The Cream City Club of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was a baseball team in the 1860s, usually known as the Cream Citys.
The Cream City Base Ball Club was organized in October 1865, with Henry H. West as its first president, and rose to the upper echelon of Midwestern amateur teams. At first they played at the old Fair Grounds field on Spring Street (now Wisconsin Avenue), which had been the site of Camp Scott during the Civil War. After two years they moved closer to the lakefront, playing at the Prospect Avenue field (formerly Camp Reno).
By February, 1868, the Grain Exchange proudly displayed the Milwaukee club's trophies and awards from 1866 and 1867. This success came at the expense of other Wisconsin clubs and its tournaments at Chicago and Rockford, Illinois. Madison, Janesville, and Beloit could put up their best, but it was to no avail. The Milwaukees would lose only one game in intrastate play during that period. [1]
Contrary to their success against amateur teams, the Cream Citys were clobbered 67–13 on June 22, 1868, when they hosted the Brooklyn Atlantics—"a mostly pro contingent that had dominated the sport throughout most of the 1860s." [2] On August 7, they lost by a slightly more respectable 43–16 to the visiting Union of Morrisania, another powerhouse featuring left-handed pitcher Charlie Pabor, right fielder Steve Bellán, and shortstop George Wright. At that time the Cream City lineup included J.H. Wood, first base; Archie MacFayden, shortstop; George L. Redlington, catcher and captain; Martin Larkin, Jr, center field; W.H. Dodsworth, right field; Clarence Smith, pitcher; E.C. Wells, left field; and Charles S. Norris, second base. [3] [lower-alpha 1]
For that 1868 season, the Cream Citys had joined the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP), which embraced hundreds of clubs by that time. Despite its desire to play against the best teams, Cream City remained proudly amateur when the NABBP first permitted openly professional clubs for 1869. That did not conflict with playing the best teams occasionally. On the contrary, building adequate grounds and fielding a competent amateur team were the ways that the "baseball fraternity" in a city ensured experiencing some top-quality baseball. On July 26, they lost to the undefeated, all-professional Cincinnati Red Stockings by the lopsided score of 85–7.
Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, fielded professional teams in 1870, which both visited Milwaukee and won easily. So did the Harvard college team, evidently the strongest in the amateur field that summer (47–13 on July 27). [4] The creation of a professional league in 1871, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), further sidelined the club, which finally dissolved in 1876.
In 1877, the League Alliance—the first semi-affiliated minor league baseball league—included a Cream Citys team, which played to a record of 19–13 (.594), finishing in fourth among the 13 teams in the league. [5] : 132
The history of baseball in the United States dates to the 18th century, when boys and amateur enthusiasts played a baseball-like game by their own informal rules using homemade equipment. The popularity of the sport grew and amateur men's ball clubs were formed in the 1830–50s. Semi-professional baseball clubs followed in the 1860s, and the first professional leagues arrived in the post-American Civil War 1870s.
The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association with the brewing industry and shares its name with several other baseball teams that have called Milwaukee home. Since 2001, they have played their home games at American Family Field, which was named Miller Park through the 2020 season and has a seating capacity of 41,900 people.
Esteban Enrique "Steve" Bellán, was a Cuban-American professional baseball player who played as a third baseman for six seasons in the United States, three in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) from 1868 to 1870, and three in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP) from 1871 to 1873. He is credited as the first Latin American born individual to play professional baseball in the USA.
The Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869 were baseball's first all-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 (NABBP) 1867–1870, a time of a transition that ambitious Cincinnati businessmen and English-born ballplayer Harry Wright shaped as much as anyone. Major League Baseball recognized those events officially by sponsoring a centennial of professional baseball in 1969.
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Douglas L. Allison was an American Major League Baseball player. He began his career as a catcher for the original Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first fully professional baseball team. Allison was one of the first catchers to stand directly behind the batter, as a means to prevent baserunners from stealing bases. He was considered a specialist, at a time when some of the better batsmen who manned the position normally rested, or substituted at other fielding positions. Allison became the earliest known player to use a type of baseball glove when he donned buckskin mittens to protect his hands in 1870.
The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was the first organization governing American baseball.
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The following are the baseball events of the year 1869 throughout the world.
The following are the baseball events of the years 1845 to 1868 throughout the world.
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Below is a partial list of minor league baseball players in the Milwaukee Brewers system.
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The Milwaukee Creams were a minor league baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Between 1889 and 1913, the Creams played as members of the 1889 Western Association, Western League from 1902 to 1903 and 1913 Wisconsin-Illinois League. The Western League Creams franchise was forced to fold as the result of a territory dispute between the Western League and American Association. The Creams hosted minor league home games at Borchert Field and Lloyd Street Grounds.