1882 Louisville Eclipse
Image Source: Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory
Image Subject: Team photo of the 1882 Louisville Eclipse. 1882 was their first season as a Major League team in the new American Association league. Their record for 1882 was 42-38, which was good enough for second place, thirteen games behind the Cincinnati Red Stockings.
Fun Fact: This Louisville baseball began as Eclipse, a semi-pro team in Louisville formed in the late 1870s. Legend has it that the name ‘Eclipse’ came from a racehorse, which is not too surprising considering that this is Louisville. According to Bailey Mazik of the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory:
“The original Eclipse athlete was an undefeated racehorse from England in the late 1700s. He was born during the eclipse of 1764 and his lineage is still present in most Thoroughbreds today. An American racehorse of the same name took the racing world by storm in the early-mid 1800s and was finally retired to Kentucky in 1837. It isn’t much of a stretch to say that the term eclipse in this time and region was associated with sporting excellence.”
And the nicknames of the Eclipse players are noteworthy. My personal favorite is Chicken Wolf. William Wolf earned the nickname when he ignored advice to eat a light meal before games and instead stuffed himself with stewed chicken for dinner. When his teammates learned of this, they apparently found this to be humorous, and dubbed him ‘Chicken’.
Members of the 1882 Louisville Eclipse team in this image are:
Top row, standing, from left: Leech Maskrey (OF), Pete Browning (2B), Tony Mullane (P) and Charles Strick (C).
Middle, seated: Dan Sullivan (C), Denny Mack (SS), Bill Schenck (3B) and Guy Hecker (1B).
Front row, on ground: John Reccius (OF) and Chicken Wolf (OF).
Painting Detail: Printed on 13” x 19” canvas and painted using Schmincke Mussini and Marshall’s oil paints. Finer details, like the Persian rug, were made using Prismacolor pencils.
Acknowledgement: “Threads of our Game”, Craig Brown and Bailey Mazik, Curatorial Specialist for the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory.