Eureka Base Ball Club of Newark

Last February right before Carol and I left for England I had an e-mail from Brad Shaw the leader of the Flemington Neshanock, a New Jersey vintage base ball team (19th century spelling). Brad, Ron Colonga and others had decided to start a new vintage team based upon the Eureka Base Ball Club of Newark, one of the premiere base ball clubs of the 1860's. I already been working without success to start a team based upon the Newark Peppers (1915) so it seemed to make sense to work with them. The Neshanock had grown to the point that there were enough players to fill out two lineups so that major obstacle was already overcome.

Based on age and infirmities, I decided not to try to play, but to serve as the score keeper (tally keeper in 19th parlance) and unofficial historian. Then in an unusually serendipitous moment, I read on SABR's 19th Century baseball e-mail list about the pioneer project. The pioneer project is an effort led by Peter Morris, John Thorn and other noted 19th century baseball historians to compile a book of histories of the prominent teams of the pioneer period - roughly 1855 to 1870. They were looking for volunteers for teams in New Jersey so it made perfect sense for me to volunteer for the Eureka. At the moment the list has expanded to include the Newark Base Ball Club and the Olympic Base Ball Club of Paterson with the Irvington club probably to be added.

Since no one else has volunteered at this point, I am basically writing the New Jersey chapter of the book. And a good thing I might add since a book about this era without the New Jersey teams would be a tragedy both for New Jersey history and the project itself.

My research into the Eureka has been focused on the Newark newspapers of the era which I had used quite a bit when researching "The Mutinous Regiment." The Eureka were founded in 1860, playing sparingly in 1861-63 before really taking off in 1864. The Eureka and other Newark teams of the era were initially hampered due to men serving in the Union army, but interestingly after 1863 it wasn't much of an issue. Ironically at the same time the 33rd New Jersey was off to the "seat of war" in September of 1863, the Eureka were on their way to Philadelphia for their first extended road trip.

Base ball exploded in New Jersey after the war and the Eureka had their best season in 1865 going 10-5, but the five losses were to the best teams of the era. This included two-one run losses to the Brooklyn Atlantics who went undefeated that season. The Eureka played full seasons in 1866 and 1867, but became less active in 1868 and basically dropped off the face of the earth in 1869. Surprisingly the same thing seems to have happened the Olympic Club of Paterson. I have some theories as to what happened to the Eureka, but it needs more work.

An important part of the pioneer project histories is the lives of the players after they stopped playing base ball. The Eureka are interesting group including several who went on to play professional base ball as well as those who enjoyed considerable success in later life. One became a New Jersey assemblyman while another became the head of New Jersey's National Guard. Sadly with one minor exception none of their obituaries mentions their role with the Eureka during this formation stage of base ball in New Jersey. That makes the telling of the Eureka story for this project even more important. A book about the Eureka is also a possibility, but needs further consideration.