A Baseball History

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A glimpse at the Union Pacific Baseball League





* I made modifications to what became the Union League logo. I apologize for it to the author of the original logo *

Next update a comparison of the rules in play in both leagues and an overview of the 12 Union League teams. Then, we should be good to go.

Hopefully the 1874 off-season is not too boring so far.

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An interview of Mr. Tobias Crampton, the Central Pacific Railroad Chairman.

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Meet Ambrose Dexter, the President of the Union Pacific Baseball League, born in Laramie in 1823.

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Let's have a look at the Union Pacific Baseball League Adam's division at the start of the 1875 season. There isn't a single player from the Central League.



Atlanta Grays
Owner: Sean Frontera, a plantation owner who made significant financial contributions to the brief insurrection of the Confederate States.
Manager: Chad May, whose successful stint with Central League’s Buffalo Stampede ended poorly, has been lured in Georgia to build a winning team and a winning culture.
Key Players: Jared Sealey, a 22 year old pitcher promised to a great future, and John Scovell a lanky 23 year old left-handed batter who knocked back offers from Central League’s Toronto Squirrels to sign a more lucrative deal with Atlanta.
Ballpark: Grays Field




Chicago Ravens
Owner: Ian Farmer made his fortune in the gold trading business. Now at 62 years of age, he wants to be the owner of the first Chicago team to win a professional baseball pennant.
Manager: Roger Poste has been given the reigns of another team after being sacked by his father-in-law following three poor years at the helm of Central League’s Louisville Scouts.
Key Players: 30 year old Josh Burkert who came to the game of baseball after spending three years in a state penitentiary for robbery, and Casey Stalder a 19 year old outfielder with blinding speed.
Ballpark: Ravens Park




Cincinnati Flyers
Owner: Ryan Flowers, the senior partner in the biggest Cincinnati law firm, Flowers, Beckenridge & Talbott Associates, already owns a team in the Ohio Valley Baseball League, the Portsmouth Packers
Manager: John Goddard, a rather unknown Californian with limited managing experience for Flowers’ Portsmouth team.
Key Players: Kaden Biedenbender, a 26-year old pitcher who throws a powerful fastball, and Nick Wilson, a 23-year old outfielder widely recognized as the best player in the struggling Carolina Baseball League.
Ballpark: Flyers Ballpark




Indianapolis Tigers
Owner: The son of Joseph L. Neil, the founder of the Indianapolis Times, Larry Neil is the senior editor of the newspaper. He knows next to nothing about baseball.
Manager: Justin Brittian is a former coach in the NABBP. Unable to land a contract in the Central League, he moved to California for a while, keeping away from baseball, before jumping on the Union League opportunity.
Key Players: David Grantham, a 24-year old pitcher who earned his contract by beating Justin Brittian at a poker game, and Nick Joseph, a 23-year old outfielder who hit for a .398 average in his only Ohio Valley Baseball League season.
Ballpark: Tigers Stadium




Nashville Bears
Owner: Nate Buchan, the famous tycoon who built the Buchan Heights, a 12-storey building in downtown Nashville, is the wealthiest man in Tennessee and a former state governor.
Manager: Danny Evenson rejected several Central League teams offers before he was finally lured out of his Tennessee home to manage the Bears. During his 5-year managing career in Ohio and Carolina, he has won the pennant 4 times.
Key Players: Bill Van Dusen, the 23-year old cousin of ‘Dutch’ Van Hout is a southpaw blessed with great movement and control, and Troy Davis, a 21-year old infielder who, in spite of being a relative unknown, has received the team’s richest contract.
Ballpark: Bears Park




St. Louis Pioneers
Owner: Jordan Thomas is the founder and chairman of the Missouri Premium Bank.
Manager: Gil Pinson comes from the Lys de Montréal team, which is the powerhouse in the sole professionnal baseball league in Québec.
Key Players: ‘The Giant’ Jaylen James a 34-year old pitcher standing at 6”7’ who started playing baseball in 1874, and Steve Pitt, a 27-year old journeyman infielder who happens to be the brother-in-law of Jaylen James.
Ballpark: Pioneers Grounds

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And the Madison division:




Baltimore Sailors
Owner: Dean Cummings, the brother of Candy Cummings of the Brooklyn Excelsiors (NABBP), is an attorney who made a fortune during the Panic of 1873.
Manager: Josh Hill, a former Pittsburgh Giants bench coach, who himself had a decent playing career in the NABBP with the Excelsiors, gets is first managing appointment.
Key Players: Chris Fitzgerald, a 29-year old pitcher who got one of the richest contracts of the league after a tug-of-war with Central League’s Buffalo Stampede, and Devin Jackson a 24-year old third baseman of great reputation in his native Texas.
Ballpark: Baltimore Grounds




Boston Patriots
Owner: Nick Kern, an art-dealer whose great grandfather was involved in the War of Independence, is the sole heir of Kern Empire, a conglomerate worth millions of dollars.
Manager: Dave Kruchten is a former bench coach for the NABBP’s Philadelphia Athletics.
Key Players: 30-year old John Smith who fought the Indian Wars for ten years in the US Cavalry, and Dan Puritz a 23-year old whose dream was to play for the Brooklyn Lions.
Ballpark: Field of Patriots




Hartford Admirals
Owner: Jacob Gray, the winning skipper of the NYYC Queen’s Cup race in 1862 and 1863, is a wealthy ship-owner.
Manager: Clint Joseph, a British Columbia native has a long bench coach experience at the Lys de Montréal, with then-manager Gil Pinson.
Key Players: Kerwin Sonberg, a 27-yearformer star pitcher of the Ottawa Irish, and Brian Caples, widely seen as the best defensive infielder in the country.
Ballpark: Admirals Field




New York Seahawks
Owner: Matt O’Leary is the leader of New York’s Irish community and the chairman of O’Leary’s Brewery.
Manager: Chris Scher left baseball shortly after NABBP’s demise. A former catcher, he’s known to be a good tactical mind.
Key Players: Ryan Nelson, the 29-year old brother of Brooklyn Lions Mike Nelson, and Bryan St. George, a 23-year old second baseman who was named twice in the Ohio Valley Baseball League player at this position.
Ballpark: Home of the Seahawks




Philadelphia Liberty
Owner: Jason Kise owns Kise Leather Goods Cie, the main supplier of leather goods of the U.S. Army.
Manager: Matt Intermill was in charge of scouting talent in the Boston Green Sox and Chicago Black Sow organizations.
Key Players: Chris Lemons, a 20-year old pitcher from Kentucky scouted by Intermill a few weeks before signing with Philadelphia, and Ken Tanner, a 27-year old outfielder whose occupation of choice during the baseball off-season is bounty hunting.
Ballpark: Liberty Field




Richmond Robins
Owner: Rob Bohne, the son-in-law of William D. Croydon, is the current chairman of Croydon Tobacco.
Manager: Terry Garvey, a 32-year old accountant who brought his love for numbers to the game of baseball.
Key Players: Josh Moreland, a 26-year old pitcher known for his ability to out-think batters, and Matt Dunn, a 25-year old infielder whose main claim to fame was to record eleven consecutive hits in the Carolina Baseball League.
Ballpark: Robins Nest


Our next update will be the 1875 season preview, at last.

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page 2 tomorrow. It takes time to scan all those old newspapers.

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And with this, we're set.
next update: "Play ball"

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The Union Pacific Baseball League Individual Awards

U.P.B.L. Silver Bat



U.P.B.L. Silver Ball



U.P.B.L. Silver Spike

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[NYY #23]

I read most of this yesterday and caught up today with the last couple posts. I was a little disappointed because the Boston Green Sox were my team from the beginning, but with their recent success I don't want it to look like I'm jumping on the bandwagon. I'm still going to be pulling for Boston though, and the Liberty in the Union Pacific.

You've done a great job with this though, and I'll be following along!

[Hankyu Braves]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

I read most of this yesterday and caught up today with the last couple posts. I was a little disappointed because the Boston Green Sox were my team from the beginning, but with their recent success I don't want it to look like I'm jumping on the bandwagon. I'm still going to be pulling for Boston though, and the Liberty in the Union Pacific.

You've done a great job with this though, and I'll be following along!

Thanks for the kind words.
I too am a Green Sox fan.
Anyway, there are a few other teams that I really like as well and (no spoilers!!) it doesn't look like I picked winners.

After a rather busy week at work, I'll resume with more regular updates from now on. I might focus more on the Union League for a while because there's a lot to learn about it.
Hopefully I'll wrap up the 1875 season over the weekend.

* fingers crossed *

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Thanks to this great community, I was able to get my hands on a baseball program. Probably one of the oldest still in decent condition.
Since there's no mention of a price, I suppose that it was handed out for free to any game ticket holder. I shall look into it just to make sure.

I believe it was the program for Game 4 of the Championship Series: Philadelphia won at home 9-7 to take a 3-1 lead in the Series.

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Next Update: The Champions
Next Update (2): The Barrow's Player of the Year

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