The Hudsons — Can’t stop ‘deadheads’

The Hudsons semi-professional baseball team of Glens Falls, signed two new players, a short stop and a first baseman, from the B.P.F.’s of Albany for the Hudsons game on June 30,1886 against the Ticonderoga Stars.

After the game, the management “paid off” the two recruits, and the players were expected to return to Albany.

“They failed to give satisfaction,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on July 1, 1886.

The Glens Falls team played well enough for much of the game. But, as everyone knows, it’s the score at the end of the game that counts.

“The game between the Glens Falls and the Ticonderoga clubs yesterday afternoon was uneventful until the eighth inning,” The Morning Star reported. “At that point the score stood 4-to-2 in favor of Glens Falls.”

Ticonderoga scored eight runs in the inning and went on to win the game 10–6, playing in their new blue uniforms with white caps and stockings.

The Glens Falls management also had troubles off the field, as they attempted, unsuccessfully, to out-fox a group of fans that had constructed a grand stand just outside the Second Street ball park in order to watch games without paying admission.

“The deadheads occupied their grand stand yesterday in a lot adjoining the ball ground. The managers of the Glens Falls team tried to obstruct the tactics of the impecunious (having little or no money) crowd by erecting two long poles from which a sheet was suspended. The wind blew down the poles, however, and thwarted the plans of the obstructionists.”

The Ticonderoga team stayed over night at The Globe Hotel and the next day played Saratoga, losing 7–6, The Morning Star reported on July 2.

The two teams played again on July 2, and Saratoga defeated Ticonderoga 10–2, The Morning Star reported on July 3.

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