Tools of ignorance
As catchers began to wear more equipment the was widespread disapproval. In 1884 The New Haven News said:
“With his frontal liver-pad, his hands cased in thick gloves and the familiar wire helmet on his head, the average baseball catcher looks for all the world like an animated combination of a modern bed-bolster and a medieval knight.”
Roger Bresnahan, 1907, more than 20 years after a catcher began to look like a “medieval knight.”
Cuban Giants Challenge
In August of 1888, The Freeman declared the Cuban Giants “virtually the champions of the world.”
The paper said that the first professional black baseball team, were willing to take on any ballclub, but:
“The St. Louis Browns, Detroits (Wolverines) and Chicagos (White Stockings) afflicted with Negrophobia and unable to bear the odium of being beaten by colored men, refused to accept their challenge.”
1887-88 Cuban Giants–“virtually the champions of the world.”
The Elizabeth Resolutes
The Elizabeth (NJ) Resolutes were one of the worst professional teams of baseball’s infancy. The 1873 National Association team only played 23 games, losing 21, and from the beginning of the season, the franchise was on the verge of demise.
The New York Herald summed up the general feeling about the team in an August article:
“The Resolute Club, whom everyone hoped had disbanded, as was reported, put in an appearance on the Union grounds yesterday afternoon and played the (Brooklyn) Atlantics, committing, as usual, about five hundred errors.”
It was the first, and last, game on the mound for pitcher Len Lovett.
The Herald concluded:
“The game was a most wretched affair.”
Catcher Doug Allison who hit .300, and his brother Art, who hit .320, were rare bright spots for the resolutes.
Baseball History Daily 
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