It’s been more than a century since Connecticut had big league baseball, but in the 1870s, Middletown, Hartford, and New Haven fielded professional teams that competed at the highest level. By the end of the decade, when the state’s final big league team, Mark Twain’s beloved Hartford Dark Blues, left the National League, baseball’s transition from amateur pastime to major league sport had been accomplished. And Connecticut had played a significant role in its development. The history of the Nutmeg State’s three major league teams is described here in full, and the author thoughtfully examines their influence within the regional baseball scene.

David Arcidiacono is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, publishing articles specializing in 19th–century baseball. He has been a featured speaker at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

David Arcidiacono
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 268
Bibliographic Info: 28 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3677-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2660-4
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vi

Foreword by William J. Ryczek      1

Introduction      3

1. Center of the Base Ball Universe      7

2. The National Pastime      9

3. The Nutmeg State      14

4. Base Ball on the Brain      22

5. The Professional Mutation      31

6. The National Association      41

7. Tricks of the Trade      46

8. We Paid—We’re In      55

9. Welcome to the Big Leagues      61

10. God Bless the Eckfords      69

11. Three’s a Crowd      79

12. One Long Vacation      85

13. The Charter Oak City      94

14. Definitely Not Last      100

15. Captain Bob      107

16. The Elm City      114

17. A Hard Rub      119

18. Opposite Directions      124

19. An Infernal Set of Asses      131

20. First of Idiots      136

21. Locked Up      143

22. The National League      147

23. Playing Baby      153

24. Crooked Play?      164

25. Bulkeley’s Deal      173

26. A New Home      179

27. Connecticut Revival?      187

Appendix A: The Players, by Team      195

Appendix B: The Curious Case of Tommy Barlow      213

Appendix C: Game Logs: 1874–1877      220

Notes      233

Bibliography      251

Index      255

“an excellent addition to the growing catalog of regional baseball history from McFarland”—Sporting News; “an excellent addition”—At Home Plate.