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Charlton's Baseball Chronology - 1860
February
| February 22 |
The first match game on the West Coast is played between the Eagle Club and the Red Rovers. With the score tied 33-33 at the end of 9 innings‚ the game is awarded to the Eagles after an argument about the fairness of the pitching. |
March
| March 14 |
At Cooper Union‚ the 4th annual convention of the National Association of Base Ball Players opens with 62 teams represented. The new rules provide for called strikes on a batter who does not swing at good balls repeatedly pitched to him. The umpire must warn the batter before he calls the first strike on him. |
April
| April 7 |
The Athletic club of Philadelphia organizes under the "Town Ball" rules‚ the prevailing rules in Philadelphia. The local Olympic club‚ organized in 1833‚ plays those rules. But after seeing the New York style of ball‚ the Athletics will switch to those rules. |
May
| May 16 |
The first "New York" game of baseball ever played in Philadelphia takes place between 2 teams of members of the Winona Club. |
June
| June 1 |
The Bowdoin Club of Boston sends three men‚ Messrs. Lowell‚ Gill and Forbush‚ to observe the New York style of baseball. Upon their return‚ the club will extend an invitation to the Excelsiors of Brooklyn to visit Boston and teach their players the game. |
| June 29 |
Henry Chadwick‚ writing in the July 14th New York Clipper about today's game between the Atlantic and Putnam clubs‚ describes a 'sacrifice bunt play' as follows: "A circumstance occurred in the 2d innings which we deem worthy of notice: Brown [of the Putnam Club] was at the bat‚ and Price pitched him a low ball‚ which‚ in bringing his bat down‚ Brown hit with the bat in a similar manner to that in which a cricketer blocks a straight ball; judgment was asked‚ and as the umpire [Thomas Miller of the Empire Club] deemed it an accident‚ it was decided "no hit‚" but we think it should have been considered fair‚ for the reason that had a player been on the first base at the time‚ he could have easily have made his second base before the pitcher could have fielded it‚ and the decision may lead to similar accidents on other occasions when such play would have a more important bearing on the game. If‚ in the act of striking‚ the ball be hit forward of the home base‚ however light the touch‚ it ought to be considered a fair ball‚ otherwise accidents similar to the above will be of frequent occurrence." |
| June 30 |
The Excelsior's of Brooklyn leave for Albany‚ starting the first tour ever taken by a baseball club. They will travel 1‚000 miles in 10 days and play games in Albany‚ Troy‚ Buffalo‚ Rochester‚ and Newburgh. |
July
| July 19 |
A huge crowd of 10‚000 gathers in South Brooklyn to watch the first game in the championship series with the Atlantics and Excelsiors. Jim Creighton holds the Atlantics to 4 runs as Excelsior wins‚ 23-4. |
| July 22 |
One of the first triple plays in baseball is triggered by Jim Creighton‚ playing LF for the Excelsior's of New York. With Baltimore runners on 2B and 3B‚ Creighton makes a spectacular catch of a ?y ball. The subsequent throws to 3B and then to 2B complete the triple play. |
August
| August 9 |
A crowd of 12‚000 watch the 2nd match between the Atlantics and Excelsiors. Trailing 12-6‚ the Atlantics score 9 runs in the bottom of the 7th off Jim Creighton and hang on for a 15-14 win. Henry Chadwick‚ in the New York Clipper‚ writes that this was "the best played contest ever witnessed." |
| August 23 |
The 3rd match between the Atlantics and Excelsiors is played on the Putnam Club Grounds at Broadway and Greene in Brooklyn before a large and rowdy crowd of 20‚000. So rowdy that in the 6th inning‚ some of the crowd breaks loose and tries to mob the Excelsiors. Excelsiors captain Joe Leggett‚ his team down 8-6‚ hustles his team into their stages and drives off amid a shower of stones and other missiles thrown by the mob. Umpire R.J. Thorn declares it a draw. The Excelsiors will never play the Atlantics again. |
September
| September 22 |
The Excelsiors of Brooklyn begin their 2nd road tour playing the Excelsiors of Baltimore. Jim Creighton gives the host team a good lesson in the New York game‚ winning 51-6. |
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The first "fly game" of baseball is played in Boston‚ with the Bowdoin club beating Tri-Mountain‚ 36-19. |
October
| October 15 |
In the opening match of a home and home series‚ a crowd of 4‚000 see the Atlantics score 4 in the 9th to beat the Eckfords‚ 17-15. Eckford pitcher Frank Pigeon tells his team before the match to "go in and play the game just as if you are playing with a common club." |
| October 22 |
On a damp and cloudy day‚ the Eckfords hand the Atlantics just their 2nd loss of the year‚ 20-15. The Ecks break a 13-13 tie with 7 runs in the 7th. |
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The Nassau Base Ball Club of Princeton University plays a 42-42 tie game against a team of former Yale and Princeton collegians. |
| October 29 |
In the match for the 1860 whip-pennant‚ emblematic of the championship of the U.S.‚ the Atlantics top the Eckfords‚ 20-11. With the game tied at 5 each after 5‚ the Atlantics score 6 in the 6th‚ 5 in the 7th‚ and 4 in the 8th to win. Asa Brainard of the Excelsior club umps the game. As agreed upon‚ all umpires are players from another club. |
November
| November 8 |
The first shutout game ever recorded is won by the Excelsior's of Brooklyn against the St. George Cricket Club‚ 25-0. Harry Wright is the loser. |
