In Corvallis in 1856

Pre-pro Baseball

Corvallis, OR Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games Greater New York City Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games OR Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games United States Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games

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Waff's Game Tabulation

Bob Tholkes RIM Tabulation

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Date of Game	1856
Location	Corvallis, OR, United States
Modern Address
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Innings	9
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NY Rules	Yes
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Description	A Medford resident (R. Stinnett) claimed to have organized Oregon’s first baseball team in Corvallis in 1856, ten years before the Pioneers formed. “No, it wasn’t ‘town ball’ we played, but the original game of baseball,” he told the Medford Mail Tribune in 1910. Their only equipment was a bat whittled from native wood and a ball that at first was rubber and later was made of yarn covered in buckskin with a rubber center. “That ball was the most valuable piece of property belonging to the club,” he added. “If in playing in open fields, as we did in those days, the ball was ‘lost,’ the game was called until the players, spectators and even the umpire had searched until they found it.” See Oregon Daily Journal, August 4, 1910. There's no independent verification of this claim. The man is probably Reuben Stennett, born circa 1830 in Tennessee, who lived in Medford in 1910.
Sources	Oregon Daily Journal, August 4, 1910
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Has Source On Hand	No
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Found by	Bruce Allardice
Submission Note
Entered by	Bruce Allardice
First in Location	OR
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