Early baseball in Michigan/Club 8
From SABR Encyclopedia
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| Spread of baseball: Home -> Michigan -> Early baseball in Michigan/Club 8 |
| Location | Michigan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1870 |
| Note on date | No later than 1870 |
| Modern address | St. Joseph, MI |
| City | St. Joseph |
| State | MI |
| Country | US |
| Nickname | Mutuals |
"Previous to 1870, base ball was unknown in the villages of Michigan. . . .
James R. Clark organized a base ball club in St. Joseph previous to the organization of the [local rival] Benton Harbor nine [in 1870]. . . . The St. Joseph club was named the Mutuals, in imitation of the famous Mutuals of New York. . . . . In St. Joseph the ball ground was located where the Central school building now [1915] stands.
St. Joseph is on Lake Michigan in the southwestern corner of the state; it is about 35 miles N of South Bend IN and about 45 miles W of Kalamazoo MI. It is about 2 miles from Benton Harbor, its reported base ball rival.
Sources
James Pender, History of Benton Harbor (Braun, Chicago, 1915), pages 72-73. Accessed 2/28/2010 via Google Books search ("history of benton harbor").
