Famous Firsts in Baseball: From the 1800s to the Post-War Era

I guess for all practical purposes you could call this article a trip down trivia or memory lane where baseball history is concerned. Baseball has pretty much been my life as far back as I can remember and I've always been fascinated with learning things about the sport that I didn't have knowledge of. For the most part, historians and purists of the sport have divided baseball into seven eras. The following content is going to deal with some "firsts" in each of baseball's first four eras --- the 19^th Century, Dead Ball, Lively Ball, and Post War Eras. I'll follow this article up with another that deals with the three eras that bring us to present day.

The 19^th Century Era (1800-1900)

The Book of Sports was the first instructional piece written on the game of baseball in 1834, but the first baseball game employing the Cartwright Rules was played on June 19^th, 1846. A club called the New York Knickerbockers was the first team to brandish an official uniform (1849), and in 1857 The National Association of Baseball Clubs is recognized as the first official baseball league.

On May 4^th, 1871, the game of baseball is officially born when the National Association's Cleveland Forest Citys are defeated by the Fort Wayne Kekiongas 2-0. But April 22^nd, 1876 sees the Red Stockings defeat the Athletics 6-5 in the first ever National League contest. In that game, Davy Force makes the first assist, Jim O'Rourke gets the first single, Tim McGinley scores the first run, and Levi Meyerle gets credit for the first double. Meyerle would also record the first triple two days later on April 24^th.

Ross Barnes is credited with hitting the first home run in professional baseball on May 2^nd, 1876 and George Bradley throws the first recorded no-hitter on July 15^th. Candy Cummings becomes the first pitcher to pitch and win two complete games in one day on September 19^th. The year 1876 also was the first year that players wore gloves on the field as well. Then in 1877, schedules of the team's games began showing up and it became a rule that the ball had to be hit in "fair territory" to be considered a hit.