The Season
The club got off to a terrible start and many of Mike Kelly's killers were taking with the flu. Delays in the construction of their ballpark also left the club on the road for most of April. By the time Cincinnati played their first home game (April 25) Mike Kelly's men were 5-9.
As the season progressed, Mike Kelly and his killers found themselves in jail frequently as a result of attempting to play baseball on Sundays. At the time, the National League did not allow Sunday baseball games to be played. As a result the rival Association capitalized on this by having their teams play Sunday games. The problem for Cincinnati was that the city had the blue law in place which also disallowed Sunday games. Owners of the club made repeated attempts at playing games on Sundays. Sometimes the Mayor of Cincinnati, Mayor John B. Mosby, would enforce the law and other times he would not. When the Mayor did enforce the law, the Killers and the players from the opposing team found themselves in jail.
As the season wore on the club lagged in the standings and were never true contenders. By August the club was 21 games out of first place and losing money.
Read more about this topic: Cincinnati Kelly's Killers
Famous quotes containing the word season:
“Hence in a season of calm weather
Though inland far we be,
Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither,”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“When we reached the lake, about half past eight in the evening, it was still steadily raining, and harder than before; and, in that fresh, cool atmosphere, the hylodes were peeping and the toads ringing about the lake universally, as in the spring with us. It was as if the season had revolved backward two or three months, or I had arrived at the abode of perpetual spring.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)