1862.8
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
 |
| Prominent Milestones |
| Misc BB Firsts |
| Add a Misc BB First |
| About the Chronology |
| Tom Altherr Dedication |
| Add a Chronology Entry |
| Open Queries |
| Open Numbers |
| Most Aged |
Earliest Base Ball in Colorado Territory
| Salience | Noteworthy |
|---|---|
| Tags | |
| Location | |
| City/State/Country: | Denver, CO, United States |
| Modern Address | |
| Game | Base BallBase Ball |
| Immediacy of Report | Contemporary |
| Age of Players | AdultAdult |
| Holiday | |
| Notables | |
| Text | "The first baseball games in Colorado Territory occurred in March 1862, when the Base Ball (two words back then) Club was formed. The first recorded contest happened on April 26, 1862."
|
| Sources | Rocky Mountain News, March 13 and April 29, 1862. Cited in Brian Werner, "Baseball in Colorado Territory," in Thomas L. Altherr, Above the Fruited Plain: Baseball in the Rocky Mountain West (SABR Convention Publication, July 2003), page 71. |
| Warning | |
| Comment | Werner identifies the game as the New York game. Richard Hershberger, email of 1/19/2009, writes that on April 29 the Denver [CO] Daily Evening News reported on intramural game played by the Denver Base Ball Club, a likely reference to the games cited by Werner. He also notes that a March 12 issue of the Evening News referred to a "game played yesterday [that] went off well, considering that there were but two or three persons engaged who had ever played the game before, according to the New York rules, and it will take but a few more meetings to enable them to become proficient." Jim Wohlenhaus, email of 2/24/2014, reports his own attempts to pin down Colorado's earliest games -- see the Supplemental Text, below. Jim's summary: "The first recorded game was March 11, 1862 and not March 15. I do not believe the March 15 scheduled game ever was played. "The Club was formally established on Mar 15, 1862. I am not sure if the first three games were played on April 26, or earlier. A comment in Protoball entry #1862.8 states these games were “intramural”. I would hazard a guess they were indeed, probably the first nine vs. the second nine. Since this was the only Club around, this was probably the only way to have competition. As an aside, I have found no mention of another Club until 1864 in Colorado Territory when two Clubs formed and challenged each other. Then baseball really started to take off in that year." Edit with form to add a comment |
| Query | Edit with form to add a query |
| Source Image | [[Image:|left|thumb]] |
| External Number | |
| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger, Jim Wohlenhaus |
| Submission Note | RRH email, 1/19/2009, Jim W email, 2/24/2014 |
| Has Supplemental Text | Yes |
1862.8 Earliest Base Ball in Colorado Territory"
Comments
<comments voting="Plus" />
Supplemental Text
In February 2014, Jim Wohlenhaus submitted the results of his attempts to discover more about the earliest CO ballplaying:
========
In researching the first “reported” baseball game in Colorado Territory, I searched the following references:
The Rocky Mountain News (RMN), 1862
Protoball Entry #1862.8 www.protoball.org
Above the Fruited Plain, SABR, Page 71
RESULTS: All three references cite a March 14, 1862 article in the RMN as stating that, “There will be a game of base ball tomorrow afternoon, commencing at three o’clock, near the Court House, West Denver. All of the twenty-eight who can, will please attend.”
However, I have not been able to find a report on whether this game ever took place. As a native Denverite, I know the weather on the Ides of March can be anything from a blizzard to 80˚. So, there is a possibility it did not take place.
Nevertheless, the RMN on March 12, 1862 editorially stated, “Let us have a baseball club, by all means.” Evidently, this was written sometime prior to this date and awaited room to be inserted in the paper, as right below it was a later addition. It said,
“Since the above was in type, we learn that initiatory steps have been taken for the formation of the first base ball club in Colorado. At the conclusion of a game played yesterday afternoon (March 11, 1862), near the Court House, West Denver, notice was given of a meeting to be held this evening (March 12, 1862) for the purpose of organizing a club.”
The above paragraph went on later to say, “The game played yesterday went off very well, considering that there were but two or three persons engaged who had ever played the game before, according to the New York rules,… One side scored eighteen tallies and the other twenty-eight.”
On March 13, 1862, the RMN stated, “Pursuant to the call published yesterday, a number of gentlemen assembled at Whipple’s cabinet shop last evening (March 12, 1862) and enrolled their names – twenty-eight in all – as members of the ----- Base Ball Club. A committee was appointed to draft Constitution and By-laws, and ordered to report at the first regular meeting, to be held in the Court House, West Denver, on Saturday evening next, at 7 o’clock p.m., when the organization will be fully completed.”
On March 17, 1862, the RMN stated, “DENVER BASE BALL CLUB. – At a meeting of this association, held in the Court House, West Denver, Saturday evening (March 15), after amending and adopting a Constitution and By-laws, the following officers were elected for the next three months:” It then listed the officers and went on to say, “It was decided that the Club meet twice a week for play – on Wednesdays and Saturdays, at three o’clock P.M. – and that a meeting be held on the last Saturday of each month for the transaction of business. The play-ground will be the square near the Court House, until further notice. There are about thirty members in the Club, at present and may expect some interesting games by and by.”
On April 29, 1862, the RMN reported, “Below will be found the two scores of two games played by the Denver Base Ball Club, on Saturday afternoon last (April 26, 1862).” The article went on to talk about the results of the two games and also mention that, “Another game of five innings was played afterward, with the same captains, and nearly the same men on each side, which resulted in a tie. Two more innings were then played, which gave the victory to McNeil’s side by two tallies.”
A tripleheader! And McNeil’s side, who had lost the first two games 20 to 7, and 9 to 8, finally won the third. Included in the article was the box score for the first two games, but the RMN said, “ Want of space forbids lengthy comments on the (third) game,”. So there is no box score for the third game.
However, on June 26, 1862, the RMN ran a story, “BASE BALL IN DENVER CITY, C.T. – They have quite a good club in Denver, we are informed, and they are looking forward to the time when they can meet a New York nine half way, for a friendly encounter. – New York Clipper.”
““Things aint as they used to was,” Mr. Clipper. For some time our club prospered well, and enjoyed some excellent games, though to tell the truth, there was a lack of method and order generally observable; but as soon as the mining season fairly opened, a good share of the members went to the mountains to work, and the club gradually discontinued playing. To be sure, there are plenty of young men left in town to form an excellent club, but the weather has been so warm, and “the air so light,” that they find it difficult to shake off the enervating effects. (polite name for laziness.) and consequently the base ball club is tabled for the summer.” This was signed by three of the officers of the Club.
CONCLUSION. I believe the first recorded baseball game was on March 11, 1862, although not within the auspices of a formal base ball club. It at least drew the attention of the leading newspaper at the time.
The base ball club was formally established on March 15, however, I have not found any indication that the March 15 baseball game was played. I’m not sure the Club waited until April 26 to play their first games (the tripleheader), but they may have. I could go either way on this, but as anxious as the Rocky Mountain News was for the Club to get going, I would think they would have reported on all the games. But, it may be they just didn’t get around to playing until then.
Then the June 26 letter to the RMN that the Club had been tabled leads one to think there were no more games. A genealogy bank search revealed the next time the words base ball came up in the Rocky Mountain News was 1864.
Based on my conclusions, I add the following to the Protoball entries (which include the information from Above the Fruited Plain) in the following manner.
The first recorded game was March 11, 1862 and not March 15. I do not believe the March 15 scheduled game ever was played.
The Club was formally established on Mar 15, 1862. I am not sure if the first three games were played on April 26, or earlier. A comment in Protoball entry #1862.8 states these games were “intramural”. I would hazard a guess they were indeed, probably the first nine vs. the second nine. Since this was the only Club around, this was probably the only way to have competition. As an aside, I have found no mention of another Club until 1864 in Colorado Territory when two Clubs formed and challenged each other. Then baseball really started to take off in that year.
ADDENDUM. The Rocky Mountain News on July 4, 1887 ran a small filler that said, “William Dingle, the well-known druggist of this city, has unearthed a share of stock in “The Denver Base Ball Club,” dated May 24, 1877, and signed by Judge C. W. Wright as president and Captain Smith as secretary. This was the first legal organization of base ball in the state.”