On May 4, 1871, the first ever major league baseball game is played. It was on this day that the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players played its first game as Fort Wayne, Indiana hosted a game between the Kekiongas of Fort Wayne against Forest City of Cleveland. A mere 200 fans were on hand to see the first league game.
It was in March 1871 that the NA was established with ten participating teams: Boston Red Stockings, Chicago White Stockings, Cleveland Forest Citys, Fort Wayne Kekiongas, New York Mutual, Philadelphia Athletics, Rockford Forest Citys, Troy Haymakers, and Washington Olympics.
Two years prior to the establishment of the NA, an amateur association was in place. Eventually, the Cincinnati Red Stockings(who moved to Boston taking the name with them in 1870) had proven that professional baseball could be a wise financial investment. So the NA began a professional league with ten teams, and the entry fee for a franchise was $10.
The Cleveland Forest Citys were the first team in the city to be paid professional players. The began play in 1870 as an independent baseball team before being a member of the NA in its inaugural season. They were managed by player-manager Charlie Pabor.
Fort Wayne's existence dates back to 1862 when land was donated by banker Allen Hamilton on a field that would later be named after him. Due to the ongoing Civil War, the team disbanded before reorganizing again in 1866. Fort Wayne then became one of the founding teams of the NA in 1871. The team was managed by player-manager Bill Lennon.
Bobby Mathews was on the mound pitching for the Kekiongas, and he promptly gave up the first ever hit in league play as catcher Jim "Deacon" White doubled. But Cleveland could not score in the inning.
In the bottom of the 2nd inning with Al Pratt pitching for Cleveland, Fort Wayne recorded their first hit as Lennon reached base on a double. Three batters later, catcher Joe McDermott records the first RBI in NA history with a single as Lennon scored to give the Kekiongas a 1-0 lead.
Mathews continued to pitch well, and only White was the real threat in this game recording three hits off him. White would be the first person involved in a double play when he was caught off second base on a fly ball off the bat of second baseman Gene Kimball. And he would also help contribute to the scoring for Fort Wayne.
In the bottom of the 5th inning, first baseman Bill Kelly singled with one out. White allowed two passed balls with leadoff hitter Frank Sellman at the plate allowing Kelly to reach third base. Sellman then grounded out to first baseman Jim Carleton which allowed Sellman to score the second run. Fort Wayne led 2-0.
The top of the 7th came around, and Cleveland was able to muster another hit off Mathews when right fielder Art Allison reached on an infield single. But Allison was the first player caught stealing when Lennon threw him out as second base ending another scoring opportunity.
Pratt didn't allow another hit the rest of the game for Cleveland as they still trailed going into the top of the 9th inning.
White once again led the inning off, and singled to center only to be caught trying to stretch it into a double McDermott at second base. Pabor was able to reach on error with two outs, but Mathews struck out Allison to preserve the 2-0 win for Fort Wayne.
Mathews allowed five hits, three to White, and struck out six batters for the win. Pratt only allowed four hits and two earned runs while not striking out anyone for the loss.
White would become one of the best players in NA history compiling a .347 batting average in five seasons. He would play 23 seasons batting a total of .303 including when he joined the newly formed National League five years later. He would also become the first player ever to win five straight league pennants(three with the Boston Red Stockings, one with Chicago White Stockings in 1876, and one with Detroit Wolverines in 1877).
Mathews, though he would only finish 6-11 as a pitcher in 1871, he would compile 297 total wins between the NA, NL, and American Association in 16 seasons. He is still largely remembered for innovating the spitball and curveball pitches.
McDermott, who drove in the first ever run in NA play, only had four RBI and eleven hits on the season.
As it turned out, this would be the lowest scoring game of the season and only three more shutouts were thrown on the campaign, too.
Neither team came close to finishing the season contending for the league title as Fort Wayne went seventh at 7-12 while Cleveland finished 10-19. In fact, Fort Wayne didn't even finish the season.
The Kekiongas had a new manager replacing Lennon after he managed 14 games when Harry Deane took over the last five games. They played their last game on August 29 in a 6-4 win over Troy. Lennon would continue to play catcher for two more seasons.
As for Charlie Pabor, he went 0-for-4 in this game, and would play and manage for teams until 1875 as he decided to retire after the league folded. He batted .285 in his career, and only had a 13-65 record although one of the players he would later manage was legendary player Mike "King" Kelly.
Fort Wayne drew very poor attendance and some players weren't even paid during their existence. Cleveland would complete their 1871 schedule, but wouldn't last much longer in the league.
Cleveland would only win six games in 1872 before seizing operations due to poor play and declining attendance. They lost nine of their last ten games including the final game they played in a 12-7 loss to Boston.
The Philadelphia Athletics would win the inaugural league pennant with a 21-7 record finishing two games ahead of the Chicago, who would temporarily stop playing for two years because of the Great Chicago Fire that happened later.
For the remaining existence of the NA, Boston would dominate the league winning four straight championships. But that was also part of the reason for the league's demise in 1875, too.
In the early existence of baseball, it was common for teams to be placed in small markets. However, in most case, many of them folded due to financial reasons.
The two biggest reasons for the demise of the league were the lack of a authority figure as well as suspicion of gambling that damaged the integrity of the game.
By 1876, the National League came into existence with six teams from the NA joining the league while two other independents(Louisville and Cincinnati) were also inaugural members. Today, the NL is the oldest professional league in America as it is one half of Major League Baseball as it later was joined by the American League after the turn of the century.
There's been considerable debate about recognizing the NA as a major league despite the fact it was the first of its kind to have paid professionals. However, many historians recognize it as the first "organized baseball" league rather than the first "major league". A common perception also exists that this was the first game played, but the actual first recorded game took place in 1846. This is widely viewed as the first professional league game.
Though the NA lasted but five seasons in their existence, it did show that baseball could be financially successful despite the reasons as to why it folded. With larger markets, relocation, expansion, labor laws, and the evolution of what the game is today, one can clearly see how different "America's Pastime" was in 1871.
Sources: Baseball Almanac, BaseballLibrary.com, retrosheet.org
Photos courtesy of:
Baseball Chronology which shows the 1871 Fort Wayne team.
