The Hartford Senators were a minor league baseball team based in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

. They operated in the

Connecticut League The Connecticut League, also known as the Connecticut State League, was a professional baseball association of teams in the state of Connecticut. The league began as offshoot of the original Connecticut State League, which dates back as far as 1884 ...

from 1902–1912, the

Eastern Association The Eastern Association of counties was an administrative organisation set up by Parliament in the early years of the First English Civil War. Its main function was to finance and support an army which became a mainstay of the Parliamentarian mi ...

from 1913–1914, the Eastern League from 1916–1932 and the

Northeastern League The Northeastern League was a minor league baseball league that last played in the 1934 season as an eight–team Class B (baseball), Class B level league. The 1934 league franchises were based in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. An e ...

in 1934. For the 1932 season they were affiliated with the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

. The team's most famous players were future Hall of Famers

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

(who played for the Senators on three separate occasions before being a starting first baseman for the New York Yankees) and

Hank Greenberg Henry Benjamin Greenberg (born Hyman Greenberg; January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", or "The Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major Leagu ...

. The team won league championships in 1909, 1913, 1923 and 1931. The 1931 Senators were recognized as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.

History

The March 12, 1933 ''Hartford Courant'' obituary of James H. Clarkin, "quarter of a century owner of the Hartford Baseball Club", indicates that he sold both the Eastern League Franchise and

Clarkin Field Morgan G. Bulkeley Stadium was a sporting event stadium located in Hartford, Connecticut and the site of Babe Ruth's final exhibition baseball game. The facility was home to the Eastern League's Hartford Senators, the Hartford Blues of the Nati ...

(now the Bulkeley Stadium) when he retired in 1928. Clarkin entered league baseball in 1904 when he purchased the league franchise from William J. Tracey of Bristol, CT, as a partner, but soon after was the sole owner of The Hartford Club. "Although he had many acrimonious disputes with fellow magnates, he came to their assistance in more than one crisis and saved the Eastern League during the World War, when the league's fortunes were at a low ebb. Money furnished by Mr. Clarkin kept two of the other franchises in operation, and the Eastern League road out the storm." Hartford was in the old Connecticut State League when Clarkin took over, then in the Colonial League, the Eastern Association, and then the Eastern League. Some of the well known players "graduated from his direction to fame in the big leagues" were Ray Fisher, Hughie High, Walter (Kid) Rehg, "Buck" O'Brien, Walter Leverenz, Leo Durocher, Heinie Scheer and Pete Wilson. "Lou Gehrig, first baseman and home run hitter of the New York Yankees made his name in league ball under Jim Clarkin" starring for the Hartford Senators in 1923-24 and drawing big crowds to Wethersfield Avenue Grounds (also known as Hartford Baseball Park). "Jim Thorpe, famous Redskin, was another notable who wore a Hartford uniform during the 1922 season." Many well known men grew up as managers in Hartford under Clarkin, among them were Bob Connery, "now president of the St. Paul (Minn.) club"; Dan Howley, later manager of the Cincinnati Reds; Si McDonald, Paddy O'Connor, Jack Coffey, Chet Thomas, Arthur Irwin, Tom Dowd, Danny Murphy of the Philadelphia Athletics fame. Three pennants were brought to Hartford under Clarkin's ownership of the club. Bob Connery was the first to win a championship for Clarkin in 1901, Si McDonald repeated in 1913, and Paddy O'Connor of Springfield won the Eastern League championship in 1923. "His salary roll in 1923 set a new high mark for the Eastern League" Mr. Clarkin replaced the old Wethersfield Ave grounds in 1921, at Hanmer and George Sts, off of Franklin Ave., "a few minutes walk from the former field". He had a fine playing surface laid out and erected one of the best minor league structures in the country, with a stand of steel and concrete, dressing rooms, shower baths and complete modern equipment. Although not ready for the opening game in 1921 and for some two weeks, the Senators played all their games on the road, returning to Hartford for a gala opening. "In 1927, fire destroyed the stand and fence at

but was rebuilt at once. The new stand erected in less than a month, and the Senators had a home again after having played at Trinity Field and in Manchester during the interval" Tribute was paid to Clarkin by Jack Coffey, his manager in 1922 and graduate manager of athletics at Fordham University, who said, "He had many endearing qualities hidden from those who did not know him intimately."

Vintage Base Ball team

The Hartford Senators were re-established in 2001 for the purpose of perpetuating, promoting, and playing the game of baseball as it was when it first existed. The Vintage Base Ball Federation was founded by New York Yankees World Series pitcher Jim Bouton and funded by Mass Mutual Financial Group. On August 19, 2007 at Bullens Field in

Westfield, Massachusetts Westfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Hampden County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, United States. Westfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metrop ...

, the Hartford Senators won the 2007 World Series of Vintage Base Ball. The Senators defeated Division Champions from California, New Hampshire, Michigan, and Massachusetts to win the Pennant. Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully called the 2007 Senators "The greatest Vintage team ever assembled." The Senators were led by players Chris "Grit" Moran, Steve “Big Train” Burke, Jeff "Bull" Durham, Robert "Streak" Silverberg, Brendon “Plywood” Moore, John “Eskimo” Quinn, and Mike "Broadway" Hickey. The Senators play home games at Colt Park in Hartford, Connecticut.

Notable alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
alumni

Jesse Burkett Jesse Cail Burkett (December 4, 1868 – May 27, 1953), nicknamed "Crab", was an American professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1890 to 1905 for the New York Giants, Cleveland Spiders, St. Louis Perfe ...

(1916) Inducted, 1946 *

Roger Connor Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

(1878) Inducted, 1976 *

Candy Cummings William Arthur "Candy" Cummings (October 18, 1848 – May 17, 1924) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a pitcher in the National Association and National League. Cummings is widely credited with inventing the curveball. H ...

(1875-1878) Inducted, 1939 *

Hugh Duffy Hugh Duffy (November 26, 1866 – October 19, 1954) was an American outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball. He was a player or player-manager for the Chicago White Stockings, Chicago Pirates, Boston Reds, Boston Beaneaters, Milwaukee ...

(1886) Inducted, 1945 *

Leo Durocher Leo Ernest Durocher (French spelling Léo Ernest Durocher) (; July 27, 1905 – October 7, 1991), nicknamed "Leo the Lip" and "Lippy", was an American professional baseball player, manager (baseball), manager and coach (baseball), coach. He playe ...

(1925) Inducted, 1994 *

(1921, 1923-1924) Inducted, 1939 *

(1930) Inducted, 1956 *

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds untoucha ...

(1885-1886) Inducted, 1937 Hank Greenberg Minor Leagues Statistics & History , Baseball-Reference.com
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Notable alumni

Pete Appleton Peter William Appleton (May 20, 1904 – January 18, 1974), born Peter Jablonowski and sometimes known as "Jabby" and the "Polish Wizard,"("Jabby") was an American baseball player, scout, and manager. Appleton played college baseball for the Univ ...

(1927) *

Huck Betts Walter McKinley "Huck" Betts (February 18, 1897 – June 13, 1987), born in Millsboro, Delaware, was a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies (1920–25) and Boston Braves (1932–35). During his six-year tenure with the Phillies, Betts was an ...

(1923) *

George Bradley George Washington Bradley (July 13, 1852 – October 2, 1931), nicknamed "Grin", was an American professional baseball player who was a pitcher and infielder. He played for multiple teams in the early years of the National League, the oldest lea ...

(1878) ERA Title *

Oyster Burns Thomas P. "Oyster" Burns (September 6, 1864November 11, 1928) was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned 15 seasons, 11 of which were spent with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Wilmington Quicksteps (1884), Baltimore Oriol ...

(1897) *

Jim Delahanty James Christopher Delahanty (June 20, 1879 – October 17, 1953) was a second baseman in Major League Baseball. He played thirteen seasons with eight clubs: the Chicago Orphans (1901), New York Giants (1902), Boston Beaneaters (1904–05), Cinci ...

(1915) *

Bill Donovan William Edward Donovan (October 13, 1876 – December 9, 1923), nicknamed "Wild Bill" and "Smiling Bill", was an American right-handed baseball pitcher and manager. Donovan played Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators (1898), Broo ...

(1900) 1901 NL Wins Leader; NY Yankee Manager * Tommy Dowd * Duke Esper (1900) * Bob Ferguson (1877) * Ray Fisher (1909) *

Patsy Flaherty Patrick Joseph Flaherty (June 29, 1876 – January 23, 1968), born in Mansfield (now Carnegie), Pennsylvania, was a pitcher for the Louisville Colonels (1899), Pittsburgh Pirates (1900 and 1904–05), Chicago White Sox (1903–1904), Boston Doves ...

(1900) *

Joe Gerhardt John Joseph Gerhardt (February 14, 1855 – March 11, 1922) was an American professional baseball second baseman whose career spanned from 1873 to 1893. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 11 major league clubs. Early years ...

(1889) *

George Gore George F. Gore (May 3, 1854 – September 16, 1933), nicknamed "Piano Legs", was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for 14 seasons, eight for the Chicago White Stockings, five for the New York Giants, one for the St. ...

(1878) Batting Title *

Ray Grimes Oscar Ray Grimes Sr. (September 11, 1893 – May 25, 1953) was a first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox (1920), Chicago Cubs (1921–1924) and Philadelphia Phillies (1926). Grimes batted and threw right-handed. ...

(1918) *

Heinie Groh Henry Knight "Heinie" Groh (September 18, 1889 – August 22, 1968) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1912 to 1927, spending nearly his entire career with the Cinc ...

(1929) *

George Hemming George Hemming (December 15, 1868 – June 3, 1930), also known as ''Old Wax Figger'', was a pitcher in Major League baseball in the late 19th century. His first season was with the Cleveland Infants, most likely because his hometown, Carrol ...

(1901) * Arthur Irwin (1921) *

Fielder Jones Fielder Allison Jones (August 13, 1871 – March 13, 1934) was an American center fielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was best known as the player-manager of the World Series champion 1906 Chicago White Sox, a team who succeede ...

(1896) Player/Manager: 1906 World Series Champion

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

Benny Kauff Bennie Michael "Benny" Kauff (January 5, 1890 – November 17, 1961)Benny Kauff Play ...

(1913) *

Matt Kilroy Matthew Aloysius "Matches" Kilroy (June 21, 1866 – March 2, 1940) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. In 1886, he had 513 strikeouts, which remains the MLB single-season record. Early life Kilroy was born in Philadel ...

(1899) 1887 Wins Leader *

Arlie Latham Walter Arlington Latham (March 15, 1860 – November 29, 1952) was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball. He played from through for the Buffalo Bisons, St. Louis Browns, Chicago Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Senators and N ...

(1898) *

Bill Lohrman William Leroy Lohrman (May 22, 1913 – September 13, 1999) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched in 198 games from 1934 to 1944. Bill played for the Giants, Dodgers, Cardinals, Phillies, and Reds. Bill was born and raised Brookly ...

(1934) *

Carl Lundgren Carl Leonard "Lundy" Lundgren (February 16, 1880 – August 21, 1934) was an American baseball and football player and coach. Lundgren played football and baseball for the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign and played eight seasons o ...

(1912) *

Van Mungo Van Lingle Mungo (June 8, 1911 – February 12, 1985) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from to for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. The five-time All-Sta ...

(1931) 5 x MLB All-Star *

Jim Mutrie James J. Mutrie (June 13, 1851 – January 24, 1938) was an American baseball pioneer who was the co-founder and first manager of both the original New York Metropolitans and the New York Giants. He had a winning percentage of .611, the highest fo ...

(1878) Manager: 2 x World Series Champion

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Billy Nash William Mitchell Nash (June 24, 1865 – November 15, 1929) was a Major League Baseball third baseman. He played 15 seasons in the majors, from to . He served as player-manager of the Philadelphia Phillies in , and in 1901 he umpired 101 games ...

(1899) * Paul Radford(1897) * Billy Shindle (1900-1901) *

George Shoch George Quintus Shoch (January 6, 1859 – September 30, 1937) born in Philadelphia, was a Utility player for the Washington Nationals (1886–89), Milwaukee Brewers (1891), Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professiona ...

(1901) *

Mose Solomon Mose Hirsch Solomon, nicknamed the Rabbi of Swat (December 8, 1900 – June 25, 1966) was an American left-handed baseball player. In 1923, he hit 49 home runs in the minors, a new minor league record. He briefly played for the New York Giants ...

(1925) *

Joe Start Joseph Start (October 14, 1842 – March 27, 1927), nicknamed "Old Reliable", was one of the most durable regulars of baseball's earliest era, and one of the top first basemen of his time. He began his playing career in 1859, before the forma ...

(1877) *

Scott Stratton Chilton Scott Stratton (October 2, 1869 – March 8, 1939) was an American pitcher and outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1888 to 1895. He played for the Louisville Colonels, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago Colts. Biography Stratton was b ...

(1900) 1890 ERA Leader *

Harry Stovey Harry Duffield Stovey (''né'' Stowe; December 20, 1856 – September 20, 1937) was a 19th-century Major League Baseball player and the first player in major league history to hit 100 home runs. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Stovey played fo ...

(1878) *

Ezra Sutton Ezra Ballou Sutton (September 17, 1849 – June 20, 1907) was an American third baseman in the National Association and Major League Baseball from 1871 to 1888. Sutton collected 1,574 hits during this time period; he had a lifetime batting avera ...

(1890) *

Ira Thomas Ira Felix Thomas (January 22, 1881 – October 11, 1958) was an American professional baseball player. He played all or part of ten seasons of Major League Baseball, all in the American League, with the New York Highlanders (1906–07), Detroit T ...

(1903) *

Tuck Turner George A. Turner (February 13, 1867 – July 16, 1945) was an American Major League Baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Browns. Career Born in West New Brighton, Staten Island, Turner began his baseball career as a paid p ...

(1901) *

Russ Van Atta Russell Van Atta (June 21, 1906 – October 10, 1986) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Browns over a seven-season career. After his career ended, he was ...

(1928) *

Heinie Wagner Charles Frederick "Heinie" Wagner (September 23, 1880 – March 20, 1943) was an American baseball player and manager. He played shortstop for the New York Giants (1902) and the Boston Red Sox (1906–1918). He was also the manager of the Red S ...

(1916) * Tom York (1875)

Notes

External links

Minor League Baseball in Hartford1931 Senators- Top 100 Minor League Teams of all-time
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519142054/http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/history/top100.jsp?idx=26 , date=2011-05-19 Defunct Eastern League (1938–present) teams Connecticut League teams Sports teams in Hartford, Connecticut Brooklyn Dodgers minor league affiliates Defunct Atlantic League teams Defunct Connecticut State League teams Defunct Atlantic Association teams Defunct Southern New England League teams Defunct International Association teams Defunct sports teams in Connecticut 1878 establishments in Connecticut 1934 disestablishments in Connecticut Baseball teams established in 1878 Sports clubs disestablished in 1934 Professional baseball teams in Connecticut Defunct baseball teams in Connecticut Baseball teams disestablished in 1934 Northeastern League teams Colonial League teams

History

Vintage Base Ball team

Notable alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ... alumni

Notable alumni

Notes

External links

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
alumni