The Fort Wayne Kekiongas back in 1871 invested $10 in the newly formed National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP). It evolved from the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP), with the decision to legitimately pay players, a practice that had been going on under-the-table for years. The original organization had its first convention of sixteen New York City area clubs in 1857, and grew to over 400 members by 1867. These included teams from San Francisco and Louisiana. By 1869, clubs desiring to pay their players were free to declare themselves professional. The Cincinnati Red Stockings were the first professional team established in a new league of twelve, but issues involving championship procedures and player regulation, added the additional “P for Professional” in the NABBP alphabet soup to start the 1871 season. For the next two years the NAPBBP oversaw the game of baseball, before state and regional associations took over these responsibilities.
As a side note, it was the NAPBBP (National Association) in 1867 that established in its rules to bar any club “composed of one or more colored persons.” This racist attitude was fueled by Chicago’s Cap Anson, who played for Rockford against the Kekiongas in 1871. Thirteen years later in 1884, Anson’s White Stockings (or Colts) had won three consecutive National Association titles and was playing Toledo. Moses Fleetwood Walker, their mulatto catcher, was the target of Anson’s prejudice, when he stated, “won’t play never no more with the nigger in.” Unfortunately, his attitude at the time was further enforced by the leagues in 1897. Detroit’s Ty Cobb was another great player who allegedly was a racist when it came to baseball. It wasn’t until April 15, 1947 that Dodger’s owner Branch Rickey introduced Jackie Robinson, who finally broke the baseball color barrier, and led the integration of the sport.
Native Americans also faced baseball’s color barrier, so it’s ironic that any team be named after Indian terminology. The word Kekionga means “Blackberry Patch” in the language of the Miami Indians who settled at where the St. Joseph River flows into the St. Mary’s River to form the Maumee River. Today the city of Ft. Wayne is known for the “Three Rivers,” Johnny Appleseed, and General “Mad” Anthony Wayne. It’s also known for a sports heritage that includes the Kekiongas, the NBL Champion Zolner Pistons (who moved to Detroit), the Ft. Wayne Daisies All-American girl’s professional baseball team, and the Men’s and Girl’s 1944 World Champion Zolner Pistons softball teams. It’s currently home to three minor league sports teams: Fort Wayne Comets hockey of the ECHL, Mad Ants of the NBA Development League, and the Tin Cups of baseball’s Midwest League.
Baseball history was made on May 4, 1871 when the Kekiongas beat the Cleveland Forest Citys 2-0 in the very first professional baseball game. It was that $10 franchise fee into the NAPBBP and a coin flip, or maybe a rainout of the Boston vs. Washington D.C. scheduled opener as another account suggests, that earned this place in baseball lore. Bobby Matthews pitched the shutout that was rained out in the top of the 9th inning. Matthews was one of several players recruited by the Kekiongas from a mid-season break-up of the Maryland Club of Baltimore. He’s credited for inventing the spitball and being the first master of the curve. He went on to play five seasons each in the National Association, National League, and American Association, becoming the only pitcher of over 100 games to win at least 50 in three different major leagues. Deacon White, who collected 3 hits against Matthews, was the other historic player in that first game, who’s 22-year career ended as playing owner of Buffalo’s Brotherhood team.
Jim Foran, who came from the Philadelphia Athletics (1869) and Troy Haymakers (1870) led the Kekiongas in hitting at .348 for the 1871 season. Catcher and Manager Bill Lennon, also part of the migration of Kekionga players from Maryland is credited with throwing out the very first major league baserunner attempting to steal. Harry Deane took over the managing duties from Lennon after he deserted the Kekiongas in mid-June. His claim to fame was a substitute player for the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1870, filling in for an injured George Wright at shortstop. He played center field during his brief stint in Fort Wayne, and eventually joined the Baltimore Canaries for 46 games in 1874.
Prior to their historical game with the Forest Citys, the Kekiongas played the legendary undefeated (57 victories and one tie) 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings twice. The Red Stockings employed all paid players legally according to the NAPBBP rules established that year. The Red Stockings, of course, won both games 86-6 and 41-7 respectably. Baseball in Ft. Wayne was organized in 1862 as the Summit City Club. In 1866, following the Civil War, a second team, the Kekionga Baseball Club of Fort Wayne emerged. In the years to follow, the Kekiongas played Summit City, Sydney (Ohio), Peru, Toledo, Kendallville, and tried to schedule games with LaPorte and other surrounding teams. It was apparently hard to find competition, and when game was finally scheduled the visiting club would often be treated like royalty. Eventually, the opportunity to join a league was worth the $10 and the chance to play regularly. It is ironic that the Kekiongas who were never a very good team, often “reorganizing” to lure opponents into thinking they were playing an improved team, got this honor to play the very first game on their home field where the lavish grandstand was known as the “Grand Dutchess.”
What’s in a name?
In addition to the Kekiongas and Forest Citys, the other 1871 professional teams included the New York Mutuals, Chicago White Stockings, Boston Red Stockings, Philadelphia Athletics, Washington Olympics, Troy Haymakers, and Rockford Forest Citys. All were recognized in the standings only by their nick-name, not the city where they resided. The nick-name “Forest City” was obviously quite popular, with two clubs of the same name in the same league. Of all these teams, only the Chicago White Stockings survived attrition and continuously played in the same city into today’s game. The Chicago White Stockings name stuck through 1889, becoming the Colts (Anson’s Colts) through 1905, along with “Orphans” and “Remnants,” as the media referred to them following the departure of Anson. The name “Cubs” surfaced around 1902 and gained the popularity necessary to earn its official place in 1906 throughout today. The White Stockings, according to some sources, were also called the Panamas, Rainmakers, Spuds, Trojans, Microbes, and Zephyrs before the Cubs name finally stuck.
The Philadelphia Athletics won the 1871 title winning 21 games. The Chicago White Stockings finished two games back, followed by the Boston Red Stockings. The Kekiongas only won seven games out of the 19 they played, with no victories over these top three teams in the league. It was their final season, with rumors of the team moving to Brooklyn to become the Dodgers. This was, in fact, a question in the game Trivial Pursuit – so it has to be true! There are some connections to Brooklyn, including the two teams from Brooklyn that joined the National Association in the place of Ft. Wayne and Rockford the following year, but only one Kekionga player joined a Brooklyn team.
Kekiongas no more 1872-1875
The 1872 season included eleven teams. The Kekiongas and Rockford Forest Citys were out and the Baltimore Canaries, Middletown Mansfields, and two teams from Brooklyn (Eckfords and Atlantics) were in. The Mansfields existed only that year but featured future Hall of Famers Asa Brainard, who was a star pitcher for the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings and also played for the Canaries and Olympics, plus catcher Jim O’Rourke, who moved on to Boston. Tom Carey and Bobby Matthews moved from the Kekiongas to the Canaries, while their teammate in Ft. Wayne, James McDermott went on to pitch for the Brooklyn Eckfords. Other stars in the league included Cap Anson of the Athletics, and Deacon White of the Forest Citys. The Washington Nationals did not win a game, and folded after a short season along with the Olympics.
1873 reverted back to 9 teams with the loss of the Nationals, Olympics, Mansfields, Eckfords, and Forest Citys. The Washington Blue Legs, Elizabeth Resolutes, and the Baltimore Marylands joined. The Blue Legs would lose all 6 games they played, and the 1874 season would add the Hartford Dark Blues and Philadelphia Whites to an 8-team league. Boston would win it again with 52 victories, up from 43 the year before. They would go on to win 71 in 1875, the final year of the NAPBBP. Newcomers would be the St. Louis Brown Stockings, The New Haven Elm Citys, the St. Louis Red Stockings, the Philadelphia Centennials, and Keokuk Westerns, growing the league to a record 13 teams, even though the franchise fee had doubled to $20. Hall of Fame bound players included George and Harry Wright from Boston, Pud Galvin from St. Louis (the first pitcher to win 300 games), and Candy Cummings of the New York Mutuals. It should be noted that even though the Kekiongas only made it through year one of the league, their pitcher Bobby Matthews did manage to win 297 games (just short of the magic number), had eight 20 win seasons, and won 42 games in 1874 for the New York Mutuals, although it was not enough to get him in the Hall of Fame.
1875 marked the end of the NAPBBP (National Association) and the formation of the National League by William Hulbert, a Chicago businessman. As a baseball enthusiast and officer with the Chicago White Stockings, he was upset with the dominance of the four-time National Association Champion Boston Red Stockings and their alleged conspiracy against the success of “Western” clubs. Furthermore, he was tired of contract jumpers, like his shortstop Davy Force, who was trying to get more money from the rival Philadelphia Athletics. To get even, he signed future Hall of Famers Albert Spalding, Deacon White, and Cap Anson, among others, to move to Chicago. In the process, he formed the new National League on February 2, 1876. The new league consisted of the Boston Red Stockings (now the Atlanta Braves), Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs), Cincinnati Red Stockings, Hartford Dark Blues, Louisville Grays, Mutual of New York, Philadelphia Athletics, and St. Louis Brown Stockings. Included in his plan was limiting membership to cities of over 75,000. This would have affected a small time club like the Kekiongas had they been able to stay together. Absent from the former National Association were The Brooklyn Atlantics, New Haven, Philadelphia Centennials, and Keokuk (Iowa) Westerns. Keokuk was another small-town team that had gone out of business after a 1-12 record. Their catcher “Paddy” Quinn had made his major league debut with the Ft. Wayne Kekiongas in 1871 and ended his career with the Chicago White Stockings in 1877. New Haven and the Centennials were both one-season teams, while the Atlantics continued to play independently after not being invited to join the National League.
The New National League 1876-1900
White and Spalding, plus Cal McVey and Ross Barnes, two more of Hulbert’s acquisitions, led the Chicago White Stockings to the 1876 pennant, ending the dominance of the Red Stockings. Spalding started his Sporting Goods business in Chicago and Hulbert became President of the White Stockings and the National League. He eventually was recognized as a Hall of Fame inductee himself in 1995, nearly 125 years later. But in 1877, the Hartford team moved to Brooklyn and became the Brooklyn Hartfords, the New York Mutuals and Philadelphia Athletics dropped out of his league, and the Red Stockings became simply the Reds. Unfortunately for Hulbert, Boston (renamed the Red Caps) jumped back on top, while the White Stockings finished next to last.
In 1878, Blues and Grays joined the league, as Indianapolis, Providence, and Milwaukee respectively fielded teams. The Red Caps and Reds finished first and second, while the White Stockings finished at .500 and in fourth of only six teams. Finally, a league resurgence occurred with the addition of the Buffalo Bisons, Cleveland Blues, Syracuse Stars, and Troy Trojans. By 1880 the White Stockings and Hulbert were back on top of the now 8 team league, including the Worchesters from Worchester. Cincinnati would leave for the newly forming American Association, replaced by the Detroit Wolverines. The revolving door at the bottom of the league would continue, but the White Stockings prevailed for back-to-back-to-back crowns 1980-1982.
1882 was the year baseball’s American Association got its start, known as the “Beer and Whiskey League,” consisting of “River City” teams from Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Louisville. Many of these teams had left, or were asked to leave, the “puritanical” National League because of gambling, religion, and alcohol related issues. It’s ironic that the new league was abbreviated to “AA.” As the two leagues competed for players, it was decided that beginning in 1884 the winner of the NL would meet the winner of the AA in a Championship game. This innovation set the stage for what would eventually become the World Series of 1903. The first AA league winner was the Cincinnati Reds, but it was the 1884 New York Metropolitans that lost the first “World Championship” to the Providence Grays of the NL. The series would continue until 1890, with the only NL loss by the Chicago White Stockings of 1886 to the St. Louis Browns. There were several ties.
The New American League 1901 and the World Series
In 1901, the National League’s modern rival, the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, was founded. By then it had been 30 years since the Kekiongas hosted the very first National Association professional game and 25 years after the first National League season. I guess the question is when does baseball history start. Does it start with the Knickerbocker era back in 1842? the Doubleday myth back in 1839? Or 1947 when the game was finally integrated? Cap Anson was a competitor. I think his prejudicial words were designed to give him a better chance to be a star and claim a championship by simply excluding an entire race. It is the judgement of organizations like Major League Baseball and The Hall of Fame as to what should be recognized as baseball history and who should be recognized for firsts in the sport? There are those that believe that organized baseball began with the National League in 1875. These were essentially the exact same players and teams that played in the National Association of 1871, and its predecessor the NABBP of 1857. The baseball genealogy then extends back to the Knickerbocker leagues of 1842, and maybe even to that game in Cooperstown in 1839, when Abner Doubleday was at West Point. I feel it extends back to the first time that a club connected with a projectile with the object being to hit it as far as you can – if you can hit it. As we try to give credit to this unknown moment in history, let’s also give credit to that $10 investment that the Ft. Wayne Kekiongas made to the NAPBBP, when playing baseball became a career, worthy of statistics, rather than a pastime.
Starting in 1903, the best team from each league began competing against each other in the World Series. The first “World Champions” were the Boston Americans – not Red Stockings, Red Sox, Red Caps, Braves, Beaneaters, Somersets, Pligrims, Collinsites, Bostonians, or Plymouth Rocks. They defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates five games to three – isn’t that an eight game series? They did it again in 1904 over the New York Giants, and three more times before 1918. They then waited 86 years. I’m sure Harry Hulbert would be happy. No wait – his Cubs would have to wait 108 years. The Fort Wayne Kekiongas never won a World Series and probably wouldn’t have even if the opportunity existed. Please don’t take away there one claim to baseball history – the very first game.
