Early baseball in Wisconsin/Game 1
From SABR Encyclopedia
| Spread of baseball: Home -> Wisconsin -> Early baseball in Wisconsin/Game 1 |
| Location | Wisconsin |
|---|---|
| Year | 1859 |
| Month | 11 |
| Date | 30 |
| City | Milwaukee |
| State | WI |
| Country | US |
| Site | West Wisconsin Ave and North 13 Street |
| Was NY rules baseball | Likely |
| Played by | Locals |
| Team 1 | Hathaway's Side |
| Team 2 | King's Side |
| Team 1 Score | 40 |
| Team 2 Score | 35 |
| Length | 3 innings |
| First in Wisconsin | Yes |
| Found by | Dennis Pajot |
The first report of baseball being played in Milwaukee is found in the Thursday, December 1, 1859, Milwaukee Daily Sentinel. The paper wrote:
BASE BALL–This game, now so popular at the East, is about to be introduced in our own city. A very spirited impromptu match was played on the Fair Ground, Spring Street Avenue, yesterday afternoon six on a side, with the following result:
| 1st innings | 2d do. | 3rd do. | Total | |
| J.L Hathaway | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| F.J. Bosworth | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| C. Steele | 4 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| F. Clarke | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| L. Sexton | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| H. Sands | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| F.J. Hill | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 | 9 | 15 | 40 | |
| R. King | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Cap. Coate | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| H. Barclay | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| J.P.C. Cottrill | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5[sic!] |
| C.B. Allen | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| J. Ledyard | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| F.H. Hill | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | 8 | 14 | 35 |
Should the weather be fair, the return match will be played on the same ground, At 2 o'clock this (Thursday) afternoon.
There is no record of this Thursday match, but we have scores for matches on December 10 (33 to 23 in favor of Hathaway's club in 5 innings, with 9 on a side) and December 17 (54 to 33, again in favor of Hathaway's club with 5 innings played; with 10 men on each side listed in the box score). The last match was played in weather that "was blustering and patches of snow on the ground made it slippery and rather too damp for sharp play."
These games took place at the State Fair Grounds, then located at North 13th and West Wisconsin Avenue. This is now part of the Marquette University Campus. The R. King in the box score is Rufus King, editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel. His grandfather, also Rufus King, was a signer of the American Constitution. Milwaukee's Rufus King was a brigadier general in the Civil War, and he would be Milwaukee's first superintendent of schools.
Sources
- , pg 1. Milwaukee Daily Sentinal, 1859-12-01.
