This is the previously untold story of the London Tecumsehs, an 1870s baseball team that rose to the top ranks of pro ball. The Tecumsehs of London, Ontario, were among the founding members of the International Association in 1877, the first league established to challenge the struggling National League, formed a year earlier. The team played against the top competition of the day and defeated nines from Chicago, St. Louis and elsewhere. They became the first champions of the International Association when they defeated Pittsburgh with the arm of Fred Goldsmith, one of the first curveball pitchers.
This is also the story of the International Association, the only one of the six leagues challenging the primacy of the National League that has never been accorded major league status. To this day it has been relegated to minor league status to the detriment of some of the pioneer players in the game.

Award-winning journalist Brian Martin lives in London, Ontario. He is a member of the selection committee of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and the Society for American Baseball Research.

Brian Martin
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 280
Bibliographic Info: 32 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2015
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9436-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1869-2
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments  ix

Foreword  1

Preface  7

1. A Newcomer Catches Fever  11

2. Roots  25

3. Of Arms Races and Foreign Legions  40

4. Out with the Old…  58

5. A New Era  72

6. Opportunity Knocks  90

7. Setting the Tables  104

8. Early 1877—The Magical Run Begins  116

9. Late 1877—Champions  129

10. Between Innings  146

11. Rumblings  160

12. The Dream Dies  175

13. Moving On  190

14. After the Glory Days  203

15. Pitching the Pitch  221

Epilogue  235

Chapter Notes  241

Bibliography  257

Index  261

“Engrossing and meticulously researched…. Martin has crafted another must-read for Canadian baseball and sports fans.”—Kevin Glew for the Canadian Baseball Network; “There’s no denying [Martin’s] double play prowess consisting of deft research and writing skills, twinned with a strong knowledge of and passion for the diamond game…. The Tecumsehs of the International Association: Canada’s First Major League Baseball Champions is a winner”—Jeffrey Reed, London Ontario Sports.com; “Brian Martin makes a convincing case that the Tecumsehs of London have been unfairly neglected and that they deserve to be recognized, not just as a pioneer Canadian club, but as one of the champion clubs of the early years of baseball.”—Peter Morris, author of A Game of Inches.