Lipman Emanuel "Lip" Pike the "Iron Batter",was an American star of 19th-century baseball in the United States. His brother,Israel Pike,played briefly for the Hartford Dark Blues during the 1877 season.
Rockford Forest Citys,from Rockford,Illinois,was one of the first professional baseball clubs. Rockford played for one season during the National Association inaugural year of 1871. They are not to be confused with the Cleveland Forest Citys,who played in the same league. "Forest City" is a nickname used by the cities of Rockford and Cleveland.
Calvin Alexander McVey was an American professional baseball player during the 1860s and 1870s. McVey's importance to the game stems from his play on two of the earliest professional baseball teams,the original Cincinnati Red Stockings and the National Association Boston Red Stockings. He also played on the inaugural National League pennant-winning team,the 1876 Chicago White Stockings.
Frank Sylvester "Silver" Flint was a catcher in Major League Baseball. He played 13 seasons of major league baseball for the St. Louis Red Stockings,Indianapolis Blues and Chicago White Stockings.
The Middletown Mansfields were an early baseball team in Middletown,Connecticut that existed from 1866 to 1872.
Fergus G. Malone was a professional baseball player in the 1860s and 1870s. He was the catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1871,champion of the first professional league season.
John Edgar Clapp,nicknamed "Honest John",was an American professional baseball player-manager whose career spanned 12 seasons,11 of which were spent with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Middletown Mansfields (1872),Philadelphia Athletics (1873–75),St. Louis Brown Stockings (1876–77),Indianapolis Blues (1878),Buffalo Bisons (1879),Cincinnati Stars (1880),Cleveland Blues (1881),and New York Gothams (1883). Clapp,who predominately played as a catcher,also played as an outfielder. Over his career,Clapp compiled a career batting average of .283 with 459 runs scored,713 hits,92 doubles,35 triples,7 home runs,and 834 runs batted in (RBI). Over 1,188 games played,Clapp struck out 51 times. Although the majority of his career was spent in the major leagues,Clapp also played two seasons of minor league baseball. He made his MLB debut at the age of 21 and was listed as standing 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm) and weighing 194 pounds (88 kg). His brother,Aaron Clapp,also played one season of MLB for the Troy Trojans.
George W. Shafer [sometimes spelled Shaffer or Schaefer] was an outfielder in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "Orator",because he was an avid speaker,Shafer played for 10 teams in four different major leagues between 1874 and 1890. Though he was a good hitter who batted over .300 three times,Shafer was best known for his defensive abilities. He led the National League's outfielders in assists four times. In 1879,he set an MLB single-season record with 50 outfield assists,which is a mark that has stood for over 130 years. He was considered by some to be the greatest right fielder of his era.
Dennis Joseph Mack was a professional baseball player who was a first baseman and shortstop in Major League Baseball for eight seasons from 1871 to 1883. He played for seven different teams,including as a player-manager for the Louisville Eclipse in 1882.
Robert Edward Addy,nicknamed "the Magnet",was a Canadian right fielder and second baseman in Major League Baseball,whose professional career spanned from 1871 in the National Association to 1877 in the National League. He is credited as the first player to introduce the slide in an organized game,and later attempted to create a game of baseball that would have been played on ice. He is also credited as the first person born in Canada to appear in a major league game.
Michael Henry McGeary was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1871 to 1882. He played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball,playing principally as an infielder and catcher,for seven different major league clubs:the Troy Haymakers (1870–1871),the Philadelphia Athletics (NA) (1872–1874),the Philadelphia White Stockings (1875),the St. Louis Brown Stockings (1876–1877),the Providence Grays (1879–1880),the Cleveland Blues (1880–1881) and the Detroit Wolverines (1882). Three of those clubs,the Philadelphia White Stockings,Providence Grays and Cleveland Blues,also employed him as player-manager.
Patrick James "Paddy" Quinn was an American Major League Baseball catcher and outfielder during the 1870s.
William Charles "Cherokee" Fisher was an American Major League Baseball pitcher who played in the National Association from 1871 to 1875 and the National League in 1876 and 1878.
William Frederick Krieg was a Major League Baseball player from 1884 to 1887. He won three batting titles in the minor leagues.
Charles Hodes was an American professional baseball player who played as a catcher,infielder,and outfielder in the National Association for three seasons from 1871 to 1874. A Brooklyn native,Hodes played one season each for the Chicago White Stockings,Troy Haymakers,and Brooklyn Atlantics. He had a career batting average of .231 in 63 total games before dying from tuberculosis in 1875.
Joseph Frederick Cone was an American Major League Baseball player for the 1871 Boston Red Stockings.
John F. McMullin was an American professional baseball player. During the first professional league season in 1871,he was the only regular left-handed pitcher,while in later seasons he mainly played the outfield. After playing almost every game throughout the five National Association seasons (1871–1875),he did not play a single game in the National League that succeeded it. He died in his native Philadelphia five years later,only 32 years old.
James Holdsworth,nicknamed "Long Jim",was a professional baseball player who played shortstop in Major League Baseball for seven different teams during his nine-season career from 1872 to 1884. Holdsworth died in his hometown of New York City,and is interred at Woodlawn Cemetery. He played in the National Association,National League,and briefly the American Association.
The Rockford Forest Citys played their first and only season in 1871 as a charter member of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. They finished ninth in the league with a record of 4–21. They folded after the season.
