Hartford Senators

21st Century Senators

www.hartfordsenators.org — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Though professional baseball is gone from Hartford, the Senator name lived on much later in amateur circles courtesy of the Vintage Base Ball Federation. The VBBF pitted clubs against one another in a celebration of baseball as it used to be known, decked out in the baggy attire of yesteryear, many playing under the banners of squads forgotten by modern day baseball. In order to further enhance the old timey feel, contests featured fat-handled bats, lemon peel stitched balls and gloves with only a modest pocket between 5 sausage fingers. Aesthetically, the game adhered to as strict of authenticity as possible, a visual trip backward to the turn of the century.Teams consisted of 15 to 20 amateur players with a maximum of 3 former minor league players on the roster. Individual teams are formed in multiple ways, whether by holding an open tryout or simply converting an existing amateur baseball group into a vintage team. The standard cost for fielding a vintage baseball team was 6,500, covering uniforms and equipment, though this money in many cases was contributed by members of the community would fancy vintage baseball games as a novelty and/or tourist attraction.The VBBF culminated with an annual 6 team Vintage Base Ball World Series Tournament, determining the champion of the 225 vintage baseball clubs across 32 states. The Hartford Senators were been among the most successful names in vintage baseball, even taking home to the VBBF World Series crown in 2007, when Hall of Fame broadcaster Vern Scully referred to that year’s team as the “greatest vintage baseball team that ever played,” in a game broadcast on ESPN. The last full VBBF season on record occurred in 2008, with the Federation opting to cancel 2009 games due to unfavorable economic conditions.A similar league, the Vintage Base Ball Association, continues to operate, with 4 outfits in the Connecticut area, including the Hartford Dark Blues, playing tribute the city’s inaugural, albeit shorter tenured, professional baseball presence.

The 1931 Hartford Senators

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:10:12 +0000

The Senators were crowned league champions 5 times throughout team history, though no team ever saw more success than their final Eastern League Championship team of 1931. Considered to be among the elite minor league seasons of all-time by baseball analysts who make it their business to follow such wide spanning considerations, the 1931 Senators finished the year atop the Eastern League standings by the monstrous margin of 18 games. The Senators won well over twice as often as they lost with a final record of 97-40, a winning percentage of .708. So dominant were the Senators, the club was one of only two teams with a winning record in the 8-team league for the 1931 year, joined by the second place Bridgeport Bears.Midway through the year 1931, the Senators had proven to be exponentially superior to their competition, causing league directors to invoke arguably the largest “Mercy Rule” in baseball history. The Eastern League decided to hit the reset button and divide the season into two parts in order to give the other 7 teams a clean slate, with the Senators leading the way with 44 wins and 17 losses, winning at a .721 clip before split. Part two of 1931 did little to slow the team’s momentum, finishing 12 games ahead of Bridgeport over the second half of the year, after only leading the Bears by 6 games at the end of the year’s first half (bringing the aggregate total to 18). To the rest of the league’s credit, the Senators’ second half was marginally tempered despite increasing their lead over Bridgeport, closing with a 53-23 record, equal to a .697 winning percentage. The Springfield Ponies finished in third place an amazing 33 combined games back over both parts of the year. With 7 All-Star selections to pace the Eastern League, the 1931 event may as well have been a Senators scrimmage.

Lou Gehrig: Back to Hartford and the Bigs

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:05:29 +0000

Hartford would be Lou Gehrig‘s first taste of professional baseball, however, as any fan moderately well-versed in Major League Baseball history should know, it was far from his last. Playing in more consecutive games than any player of his time, Gehrig endeared himself to fans nationwide, despite playing for the largely hated New York Yankees. Gehrig first made his major league debut for the Yanks in mid-June of 1923, though the boys in pinstripes were fairly acquainted with his thunderous bat long before his first game. Batting practice saw Gehrig show off for his new teammates blasting deep fly balls into Yankee Stadium territory only Ruth could reach. Though the promise was there right off the bat, literally, the young Gehrig still needed a little more seasoning before taking his game to New York full time. He spent a lot of time with the Senators throughout the 1923 and 1924 seasons, tightening up on his fundamentals while wowing minor league crowds with his paramount power.Gehrig would finally receive a permanent call-up in August of 1924, just in time for a late season push in which Gehrig proved to be an asset out of the dugout as a pinch-hitter. The 1925 season marked Gehrig’s first regular playing time as a starter, pinch-hitting for shortstop Pee Wee Wanninger on June 1, 1925, the day before starting in place of Wally Pipp. So began the first 2 games of baseball’s original Iron Man streak, spanning 2,130 games played without a day off over the course of the next 14 seasons. Gehrig’s days as a fixture in Yankee pinstripes would have perhaps continued even longer were it not for his debilitating illness, known now as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Gehrig’s Iron Man record would eventually be broken by Cal Ripken Jr. on September 6, 1995, though his big league legacy lives on. In 1999, Lou Gehrig received the most fan votes on his way towards being named to Major League Baseball’s All-Century Team, reminding the baseball world that “The Iron Horse” may be gone, but will never be forgotten.

Lou Gehrig: Baseball Before New York

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:58:31 +0000

Though perhaps he was not “the luckiest man on the face of the Earth” merely for his days in Hartford, Lou Gehrig‘s time spent manning first base for the Senators was arguably the most storied in franchise history. Prior to ascending to the Majors stage with the Bronx Bombers, Gehrig spent time in Hartford on three separate occasions, displaying the skills and mental fortitude that would one day make him a Hall of Fame baseball player and national hero.Gehrig made his first professional baseball appearance as a member of the Hartford Senators, while still enrolled in college at Columbia University. Of course, any official score sheets from the time would indicate a strikingly similar ball player by the name of “Lou Lewis” to be taking the field, as collegiate rules stipulate players must maintain their amateur status. Gehrig’s first tenure with the team would last merely two weeks, with Columbia quickly learning of their soon-to-be star player’s off season antics. As a result, Gehrig was declared ineligible for a full season at Columbia, though Gehrig would return to the minor league baseball ranks only one summer later without penalty.When Gehrig did finally suit of for Columbia, during his one and only year with the team in 1923, he played a role unfamiliar with fans from his Yankee days, starting pitcher. His one season was all it took to attract the professional scouts, finding similar success for Columbia off the mound that would come to be synonymous with his prolific big league playing days, striking out 17 batters in a single game, a school record that would stand for 5 decades. Wielding similar prowess with the bat, Gehrig set the record for longest home run at Columbia’s South Field as well, launching a towering shot that bounced off the far away library steps. Gehrig signed with the Yankees the following season, dropping out of college, and the rest is baseball history.

Jim Thorpe: A Senator Among Many Things

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:52:55 +0000

Truly incomparable among athletes of his time, Jim Thorpe enjoyed professional careers as in basketball, football and baseball, in addition to gold medal performances at the 1912 Olympic Games. Even some Senators followers might not know, however, that arguably the most versatile sportsman in history actually spent time in the outfield for the Hartford ball club. Though just a minor pit stop on Thorpe’s resume and corresponding long list achievements, at the age of 35 Thorpe split time in the Class A Eastern League between the Senators and the Fitchburg/Worcester Boosters, in what would ultimately be his final year of professional baseball. Not surprisingly, Thorpe put up impressive numbers even at his advanced age, hitting .344 with 9 HRs in 96 games of class A ball. He would also play for the Double A Portland squad for 35 games in 1922, batting a respectable .308. While his numbers remained solid, Thorpe’s best baseball years were behind him, playing sporadically in the Majors from his debut with the New York Giants in 1913 through his final big league season in 1919. Appearing in 289 regular season games, Thorpe put together a .252 batting average, with 91 runs, 7 home runs, 82 RBI and 29 stolen bases in his MLB career.Thorpe was good enough to break through to the highest level of professional baseball, however baseball was merely one of his many gifted talents. Not only was football Thorpe’s favorite sport, it was perhaps Thorpe’s most successful at the professional level, already decorated as an Olympic hero (purely amateur at the time), taking gold in the pentathlon and decathlon. Thorpe played football collegiately at Carlisle University, where he served as a running back, defensive back, punter and placekicker, leading the school to a National Championship in 1912. He first played pro football in 1913 with the Pine Village Pros, though most competition was local. In 1915, he signed with the Canton Bulldogs, of the American Professional Football Association (later transitioning into the NFL) where he received much more nationwide exposure. Thorpe played pro football until the age of 41, highlighted by 1923 All-NFL honors, though most of his professional football dominance predated League’s official existence.

A Brief History of Baseball in Hartford

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:43:26 +0000

The Senators may be the longest tenured nine-squad to call Hartford home, but don’t mistake the Sens as the only bunch of ball players to ever lace it up in Connecticut‘s capital. Hartford briefly boasted its own National League squad during the 1876 season, with the Hartford Dark Blues among the league’s 8 inaugural clubs. Playing at the Hartford Ball Club Grounds, the team actually spent 2 years in Hartford prior to the National League’s formation, competing as a member of the National Association of Professional Baseball Players. Morgan G. Bulkeley, the team’s owner, actually served as the first National League President. Anchored by dual aces Candy Cummings, a future Hall of Famer, and Tommy Bond, the team would run its record to 47-21 in 1876, leading the league in complete games and tied for fewest home runs allowed, on their way to a 3^rd place finish. The Dark Blues would relocate to Brooklyn in 1877, though the unit still paid homage to their wayward hometown, playing under the banner of the Brooklyn Hartfords. The Brooklyn Hartfords would only see one seasons worth of baseball, matching their 3^rd place standing from the previous year, before being disbanded during the following off season.A host of minor league squads would briefly take the field in Hartford before the Senators set up shop in 1902, including the Hartford Cooperatives and the dually named Hartford Indians/Wooden Nutmegs. The Senators finally established a more permanent baseball presence in the city, playing in the Connecticut State League, Eastern Association, Colonial League, Eastern League and Northeastern League over their 30 seasons. Baseball would take an extended hiatus in 1934, on the heels of the Senators final season, returning with the Hartford Laurels in 1938. The city enjoyed a continuous presence in the Eastern League from 1938 to 1952, whether in the form of the Hartford Bees, Laurels or Chiefs, before professional baseball finally left Hartford behind as only a fond memory.