Thursday, February 4, 2010

The 1876 Brown Stockings: The Kentuckians Use Up The Browns


Probably twelve hundred spectators witnessed the game at Grand Avenue Park yesterday afternoon, between the Louisville and St. Louis clubs, in which the latter was beaten by a score of 7 to 4. The visiting players both outbatted and outfielded their opponents, but won the game, nevertheless, more by good luck than good guidance. In the first inning an error by Somerville, and a two-base drive by Pike, gave St. Louis a run, which was offset in the fourth by Ryan's base hit, a wild pitch and beautiful running. Ryan taught the home players a lesson in base stealing, by getting to second on Gerhardt's fly to Pike, after the ball had settled in that player's hands. The fifth inning was a fatal one to St. Louis. Battin opened with a low throw, and followed this up by missing an easy fly, by which he hoped to accomplish a double play. Mack then juggled a ball from Somerville's bat, and as Ryan, Gerhardt and Devlin followed with model hits six men tallied, and the game was virtually at an end as far as winning was concerned, although the Browns made a good rally in the next inning, Mack, Cuthbert and Clapp tallying on a fine hit by the former, errors by Devlin and Gerhardt, and elegant drives by Battin and McGeary. Clapp's catching was one of the main features of the game, he retiring nine players and assisting three times without an error.
-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 26, 1876

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