As part of my research for the pioneer project I am reading William Ryczek's book, "When Johnny Came Sliding Home," which is a general history of base ball from 1865-1870. It was well researched and has been helpful to me in thinking about New Jersey base ball during this period. However, it is has also made me think some more about why New Jersey history is important or more specifically why New Jersey history needs to be researched, written and studied.
Ryczek's goal is to give an overview of this important period in base ball history, a period that saw a rapid expansion and the difficult transition into the professional game. His primary contemporary sources were the New York Clipper, the Spirit of the Times, and the Henry Chadwick scrapbooks. I have not yet looked at the Chadwick scrapbooks which I gather include different newspaper articles. I have worked a lot with the Clipper and a little with the Spirit of the Times, they are basically newspaper equivalents of what Sports Illustrated is today - a weekly publication covering important games, stories etc.
These are good sources and certainly give a good overview, especially when one is trying to write an overview or general account. However, if one wants to tell the full story of a local team one has to spend some time with local sources particularly the newspapers of the day. An example of this is how Ryczek writes about the Irvington base ball club. The Irvingtons, as they were sometimes called, burst on to the national scene when they lured the Brooklyn Atlantics to Irvington on the pretext that they were a "country club" who would benefit from losing from the champion Atlantics. Taken in by this subterfuge, the Atlantics found themselves losing to Irvington - a shock to the sporting world of the time.
For the next two years the Irvington team went on to face most of the top teams of the nation and more than held their own. However, beginning in 1868 they started to lose their best players to more prominent clubs both in New York and beyond. In fact, two members of the Irvington team, Charles Sweasy and Andrew Jackson Leonard, moved on to the Cincinnati Redstockings, the first all professional team that went undefeated on a national tour in 1869.
In writing about the Irvingtons, Ryczek repeats a story found in the New York Clipper (probably written by Henry Chadwick) which says that in 1865 the best players on the Irvington team split up to play for two more prestigious Newark teams before reforming to become the great Irvington team of 1866-67. However a review of the existing box scores in Newark newspapers for the period suggests that the Irvington team also included three players from the Newark club who moved to Irvington in 1866.
By itself this has limited significance, it is more important when we move on to how Ryczek and others describe the Irvington team. The view is basically that with perhaps one exception they were a team of difficult characters who symbolized the change from the gentleman's game of the early 1860's. However, the Newark club which was one of Newark and New Jersey's oldest clubs was very much part of that gentleman's era so it is doubtful if the three men who moved on to Irvington fit that stereotype.
Much of the criticism of the Irvington team both then and now really centers on some of the violence and crowd disturbances that occurred at Irvington matches. While the club may merit criticism for insufficient crowd control that is hardly the fault of the players. In fact, contemporary accounts in the New Jersey papers, indicate that the Irvington club complied with many of the time honored traditions of how to properly host a visiting team. I am not far enough into this research to make definitive claims, but it appears that too much of a broad brush has been taken perhaps because of insufficient attention to local sources.
There are at least two risks in not researching, writing and knowing New Jersey history. The risk that the story will not be told and the risk that it will not be told completely or correctly because of insufficient use of local sources. This is not the fault of those like Mr. Ryczek who are writing a more general work - it is our fault if in one way or another we don't help get this work done. Part of the fascinating thing of researching the pioneer project is that it feels like so little work has been done with these sources. This was also my experience in researching and writing about the 33rd New Jersey especially finding the true story of the regiment's troubled departure from Newark in September of 1863. To paraphrase something written by a noted church historian, a state that doesn't know its history is like an adult who has lost his/her memory - both situations are very sad.
Ryczek's goal is to give an overview of this important period in base ball history, a period that saw a rapid expansion and the difficult transition into the professional game. His primary contemporary sources were the New York Clipper, the Spirit of the Times, and the Henry Chadwick scrapbooks. I have not yet looked at the Chadwick scrapbooks which I gather include different newspaper articles. I have worked a lot with the Clipper and a little with the Spirit of the Times, they are basically newspaper equivalents of what Sports Illustrated is today - a weekly publication covering important games, stories etc.
These are good sources and certainly give a good overview, especially when one is trying to write an overview or general account. However, if one wants to tell the full story of a local team one has to spend some time with local sources particularly the newspapers of the day. An example of this is how Ryczek writes about the Irvington base ball club. The Irvingtons, as they were sometimes called, burst on to the national scene when they lured the Brooklyn Atlantics to Irvington on the pretext that they were a "country club" who would benefit from losing from the champion Atlantics. Taken in by this subterfuge, the Atlantics found themselves losing to Irvington - a shock to the sporting world of the time.
For the next two years the Irvington team went on to face most of the top teams of the nation and more than held their own. However, beginning in 1868 they started to lose their best players to more prominent clubs both in New York and beyond. In fact, two members of the Irvington team, Charles Sweasy and Andrew Jackson Leonard, moved on to the Cincinnati Redstockings, the first all professional team that went undefeated on a national tour in 1869.
In writing about the Irvingtons, Ryczek repeats a story found in the New York Clipper (probably written by Henry Chadwick) which says that in 1865 the best players on the Irvington team split up to play for two more prestigious Newark teams before reforming to become the great Irvington team of 1866-67. However a review of the existing box scores in Newark newspapers for the period suggests that the Irvington team also included three players from the Newark club who moved to Irvington in 1866.
By itself this has limited significance, it is more important when we move on to how Ryczek and others describe the Irvington team. The view is basically that with perhaps one exception they were a team of difficult characters who symbolized the change from the gentleman's game of the early 1860's. However, the Newark club which was one of Newark and New Jersey's oldest clubs was very much part of that gentleman's era so it is doubtful if the three men who moved on to Irvington fit that stereotype.
Much of the criticism of the Irvington team both then and now really centers on some of the violence and crowd disturbances that occurred at Irvington matches. While the club may merit criticism for insufficient crowd control that is hardly the fault of the players. In fact, contemporary accounts in the New Jersey papers, indicate that the Irvington club complied with many of the time honored traditions of how to properly host a visiting team. I am not far enough into this research to make definitive claims, but it appears that too much of a broad brush has been taken perhaps because of insufficient attention to local sources.
There are at least two risks in not researching, writing and knowing New Jersey history. The risk that the story will not be told and the risk that it will not be told completely or correctly because of insufficient use of local sources. This is not the fault of those like Mr. Ryczek who are writing a more general work - it is our fault if in one way or another we don't help get this work done. Part of the fascinating thing of researching the pioneer project is that it feels like so little work has been done with these sources. This was also my experience in researching and writing about the 33rd New Jersey especially finding the true story of the regiment's troubled departure from Newark in September of 1863. To paraphrase something written by a noted church historian, a state that doesn't know its history is like an adult who has lost his/her memory - both situations are very sad.
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