From Sugar Fields to Baseball Diamonds: The Irish Influence in America’s Favorite Pastime

Saturnino Orestes “Minnie” Armas Arrieta Miñoso was born in 1923, or 1925, in Cuba. As a youth, he worked with his father on a sugar plantation. In 1945, he joined the New York Cubans and in 1947, they won the Negro League World Series over the Cleveland Buckeyes. In 1949, Minnie Miñoso made his Major League debut with the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first Afro-Cuban in the league. Su compatriota, his compatriot, anthropologist Fernando Ortiz, was a scholar of Afro-Cuban culture, establishing the Sociedad de Estudios Afrocubanos in 1937. Ortiz introduced the term “transculturation” to define the interaction and convergence of cultures. It can be applied to baseball in Cuba and amongst the Irish in America. Bat and ball games date to over 4,500 years ago. Egyptians, male and female, played a game called “skeker-hemat,” and the game was depicted on the walls of their temples. 16th century Europe played a game called “rounders,” that involved a leather-covered ball, a round wooden bat, and four bases that had to be run in order to score. In 1829, a book was re-published in Boston that included rounder rules and includes a chapter on card tricks.

The Irish in Baseball In America, the Irish flocked to baseball and effectuated both innovation and triumph in the game. The New York Gothams were the first baseball organization in the United Baseball’s Been Very, Very Irish States. These Gothams were founded in 1837 and played at what is now Madison Square Park, a short stroll from Fitzgerald’s Pub on 3rd. Among the founding members were Dr. John Miller, a physician; John Murphy, a well-known hotelkeeper; and James Lee, President of the New York Chamber of Commerce. John Murphy is not listed as an owner in the “Principal Hotels and Public Houses,” which includes various accommodations, at “moderate charges… as the inclination dictates” (p.186, New-York: As It Is, In 1837). We are careful not to confuse this John Murphy with John Murphy, the Irish Catholic priest and military leader in the Irish Rebellion of 1798; or John Murphy, the Irish soldier who joined the Batallón de San Patricio in 1846; or John Edward Murphy, Medal of Honor recipient during the Spanish-American War; or John Alphonsus Murphy, Medal of Honor recipient during the Boxer Rebellion in China; or John Joseph Murphy, the Cleveland Softball Hall of Famer and Lounge proprietor.

First Recorded American Baseball Game The first recorded American baseball game was played on June 19, 1846, in Hoboken, New Jersey, between two amateur clubs. In those early years, teams would compete for a city or state championship. In New York, a team of Protestant clerks played a team of Irish workingmen for the city championship. The best of three games series ended in the third game with a ruckus, and some of the clerks were allegedly hit by stones after a few questionable calls. The game was called due to the riot. The amateur contests bestowed more than a desultory brouhaha. In 1867 during his Brooklyn club’s game versus Harvard, Irish American Arthur “Candy” Cummings was the first pitcher to throw a curveball.

The Professional Irish The first professional contest was May 4, 1869, in Cincinnati. The Red Stockings beat the Great Westerns, 45-9. The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was officially formed just two years later, on March 17, 1871, at Collier’s Saloon in NYC, just a half mile from Madison Square Park, becoming the first professional league in the world. 1875 was its last season. The National League began play in 1876. The American Association played games from 1882-1891, before joining the National League. Both leagues benefitted from their Irish stars. Over two dozen Irish were enshrined in the Hall of Fame between 1880 and 1920. There are over 50 in the Hall today. In the early years, teams were comprised of players who had another job. The biased historic narrative of unskilled and skilled labor could, potentially and simultaneously, label the Irish players as both. Baseball paid better than most more laborious endeavors, especially for the dangerous positions of pitcher and catcher. Those positions were disproportionately Irish. That is especially true of pitchers; German Americans were well-represented as catchers. Andy Leonard, County Cavan, and Fergy Malone, County Tyrone, played in the first National League game. The new generation of Irish, and their percentage of the population in urban areas with teams, created a source of participants and a fan base for America’s rapidly growing “new” sport. Ballparks had Irish sections and those sections were given nicknames, like Burkeville in NYC and Kerry Patch in St. Louis. The Irish sections were referred to by the press as areas for lower class “roughs and rowdies” who lacked humanity. Some owners tried to price out the Irish fans by increasing ticket costs, and some also banned liquor sales. However, Irish ballplayers increased the attendance of Irish fans and team revenue. More so, the Irish were not willing to be deterred. When bigotry is defeated, the profit margin is often a misapplied causality.

The Irish League By the 1880s, 40 percent of the players in the major leagues were of Irish descent. The Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players was founded in 1885, the first players’ union. Six of the nine founding members were Irish. At the end of the 1886 season, there were over 100 Brotherhood members in chapters with all the National League teams. The players union was officially recognized by owners in 1887. The Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players solicited financial support and a Players’ League was chartered on December 10, 1889. The league was supported by the American Federation of Labor and had teams in Boston, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Forty percent of the Players’ League players, five of the managers, and six of the owners were Irish. The Cleveland Infants signed Irish players like Ed Delahanty. Ed wore an Irish harp pinned to his uniform. The Cleveland Infants lost money, as did the Players’ League and the National League. They were not allowed to join the National League after the demise of the Players’ League in 1890.

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders began in the American Association in 1887, playing at Payne Avenue and East 39th Street. Louis Francis Sockalexis played for the Spiders for three years and is credited with being the first Native American to play Major League Baseball. The Spiders joined the National League in 1889. On May 18, 1889, Cleveland defeated Indianapolis 11-2, bringing their record to 8 wins and 7 losses. Just over 1,400 fans watched the game on the east side of Cleveland. O’Brien, McKean, and McAller scored multiple runs for the Spiders. They were not the only Irish on the roster. Pitcher Jim McCormick twice led the league in wins. The Spiders were contenders and moved to a new stadium at Lexington and East 66th Street.

Cy Young Cy Young joined the Spiders in 1892, one of only two teams who turned a profit that year. Cleveland finished 2nd in 1895 and 1896. Frank Robison, who had established streetcar systems across America and in Cleveland, was the owner of the Spiders. He was unhappy with the attendance at home games and “traded” players to his other team in St. Louis. The 1899 team was not good at all, 20 wins and 134 losses, and that was the year of the Cleveland Streetcar Strike. The team was dismantled in 1900.

“Baseball’s has been very, very good to me.” – Minnie Miñoso The Irish have been very good to baseball. On September 17 this year, the Cleveland Guardians play the Minnesota Twins at 6:40 pm. It is the Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day Game, and a chance to collectively celebrate the rich cultural history of baseball and the contributions of the Irish to the game. There are tickets available for the Paul Davis Pennant District, where there will be a specialized food and drink menu and activities for all to enjoy. These days we can sit wherever we want.

● Francis McGarry holds undergraduate degrees from Indiana University in Anthropology, Education, and History and a Masters in Social Science from the University of Chicago. He is the founder of Bluestone Hibernian Charities. Francis is a past president of the Irish American Club East Side; the founder and past president of the Bluestone Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians; a Member of the Board for the Irish American Archives Society; a member of the Irish Heritage Advisory Committee for the Irishtown Bend Project; and a member of the Planning Committee for the St. Malachi Run.