Troy Trojans (National League)

This article is about the major league team from Troy, New York. For the minor league team, see Troy Trojans (minor league baseball). For the athletic teams of Troy University, see Troy Trojans.
Troy Trojans
Years 1879–1882
Based in Troy, New York (1879–1881)
Watervliet, New York (1882)
1881 Troy Trojans
1881 Troy Trojans
Major league affiliations
Ballpark
Team colors

Green, orange
   

Managers
Major league titles
  • National League pennants: 0

The Troy Trojans were a Major League Baseball team in the National League for four seasons from 1879 to 1882.[1] Their home games were played at Putnam Grounds (1879) and Haymakers' Grounds (1880–1881) in the upstate New York city of Troy, 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 of the Trojans in 1881[2] 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 6 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 6 is the lowest attendance ever recorded at a Major League Baseball game.[3] In 1883 the New York Gothams, later known as the Giants, 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, Roger Connor and Mickey Welch.

Notable players for the Trojans included Hall of Famers Dan Brouthers, Connor, Ewing, Tim Keefe, and Welch.

Another Troy Trojans minor league team continued play until at least 1916.

  1. ^ Troy Trojans - Everything2.com. November 14, 2001
  2. ^ "Roger Connor". baseballhall.org. Retrieved Feb 17, 2020.
  3. ^ Encina, Eduardo A. (29 April 2015). "Taking a look back at baseball's lowest attended game before today". Baltimore Sun.