Eckford of Brooklyn
Encyclopedia
Eckford of Brooklyn, or simply Eckford, was an American baseball
club from 1855 to 1872. When the pioneering Union Grounds
opened for baseball in 1862, the Eckfords must have been the most important tenant, for they played more games than any other club that year (16) and won the "national" championship, repeating the championship in 1863. In the late 1860s, they were one of the pioneering professional clubs, although probably second to Mutual of New York
at the home park. In its final season, Eckford entered the second championship of the National Association
, the first professional league, so it is considered a major league club by those who count the NA as a major league.
Established in July 1855, the Eckford Base Ball Club was named for shipbuilder Henry Eckford
whose base of operations from the late 1790s until the early 1830s was Brooklyn, New York. He designed many American warships that participated in the War of 1812
.
From the sports page of Chicago's Daily Inter Ocean newspaper, December 20, 1879, p. 3: "Peter Tostevin, whose name was identified with the early history of the once famous Eckford Club of Brooklyn, N.Y., died in that city Dec. 8, aged 52. He assisted in organizing that club, and played first base during the seasons of 1856-57, and third base during 1858, filling the office of President in the latter year." Immigration and census records show that Peter Tostevin, a resident of Brooklyn, was born in France in about 1827, that he immigrated to the United States on May 31 1852, and that he was a mason and master builder.
Eckford was one of 16 participants in the 1857 convention, all from modern New York City. There the pioneer New York Knickerbockers
essentially transferred baseball governance to the leading clubs as a group, so the event is traditionally considered the birthday of the National Association of Base Ball Players
and the participants are considered the NABBP charter members.
The Eckfords never represented Brooklyn. First, they did not survive to the era of exclusive territories, sometimes called "sports franchising", which the new National League
instituted in 1876. Second, Brooklyn was populous enough to maintain several strong teams and support the construction of two enclosed ballparks during the amateur days when few players migrated to baseball jobs. Third, New York and Brooklyn had the early start, as the hotbeds where multiple clubs developed prior to cooperation. At the first convention, eight of 16 clubs were based in Brooklyn; three years later, it was 20 of 59. For all these reasons, When the NABBP permitted open professionalism in 1869, Eckford and Atlantic among dozens of Brooklyn members were both viable in following that route, and in 1872 they both joined the National Association league for its second season.
Eckford of Brooklyn may be another latterday coinage. Contemporary readers would probably understand it as an abbreviation for something like Eckford Base Ball Club, of Brooklyn in contrast to "Eckford" clubs in other cities. "Eckford" was not common as the root of a ballclub name — in contrast to "Athletic", "Atlantic", and "Mutual" — so there must have been little need to distinguish the Brooklyn rendition. (Wright (2000) mentions "Eckford" clubs in Albany 1864-1867, Syracuse 1870, and Newark 1870, as well as the distinctly named "Henry Eckford" club in New York 1860-1864. The other Eckfords were not prominent and did not travel so there must little occasion to qualify the "Eckford" name except locally.)
(NA), nor did it enter a team in that first professional league season. The team did win about half of about thirty games against NA opponents, including some late summer games picked up after the Fort Wayne Kekiongas
went out of business.
For 1872 Eckford paid the $10 entry fee and assembled a team but it was a woefully weak one that lost all of its 11 games played to July 9, with average score 5-22. Five of the league's eleven teams would drop out by late August but the Eckfords survived. Fortified by seven players from Troy
and Cleveland, including both pitchers and three other regulars, they returned to the field August 9. The strengthened team won three of 18 games with average score 5-9.
The old amateur rivals Atlantic and Eckford won only four and three of their last 18 games in the much stronger six-team league from mid-August. In four matches they each won two and scored 37 runs. They may have been equals on the field once again, but Eckford went out of business while Atlantic improved its team and moved in to share the Union Grounds with the Mutuals for the last three National Association seasons.
1857 2 5 7 4
1858 5 1 6 8 (5th in wins)
1859 11 3 14 2 (tie 2nd)
1860 15 2 17 2 (2nd)
1861 8 4 12 1 (tie 1st)
1862 14 2 16 1 (tie 1st)
1863 10 0 10 5 (tie 1st in wins)
1864 1 4 5 17
1865 8 6 14 7 (7th)
1866 9 8 17 6 (tie 8th)
1867 6 16 1 23 10
1868 23 12 35 6 (6th)
1869 47 8 55 2 (2nd)
1870 13 16 1 30 16
Championship matches with professional teams 1869-1870
1869 15 8 23 2 (tie 2nd in wins)
1870 2 12 1 15 11
Professional leagues
1871 non-member
1872 3 26 29 6 (did not finish)
Source for season records: Wright (2000) has published records for dozens of NABBP teams each season, relying on a mix of game and season records in contemporary newspapers and guides. Dozens of leading clubs by number of matches are included, as are many others. The records do not consistently cover either all games played or all championship matches between NABBP members.
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...
club from 1855 to 1872. When the pioneering 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...
opened for baseball in 1862, the Eckfords must have been the most important tenant, for they played more games than any other club that year (16) and won the "national" championship, repeating the championship in 1863. In the late 1860s, they were one of the pioneering professional clubs, although probably second to Mutual of New York
New 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...
at the home park. In its final season, Eckford entered the second championship of the National Association
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...
, the first professional league, so it is considered a major league club by those who count the NA as a major league.
Established in July 1855, the Eckford Base Ball Club was named for shipbuilder Henry Eckford
Henry Eckford (shipbuilder)
Henry Eckford was a Scottish-born shipbuilder, naval architect, industrial engineer, and entrepreneur who worked for the United States Navy and the navy of the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century.-Early life:...
whose base of operations from the late 1790s until the early 1830s was Brooklyn, New York. He designed many American warships that participated in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
.
From the sports page of Chicago's Daily Inter Ocean newspaper, December 20, 1879, p. 3: "Peter Tostevin, whose name was identified with the early history of the once famous Eckford Club of Brooklyn, N.Y., died in that city Dec. 8, aged 52. He assisted in organizing that club, and played first base during the seasons of 1856-57, and third base during 1858, filling the office of President in the latter year." Immigration and census records show that Peter Tostevin, a resident of Brooklyn, was born in France in about 1827, that he immigrated to the United States on May 31 1852, and that he was a mason and master builder.
Eckford was one of 16 participants in the 1857 convention, all from modern New York City. There the pioneer New York Knickerbockers
New York Knickerbockers
The New York Knickerbockers were one of the first organized baseball teams which played under a set of rules similar to the game today. The team was founded by Alexander Cartwright, considered one of the original developers of modern baseball....
essentially transferred baseball governance to the leading clubs as a group, so the event is traditionally considered the birthday 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...
and the participants are considered the NABBP charter members.
Name
Today the Eckford club and its teams are commonly called "the Brooklyn Eckfords". The Eckfords, plural with definite article, was used by contemporary writers in prose, perhaps for the grammatical parallel to ordinary nouns used with plural verbs ("the visitors are staying downtown" or "the men are playing well"); perhaps by direct analogy to plurals formed from family names ("the Millers are coming to dinner"). "Brooklyn" in the team name is a later development, matching the later convention that a club or team should be named for a locale or region that it represents.The Eckfords never represented Brooklyn. First, they did not survive to the era of exclusive territories, sometimes called "sports franchising", which the new National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
instituted in 1876. Second, Brooklyn was populous enough to maintain several strong teams and support the construction of two enclosed ballparks during the amateur days when few players migrated to baseball jobs. Third, New York and Brooklyn had the early start, as the hotbeds where multiple clubs developed prior to cooperation. At the first convention, eight of 16 clubs were based in Brooklyn; three years later, it was 20 of 59. For all these reasons, When the NABBP permitted open professionalism in 1869, Eckford and Atlantic among dozens of Brooklyn members were both viable in following that route, and in 1872 they both joined the National Association league for its second season.
Eckford of Brooklyn may be another latterday coinage. Contemporary readers would probably understand it as an abbreviation for something like Eckford Base Ball Club, of Brooklyn in contrast to "Eckford" clubs in other cities. "Eckford" was not common as the root of a ballclub name — in contrast to "Athletic", "Atlantic", and "Mutual" — so there must have been little need to distinguish the Brooklyn rendition. (Wright (2000) mentions "Eckford" clubs in Albany 1864-1867, Syracuse 1870, and Newark 1870, as well as the distinctly named "Henry Eckford" club in New York 1860-1864. The other Eckfords were not prominent and did not travel so there must little occasion to qualify the "Eckford" name except locally.)
League Era
In winter 1871, Eckford did not participate in founding the National Association of Professional Base Ball PlayersNational 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...
(NA), nor did it enter a team in that first professional league season. The team did win about half of about thirty games against NA opponents, including some late summer games picked up after the Fort Wayne Kekiongas
Fort Wayne Kekiongas
The Fort Wayne Kekiongas were a professional baseball team, notable for winning the first professional league game on May 4, 1871. Kekionga - pronounced KEY-key-awn-guh - is the name of Chief Little Turtle's Miami Indian settlement where the St. Joseph River and the St. Mary's River join to form...
went out of business.
For 1872 Eckford paid the $10 entry fee and assembled a team but it was a woefully weak one that lost all of its 11 games played to July 9, with average score 5-22. Five of the league's eleven teams would drop out by late August but the Eckfords survived. Fortified by seven players from Troy
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
and Cleveland, including both pitchers and three other regulars, they returned to the field August 9. The strengthened team won three of 18 games with average score 5-9.
The old amateur rivals Atlantic and Eckford won only four and three of their last 18 games in the much stronger six-team league from mid-August. In four matches they each won two and scored 37 runs. They may have been equals on the field once again, but Eckford went out of business while Atlantic improved its team and moved in to share the Union Grounds with the Mutuals for the last three National Association seasons.
Record
Year W L T Games Rank in games (in wins)1857 2 5 7 4
1858 5 1 6 8 (5th in wins)
1859 11 3 14 2 (tie 2nd)
1860 15 2 17 2 (2nd)
1861 8 4 12 1 (tie 1st)
1862 14 2 16 1 (tie 1st)
1863 10 0 10 5 (tie 1st in wins)
1864 1 4 5 17
1865 8 6 14 7 (7th)
1866 9 8 17 6 (tie 8th)
1867 6 16 1 23 10
1868 23 12 35 6 (6th)
1869 47 8 55 2 (2nd)
1870 13 16 1 30 16
Championship matches with professional teams 1869-1870
1869 15 8 23 2 (tie 2nd in wins)
1870 2 12 1 15 11
Professional leagues
1871 non-member
1872 3 26 29 6 (did not finish)
Source for season records: Wright (2000) has published records for dozens of NABBP teams each season, relying on a mix of game and season records in contemporary newspapers and guides. Dozens of leading clubs by number of matches are included, as are many others. The records do not consistently cover either all games played or all championship matches between NABBP members.
Ballparks
- Lowry, Phil. Green Cathedrals.
- Benson, Michael. Baseball Parks of North America.