It’s been more than a century since Connecticut had big league baseball - and many fans today might be surprised to learn that the state ever did - but in the 1870s, Middletown, Hartford, and New Haven fielded pioneering professional teams that competed at the highest level. By the end of the decade, when the state’s final big league team, Mark Twain’s beloved Hartford Dark Blues, left the National League, baseball’s transition from amateur pastime to major league sport had been accomplished. And Connecticutt had played a significant role in its development.The story of the Nutmeg State’s three major league teams is told here in full, the rise, brief tenure, and eventual collapse of each described and the impact of the Connecticut teams on the regional baseball scene thoughtfully examined. The book includes a foreword by noted 19th - century baseball expert Bill Ryczek and an appendix including dates, opponents, location, and scores for all National Association, National League, and non-league games played by the Middletown, Hartford and New Haven clubs.