HISTORY OF BRIGHTON BASEBALL

Introduction

Back in the early 1900’s there was no football or basketball, there was only baseball.  As John Wall of Brighton puts it, "They just liked baseball, that was the big sport.  That was our whole life, baseball."

Denver itself had 20-30 teams, but we were more interested in Adams County teams, so we picked the teams from the town of Brighton.

History

Baseball then was such a popular sport, that when nine men or boys got together, a team was almost immediately formed.  Brighton’s first baseball club was formed March 28, 1895.  Later, a town merchant decided to sponsor the team.  He changed the name to Reuter’s (his last name just happened to be Reuter), and bought a set of uniforms with blue caps, black shirts, blue pants, and red socks.  The Reuter’s first season was so good, that often people wondered if they imported players from Denver.

Another one of Brighton’s first teams, was the one that the Kuner’s Cannery sponsored. It wasn’t uncommon for companies to sponsor teams consisting of their own employees.  The Kuner’s team mostly played on the weekends and consisted mainly of the workers at Kuner’s, but often they played like baseball was their job instead of crating.

The third team formed was sponsored by Jack Quinn.  Quinn was the owner of a local pool hall named Jack’s Place.  Many of the experienced players from Kuner’s went to his team.  Also, earlier, the Reuter’s team disbanded, and the younger players went on to the Jack Quinn team.

Lastly, came the Brighton Booster’s.  They were considered the young team.  Formed by their manager Walter Merrill as just a bunch of high school kids who wanted to play baseball.

professional ball.  Never ending court battles and player strikes are a common occurrence.  It seems that the only interest is in the illustrious dollar.  Baseball will never be the same again, as it was in the early 1900’s in Brighton.

Brighton Booster’s Baseball Team Aug. 22, 1920
(Courtesy Walter Merrill)