St. Louis Brown Stockings
Encyclopedia
| St. Louis Brown Stockings |
|---|
| Founded: 1875 |
| Folded: 1877 |
| League: 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... |
| Stadium: Grand Avenue Park Sportsman's Park Sportsman's Park was the name of several former Major League Baseball ballpark structures in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, all but one of which were located on the same piece of land, the northwest corner of Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street on the north side of the city.- History :From... , (1875–1877) |
| Championships: None |
The St. Louis Brown Stockings were a professional baseball
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...
club based in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
from 1875 to 1877.
History
Joining the National AssociationNational 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...
(NA) in the final season of that league, the Brown Stockings were the first team to represent St. Louis in a professional baseball association (Spink 1911). The original Brown Stockings
St. Louis (NA)
In the standard short format for identifying professional baseball clubs in the U.S., St. Louis means the "St. Louis" club in the "NA" league...
, or Category:St. Louis Browns Browns (different from the St. Louis Browns
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
or future Orioles), were a charter member of 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...
in 1876 and completed the first two NL seasons.
Like the White Stockings in Chicago (est. 1870), the Brown Stockings in St. Louis (est. 1875) adopted uniforms and acquired a nickname by descent with variation from the famous 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,...
of Cincinnati (est. 1869), the first professional baseball team, which garnered much public interest due to an undefeated streak during a barnstorming tour
Barnstorming
Barnstorming was a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s in which stunt pilots would perform tricks with airplanes, either individually or in groups called a flying circus. Barnstorming was the first major form of civil aviation in the history of flight...
in 1869-1870.
The Brown Stockings played their games at Grand Avenue Grounds, which later would be the site of Sportsman's Park
Sportsman's Park
Sportsman's Park was the name of several former Major League Baseball ballpark structures in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, all but one of which were located on the same piece of land, the northwest corner of Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street on the north side of the city.- History :From...
. Brown Stocking George Bradley pitched the very first no-hitter
No-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
in major league history, on July 15, 1876.
The Brown Stockings slipped to 28-32 in 1877 after going 45-19 and finishing third in 1876. The team signed stars Jim Devlin
Jim Devlin
James Alexander Devlin was an American Major League Baseball player who played mainly as a first baseman early in his career, then as a pitcher in the latter part...
and George Hall from the Louisville Grays
Louisville Grays
The Louisville Grays were a 19th century U.S. baseball team and charter member of the National League, based in Louisville, Kentucky. They played two seasons, 1876 and 1877, and compiled a record of 65–61. Their home games were at the Louisville Baseball Park. The Grays were owned by...
, only to become embroiled in a game-fixing scandal that resulted in the permanent expulsion of Devlin and Hall (and two other Grays players) from the league. The Grays and Brown Stockings both went out of business in the aftermath of the scandal. A few years later, a new baseball club in St. Louis reused the Brown Stockings colors and nickname. The new Brown Stockings, soon called Browns, were a charter member of the 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 and they survive today as 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...
St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
.
Notable alumni
- Lip PikeLip PikeLipman 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...
, major league baseball 4x home run champion
See also
- 1875 St. Louis Brown Stockings season1875 St. Louis Brown Stockings seasonThe St. Louis Brown Stockings were a new franchise that joined the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players for the 1875 season and finished the season in fourth place. They subsequently joined the new National League for the 1876 season.-Roster:...
- 1876 St. Louis Brown Stockings season1876 St. Louis Brown Stockings seasonThe St. Louis Brown Stockings joined the newly formed National League as a charter member in 1876. They finished the season in a tie for second place, 6 games behind the pennant-winning Chicago White Stockings.-Roster:-Starters by position:...
- 1877 St. Louis Brown Stockings season1877 St. Louis Brown Stockings seasonThe St. Louis Brown Stockings finished the season in fourth place in the National League. After the season, they signed Louisville Grays stars Jim Devlin and George Hall. However, both became involved in a game-fixing scandal that led to the permanent expulsion of the two players from the league...
- St. Louis Brown Stockings all-time rosterSt. Louis Brown Stockings all-time rosterThe St. Louis Brown Stockings baseball club played one season in the National Association, 1875, and two in the National League, 1876–1877. Here is a list of all their players in regular season games....