According to Judge William Horton, writing for the Mount Clemens Daily Leader in 1928, Mount Clemens had an amateur baseball club as early as 1865, when some returning Civil War veterans formed a team called the Regulars. The Original Regular Base Ball Club of Mount Clemens was formed by returning Civil War "Regular" (vs. The current Regulars enact the early pre-professional game, in the waning years of the Gentlemen's Club era; played soley for recreation and exercise under the highest standards of sportsmanship - base ball as it was meant to be played. Base ball in 1860 was experiencing explosive growth with men's clubs of firemen, bankers, merchants, etc, forming through the Northeast, particularly still in the New York area with over 50 clubs. In 1860 there were a dozen clubs here in the far "Northwest," as Michigan was known. The number dropped to 4 during the Civil War and exploded to 240 in 1867. In the 1860's it was still forbidden by association rules for base ball players to be paid, yet in the Northeast, ball fields were starting to be enclosed and admission was being charged. The best ball players were being paid under the table and many clubs ignored the existing gentleman's standard. Clubs were becoming more competitive with pitchers trying to strike batters out instead of the expected gentleman's standard offering them pitches to be hit! Some gentlemen's clubs chose not to accept challenges from some "win at all cost" clubs. In the 1870's professional base ball was well established.
