Capitoline Grounds
Encyclopedia
The Capitoline Grounds, also known as Capitoline Skating Lake and Base Ball Ground, was a baseball
park
in Brooklyn
, New York
from 1864 to 1880. It was built to rival nearby Union Grounds
, also in Brooklyn. The park was host to several local teams in its early history, but soon hosted the Atlantic of Brooklyn
of the National Association of Base Ball Players
.
Many of organized baseball's earliest historical events took place at the park throughout the 1860s and early 1870s. The most notable event came on June 14, 1870, when the Atlantics ended the Cincinnati Red Stockings
84–game winning streak, with a com-from-behind 8–7 victory in the bottom of the 11th inning
. This was also the place where Fred Goldsmith successfully demonstrated his curve ball, a pitch previously thought to have been only an optical illusion. Ned Cuthbert
invented the slide
when he was trying to avoid being caught stealing
a base in an 1865 game against the Athletic of Philadelphia
. The park's only season as a "Major League" park was in 1872 when the Brooklyn Atlantics
joined the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players
. In addition to baseball, the park was flooded during the winter and used as an ice skating rink. The Grounds hosted various events and exhibitions; most notably in 1873, when Washington Donaldson attempted to fly a hot-air balloon across the Atlantic Ocean
. The attempt turned tragic when the balloon crashed in Connecticut
killing one of the reporters who came along for the ride.
, one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome
, was first conceived in 1863 as a rival to the nearby Union Grounds
, which had opened the previous year. The original plan included the draining of the Capitoline pond, used as an ice-skating area during the Winters, to make room for the park, but it failed, and wasn't until 1864
that the park was finished. In April, the proprieters, Reuben S. Decker and Hamilton A. Weed, offered the Atlantic Club of Brooklyn a free lease to play their games at their new park. The Grounds stood in Bedford, in a block bounded by Halsey Street, and Marcy, Putnam and Nostrand Avenues, an area that is now known as the Bedford-Stuyvesant
neighborhood.
The Capitoline Grounds consisted of two sets of bleachers that seated that were backed by Nostrand Avenue and Halsey Street, and had an approximate capacity of 5,000 people. In right field
stood a circular brick outhouse
, and if any player hit a ball over the structure, they were presented with a bottle of Champagne. Along Putname Avenue, two rows of stable
s were established for the patrons' horses. Other amenities included a bandstand
, clubhouses, and sitting rooms for the female patrons.
used the Grounds as their home field 1864, and the Excelsior of Brooklyn
later moved there in 1866. Both the Enterprise and the Excelsior clubs refused to play the Atlantics, but they did play a number of matches together, mixing their best nines and their "muffin" nines of club novices.
The Atlantics began using the Grounds as their home field in 1865, and claimed the championship by finishing an undefeated season on the sixth of November, in front of 15‚000 spectators.
was played on the Capitoline Grounds before a crowd of 10‚000. The Atlantics were ahead in the seventh before the game was stopped due to rain. Later, on September 6, the Eckford Club began a championship series for the pennant with the Atlantic club at the Capitoline Grounds. With 8‚000 spectators on hand, the Atlantics defeated the Eckfords 45–25‚ supported by Joe Start
's four home run
s.
The first two high profile teams to begin a season with a practice game happened at the Grounds on April 21, 1870. A crowd of 1‚200 paid $.25 apiece to watch the Atlantics and the Unions of Morrisania play, with the Atlantics winning 24–10.
The game played at the Capitoline Grounds on June 14, 1870, was described, in a telegram, as "The finest game ever played." Harry Wright
's Cincinnati Red Stockings
, and their 84 winning streak, visited the Atlantics in Brooklyn. The Red Stockings had been undefeated in 1869, with a record of 60–0, and had won their first 24 games of the 1870 season. Noted as the "greatest game of the year", 20,000 people were there watch the Atlantics attempt to break the Red Stockings winning streak. The game was tied 5–5 at the end of the 9th inning, when the Atlantics offered to end the game since the regulation nine innings had been played, but Wright turned down the proposal, wishing to take the game into extra innings. In the top of the 11th inning‚ the Red Stockings scored two runs, giving themselves a 7–5 lead, but the Atlantics countered with three of their own in the bottom half of the 11th, winning the game as Bob Ferguson scored on a hit by George Zettlein
.
Fred Goldsmith, sometimes credited as the inventor of the curve ball, was invited by sportswriter Henry Chadwick to the Capitoline Grounds on August 16, 1870 to demonstrate the pitch. He succeeds, and Chadwick observed: "That which had up to this point been considered an optical illusion and against all rules of philosophy was now an established fact." Later, Chadwick credited Candy Cummings
with the discovery of the pitch instead.
John B. Day, who owned the New York Metropolitans
in 1880, was frustrated about having to play at the ill-kept Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn, which was not yet a borough of New York City
, and the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge
had not yet been completed, so the fans of the Mets had to cross the East River
by ferry to see their team play. Day's shoe shine boy suggested a site in Manhattan
, a place where polo
matches were being played. That piece of ground later became the future site of the Polo Grounds
.
in a hot-air balloon. Sponsored by the Daily Graphic, the launch was to take place from the Capitoline Grounds, with Wise planning to use a balloon 49 meters (160 feet) tall with a two-compartment enclosed car, but decided to end his involvement with the project. Donaldson persisted, acquiring a smaller balloon with an open boat for the car.
Donaldson's Atlantic attempt, launched from the Capitoline Grounds accompanied by reporters Alfred Ford and George Lunt, ended up being forced down by a rainstorm, to land on a Connecticut farm. Donaldson and Ford successfully abandoned the runaway balloon, but Lunt stayed with the balloon for a distance until he finally jumped into a tree, sustaining serious injuries from which he died six months later. Donaldson later disappeared in 1875 when he tried to fly across Lake Michigan
in a balloon, accompanied by a reporter named Newton Grimwood. The balloon never made it to the far shore; Grimwood's body washed up on shore weeks later, but Donaldson was never seen again.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
park
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
from 1864 to 1880. It was built to rival nearby Union Grounds
Union Grounds
Union Grounds was a baseball park located in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. The grounds opened in 1862 and was the first baseball park enclosed entirely by a fence, thereby allowing proprietor William Cammeyer or his tenant to charge admission, permitting only paying customers to...
, also in Brooklyn. The park was host to several local teams in its early history, but soon hosted the Atlantic of Brooklyn
Brooklyn Atlantics
The Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn was baseball's first champion and its first dynasty.Established in 1855, Atlantic was a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players in 1857. In 1859, with a record of 11 wins and 1 loss, Atlantic emerged as the recognized champions of...
of the National Association of Base Ball Players
National Association of Base Ball Players
The National Association of Base Ball Players was the first organization governing American baseball. The first, 1857 convention of sixteen New York City clubs...
.
Many of organized baseball's earliest historical events took place at the park throughout the 1860s and early 1870s. The most notable event came on June 14, 1870, when the Atlantics ended the Cincinnati Red Stockings
Cincinnati Red Stockings
The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first fully professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players 1867–1870, a time of a transition that ambitious Cincinnati,...
84–game winning streak, with a com-from-behind 8–7 victory in the bottom of the 11th inning
Inning
Inning is a municipality in the district of Erding in Bavaria in Germany....
. This was also the place where Fred Goldsmith successfully demonstrated his curve ball, a pitch previously thought to have been only an optical illusion. Ned Cuthbert
Ned Cuthbert
Edgar Edward "Ned" Cuthbert was an American professional baseball player.Cuthbert's baseball career began in 1865 with the Keystone Club of Philadelphia. After two seasons as a second baseman and outfielder with the Keystones, he moved across town to the West Philadelphia club, playing only four...
invented the slide
Slide (baseball)
In baseball, a slide is when a player, acting as a baserunner, drops his body to the ground once he is very close to the base he is approaching and slides along the ground to reach the base....
when he was trying to avoid being caught stealing
Stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...
a base in an 1865 game against the Athletic of Philadelphia
Athletic of Philadelphia
Athletic of Philadelphia was a prominent National Association, and later National League, professional baseball team that played in the second half of the 19th century.-Early History:...
. The park's only season as a "Major League" park was in 1872 when the Brooklyn Atlantics
Brooklyn Atlantics
The Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn was baseball's first champion and its first dynasty.Established in 1855, Atlantic was a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players in 1857. In 1859, with a record of 11 wins and 1 loss, Atlantic emerged as the recognized champions of...
joined the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players
National Association of Professional Base Ball Players
The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , or simply the National Association , was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season...
. In addition to baseball, the park was flooded during the winter and used as an ice skating rink. The Grounds hosted various events and exhibitions; most notably in 1873, when Washington Donaldson attempted to fly a hot-air balloon across the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. The attempt turned tragic when the balloon crashed in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
killing one of the reporters who came along for the ride.
Origin and construction
The Capitoline Grounds, named in reverence to Capitoline HillCapitoline Hill
The Capitoline Hill , between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome. It was the citadel of the earliest Romans. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, with the alternative Campidoglio stemming from Capitolium. The English word capitol...
, one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome
Seven hills of Rome
The Seven Hills of Rome east of the river Tiber form the geographical heart of Rome, within the walls of the ancient city.The seven hills are:* Aventine Hill * Caelian Hill...
, was first conceived in 1863 as a rival to the nearby Union Grounds
Union Grounds
Union Grounds was a baseball park located in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. The grounds opened in 1862 and was the first baseball park enclosed entirely by a fence, thereby allowing proprietor William Cammeyer or his tenant to charge admission, permitting only paying customers to...
, which had opened the previous year. The original plan included the draining of the Capitoline pond, used as an ice-skating area during the Winters, to make room for the park, but it failed, and wasn't until 1864
1864 in sports
-Association football:Events* 7 December — Notts County, then called Notts FC, is formally established and remains the oldest club in the Football League-Baseball:National championship...
that the park was finished. In April, the proprieters, Reuben S. Decker and Hamilton A. Weed, offered the Atlantic Club of Brooklyn a free lease to play their games at their new park. The Grounds stood in Bedford, in a block bounded by Halsey Street, and Marcy, Putnam and Nostrand Avenues, an area that is now known as the Bedford-Stuyvesant
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Bedford-Stuyvesant is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Formed in 1930, the neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 3, Brooklyn Community Board 8 and Brooklyn Community Board 16. The neighborhood is patrolled by the NYPD's 79th and 81st...
neighborhood.
The Capitoline Grounds consisted of two sets of bleachers that seated that were backed by Nostrand Avenue and Halsey Street, and had an approximate capacity of 5,000 people. In right field
Right fielder
A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...
stood a circular brick outhouse
Outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
, and if any player hit a ball over the structure, they were presented with a bottle of Champagne. Along Putname Avenue, two rows of stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
s were established for the patrons' horses. Other amenities included a bandstand
Bandstand
A bandstand is a circular or semicircular structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts...
, clubhouses, and sitting rooms for the female patrons.
1863–1868
On May 5, 1864, the first baseball game played at the Capitoline Grounds was a match between the Atlantic of Brooklyn, and a field of nine chosen players from other Brooklyn teams by Henry Chadwick. The Atlantic club defeated the field of nine by a score of 45 to 11. In the first scheduled club match, Atlantic defeated Nassau of Princeton 42–7. The Enterprise of BrooklynBrooklyn Enterprise
The Enterprise Baseball Club of Brooklyn was part of the National Association of Base Ball Players in the 1860s. The Enterprise Club first began playing other members of the NABBP in the 1850s.-Games:...
used the Grounds as their home field 1864, and the Excelsior of Brooklyn
Excelsior of Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Excelsiors were an amateur baseball team that played in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1854, the Excelsior ballclub featured stars such as Jim Creighton, Asa Brainard, and Candy Cummings.-1860 Championship Season:...
later moved there in 1866. Both the Enterprise and the Excelsior clubs refused to play the Atlantics, but they did play a number of matches together, mixing their best nines and their "muffin" nines of club novices.
The Atlantics began using the Grounds as their home field in 1865, and claimed the championship by finishing an undefeated season on the sixth of November, in front of 15‚000 spectators.
1869–1871
On June 28, 1869, a championship match between the Atlantic club and the New York MutualsNew York Mutuals
The Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was a leading American baseball club almost throughout its 20-year history. It was established during 1857, the year of the first baseball convention, just too late to be a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players. It was a charter...
was played on the Capitoline Grounds before a crowd of 10‚000. The Atlantics were ahead in the seventh before the game was stopped due to rain. Later, on September 6, the Eckford Club began a championship series for the pennant with the Atlantic club at the Capitoline Grounds. With 8‚000 spectators on hand, the Atlantics defeated the Eckfords 45–25‚ supported by Joe Start
Joe Start
Joseph Start , nicknamed "Old Reliable", was one of the biggest stars of baseball's earliest era, and certainly the top first baseman of his time...
's four home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s.
The first two high profile teams to begin a season with a practice game happened at the Grounds on April 21, 1870. A crowd of 1‚200 paid $.25 apiece to watch the Atlantics and the Unions of Morrisania play, with the Atlantics winning 24–10.
The game played at the Capitoline Grounds on June 14, 1870, was described, in a telegram, as "The finest game ever played." Harry Wright
Harry Wright
William Henry "Harry" Wright was an English-born American professional baseball player, manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played center field for baseball's first fully professional team, the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings...
's Cincinnati Red Stockings
Cincinnati Red Stockings
The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first fully professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players 1867–1870, a time of a transition that ambitious Cincinnati,...
, and their 84 winning streak, visited the Atlantics in Brooklyn. The Red Stockings had been undefeated in 1869, with a record of 60–0, and had won their first 24 games of the 1870 season. Noted as the "greatest game of the year", 20,000 people were there watch the Atlantics attempt to break the Red Stockings winning streak. The game was tied 5–5 at the end of the 9th inning, when the Atlantics offered to end the game since the regulation nine innings had been played, but Wright turned down the proposal, wishing to take the game into extra innings. In the top of the 11th inning‚ the Red Stockings scored two runs, giving themselves a 7–5 lead, but the Atlantics countered with three of their own in the bottom half of the 11th, winning the game as Bob Ferguson scored on a hit by George Zettlein
George Zettlein
George Zettlein was a professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1871–1876. Zettlein played for the Chicago White Stockings, Troy Haymakers, Brooklyn Eckfords, Philadelphia White Stockings, and Athletic of Philadelphia...
.
Fred Goldsmith, sometimes credited as the inventor of the curve ball, was invited by sportswriter Henry Chadwick to the Capitoline Grounds on August 16, 1870 to demonstrate the pitch. He succeeds, and Chadwick observed: "That which had up to this point been considered an optical illusion and against all rules of philosophy was now an established fact." Later, Chadwick credited Candy Cummings
Candy Cummings
William Arthur "Candy" Cummings was a professional baseball pitcher in the National Association and National League who was credited with inventing the curveball. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.-Career:...
with the discovery of the pitch instead.
1872–1880
The only season of Major League Baseball at the Capitoline Grounds was in 1872. The Atlantics, then of the National Association, won the final major league game there 6-3 over Boston, but left for the Union Grounds in 1873. The Capitoline Grounds continued to host lesser matches, as well such events as P.T. Barnum's circus.John B. Day, who owned the New York Metropolitans
New York Metropolitans
The Metropolitan Club was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887...
in 1880, was frustrated about having to play at the ill-kept Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn, which was not yet a borough of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
had not yet been completed, so the fans of the Mets had to cross the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
by ferry to see their team play. Day's shoe shine boy suggested a site in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, a place where polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
matches were being played. That piece of ground later became the future site of the Polo Grounds
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
.
Donaldson's failed balloon flight of 1873
In September 1873, Washington Donaldson, a professional balloonist who had formerly worked for P.T. Barnum as a circus performer, along with fellow balloonist John Wise, collaborated on an attempt to cross the Atlantic OceanAtlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
in a hot-air balloon. Sponsored by the Daily Graphic, the launch was to take place from the Capitoline Grounds, with Wise planning to use a balloon 49 meters (160 feet) tall with a two-compartment enclosed car, but decided to end his involvement with the project. Donaldson persisted, acquiring a smaller balloon with an open boat for the car.
Donaldson's Atlantic attempt, launched from the Capitoline Grounds accompanied by reporters Alfred Ford and George Lunt, ended up being forced down by a rainstorm, to land on a Connecticut farm. Donaldson and Ford successfully abandoned the runaway balloon, but Lunt stayed with the balloon for a distance until he finally jumped into a tree, sustaining serious injuries from which he died six months later. Donaldson later disappeared in 1875 when he tried to fly across Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
in a balloon, accompanied by a reporter named Newton Grimwood. The balloon never made it to the far shore; Grimwood's body washed up on shore weeks later, but Donaldson was never seen again.