Latest / Hall of Teams / Cincinnati Red Stockings – The Birth of Pro Baseball (1869)

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Cincinnati Red Stockings – The Birth of Pro Baseball (1869) · Hall of Teams

0:13
Welcome to the Hall of Teams, the
0:15
podcast where sports legends live again.
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Where founding stories are dusted
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off like vintage jerseys... Where
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crests nicknames and colors aren't
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just designs, but identities.
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Where the teams we love are more
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than scores on a scoreboard,
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they are time capsules of
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culture, community, and change.
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I'm your host, Kirk Jensen, and today
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we begin, at the very beginning.
0:43
The first time playing the game
0:45
became a job, the first team
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to take baseball to the nation.
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Today we induct an amazing team,
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the Cincinnati Red Stockings
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into the Hall of Teams.
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Before 1869, sport in
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America was strictly amateur.
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Baseball was growing in popularity,
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but the players had day jobs.
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Teams were local, loose, and
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playing for pride, not pay.
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The very idea of a paid
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athlete was scandalous.
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Gentlemen played for honor, not money.
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But in Cincinnati, Ohio, a growing
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river town filled with energy and
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ambition the future was stirring.
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In 1866, Cincinnati formed
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an amateur baseball team.
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And after a few strong seasons
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and a desire to compete with the
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big teams of the East Coast, the
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club leaders made a bold decision.
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In 1869, they would pay every
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single player on the roster.
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No more under the table incentives.
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No more pretending.
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The Red Stockings would be professional.
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Credit must go to Harry Wright,
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the visionary manager, player, and
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architect of the Red Stockings.
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Wright believed that training
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strategy and athleticism could
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elevate baseball, and that paying
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players would attract the best
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talent and ensure serious commitment.
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In 1869, driven by their vision, the Red
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Stockings directors took major steps to
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elevate the club to national prominence.
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Entrusting Harry Wright with the war
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chest to recruit talent on a scale
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the sport had never seen before.
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He assembled a roster of elite
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players from across the country.
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These weren't just local boys anymore.
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This was America's first national team.
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So who were these game
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changers in crimson?
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Let's meet the starting
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nine of the Red Stockings.
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Fred Waterman, New York, third base.
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Cal McVay, Indianapolis, right field.
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George Wright, Cincinnati, shortstop.
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Doug Allison, Philadelphia, catcher.
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Harry Wright, Cincinnati
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center field / manager.
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Charlie Gould, Washington first base.
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Andy Leonard, New Jersey, left field.
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Charlie Swayze, New Jersey, second base.
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Asa Brainard Washington, DC, pitcher,
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and Dick Hurley from
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Maine, the utility player.
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The Red Stockings were the first
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to back a team with a bank roll,
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spending $9,300 in salaries,
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which is over $200,000 today.
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At the top of the scale,
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stood their brightest star.
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Shortstop George Wright,
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earning $1,400 per season, the
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highest salary on the team.
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And he was worth every penny.
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Wright batted lead off, and what
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followed was a season for the ages:
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49 home runs, an average of nearly 6
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hits per game, 339 runs scored, and
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an astonishing 629 batting average.
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To make that number relative
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Babe Ruth's best batting
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average for a season, was 393.
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George Brett, 390.
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Mickey Mantle, 365.
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George was not just a shortstop,
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but a storm that batted,
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at the top of the lineup.
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Welcome to Trivia from the Hall,
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where we spotlight the strange,
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surprising, and significant stories
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that shaped the world of sport.
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The early teams did not
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wear baseball gloves.
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Players caught the ball with
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their bare hands, and for a
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short time, a few players even
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caught the ball with their cap.
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Doug Allison, a catcher, is often
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credited as one of the first players
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to wear a glove, as early as 1870.
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In the early 1900s, manufacturers like
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Spalding began mass producing gloves
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closer to the models we recognize today.
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Albert Spalding, yes, the company
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founder, he had a pitching
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record of 54 - 5 in 1875.
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Credited as one of the first coaches
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in American sport to fully adopt
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the concept of teamwork, Harry
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Wright drilled his players during
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the spring of 1869 to prepare for a
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tour against the East Coast powers.
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On May 4th, 1869, the Red Stockings took
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the field for their first official game,
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a local clash against the Great Westerns.
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But the real story was the setting.
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The Cincinnati Union Grounds home
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to the towering Grand Duchess
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grandstand, whose location you saw
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earlier in the episode on the fly-in.
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Built to hold 4,000, yet crowds
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sometimes tripled that number
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spilling into every corner for
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a glimpse of these rising stars.
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This was no ordinary ballpark.
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It was enclosed, it had a fence,
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and it had entrance gates, and
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for the first time in baseball
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history, it had a ticket price.
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That day the Red Stockings won 45 to 9,
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starting on the road to a historic run.
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No one in baseball could have fully
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predicted just how dominant the Red
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Stockings would become that season.
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They opened with 18 straight
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wins against local competition.
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A perfect start, but the real
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test, was waiting back East.
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On May 31st, 1869,
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they boarded the train.
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Their destination
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baseball's biggest stage.
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The National Baseball Hall
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of Fame would call it,
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"The greatest road trip
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in baseball history."
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The Red Stockings embarked on
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their 32 day East coast tour facing
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the game's most formidable clubs.
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Cleveland,
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Buffalo, Rochester, Troy, Albany,
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Boston, New York City, Philadelphia,
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Baltimore, and finally Washington, DC.
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Where they even had an audience
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with President Ulysses S. Grant.
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After beating the New York
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Mutuals 4 to 2 on the tour, the
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Cincinnati Gazette proclaimed,
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"We are tossing our hats tonight and
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shaking each other by the hand. We
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are the lions, because we have beaten
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the Mutuals, and because the game was
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the toughest, closest, most brilliant,
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most exciting, in baseball annals."
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No quarter asked, no quarter given.
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Twenty one games.
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Twenty one wins.
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Over 1800 miles of iron rails.
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And with each stop, they
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shattered expectations and
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redrew the map of baseball power.
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The message was unmistakable.
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The Midwest wasn't chasing
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the game, it was leading it.
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If you're listening on your favorite
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podcast app, just know the full
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video version is on YouTube featuring
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vintage footage, archival visuals,
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and exclusive behind the scenes
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content you won't want to miss.
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Let's rewind to baseball's beginning.
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Back then, pitchers didn't hurl
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the ball overhand, they tossed
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it underhand and with spin.
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And Asa Brainard, he didn't just
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pitch, he made that ball dance.
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He curved it.
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He confused hitters and he earned
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a nickname that still echoes for
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pitchers through ballparks today.
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"Ace".
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And here's another thing, the catcher,
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he wasn't crouched behind the plate.
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He stood 15 feet behind the batter.
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No glove, just bare hands, a
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leather ball, and nerves of steel.
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And that ball, it wasn't the
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stitched rocket we know now.
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It was handcrafted, lemon peel
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seams, rubber core, wrapped
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in yarn, softer, slower.
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In the hands of the Red
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Stockings, it still flew.
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In the late summer of 1869, the
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Cincinnati Red Stockings embarked on
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another groundbreaking leg of their
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season, this time toward the Pacific.
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Their journey westward would span
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4,700 miles aboard the newly completed
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Transcontinental Railway, whose final
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connection had been marked just a year
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earlier with the ceremonial "Golden
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Spike" at Promontory Summit, Utah.
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It was a bold and unprecedented move,
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taking professional baseball to the
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farthest reaches of the young nation.
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The players themselves were young,
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with most in their early twenties.
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Imagine the excitement as they
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boarded their Pullman car.
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Eyes wide, spirits high, bound
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for the distant Pacific Coast.
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They didn't know what kind of ball
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clubs they would face, how crowds out
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West would receive them, or whether
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the mystique of their undefeated
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record would survive the trip.
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The Red Stockings' West Coast
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tour carried them through Omaha,
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Cheyenne and Salt Lake City.
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Key stops along the
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newly completed railroad.
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No official games were played
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in those cities, but they
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demonstrated a bold and a symbolic
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push into unchartered territory.
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The action began in
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Sacramento, California.
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From there, they dazzled
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crowds in Stockton, Oakland,
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San Francisco, and San Jose.
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Each stop adding to their growing legend.
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Across the West, fans pack the
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grounds, to see a team that seemed
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to have achieved mythical status.
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This was more than a ball club.
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It was a movement carrying the
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game across mountains, deserts, and
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frontiers, bringing it to the people.
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In
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the late 1800s, "crank" was a term
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used by newspapers of the era to
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describe an overzealous baseball fan.
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The term likely came from the idea
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of someone being cranked up, or
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overly enthusiastic about their team.
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Over time, as the sports popularity
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grew and its fan base expanded,
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the term "fan", short for the word
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"fanatic", became more prevalent,
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and crank fell out of common usage.
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Over the course of one relentless year,
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the Red Stockings played before an
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amazing total of over "200,000 fans".
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And they didn't lose.
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Not once.
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57 games, 57 wins.
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The New York Clipper newspaper declared:
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"The result of the season's play,
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places the Cincinnati Club ahead of
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all competition and we hail them as the
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Champion Club of the United States."
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The Cincinnati Red Stockings proved
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that sport could be a profession
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and a point of civic pride.
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That year, the Red Stockings
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were honored at home, not just
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as players, but as pioneers.
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On the Union Grounds in Cincinnati,
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the city gathered to celebrate.
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Before the team was a gift.
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A 27 foot bat made of ash,
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painted, polished and inscribed
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"Champion Bat - 1869".
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It was proof baseball had become
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national, professional - and unstoppable.
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The history books had barely
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closed on their perfect season
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when the Red Stockings opened
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the next chapter in 1870.
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They didn't return that spring
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with caution, they returned with
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thunder, no warmup, no easing in.
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They came out charging, on rails,
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with grit, and with purpose.
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This time they were heading South.
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Louisville, Nashville, Memphis, New
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Orleans, Mobile, Montgomery, Atlanta,
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Savannah, Charleston, Richmond, and
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then the capital, Washington, DC.
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The cities rolled by
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like drumbeats of a march.
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Across the deep south they
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surged bringing baseball to
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new corners of the nation.
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The South had witnessed them.
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Now the entire nation knew them.
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But all things must end so that history
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can be written, and legacies forged.
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On the afternoon of
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June 14th, 1870 at the Capitol Grounds
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in Brooklyn, the Red Stockings were
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up against the powerful Atlantics
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playing before a crowd of 9,000.
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And the game so anticipated
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that the usual admission
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price of 25 cents was doubled.
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Where each Atlantic player, under
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the gate sharing system, would
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take home an incredible $364.
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And at that time, a year's
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salary for a common laborer.
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Thumbnail of Gradient-BG-1.png
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Thumbnail of
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restored-image-of-the-1st-nine-of-the-cincinnati-red-stockings-baseball-club-1869-dave-morgan.jpg
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That afternoon saw an epic back
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and forth battle, and after
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nine innings, the game was tied.
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Five, five.
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The Atlantics wanted to call the
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game a draw, but Harry Wright's boys
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insisted on playing extra innings.
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When the Red Stockings scored twice
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in the top of the 11th, it appeared
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that victory would be theirs.
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But the Atlantics rallied for
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three runs in the bottom of the
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11th and won the game 8 to 7.
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The news was announced in a telegram to
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Cincinnati, New York, June 14th, 1870.
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Atlantics 8.
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Cincinnati 7.
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The finest game ever played.
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Our boys did nobly, but
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fortune was against them.
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Eleven innings played.
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Though beaten, not disgraced.
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- Aaron B. Champion, President,
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Cincinnati Baseball Club.
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Even greatness doesn't
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guarantee sustainability.
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Other teams began to catch up to
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Wright's once indomitable club.
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Cincinnati lost a total of six games
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during the 1870 season, causing many
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fickle fans to abandon the team.
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Citing financial pressures,
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the Red Stocking's board of
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directors, disbanded the team,
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and returned it to amateur status.
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Just like that, the team that redefined
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the sport, faced its final inning.
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But their numbers, their
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legacy, unshakeable.
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Counting their final 8 wins in 1868,
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the flawless 57 wins in 1869, and
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another 24 to start 1870, plus a few
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undocumented games lost to time, some
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historians believe the Cincinnati Red
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Stockings may have strung together
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as many as 130 consecutive victories.
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One hundred and thirty, in a row.
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To try to put some
18:12
perspective on that number.
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The longest current winning streak
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in Major League Baseball is 26,
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set by the 1916 New York Giants.
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Over 100 games less
18:25
than the Red Stockings.
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The Red Stockings didn't just
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set the bar - they built it.
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The 1870s marked a time when
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professional baseball was bursting
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into a new era of excitement.
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Teams started popping up across
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the country, the sound of the
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bat, the roar of the crowd.
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It was the dawn of something bigger.
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In 1871, baseball took a bold leap
19:02
forward with the creation of the
19:04
first fully professional sports
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league: "The National Association
19:08
of Professional Baseball Players".
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Known simply to fans and historians
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as, "The National Association".
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This pioneering league blazed
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the trail from 1871 to 1875.
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Then came the moment
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that reshaped the game.
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In 1876, a handful of clubs from
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the National Association and the
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amateur league, came together to
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form something lasting, something
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legendary: "The National League
19:41
of Professional Baseball Clubs".
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Today we call it the "National League".
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So while the original Red Stockings
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only lasted two seasons, the
19:54
echo of their impact endures.
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Across two franchises, an entire
19:59
league, and a nation's pastime.
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The Red Stockings didn't just win.
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They didn't just travel.
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They redefined what a team could be.
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From Boston's cobblestone streets,
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to the hills of San Francisco.
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From the bayous of New Orleans, to the
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Capitol steps in Washington: 12,000
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miles, dozens of cities, zero defeats.
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They didn't wait for baseball to grow.
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They brought it with them, town by town,
20:45
track by track, until the game became
20:49
more than local, it became American.
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Because of them, teams would tour,
20:58
fans would follow, and baseball
21:01
would belong to the nation.
21:04
Imagine no Red Stockings.
21:07
No contracts.
21:09
No agents.
21:10
No road trips.
21:12
No merchandise.
21:14
No $300 million deals.
21:16
No Dodgers.
21:17
No Cubs.
21:19
No Yankees.
21:21
They were the first to turn
21:23
fans into paying ticket holders.
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Players into full-time professionals.
21:29
Sport into a lasting institution.
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So today, we honor their vision,
21:37
their courage, and their legacy.
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And enshrine the Cincinnati Red
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Stockings into the Hall of Teams.
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Not just for what they won,
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but for what they began.
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In the Hall of Teams, legends
21:55
just don't live in the past.
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They rise again through you.
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This year, you decide who earns
22:02
the title, Team of the Year.
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An honor that just isn't a title.
22:08
It's a legacy that knows no borders.
22:11
Across all sports.
22:13
Across time.
22:15
And across the world.
22:17
Want your team to win?
22:19
Watch their episode.
22:20
Like it.
22:21
Comment with “#TeamoftheYear” — and your
22:24
team’s #HallOfTeams + [YourTeamName].
22:26
And make sure you subscribe.
22:28
Because every voice counts,
22:31
and every vote, is a chance
22:33
to make history... again.
22:37
On December 15th, the team with the most
22:39
likes, comments, and new subscribers for
22:42
the year, will be voted in, by you, the
22:45
fans, and honored as Team of the Year.
22:48
Their logo will be immortalized
22:51
on the Wall of Honor.
22:53
And remember — you can watch
22:55
this full episode on the Hall
22:57
of Teams YouTube channel.
23:00
See you there.
23:03
Thanks for joining us on this
23:04
journey into global sports history.
23:08
If there's a team you would like
23:09
to nominate into the Hall of Teams,
23:12
drop it in the comments using
23:14
#Nominate + [YourTeamName]
23:17
and help shape future inductions.
23:21
Next time, we cross the ocean to uncover
23:23
the story of the Sheffield Football Club,
23:26
the oldest football club in the world.
23:29
A team that helped define
23:31
the rules, rituals, and
23:33
rhythm of the beautiful game.
23:36
It may have even changed a
23:38
nation's identity in the process.
23:43
Until then, remember:
23:46
Behind every logo, is a legacy.
23:49
And behind every team,
23:52
a tale worth telling.
23:54
I'm Kirk Jensen, and this
23:57
is the Hall of Teams.