Early baseball in Ohio/Club 4
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| Spread of baseball: Home -> Ohio -> Early baseball in Ohio/Club 4 |
| Location | Ohio |
|---|---|
| Year | 1860 |
| Note on date | Fall |
| Modern address | Cincinnati OH |
| City | Cincinnati |
| State | OH |
| Country | US |
| Nickname | Buckeye Base-Ball Club/Live Oak |
| First in Ohio | Yes |
"It us undoubtedly to college boys that the West owes its early indebtedness for the introduction of base-ball. In Cincinnati the first game was instituted by two young men from Rochester College in the fall of 1860. One of these was Theodore Frost, and the other is now a prominent druggist of Cincinnati. They worked hard to substitute the new game for town-ball, and in the fall succeeded in organizing the Buckeye Base-Ball Club. This was the first Base-ball Club gotten together in Cincinnati. The players were selected from the Woodward and Hughes High School scholars and young business men from of the city.
From a 1879 Cleveland Press article found in the Chadwick Scrapbooks. As cited in Peter Morris, But Didn't We Have Fun (Ivan Dee, Chicago, 2008), page 42.
Note: Ellard's Baseball describes an unnamed club, one that listed Frost as a player, that started play in 1860, mixing base ball and town ball through the Civil War years. This club was organized as the Live Oak Club in 1866, "which was really the first baseball club here [in Cincinnati]." Henry Ellard, Base Ball in Cincinnati (McFarland, 2004), pages 19-22.
Cincinnati's population in 1860 was over 141,000. It was the 7th largest US city.
Open Issue: it seems unclear whether Frost's club played by Association rules during the War. Can we learn more?
Sources
Henry Ellard, Base Ball in Cincinnati (McFarland, 2004), pages 19-22.
