Newark Eurekas
The Eureka Baseball Club of Newark or the Newark Eurekas was a baseball team in Newark, New Jersey, United States.
The Eureka team was part of the NABBP in the 1850s and 1860s. The Eureka Club first began playing other members of the NABBP in 1860. They played at a field at Ferry Street and Adams Street in the Ironbound.
Players*
| Name | Position | GP | Hands lost | A O | Runs | A O |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Northrup | 1B | 6 | 15 | 2-3 | 15 | 2-3 |
| Edward R. Pennington | 2B | 10 | 29 | 2-9 | 30 | 3-0 |
| C. Van Houton | SS | 7 | 27 | 3-6 | 14 | 2-0 |
| Charles Thomas | 3B | 8 | 26 | 3-2 | 14 | 1-6 |
| R. Davidson | OF | 9 | 24 | 2-6 | 25 | 2-7 |
| T. Oliver | OF | 8 | 25 | 3-1 | 16 | 2-0 |
| J. Collins | OF | 10 | 27 | 2-7 | 24 | 2-4 |
| G. Rogers | C | 8 | 27 | 3-3 | 17 | 2-1 |
| J. Linen | P | 10 | 31 | 3-1 | 22 | 2-2 |
Other players for the team in 1860 were H. Brientnall, A. Littlewood, E Benedict, P. Baldwin, E. Thomas, T. Price and R. Elsden. Brientnall played five games; Littlewood, three; Benedict, two; and the other four members played only in a single game during the season.
- This roster is from the 1860 NABBP season.
Season by season
- 1860
The Eurekas had the eleventh best win percentage and the eight most wins. They batted in the fifth most runs of any team at 213.
- 1861
Newark only played one game against the Enterprise baseball club from Brooklyn and beat them 27–5.
- 1862
Newark played only two games this season against ranked NABBP ballclubs. They lost to the Mutuals by one run and beat the Gothams by five runs.
- Newark played three games this season: two against New York Clubs and one against the Athletic club from Philadelphia. The Eurekas beat the team from Philadelphia by two runs, but lost to the two New York clubs in August.
- 1864
The Eurekas had the tenth best win percentage and the tenth most wins in the league, despite having the fifth lowest number of runs in the league. They won exactly half of the eight games that they played.
- 1865
The Eurekas finished the season with the sixth best record and the sixth most wins with a record of nine and five. They also had the sixth best team runs batted in at 339 in their fourteen games.
- 1866
The NABBP saw a lot of growth this season with nearly sixty teams, but Newark was still able to maintain an excellent standing, as they had the ninth most wins. The Eureka club was also in the top third for winning percentage. They had a nine and six record and batted in 446 runs in these fifteen games. This was the seventh most runs by a single team in the league in 1866. On August 28, seventeen-year-old Candy Cummings comes in for pitcher Asa Brainard of the Brooklyn Excelsiors, leading his team to a 24–2 win. Candy Cummings is said to be the first pitcher to throw a curveball and for his future performance in the National League was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
- 1867
This was the first year the Eureka club really struggled during the season. They only won two of their ten games, giving them for the first time one of the worst winning percentages in the league, although there were nine team who didn't win a game in 1867. They had a reasonable number of runs batted in at 230, but was a small number for this team that had over two hundred more the prior season (only having played five more games).
- 1868
The team only played four games this season and won half. They only drove in 77 runs for the four games.
- 1869
The Eureka Club only participated in two games in 1869 and lost both, with margins of eight and nine.
Scores
| Date | Opponent | Score | Win/Loss/Tie | Record* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 7, 1860 | Hamilton (JC) | 18-35 | Loss | 0-1 |
| June 29, 1860 | Harlem | 15-21 | Loss | 0-2 |
| August 3, 1860 | Harlem | 34-18 | Win | 1-2 |
| August 10, 1860 | Brooklyn Enterprise | 21-25 | Loss | 1-3 |
| August 22, 1860 | Newark Adriatics | 34-6 | Win | 2-3 |
| August 27, 1860 | Brooklyn Enterprise | 21-13 | Win | 3-3 |
| September 14, 1860 | Harlem | 10-23 | Loss | 3-4 |
| September 19, 1860 | Newark Adriatics | 12-12 | Tie | 3-4-1 |
| September 26, 1860 | Newark | 28-14 | Win | 4-4-1 |
| October 26, 1860 | Belleville Baltics | 20-24 | Loss | 4-5-1 |
| July 10, 1861 | Brooklyn Enterprise | 27-5 | Win | 5-5-1 |
| August 21, 1862 | New York Mutuals | 13-14 (10) | Loss | 5-6-1 |
| August ?, 1862 | New York Gothams | 18-13 | Win | 6-6-1 |
| June 20, 1863 | Philadelphia Athletics | 8-6 | Win | 7-6-1 |
| August 11, 1863 | New York Mutuals | 7-13 | Loss | 7-7-1 |
| August 31, 1863 | Brooklyn Atlantics | 15-16 | Loss | 7-8-1 |
| July 4, 1864 | New York Active | 27-29 | Loss | 7-9-1 |
| July 6, 1864 | Brooklyn Atlantics | 13-25 | Loss | 7-10-1 |
| July 7, 1864 | Princeton Nassua | 24-12 | Win | 8-10-1 |
| August 2, 1864 | New York Mutuals | 10-16 | Loss | 8-11-1 |
| September 14, 1864 | New York Active | 11-10 | Win | 9-11-1 |
| NA | New York Empire | NA | Win | 10-11-1 |
| NA | New York Empire | NA | Win | 11-11-1 |
| NA | New York Mutuals | NA | Loss | 11-12-1 |
| June 12, 1865 | Philadelphia Athletics | 9-12 | Loss | 11-13-1 |
| July 8, 1864 | Morrisania Union | 30-5 | Win | 12-13-1 |
| July 24, 1865 | Philadelphia Keystones | 50-11 | Win | 13-13-1 |
| July 31, 1865 | New York Mutuals | 12-27 | Loss | 13-14-1 |
| August 8, 1865 | Philadelphia Athletics | 28-38 | Loss | 13-15-1 |
| August 18, 1865 | Brooklyn Atlantics | 20-21 | Loss | 13-16-1 |
| August 24, 1865 | Newark Pioneers | 12-5 | Win | 14-16-1 |
| August 31, 1865 | Brooklyn Atlantics | 37-38 | Loss | 14-17-1 |
| September 7, 1865 | Morrisania Union | 30-10 | Win | 15-17-1 |
| September 14, 1865 | New York Mutuals | 20-19 | Win | 16-17-1 |
| October 5, 1865 | Newark Americus | 85-12 | Win | 17-17-1 |
| October 20, 1865 | New York Active | 6-3 | Win | 18-17-1 |
| NA | Newark Pioneers | NA | Win | 19-17-1 |
| NA | Newark | NA | Win | 20-17-1 |
| May 31, 1866 | Harvard | 42-39 | Win | 21-17-1 |
| June 12, 1866 | Morrisania Union | 26-28 | Loss | 21-18-1 |
| June 22, 1866 | Newark Americus | 67-7 | Win | 22-18-1 |
| June 28, 1866 | New York Mutuals | 13-24 | Loss | 22-19-1 |
| July 10, 1866 | Kearney | 45-6 | Win | 23-19-1 |
| August 14, 1866 | Brooklyn Atlantics | 36-10 | Win | 24-19-1 |
| August 20, 1866 | New York Empire | 15-11 | Win | 25-19-1 |
| August 27, 1866 | Philadelphia Athletics | 8-48 | Loss | 25-20-1 |
| August 28, 1866 | Brooklyn Excelsior | 2-24 | Loss | 25-21-1 |
| September 12, 1866 | New York Active | 24-9 | Win | 26-21-1 |
| September 18, 1866 | Morrisania Union | 23-25 | Loss | 26-22-1 |
| September 27, 1866 | Brooklyn Atlantics | 20-30 | Loss | 26-23-1 |
| October 17, 1866 | New York Active | 44-12 | Win | 27-23-1 |
| October 25, 1866 | Brooklyn Atlantics | 13-38 | Loss | 27-24-1 |
| NA | Kearney | NA | Win | 28-24-1 |
| NA | New York Empire | NA | Win | 29-24-1 |
| May 16, 1867 | Irvington | 17-25 | Loss | 29-25-1 |
| May 23, 1867 | New Brunswick Stars | 66-9 | Win | 30-25-1 |
| June 12, 1867 | Morrisania Union | 12-26 | Loss | 30-26-1 |
| August 6, 1867 | Lansingburgh Union | 21-42 | Loss | 30-27-1 |
| August 14, 1867 | Hartford Charter Oaks | 35-9 | Win | 31-27-1 |
| August 23, 1867 | New York Mutuals | 21-34 | Loss | 31-28-1 |
| September 5, 1867 | Brooklyn Atlantics | 13-21 | Loss | 31-29-1 |
| September 10, 1867 | Morrisania Union | 14-33 | Loss | 31-30-1 |
| September 23, 1867 | Brooklyn Excelsior | 22-41 | Loss | 31-31-1 |
| November 2, 1867 | Irvington | 9-22 | Loss | 31-32-1 |
| May 28, 1868 | Brooklyn Atlantics | 8-45 | Loss | 31-33-1 |
| June 24, 1868 | Jersey City Champions | 17-4 | Win | 32-33-1 |
| July 9, 1868 | Greenpoint Oriental | 22-28 | Loss | 32-34-1 |
| NA | NA | NA | Win | 33-34-1 |
| September 19, 1869 | New York Empire | 6-14 | Loss | 33-35-1 |
| October 3, 1869 | New York Empire | 0-9 | Loss | 33-36-1 |
- Note - Based on games recorded in Marshall Wright's book.
References
Wright, Marshall. D. "The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870." Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc.: 2000. ISBN 0-7864-0779-4