Arthur Soden

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Arthur Henry Soden

Biographical Information[edit]

Arthur Soden was a prominent owner.

Soden had served in the US Army in the Civil War and owned a roofing business and copper mines as well as reaching into other industries. He was one of three people who helped lead the effort to save the Boston Red Stockings when the club was in danger of collapsing financially in the late 1870s. Boston would go on to win five titles in the 1890s. Soden was interim National League president after William Hulbert died in 1882 and, before that, is often listed as the leader in formulating the reserve clause in 1879. He sold his interest in the then-Boston Braves in 1906. In the meantime, he had become the owner of the Providence Grays in November of 1885 when the team was on the verge of bankruptcy, expending $6,600 to acquire the franchise and its players, but it was in order to move the team from the NL to the Eastern League. For his efforts, he got to keep Providence's two best players for Boston, P Charles Radbourne and C Con Daily.

Soden was later criticized for coldness and financial calculation, an impression historians David Ball and David Nemec felt was too harsh a judgement.

Source: Major League Baseball Profiles: 1871-1900 ed. by David Nemec

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