Early baseball in California/Game 17

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This record has been submitted recently, and has not yet been reviewed. This does not imply that the information is incorrect, but that it is not yet included in official datasets. This notice will no longer appear once the record has been reviewed.

The New York Mercury, Jan. 6, 1861, has a "letter from a correspondent" objecting to the Mercury's Dec. 30, 1860 article which said the first base ball game in CA was in San Francisco Feb. 22, 1860. The letter says the 1st base ball game in CA was in San Francisco Nov. 10, 1858, "on the grounds opposite South Park," played by two pickup nines. The game had been introduced into SF by William V. Babcock of the (NY) Atlantic BBC. Since many players were unfamiliar with the rules, Babcock had to act as umpire. The article gives the names of the players (8 on each side), and a box score.

An article in the Aug. 8, 1892 Washington Post confirms the Mercury account. It is an interview of William V. Babcock, who says that in 1858 he traveled to San Francisco and while there, "with some friends... organized two clubs, which played the first regular game of ball on the Pacific Coast." The game was played that october, he remembered.

Sources

The New York Mercury, Jan. 6, 1861. Aug. 8, 1892 Washington Post