Early baseball in Minnesota/Club 7
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| Spread of baseball: Home -> Minnesota -> Early baseball in Minnesota/Club 7 |
| Location | Minnesota |
|---|---|
| Year | 1857 |
| Month | 8 |
| Date | 3 |
| Modern address | Nininger Township, Dakota County |
| City | Nininger |
| State | Minnesota |
| Country | USA |
| Nickname | Nininger Base Ball Club |
| First in Minnesota | Yes |
| Found by | Rich Arpi |
Nininger Base Ball Club, Minnesota Territory.---The first Base Ball Club established in Minnesota was organized at Nininger City, Dakota County, on the 8th of August, by the election of Geo. H. Burns, president, and A.W. MacDonald, secretary and treasurer. The rules of the Base Ball Convention were adopted, and the first regular game was played on the 15th inst., in the presence of a large number of spectators. The members meet every afternoon for practice, and propose at an early day to extend a challenge to the "whole West." A magnificent level prairie, constituting a portion of Messrs. Donnelly & Burns' "addition to Nininger City," has been leased by the club, and, even without the improvements which are contemplated, presents a field which would excite a cricketer's admiration. We hope soon to chronicle similar organizations in the same neighborhood.
Note: Emigrant Aid Journal claims club was organized on August 3rd, and played inter-squad games on August 8 and 15, although no scores were recorded. Nininger, a real estate venture of politican Ignatius Donnelly and some of his Philadelphia friends never grew very large and was abandoned in the economic panic of 1857. Nininger Township, in Dakota County, north of the present day city of Hastings is all that remains to remind us of Nininger.
Nininger MN is about 20 miles SE of St. Paul and 25 miles SE of Minneapolis.
Sources
Porter's Spirit of the Times, August 29, 1857. Volume II. Number 26. Page 404, column 3.
Nininger BBC also mentioned in the local newspaper, Emigrant Aid Journal of Minnesota on August 1, August 15, and September 12, 1857.
Thornley, Stew. Baseball in Minnesota: The Definitive History. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2006. pp. 5-6.
