-631: The Hartford Dark Blues during the 1877 season. Pike was one of professional baseball's first great sluggers, leading early professional leagues in home runs four times. Pike possessed "great speed, a powerful, if erratic, throwing arm, and enormous power." Pike was also the first Jewish baseball star and manager in America. Pike was Jewish and was born in New York into a Jewish Dutch family, and grew up in Brooklyn . His father Emanuel
570-623: The National League replaced the National Association, Pike stuck with St. Louis. The Brown Stockings turned in a very good season, finishing a solid 2nd to the Chicago White Stockings . Pike continued to produce offensively, notching totals of 133 total bases (5th in the league) and 34 extra-base hits (2nd). Seemingly never content to stay with a team very long, Pike headed to the Cincinnati Reds for
608-730: The Philadelphia Athletics , the Akrons, and the Louisville Eclipse . The club also continued to prosper at the gate. An evolving baseball renaissance that flourished in St. Louis coincided (and possibly spilled over into) the rising enthusiasm of beer magnates over baseball in five other major cities—Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Pittsburgh. Proprietors who saw the Brown Stockings' unprecedented success and profitability after disenfranchisement began spirited dialogue with Von der Ahe about constructing
646-538: The Atlantics, with Pike manning second base , finally ended Cincinnati's 93-game winning streak. In 1871 , the National Association was formed as the first professional baseball league, and Pike joined the Troy Haymakers for its inaugural season. He was their star and for 4 games was the captain and manager , batting .377 (6th best in the league) and hitting a league-leading 4 home runs. He also led
684-436: 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 former club continued to play the following year, though not now bound to any league. They played whomever they could, wherever they could, and still managed to draw crowds and make
722-530: The Brown Stockings slipped to 28–32 in 1877. The team signed stars Jim Devlin and George Hall from the Louisville Grays , only to become embroiled in a game-fixing scandal that resulted in the permanent expulsion of Devlin and Hall (and two other Grays players) from the league. 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
760-448: The Brown Stockings were the first of two teams to represent St. Louis in a professional baseball association in 1875 (Spink 1911). Grand Avenue Grounds – the Brown Stockings' home field – was later the site of Sportsman's Park . Outfielder Lip Pike , the previous three-time home run champion in the NA ( 1871 , 1872 , 1873 ), was again a top hitter, leading the league with a league-adjusted OPS of 203. Eighteen-year-old Pud Galvin
798-519: The best regular-season record – making them the default NL champions as no playoff existed – due in part to their already feverish rivalry , the White Stockings and Brown Stockings faced off in an unofficial five-game playoff for the title "Champions of the West." The Brown Stockings won the series. With Bradley losing his effectiveness due to an arm injury in 1877 (his ERA increased to 3.31),
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#1732772673419836-441: The famous Red Stockings of Cincinnati (est. 1869), the self-proclaimed "original" professional baseball team, who garnered much public interest due to an undefeated streak during a barnstorming tour in 1869 and 1870 . The St. Louis Brown Stockings entered the National League (NL) as a founding team the following season along with five other former NA teams and two new professional league entrants. George Bradley pitched
874-552: The first no-hitter in Major League history on July 15, 1876, when the Brown Stockings defeated the Hartford Dark Blues , 2–0. It was one of Bradley's 16 league-leading and record-setting shutouts that season and his 1.23 ERA also led the league. Bradley and Pike (.323 batting average ) led the Brown Stockings to a 45–19 record and a third-place finish. Although the Chicago White Stockings finished with
912-477: The first being a makeshift team from Cincinnati playing under the traditional name "Redlegs." Profitability increased, and thus, more extensive renovations were completed, further increasing attendance, and again, profitability. Again led by Cuthbert, the Brown Stockings continued to win in convincing fashion in 1881, finishing with a 35–15 record. Notable opponents included the Brooklyn Atlantics ,
950-662: The funeral service." He was interred in the Salem Fields Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York . In 1936, decades after he died, Pike received one vote in the veterans election for the 1936 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting . He was not included on any further ballots. Pike was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. Pike was inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame in
988-442: 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
1026-483: The league in extra base hits (21), and was 2nd in slugging percentage (.654) and doubles (10), 4th in RBIs (39), 5th in triples (7), 6th in on-base percentage (.400), 9th in hits (49), and 10th in runs (43). The Haymakers only finished 6th, though, and the team's captaincy switched to Bill Craver . The Haymakers revamped their roster for the 1872 season, and Pike headed for Baltimore , where he played for
1064-474: 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 full realization of baseball's popularity. For months, it was Cuthbert talking about baseball with Von der Ahe, who understood very little about the actual game, that he began to realize its significance because of its profitability. Von der Ahe purchased
1102-418: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brown_Stockings&oldid=844375591 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages St. Louis Brown Stockings The St. Louis Brown Stockings were
1140-485: The popularity of the club, he bought them out and soon became interested in having the team compete in a professional league. Together with beer magnates in five other cities, the American Association was formed in late 1881, and professional baseball flourished in St. Louis—this time, with the resurrected Brown Stockings the next year. Joining the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), or National Association (NA), in that league's final season,
1178-505: The remainder of the lease on Grand Avenue Park, sold minority stock and raised enough money to renovate the dilapidated park. John W. Peckington, another local saloon owner, became a minority owner, creating The Sportsman's Park and Club Association. Spink, who himself had not stopped lobbying for more interest in baseball during the sport's relative dormancy in St. Louis, became the secretary and business manager. More fans began attend games and Spink arranged for out-of-town teams to play there,
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1216-562: The season and forced to look elsewhere for a team. He ended up playing a few games for the Providence Grays , and spent the next two years playing for minor league teams. Sporting Life subsequently named him an outfielder on its 1870–1880 All-Star team. Pike got a brief call-up in 1881 to play for the Worcester Ruby Legs , but the 36-year-old Pike could no longer play effectively, hitting .111 and not managing
1254-407: The team, hitting many home runs as well as being one of the fastest players around. On one occasion he hit five home runs in one game. However, it was soon brought to light that he and two other Philadelphia players were being given $ 20 ($ 420 in current dollar terms) a week to play. Since all baseball players were ostensibly amateurs (though many were, like Pike, accepting money under the table),
1292-431: The weak Hartford team after a single season, switching to the St. Louis Brown Stockings . For the first time in his professional career, Pike failed to hit a home run, although he stole 25 bases. He also hit 12 triples and 22 doubles (leading the league) in what was probably his finest offensive season. In all, Lip Pike has the National Association career home run (15) and extra base hits (135) records. In 1876 , when
1330-404: Was 2nd in triples (8), 4th in total bases (132), stolen bases (8), and extra base hits (26), 7th in slugging percentage (.462), 8th in doubles (14), RBIs (50), and at bats (286), 9th in hits (90), and 10th in games (56). Pike was also one of the fastest players in the league. He would occasionally race any challenger for a cash prize, routinely coming out the winner. On August 16, 1873, he raced
1368-529: Was a haberdasher . His mother was Jane, his brothers were Boaz, Israel, and Jacob, and he had a sister Julia. His family moved to Brooklyn when he was very young. Several of Pike's ancestors were Jewish rabbis who emigrated from Portugal to the Netherlands . Pike began in baseball when he was 13. Pike first rose to prominence playing for the Philadelphia Athletics (1860–1876) , whom he joined in 1866. He brought an impressive blend of power and speed to
1406-532: Was dropped from the team in 1867, because he was from New York, and thus a 'foreigner,' calling his loyalty into question. He moved on to the Irvington, New Jersey club and later in 1867 to the New York Mutuals , always a leading team, where he returned for 1868, having caught the eye of Boss Tweed . In 1869 he moved to the Brooklyn Atlantics , another perennial leader, where he hit .610. In 1870 ,
1444-514: Was low, and St. Louis Republican sportswriter Al Spink sought ways to bring back popularity for baseball in St. Louis. The 1879 team started off by winning 24 of their first 25 games. However, the team encountered a different kind of problem. The Brown Stockings could not match their 1875 attendance average of around 2,300 per game due to their complete domination of the local amateur clubs; they averaged well under one thousand in that year after attendance fall offs between those two years. To avert
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