Alleghany Club v Pittsburg Club on 9 October 1857
| Date of Game | Friday, October 9, 1857 |
|---|---|
| Game | Town Ball |
| Location | Pittsburgh, PA, United States |
| Modern Address | |
| Field | Add Field Page |
| Home Team | Add Club Page Alleghany Club |
| Away Team | Add Club Page Pittsburg Club |
| Score | 98 77 |
| Has Source On Hand | No |
| Innings | 3 Game suspended by darkness |
| Number of Players | 15 |
| NY Rules | No - Predecessor |
| Tags | |
| Description |
"Pittsburg, Oct. 10 "Dear Spirit: Quite a large number of our citizens visited Alleghany, on last Friday, to witness the game of Base Ball, so long talked of, between the Pittsburg and Alleghany clubs. The match was played by thirty men, equally divided, and consisted of three innings; but as it was dark before the Alleghanians finished their innings, they would not continue the game, so the Pittsburg boys had to give in, after making nine runs in their third inning, and ten men still in [see note, below]. The result of the game was as follows." [A box score shows Alleghany scoring 25, 24, and 49 runs in its three innings; Pittsburg scoring 31, 37, and 9 runs.] "At the conclusion of the game there was some grumbling. The Pittsburgers wanted the game to be played out; nor would they have commenced their third inning, only that they expected to finish the game. The umpire, however, gave in his cohesion to the course that was followed, and ordered the game to be concluded on Saturday afternoon, a report of which I will give next week." Note: Protoball's interpretation is that the game used all-out-side-out innings, and at the time of suspension only five of the fifteen Pittsburg club had been put out. As described by Peter Morris in Base Ball Pioneers (McFarland, 2012), in 1904 the Pittsburgh Post reprinted the 1857 game account, and added the observations of a surviving participant, Michael Lynch. Lynch said that the match was the "first baseball game played in Alleghany county, under the regulation rules and upon a regulation diamond," which Morris suggests may have meant that despite non-Knick rules for team size, innings played, and inning format, Knick field markings were employed. Lynch recalled use of a "soft, rubber ball" that curved in flight and was hit to great distances. Some Protoball queries, 2015: [1] Is there evidence that the game was completed? [2] Are we sure that the game used all-out-side-out innings? [3] Do we know of other similar games -- 15 players, AOSO innings, rubber balls, variant field layout, etc. -- in this region? [4] What is the "next day" account the Morris adverts to? [5] Was October 9 a Friday in 1857? The Daily Pittsburgh Gazette, Oct. 10, 1857 page 3 carries an account of this game, giving a list of the players. Headlined "The Match of Base Ball." I checked the next 2 issues of the Gazette,, but they don't mention that the game was ever resumed. [ba]
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| Sources | Spirit of the Times, October 17, 1857. Pittsburgh Post, April 4, 1904. Peter Morris, "Alleghany Base Ball Club," Base Ball Pioneers (McFarland, 2012), pages 121-122. |
| Source Image | [[Image:|left|thumb]] |
| Has Source On Hand | No |
| Comment | Probably they played a form of town ball. Edit with form to add a comment |
| Query | Edit with form to add a query |
| Submitted by | Bob Tholkes, Craig Britcher |
| Submission Note | Emails of 6/23/2015 |
| First in Location | |
| Players Locality | |
| Entry Origin | |
| Entry Origin Url |
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