Major League Baseball in Gilded Age Connecticut: The Rise and Fall of the Middletown, New Haven and Hartford Clubs

It’s been more than a century since Connecticut had big league baseball, but in the 1870s, Middletown, Hartford, and New Haven fielded professional teams that competed at the highest level. By the end of the decade, when the state’s final big league team, Mark Twain’s beloved Hartford Dark Blues, left the National League, baseball’s transition from amateur pastime to major league sport had been accomplished. And Connecticut had played a significant role in its development. The history of the Nutmeg State’s three major league teams is described here in full, and the author thoughtfully examines their influence within the regional baseball scene.

David Arcidiacono is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, publishing articles specializing in 19th-century baseball. He has been a featured speaker at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.