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Darknight Smith · 03-08-2004, 07:55 PM

1839

(I’ll do a brief write-up of each season. Nothing systematic, just highlights, stuff I think’s interesting. This first one is a lot longer than they’ll usually be.)

In the late 1820s, several clubs sprang up in New York City devoted to a new version of townball, called “base ball.” It was based on a diamond-shaped playing field (instead of a quadrangle or other shapes), with foul territory, three outs to an inning, and other rules innovations. It caught on and quickly spread across the river to Brooklyn and into New Jersey, reaching Philadelphia by 1832. So popular did this pastime prove that clubs started charging admission, building their own playing grounds, and even paying players. The game changed and developed rapidly, and by the end of the decade had reached essentially its modern form.

In the winter of 1838/39, representatives of the two best-known clubs, the Mutuals of New York and the Quakers of Philadelphia, agreed to a season-long competition to determine the national champion. Other clubs and their supporters protested vigorously against being left out; and finally, after much wrangling, two fairly new clubs, the Bachelors of Brooklyn and the Knickerbockers of New York, were admitted to the tournament.

Except that it wasn’t going to be a tournament, exactly; the founding fathers rashly planned an entire season of matches, 156 to be exact, each club playing each other club 52 times. The club with the highest total of wins at the end of the schedule would be awarded a “whip pennant” to represent the championship of what was to be called the Gentlemen’s League of Base Ball Clubs.

Lesser clubs were aligned with the major clubs, and three levels of “minor” leagues were organized to accompany the major league. The whole structure was christened the Diamond Republic, to reflect the founders’ hope that this new game would become the preeminent national pastime.

Much skepticism greeted this outlandish new venture; almost everybody believed that even base ball fanatics, or “fans,” would grow tired of such a grueling schedule, and many predicted that, with so many games to play, the eventual winner of the “pennant race” would build up such a lead that there wouldn’t be any drama to the season’s final weeks. It didn’t help that Opening Day was scheduled for April Fools’ Day.

Smart money was on the two established clubs, the Mutuals and Quakers, who were already old rivals. They met in Philadelphia’s Franklin Field for the first game in the history of the Diamond Republic, with the two greatest pitchers in the game, Quinton Corwine and Addison Gardiner, on the mound. The game remained scoreless for seven innings, until Philadelphia manager Enoch Burdick removed Gardiner for a pinch-hitter. The Mutes then struck for four runs in the top of the eighth, and Corwine hung on to complete a 4-to-1 victory.

It turned out to be a topsy-turvy season, full of reversals and surprises. Until mid-season, every team seemed to have a chance. Then the undermanned Knicks started to fall from contention, leaving a three-team race. The Mutuals took over the lead in July, only to lose it to a hot streak by the surprising Brooklyn Bachelors in August and early September. On September 10, the Bachelors stood at 78-66, four games ahead of the Mutuals’ 74-70, with twelve games to play.

The Mutuals, led by their 21-year-old number two starter, John Stebbins, rose up to challenge the Bachelors one last time. They reeled off nine wins in their next ten games, drawing within one game of Brooklyn with two to play. On September 24, in the next-to-last game of the season, the Mutes went into Brooklyn’s Capitoline Grounds and beat them, 6-to-1, behind their ace Corwine. The two were tied at 84-71, but to everyone’s frustration, the final game did not pit the rivals against each other. Instead, Brooklyn traveled to Philadelphia, where they would have to face the tough Addison Gardiner, already the winner of 20 games, while the Mutuals hosted the last-place Knicks.

As Stebbins warmed up for the game’s start, news arrived that Brooklyn had fallen, 4-to-1. Stebbins, confident to the point of arrogance, then took care of the Knicks, 7-to-1, for his fifth straight win and the first championship of the Diamond Republic.

At the pennant presentation, the league also passed out individual awards. The Most Valuable Player trophy went to Quinton Corwine, who finished with more wins than any other pitcher (25, against only seven losses), and also struck out the most batters (224) and allowed the fewest “earned runs” per nine innings (2.16). This feat became known as the Triple Crown of pitching. The league also picked an “All-Star team” of the best players at each position (along with the best four starting pitchers, and the best reliever). The champion Mutuals, unsurprisingly, placed the highest number of players on the team with five, including Corwine, Stebbins (16-9, 3.34), first baseman Abe Tucker (who hit .335 with 22 home runs and 97 runs batted in), third baseman Edgar Delafield (.274, 24, 101), and left fielder James Lee (.315, 94 runs scored, a league-leading 67 steals). Also gracing the champions’ roster was a 20-year-old center fielder named Abner Doubleday, who spent most of the season on the bench but won a part-time job down the stretch. He turned in a fine average of .327, with four homers and 28 r.b.i., and was roundly declared “a most promising young man.”

Four Brooklynites were so honored: catcher Potter Palmer (.297, 10, 78, with 99 walks); second baseman Duncan Curry (.315, 103 runs, 42 steals); shortstop Daniel “Doc” Adams (.330, 14,101, 87 walks); and pitcher Thomas Bagot (24-10, 3.21).

The proud Quakers, though humbled by a third-place finish, could point to veteran right fielder Tom Kempshall, who led the league with 31 home runs, and pitcher Gardiner, who finished 21-9 with a 2.60 e.r.a. The Knicks, meanwhile, stumbled to a 64-92 record, prompting the embarrassed resignation of their quiet manager, Edwin Stevens; but they could boast of the most exciting young player in the league, 23-year-old switch-hitting center fielder Nathaniel McNames, who won the first batting title with a .338 average, hit 16 home runs, and stole 44 bases.

03-08-2004, 07:55 PM	#3
Darknight Smith Registered User Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: North Carolina Posts: 66	1839 (I’ll do a brief write-up of each season. Nothing systematic, just highlights, stuff I think’s interesting. This first one is a lot longer than they’ll usually be.) In the late 1820s, several clubs sprang up in New York City devoted to a new version of townball, called “base ball.” It was based on a diamond-shaped playing field (instead of a quadrangle or other shapes), with foul territory, three outs to an inning, and other rules innovations. It caught on and quickly spread across the river to Brooklyn and into New Jersey, reaching Philadelphia by 1832. So popular did this pastime prove that clubs started charging admission, building their own playing grounds, and even paying players. The game changed and developed rapidly, and by the end of the decade had reached essentially its modern form. In the winter of 1838/39, representatives of the two best-known clubs, the Mutuals of New York and the Quakers of Philadelphia, agreed to a season-long competition to determine the national champion. Other clubs and their supporters protested vigorously against being left out; and finally, after much wrangling, two fairly new clubs, the Bachelors of Brooklyn and the Knickerbockers of New York, were admitted to the tournament. Except that it wasn’t going to be a tournament, exactly; the founding fathers rashly planned an entire season of matches, 156 to be exact, each club playing each other club 52 times. The club with the highest total of wins at the end of the schedule would be awarded a “whip pennant” to represent the championship of what was to be called the Gentlemen’s League of Base Ball Clubs. Lesser clubs were aligned with the major clubs, and three levels of “minor” leagues were organized to accompany the major league. The whole structure was christened the Diamond Republic, to reflect the founders’ hope that this new game would become the preeminent national pastime. Much skepticism greeted this outlandish new venture; almost everybody believed that even base ball fanatics, or “fans,” would grow tired of such a grueling schedule, and many predicted that, with so many games to play, the eventual winner of the “pennant race” would build up such a lead that there wouldn’t be any drama to the season’s final weeks. It didn’t help that Opening Day was scheduled for April Fools’ Day. Smart money was on the two established clubs, the Mutuals and Quakers, who were already old rivals. They met in Philadelphia’s Franklin Field for the first game in the history of the Diamond Republic, with the two greatest pitchers in the game, Quinton Corwine and Addison Gardiner, on the mound. The game remained scoreless for seven innings, until Philadelphia manager Enoch Burdick removed Gardiner for a pinch-hitter. The Mutes then struck for four runs in the top of the eighth, and Corwine hung on to complete a 4-to-1 victory. It turned out to be a topsy-turvy season, full of reversals and surprises. Until mid-season, every team seemed to have a chance. Then the undermanned Knicks started to fall from contention, leaving a three-team race. The Mutuals took over the lead in July, only to lose it to a hot streak by the surprising Brooklyn Bachelors in August and early September. On September 10, the Bachelors stood at 78-66, four games ahead of the Mutuals’ 74-70, with twelve games to play. The Mutuals, led by their 21-year-old number two starter, John Stebbins, rose up to challenge the Bachelors one last time. They reeled off nine wins in their next ten games, drawing within one game of Brooklyn with two to play. On September 24, in the next-to-last game of the season, the Mutes went into Brooklyn’s Capitoline Grounds and beat them, 6-to-1, behind their ace Corwine. The two were tied at 84-71, but to everyone’s frustration, the final game did not pit the rivals against each other. Instead, Brooklyn traveled to Philadelphia, where they would have to face the tough Addison Gardiner, already the winner of 20 games, while the Mutuals hosted the last-place Knicks. As Stebbins warmed up for the game’s start, news arrived that Brooklyn had fallen, 4-to-1. Stebbins, confident to the point of arrogance, then took care of the Knicks, 7-to-1, for his fifth straight win and the first championship of the Diamond Republic. At the pennant presentation, the league also passed out individual awards. The Most Valuable Player trophy went to Quinton Corwine, who finished with more wins than any other pitcher (25, against only seven losses), and also struck out the most batters (224) and allowed the fewest “earned runs” per nine innings (2.16). This feat became known as the Triple Crown of pitching. The league also picked an “All-Star team” of the best players at each position (along with the best four starting pitchers, and the best reliever). The champion Mutuals, unsurprisingly, placed the highest number of players on the team with five, including Corwine, Stebbins (16-9, 3.34), first baseman Abe Tucker (who hit .335 with 22 home runs and 97 runs batted in), third baseman Edgar Delafield (.274, 24, 101), and left fielder James Lee (.315, 94 runs scored, a league-leading 67 steals). Also gracing the champions’ roster was a 20-year-old center fielder named Abner Doubleday, who spent most of the season on the bench but won a part-time job down the stretch. He turned in a fine average of .327, with four homers and 28 r.b.i., and was roundly declared “a most promising young man.” Four Brooklynites were so honored: catcher Potter Palmer (.297, 10, 78, with 99 walks); second baseman Duncan Curry (.315, 103 runs, 42 steals); shortstop Daniel “Doc” Adams (.330, 14,101, 87 walks); and pitcher Thomas Bagot (24-10, 3.21). The proud Quakers, though humbled by a third-place finish, could point to veteran right fielder Tom Kempshall, who led the league with 31 home runs, and pitcher Gardiner, who finished 21-9 with a 2.60 e.r.a. The Knicks, meanwhile, stumbled to a 64-92 record, prompting the embarrassed resignation of their quiet manager, Edwin Stevens; but they could boast of the most exciting young player in the league, 23-year-old switch-hitting center fielder Nathaniel McNames, who won the first batting title with a .338 average, hit 16 home runs, and stole 44 bases.