The Hartfords (more commonly called the Hartford Dark Blues because of their uniform color) were a 19th-century

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

team. The team was based in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

History

In 1874, baseball in Hartford was being played in a fever pitch. As talk of forming a national professional league was going on,

Morgan Bulkeley Morgan Gardner Bulkeley (December 26, 1837 – November 6, 1922) was an American politician of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, businessman, and insurance executive. In 1876, he served as the first president of baseball's ...

, Gershon Hubbell and Middletown native Ben Douglas Jr. leased land from Elizabeth Colt to build a base ball field and stadium with a covered grandstand, and set about forming a team, The Hartfords. Located on the corner of Wyllys and Hendrixsen Streets next to the Church of the Good Shepherd, the Hartford Ball Club Grounds was the finest in the country and saw the team come in second to Chicago in the National League's first professional year, 1876. That team that was led by Captain Bob Ferguson and was rounded out by pitchers Candy Cummings (purported inventor of the curve ball),

Tommy Bond Thomas Ross Bond (September 16, 1926 – September 24, 2005) was an American actor, director, producer and writer. He was best known for his work as a child actor for two nonconsecutive periods in ''Our Gang'' (''Little Rascals'') comedies (fir ...

(the only pitcher in baseball history to have three 40-game winning years in a row), Tom Carey, Everett Mills, Bill Harbridge, Tom York, Dick Higham, Jack Burdock, Jack Remsen and Doug Allison. The Hartford Dark Blues were a member of the

National Association of Professional Base Ball Players The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), often known simply as the National Association (NA), was the first fully- professional sports league in baseball. The NA was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 se ...

in 1874 and 1875 and the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

in 1876 and 1877. In 1877 the team played in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

as the Brooklyn Hartfords. Playing at the Hartford Ball Club Grounds, in 1876 they joined the

as a charter member. The team's owner, Morgan G. Bulkeley, was also the first president of the National League. Managed by their third baseman, Bob Ferguson, the Dark Blues went on to finish third in 1876 with a record of 47–21. The team's strong suit was pitching, with both

and future Hall of Famer Candy Cummings finishing with an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

under 2.00. The pitching staff recorded the most complete games (69) and allowed the lowest number of home runs throughout the 70-game 1876 campaign (the Philadelphia Athletics also accomplished this feat that season). The team's best hitter was right fielder Dick Higham, who led the team in most offensive categories. The team left Hartford and moved to

for the 1877 season to become the Brooklyn Hartfords. Managed again by Ferguson, the team finished in third again, with a record of 31–27. With Bond, Cummings and Higham all having left the team, the team's best player this year was undoubtedly right fielder John Cassidy, who batted .378 and also led the team in many other categories. The team disbanded after the 1877 season and was replaced in the league with the

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National ...

. Author

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

was a fan of the team.

Notable alumni

Lipman Pike Lipman Emanuel "Lip" Pike (May 25, 1845 – October 10, 1893) 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 season. Pike wa ...

, major league baseball; first Jewish baseball player; home run champion * Tom Barlow, pioneer of the bunt, suffered from morphine addiction, mentioned in Ken Burns's Baseball *

Joe Start Joseph Start (October 14, 1842 – March 27, 1927), nicknamed "Old Reliable", was one of the most durable regulars of baseball's earliest era, and one of the top first baseman, first basemen of his time. He began his playing career in 1859, ...

, a 27-year veteran who spanned the pre-professional to the professional era, and is credited with developing off-bag positioning of the first baseman

Baseball Hall of Famers

Citations

General and cited references

External links

Team index page
at Baseball Reference

by David Arcidiacono (''Hog River Journal'' 2003)
Hartford Dark Blues Vintage Base Ball Club
{{National Association 1874 establishments in Connecticut 1877 disestablishments in New York (state) Baseball teams disestablished in 1877 Baseball teams established in 1874 Defunct baseball teams in Connecticut Hartfords Defunct Major League Baseball teams Defunct sports clubs and teams in Connecticut National Association of Professional Base Ball Players teams Professional baseball teams in Connecticut Dark Blues Sports in Brooklyn