Brooklyn Atlantics - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

("Atlantic" or the "Brooklyn Atlantics") was baseball's

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

first champion and its first dynasty

Dynasty (sports)

A sports dynasty is a team that dominates their sport or league for multiple seasons or years. Such dominance is often only realized in retrospect...

.

Established in 1855

1855 in sports

-Baseball:Events* The established Knickerbockers, Gothams, and Eagles from New York play three matches round robin in June. With the Empires, a local newcomer, they play five matches in September and October, a round robin less one match....

, Atlantic was a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players

National Association of Base Ball Players

The National Association of Base Ball Players was the first organization governing American baseball. The first, 1857 convention of sixteen New York City clubs...

in 1857

1857 in sports

-Baseball:National championship* National Association of Base Ball Players champion – Brooklyn Atlantics* In May, sixteen base ball clubs from modern New York City convene and revise the rules including replacement of 21 runs by 9 innings...

. In 1859

1859 in sports

1859 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Australian rules football:Events* 14 May — Melbourne Football Club is founded* 17 May — Australian rules football is codified* 18 July — Geelong Football Club is founded-Baseball:...

, with a record of 11 wins and 1 loss, Atlantic emerged as the recognized champions of baseball. Atlantic held the championship through the 1861

1861 in sports

-Baseball:National championship* National Association of Base Ball Players champion – Brooklyn AtlanticsEvents* The National Association establishes the December annual meeting, a change from March, meeting twice during calendar 1860...

season, albeit in controversial fashion. In a third and deciding game with Excelsior of Brooklyn

Excelsior of Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Excelsiors were an amateur baseball team that played in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1854, the Excelsior ballclub featured stars such as Jim Creighton, Asa Brainard, and Candy Cummings.-1860 Championship Season:...

, Excelsior was leading 8–6 and had men on base, but was forced to withdraw by a rowdy crowd of Atlantic partisans and gamblers. The game was declared a draw, and the championship retained by Atlantic.

Atlantic held the championship again through the 1861

1861 in sports

season, which was shortened due to the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, before finally surrendering it to archrival Eckford of Brooklyn

Eckford of Brooklyn

Eckford of Brooklyn, or simply Eckford, was an American baseball club from 1855 to 1872. When the pioneering Union Grounds opened for baseball in 1862, the Eckfords must have been the most important tenant, for they played more games than any other club that year and won the "national"...

in 1862. Atlantic recaptured the pennant in 1864 with a season record of twenty wins, no defeats, and a single tie as the only blemish on its record. Atlantic went undefeated again in 1865 with an 18–0 record, sweeping series against chief rivals Mutual

New York Mutuals

The Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was a leading American baseball club almost throughout its 20-year history. It was established during 1857, the year of the first baseball convention, just too late to be a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players. It was a charter...

of New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

and Athletic of Philadelphia

Athletic of Philadelphia

Athletic of Philadelphia was a prominent National Association, and later National League, professional baseball team that played in the second half of the 19th century.-Early History:...

. Great players of this era included Joe Start

Joe Start

Joseph Start , nicknamed "Old Reliable", was one of the biggest stars of baseball's earliest era, and certainly the top first baseman of his time...

, Dickey Pearce

Dickey Pearce

Richard J. "Dickey" Pearce was an American professional baseball player and one of the sport's most famous early figures. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and began playing with the Brooklyn Atlantics in 1856. He continued his career in the National Association and the early years of Major...

, Charlie Smith, Fred Crane

Fred Crane

Frederic William Hotchkiss Crane played in Major League Baseball...

, and Tom Pratt

Tom Pratt

Thomas Jefferson Pratt was a professional baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Athletics. He played in one game for the Athletics on October 18, 1871, getting two hits in six at bats. Prior to his brief professional career, he played with the old Brooklyn Atlantics in the 1860s...

. Atlantic's 36 game winning streak was finally broken in June, 1866

1866 in sports

-Athletics :Events* The Amateur Athletics Club is founded and becomes the governing body of athletics in the United Kingdom, hosting the first national championships and introducing a definition of "amateur" that will determine eligibility for athletics competitions until the late 20th...

by Irvington, NJ. Atlantic retained the pennant that year by splitting a two game series with Athletic of Philadelphia

Athletic of Philadelphia

Athletic of Philadelphia was a prominent National Association, and later National League, professional baseball team that played in the second half of the 19th century.-Early History:...

and declining to schedule a series with Union of Morrisania. Atlantic did surrender the title to Union in 1867

1867 in sports

-Association football:England* Formation of the Sheffield FA, which continues to promote its own Sheffield Rules. The Sheffield FA establishes the local Youdan Cup, the first organised football tournament, which is won by Hallam FC....

.

When Atlantic defeated Eckford

Eckford of Brooklyn

to regain the pennant in 1869

1869 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton Tigers and Rutgers Scarlet Knights Events...

, Atlantic had already lost to the Cincinnati Red Stockings

Cincinnati Red Stockings

The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first fully professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players 1867–1870, a time of a transition that ambitious Cincinnati,...

. This allowed Atlantic to claim the championship over the undefeated Cincinnati

Cincinnati Red Stockings

club under the "challenge" format of the National Association of Base Ball Players

National Association of Base Ball Players

The National Association of Base Ball Players was the first organization governing American baseball. The first, 1857 convention of sixteen New York City clubs...

, which resembled modern boxing championship rules rather than a league or tournament format. This outcome undoubtedly contributed to the tremendous anticipation when Cincinnati

Cincinnati Red Stockings

came to Brooklyn

Brooklyn

with an 89 game winning streak to meet the Atlantics on June 14, 1870

1870 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton TigersEvents* Columbia Lions joins the college football circuit and loses to Rutgers Scarlet Knights in its only game. Princeton Tigers beats Rutgers...

at Atlantic's home Capitoline Grounds

Capitoline Grounds

The Capitoline Grounds, also known as Capitoline Skating Lake and Base Ball Ground, was a baseball park in Brooklyn, New York from 1864 to 1880. It was built to rival nearby Union Grounds, also in Brooklyn...

. An estimated crowd of fifteen thousand paid 50 cents a piece to see Atlantic win 8–7 in extra innings in one of the most significant games in baseball

Baseball

history. Atlantic surrendered the title later in the year, though, to Mutual

New York Mutuals

League era

Atlantic had been among the first clubs to declare themselves professional

Professional

A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...

when allowed to do so in 1869

1869 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton Tigers and Rutgers Scarlet Knights Events...

. However, when the major professional clubs formed the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players

National Association of Professional Base Ball Players

The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , or simply the National Association , was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season...

in 1871

1871 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – noneEvents* The 1871 college football season is the only one since the first season in 1869 until the present day that no games are played in the entire season...

, Atlantic declined to field a team. As a result, their best players, including George Zettlein

George Zettlein

George Zettlein was a professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1871–1876. Zettlein played for the Chicago White Stockings, Troy Haymakers, Brooklyn Eckfords, Philadelphia White Stockings, and Athletic of Philadelphia...

, Bob Ferguson, Joe Start

Joe Start

Joseph Start , nicknamed "Old Reliable", was one of the biggest stars of baseball's earliest era, and certainly the top first baseman of his time...

and Lip Pike

Lip Pike

Lipman Emanuel "Lip" Pike the "Iron Batter", was one of the stars of 19th century baseball in the United States. He was the first player to be revealed as a professional , as well as the first Jewish player...

, jumped to other clubs.

When Atlantic did join the professional circuit in 1872

1872 in sports

-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton Tigers and Yale Bulldogs Events* Five teams compete in the 1872 college football season: , , , and .-Association football:England...

, it was unable to reestablish itself as a leading club, suffering losing records in each of its four seasons in the league. Atlantic was not invited to join the National League

National League

The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

when that circuit was formed in 1876

1876 in baseball

After a tumultuous six-year existence, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , folded following the season. The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was formed in Chicago, Illinois by businessman, and owner of the Chicago White Stockings, William Hulbert, for the...

, but continued to play an independent schedule until at least 1882

1882 in baseball

-Champions:*National League: Chicago def. Providence 5 games to 4*American Association: Cincinnati Red Stockings*League Alliance: New York MetropolitansInterleague*Chicago vs. Cincinnati tie 1 game each*Chicago def...

.

A remnant Atlantic was invited to join the upstart American Association

American Association (19th century)

The American Association was a Major League Baseball league that existed for 10 seasons from to . During that time, it challenged the National League for dominance of professional baseball...

in 1882

1882 in baseball

but failed to satisfy the requirements for doing so. For many years afterwards, the term Atlantic batting referred to a big inning, especially late in the game.

Record

Year W L T Games Rank in games (in wins)
1857 7 1 1 9 3 (1st in wins)
1858 7 0 7 5 (4th)
1859 11 1 12 3 (tie 2nd)
1860 12 2 1 16 3 (3rd)
1861 5 2 7 5 (tie 3rd)
1862 2 3 5 8
1863 8 3 11 4 (3rd in wins)
1864 20 0 1 21 3 (2nd)
1865 18 0 18 2 (1st)
1866 17 3 20 3 (3rd)
1867 19 5 1 25 7 (tie 7th)
1868 47 7 54 1 (tie 1st)
1869 40 6 2 48 5 (4th)
1870 41 17 58 5 (6th in wins)

Championship matches with professional teams 1869–1870
1869 15 6 1 22 3 (tie 2nd in wins)
1870 20 16 36 3 (5th)
Professional leagues
1871 non-member
1872 9 28 37 5 (did not finish)
1873 17 37 1 55 3 (6th place)
1874 22 33 1 56 5 (6th place)
1875 2 42 44 9

Source for season records: Wright (2000) has published records for dozens of NABBP teams each season, relying on a mix of game and season records in contemporary newspapers and guides. Dozens of leading clubs by number of matches are included, as are many others. The records do not consistently cover either all games played or all championship matches between NABBP members.

External links

Brooklyn Atlantics – a vintage base ball club
Brooklyn Atlantics at Baseball Reference

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

League era

Record

See also

External links