Other firsts in baseball/Event 12
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| Spread project: Home -> Other firsts -> Other firsts in baseball/Event 12 |
| Year | 1870 |
|---|---|
| Month | 6 |
| Date | 14 |
| City | Brooklyn |
| State | NY |
| Country | US |
| Description | First Switch Hitter |
In an exciting 8-7 game that ended the Cincinnati Red Stockings' 91-game hitting streak, the Atlantic club's captain Bob Ferguson came to bat in the bottom of the 12th inning, down by a run. Determined not to hit a ball to the Red Stockings' SS George Wright, right-handed hitter "surprised the Red Stockings by taking a left-handed stance. . . . He ripped the ball through the right side of the infield to tie the score, and the [Brooklyn] crowd went wild." An errant throw scored Ferguson from second, and the unbeaten streak was over.
Ferguson has also become the first recorded switch hitter.
Sources
Daniel Okrent and Steve Wulf, Baseball Anecdotes (Oxford University Press, 1989), page 9.
