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1867–1870 Cincinnati Club; aka “Red Stockings” Tour

By Eric Miklich

T

he Cincinnati Club was organized on July 23, 1866 and produced a fantastic won-loss record for four seasons beginning in 1867. During that time they were 175-15-1. In 1868, they introduced their new uniforms which consisted of white flannel trimmed with red, a red belt, red stockings and had their pants fastened at the knee. They started their incredible two-year run as the first openly professional base ball club on May 4, 1869. That year they would accumulate a record of 70-0. This number included exhibitions but manager Harry Wright only counted games against other more established base ball clubs and only those results make up the season record, but some exhibition matches have been included.

After the 1870 season the Red Stockings disbanded after what was determined an unsuccessful season financially. Harry Wright moved to Boston and became the manager of that cities entry into the newly formed National Association of Professional Base Ball Players league, which was the first professional baseball league in America. He was joined by his brother George, Charley Gould and Cal McVey. The rest of the team dispersed to existing clubs in the NA. The Cincinnati Red Stockings officially disbanded on November 11, 1870.

Much of the information below was taken from the "Cincinnati Red Stockings Score Books 1868 - 1870" from the Albert Spalding Baseball Collection and graciously provided to 19c Base Ball by SABR.

The Teams

1867

P: Harry Wright (Mgr.)
C: John McLean
1B: J. Wayne Neff
2B: Bellemy Storer
3B: Dave Schwartz
SS: John Con Howe
LF: Moses Grant
CF: J. Williams Johnson
RF: Gerald Ellard*
President: Henry Glassford
Vice President: Aaron B. Champion
Treasurer: Edward E. Townley
Scorer: William Worthington

*Made the team's baseballs.

1868

P: Harry Wright (Mgr.) - 40G
C: Doug Allison - 27G*
1B: Charley Gould - 43G
2B/P: Asa Brainard - 38G
3B: Fred Waterman - 40G
SS: John Con Howe - 38G
LF: Johnny V. B. Hatfield - 42G
CF: Rufus King - 26G
RF: J. Williams Johnson - 42G
Sub: Moses Grant - 22G
Sub: Kingsley - 13G
Sub: Prentiss - 5G
Sub: Bellemy Storer - 4G
Sub: Kemper - 3G
Sub: Hunter - 2G
Sub: Silas H. Bascom - 1G
Sub: Comegys - 1G
Sub: Gerald Ellard - 1G
Sub: William H. Hall - 1G
Sub: Ringwalt - 1G
President: Aaron B. Champion**
President: Major A.T. Goshorn
Secretary: John P. Joyce
Scorer: William Worthington
(Home games)
Scorer: Silas H. Bascom
(Road games)

*Joined during the season.
**Resigned mid-season.

1869

P: Asa Brainard - G55, (12)
C: Douglas Allison - G53, (11)
1B: Charley Gould - G57, (11)
2B: Charles Sweasy - G57, (12)
3B: Fred Waterman - G57, (12)
SS: George Wright - G57, (12)
LF: Andy Leonard - G54, (12)
CF: Harry Wright (Mgr.) - G57, (12)
RF: Calvin McVey - G57, (11)
Sub: Richard Hurley - G5, (3)
Sub: James Fowler - G3, (3)
Sub: Oak Taylor - G0, (2)
President: Aaron B. Champion
Vice President: Thomas G. Smith
Secretary: John P. Joyce
Treasurer: Edward E. Townley
Scorer: James Fowler (Most often)

The number in parenthesis represents matches the player participates in that were intra-squad, exhibitions or incomplete.

1870

P: Asa Brainard - G65, (6)
C: Douglas Allison - G55, (5)
1B: Charley Gould - G74, (6)
2B: Charles Sweasy - G73, (6)
3B: Fred Waterman - G72, (4)
SS: George Wright - G58, (6)
LF: Andy Leonard - G74, (6)
CF: Harry Wright (Mgr.) - G74, (6)
RF: Calvin McVey - G73, (5)
Sub: Harry Deane - G32, (3)
Sub: Edward P. Atwater - G16, (3)
President: Aaron B. Champion.*
Vice President: A.P.C. Bonte
Secretary: John P. Joyce*
Director: Thomas G. Smith*
Scorer: Edward P. Atwater
(Most often)

The number in parenthesis represents matches the player participates in that were intra-squad, exhibitions or incomplete.
*Resigned Aug. 3, 1870.
On Aug. 16, the following were announced as the new elected officials.
President: A.P.C. Bonte;
Vice President: A. G. Corre;
Secretary: Will Noble.


The line-ups above suggest that the players only played those positions and none others. In fact, the members changed positions relatively regularly and the listings shown are the more common arrangements.

1867–1870 Cincinnati Club; aka “Red Stockings” Tour Continiued Continued.