Opening Pitch

By the start of the 1870s, the game of "base ball" had been building momentum for a couple of decades as the new national past time. From Boston to New York to Philadelphia, base ball "clubs" had been forming around the country. From the first game to be reported in a newspaper in 1853 to the first all-star game in 1858 to the first fully professional baseball team in 1869, minor and major milestones ultimately led to the formation of the first professional baseball league. In Opening Pitch: Professional Baseball's Inaugural Season, 1871, Warren Wilbert chronicles the events leading up to the sport's first official season. Highlighting the key players both on and off the field, Wilbert provides a fascinating history of the sport's highs and lows, culminating in the historic season when baseball officially evolved from amateur athletics to the professional sport that all of America embraced. Opening Pitch provides a close look at the teams that participated in league play, including the New York Knickerbockers, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the Chicago White Stockings, the Troy Haymakers, the New York Mutuals, the Fort Wayne Kekiongas, the Cleveland Forest Citys, the Washington Olympics, and the Philadelphia Athletics. The book also pays tribute to the sport's early stars who made the first season a memorable one. Among those profiled are Dave Eggler, Bob Ferguson, Cal McVey, Levi Meyerle, Joe Start, Ezra Sutton, Fred Treacey, James "Deacon" White, George Zettlein, and future Hall of Famers Adrian "Cap" Anson, George Wright, Henry Wright, and Al Spalding. Several appendixes include individual stats for all of the key players, as well as the season record for all the teams who participated in league play. For baseball enthusiasts as well as those interested in athletics in America, Opening Pitch offers a fascinating glimpse into this historic era of professional sport.