Boston's First Nine: The 1871-75 Boston Red Stockings (SABR Digital Library)

Before the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Braves, there were the Boston Red Stockings. They were “Boston’s First Nine” and 1871 through 1875, they won four consecutive pennants in the old National Association, considered by many to be baseball’s first major league. In this five-year period, the team only fielded 22 players — but, then again, these were the days of the “one-man rotation.” Who needed two pitchers, when one would do? And if that pitcher was Al Spalding, who won more than 50 games in back-to-back seasons of 1874 and 1875, that one pitcher was pretty good. Of the 22 players on the team, five of them are in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

These were different days. The game was played a little differently from today— but not that differently. Take some time and enjoy the work of 38 members of SABR (the Society for American Baseball Research). Several are among our leading nineteenth century baseball experts; others became enthralled digging into the early days of professional baseball in Boston. There are fascinating stories of the men who played the game, the games, the seasons, the tours of Canada and even England and Ireland, where they took on some of the better cricket players of the British Isles, and beat them, too.

Take a trip back to those glorious days of yesteryear, and see if you don’t become captivated as we were in learning about stories of baseball and life from more than 140 years ago.

The book includes recaps of each season, 1871-75, informative articles about the team and front office, and the following player biographies:

THE PLAYERS
Bob Addy by Peter Morris
Ross Barnes by Gregory H. Wolf
Frank Barrows by Mike Richard
Tommy Beals by Mark S. Sternman
David Birdsall by Richard “Dixie” Tourangeau
Fred Con by Mike Richard
Charlie Gould by Charles F. Faber
George Hall by Matt Albertson
Franklin “Heck” Heifer by Brian C. Engelhardt
Samuel Jackson by Bill Nowlin
Jumbo Latham by Scott Fiesthumel
Andy Leonard by Charles F. Faber
John E. Manning by David Nemec
Cal McVey by Charles F. Faber
Jim O’Rourke by William Lamb
Fraley W. Rogers by Richard “Dixie” Tourangeau
Henry C. Schafer by David Nemec
Al Spalding by Bill McMahon
Charlie Sweasy by Charles F. Faber
Deacon White by Joe Williams
George Wright by John Thorn
Harry Wright by Christopher Devine

THE BALLPARK: South End Grounds by Bob Ruzzo

TEAM ORGANIZATION
Boston Finances in the Early Professional Era
by Richard Hershberger
Red Stockings Finances—A Minor Observation
by Bill Nowlin
THE FIRST PRESIDENTL Ivers W. Adams by Charlie Bevis

INTERESTING GAMES
Fast Day—Boston’s Original Opening Day Joanne Hulbert
April 6, 1871 Bob LeMoine
May 5, 1871 204
Bob LeMoine
May 16, 1871 Bob LeMoine
Homestand From Hell: The Boston Red Stockings, May-June 1871
Richard “Dixie” Tourangeau
June 21, 1871 Jay Hurd
July 4, 1871 Michael R. McAvoy
August 3, 1871 Bob LeMoine
September 2, 1871 Bill Nowlin
September 5, 1871 Gregory H. Wolf
September 9, 1871 Mark Pestana
September 13, 1871 Jay Hurd
September 29, 1871 Gregory H. Wolf
May 11, 1872 Gregory H. Wolf
June 10, 1872 Richard “Dixie” Tourangeau
June 12, 1872 Paul E. Doutrich
July 20, 1872 Gerard R. Goulet
July 29, 1872 Gregory H. Wolf
September 20, 1872 Gerard R. Goulet
September 21, 1872 Mark Pestana
April 23, 1873 Matt Albertson
June 2, 1873 Terry Gottschall
June 3, 1873 Mark Pestana
June 14, 1873 Richard “Dixie” Tourangeau
July 4, 1873 (morning) John Zinn
July 4, 1873 (afternoon) John Zinn
July 26, 1873

SABR is the Society for American Baseball Research, a group of over 6,000 enthusiasts about the game of baseball whose research interests range from the game's history to statistical analysis, records, cultural impact, and more. The BioProject is a SABR effort to research, write, and publish biographies of every player--and every person--ever connected with organized baseball. Anyone with a love of baseball can join SABR and become a part of these efforts.