Boston wouldn't accept an Irish Catholic baseball player?

Sometimes you run across things and you say, “What? Where did he leave his brain?”

On Jim O’Rourke: “When the Boston Red Stockings signed him in 1873, the manager told him the 'Puritans' in Boston would not tolerate an Irish Catholic player and insisted O'Rourke change his name to Rourke. He refused and the manager backed down.” – Washington Post columnist Les Carpenter, April 21, 2006.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=orouji01

Who were the baseball players and Boston fans in 1873 – lowborn Irish, or well-to-do Protestant Puritans? The idea that Boston would not accept an Irish Catholic player … Just look at the 1876 Red Stockings roster.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1876&t=BS4