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1867-1900

In 1867, Springfield, Missouri was a burgeoning society. Greene County had just voted for Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States.  The Hickok-Tutt shoot out was still getting national attention with an article in Harper's New Monthly Magazine--"Wild Bill" by George Ward Nichols.¹ And the first street lamps, kerosene lamps, had been installed on the town square and up Boonville Street.

The population of Springfield was approaching 5,000 and entertainment for the citizens of the city was very hard to find. However, the new game of baseball had taken it’s affect on this small town.  Baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday only 50 years earlier. The first recorded game was when Cartwright's Knickerbockers lost to the New York Baseball Club in a game at the Elysian Fields, in Hoboken, New Jersey.²

The exact date and time of the conception of baseball in the Ozarks is unknown, but it is known that  there were 4 baseball teams in the area at that time.  The teams were located in Carthage, Neosho, Granby and Springfield.

In 1886, the first semi-pro team was owned by cigar merchant Albert Fisher. The team was called the Leader Cigar Baseball Club, better known as the Reds. At that time they were members of the Western League. The league required $3000 (in 2003 that would be $58,410) ³ to join and the team could not come up with this amount.

They joined the Southwest League in 1887, and changed their names from the Reds to the Indians.  The Southwest League was a 6 team league consisting of Fort Smith, Pine Bluff, and Little Rock in Arkansas, and Webb City and Springfield in Missouri.  Their first games were held in May, of that year, but the league folded in early July and the team changed their name back to the Reds.

During the period of 1888 through 1900 there was no professional team in Springfield.  Baseball did not leave the area.  There were still amateur as well as semi-pro teams playing.  Most of the games were played at The Old Fairgrounds Park.  The Park was located on the corner of what is now known as Division, Campbell, Lynn, and Boonville.  The population of the city was 23,267.