The Troy Trojans were a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

team in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

for four seasons from 1879 to 1882. Their home games were played at Putnam Grounds (1879) and Haymakers' Grounds (1880–1881) in the upstate New York city of

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

, and at Troy Ball Clubs Grounds (1882) across the Hudson in Watervliet, or "West Troy" as it was known at the time. The first Grand Slam home run in Major League history was hit by

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 ', ' ( ...

of this franchise in 1881 in East Albany (now known as Rensselaer) in what is now the Rensselaer Riverfront Park. The site in present day Rensselaer was infrequently used to host games when their normal field was unavailable. A baseball diamond in the park is currently in use very close to where the diamond would have been back in the 1880s. The site of the historic grand slam was only recently discovered as it was previously assumed to have occurred in eastern Albany. Overall, the franchise won 131 games and lost 194. The Trojans, along with the Worcester NL team, were expelled from the league shortly before the end of the 1882 season, as Troy and Worcester were seen as too small for the league's ambitions, but were encouraged to play out the rest of their seasons as lame-duck teams. On September 28, 1882, only six fans appeared to watch Worcester host the Trojans in the second-to-last game of the season, then only 25 arrived for the last game between the two teams. Among games that have had at least one paying attendee, the attendance figure of six is the lowest attendance ever recorded at a Major League baseball game. In

1883 Events January–March * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * Ja ...

the

New York Gothams The New York Giants were a Major League Baseball team in the National League that began play in the season as the New York Gothams and were renamed in . They continued as the New York Giants until the team relocated to San Francisco, Californ ...

, later known as the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

, took the Trojans' former slot in the National League. Four of the original Gotham players were former members of the disbanded Trojans, including three Hall of Famers:

Buck Ewing William "Buck" Ewing (October 17, 1859 – October 20, 1906) was an American Major League Baseball player and manager. Renowned for his offensive and defensive skills, he was the first 19th-century catcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. C ...

and

Mickey Welch Michael Francis Welch (July 4, 1859 – July 30, 1941), nicknamed "Smiling Mickey", was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He stood tall and weighed . He was the third pitcher to accumulate 300 career victories. Welch was born in Brooklyn, New Y ...

. A previous team named the Union Base Ball Club of Lansingburgh was organized in 1860, the successor to the Victories of Troy, and was a member of the

National Association of Base Ball Players The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was the first organization governing American baseball. (The sport was spelled with two words in the 19th century.) The first convention of sixteen New York City area clubs in 1857 effecti ...

. That team was given the nickname ''Haymakers'' by a defeated New York City team. Notable players for the Trojans included Hall of Famers

Dan Brouthers Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers (; May 8, 1858 – August 2, 1932) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from to , with a brief return in . Nicknamed "Big Dan" for his size, he was and weighed , wh ...

, Connor, Ewing,

Tim Keefe Timothy John Keefe (January 1, 1857 – April 23, 1933), nicknamed "Smiling Tim" and "Sir Timothy", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He stood tall and weighed . He was one of the most dominating pitchers of the 19th century and po ...

, and Welch. Another

Troy Trojans The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy Univer ...

minor league team continued play until at least 1916.

Baseball Hall of Famers

References

External links

Baseball-Reference.com
{{MLBHistory Defunct Major League Baseball teams Troy, New York Sports in Capital District (New York) Defunct baseball teams in New York (state) Baseball teams disestablished in 1882 Baseball teams established in 1879

Baseball Hall of Famers

See also

References

External links