Early baseball in Virginia/Game 2
From SABR Encyclopedia
| Spread of baseball: Home -> Virginia -> Early baseball in Virginia/Game 2 |
| Location | Virginia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1860 |
| Month | 4 |
| Date | 24 |
| City | Norfolk |
| State | VA |
| Country | US |
| Modern address | Norfolk VA |
| Was NY rules baseball | Likely |
| Played by | Locals |
| Team 1 | Marion Club (Brooklyn) |
| Team 2 | The Sumpter Club (Norfolk VA) |
| Team 1 Score | 12 |
| Team 2 Score | 11 |
| Length | 7 Innings |
| First in Virginia | Yes |
| Found by | Craig Waff |
The Sunday Mercury reported on what appears to have been an extensive trip by the Marion Club in April 1860 to Norfolk VA and other destinations. In Norfolk they played a local club, the Sumter Club, and this game finished under very odd circumstances, as related below.
“During a match between the Marion Club of this city [NYC], and the Sumpter Club of Norfolk, Va., played at Norfolk on the 24 inst. [24 April], the Marion Club lost one if its members—S. B. English—who died on the field, of disease of the heart. The circumstances attending the occurrence are thus reported to us by the Secretary of the Marion Club:
'The Sumpter Club opened the game by going to the bat , and all went steadily enough until the seventh inning, when the score stood 11 to 11. We sent English to the bat; he struck, started off, and was coming in on the home run; he got within four feet of home, when he staggered and fell, with his head on the base. He lay there several minutes, when, finding he did not rise, Cohen and myself went over to him, and found he could neither rise nor speak. We carried him to the house on the ground, when medical aid was sent for, but arrived too late—he died within ten minutes after being carried from the ground, of disease of the heart. He was well beloved by the members of this and other associations of which he was a member. / The treatment our club received during our eight days’ visit to Norfolk, from the Sumpter and Henry Clay Clubs, was gentlemanly in the extreme—in fact, during all our excursions into neighboring states, we never met such a hearty reception.” [Box score follows]
Craig adds that the game was discontinued at the point of Mr. English's final tally.
Norfolk VA (1860 pop. 14,600)is on the Atlantic coast about 95 miles SE of Richmond VA. then and now it was/is a large base for the US Navy.
BA note--the name "Sumpter" club suggests that the players were associated with the US Naval vessel Sumpter.
Sources
H. F. W. (Marion club secretary), “Out-Door Sports: Base Ball: Death on the Field,” [New York] Sunday Mercury, vol. 22, no. 20 (13 May 1860), p. 5, col. 5
