Henry Chadwick, The Father of Baseball By Zach Hand

The Lineup Early Life Career in Journalism The Game of Base Ball Later Life and Death Legacy Other Works Sample Article Credits

Early Life Born in Exeter England in 1824 Played a game called Rounders, similar to baseball Moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1837 Enjoyed playing piano and earned money teaching it

Career in Journalism Began reporting for the Long Island Star in 1844 Became a Cricket Writer for the New York Times in the 1850s Joined the New York Clipper in 1857 Also worked for the Brooklyn Eagle and many other newspapers

The Game of Base Ball Watched his first game between the Gotham and Eagle teams in 1856 at Elysian Fields in New Jersey Believed he could make baseball “ America ’ s Game ” Worked to publish articles about the game in the news

Later Life and Death Worked as editor of Spalding Official Base Ball Guide in 1880s Never stopped believing baseball was of English origins, despite what was regarded as true at the time Became ill after attending two opening day games in 1908 Died two weeks later of pneumonia at age 83 Buried with wife in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn

Legacy Invented the baseball box score to aid in reporting of games One of the first to keep stats of homeruns, hits and total bases Created the phrase “ In the best interests of baseball ” Fought against gambling and drinking in baseball Helped establish the distance between the pitcher ’ s mound and home plate Enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938

Other Works Wrote baseball ’ s first rulebook Edited first baseball guide, Beadle ’ s Dime Baseball Player First to compile a listing of all baseball players by height and weight Collected the first baseball statistics which are used today by baseball historians

Sample Article This article appeared in Base Ball Memoranda, it describes an early game: A Base Ball tourney had been held in Chicago on July 4, 1867, in which the Excelsiors of that city and the Forest City Club, of Rockford, had been the leading contestants. The former had defeated the Forest City nine in two games, by the very close scores of in one, and in another, when the Forest Citys were invited to meet the Nationals at Chicago on July 25th, a day which proved the most notable of the tour. The contest took place at Dexter Park, before a vast crowd of spectators, the majority of whom looked to see the Nationals have almost a walk-over. In the game A. G. Spalding was pitcher and Ross Barnes shortstop for the Forest City nine; these two afterwards becoming famous as star players of the Boston professional team of the early seventies. Williams was pitcher for the Nationals and Frank Norton catcher. The Nationals took the lead in the first innings by 3 to 2; but in the next two innings they added but five runs to their score, while the Forest Citys added thirteen to theirs, thereby taking the lead by a score of fifteen to eight, to the great surprise of the crowd and the delight of the Rockfords. The Nationals tried hard to recover the lost ground. The final result, however, was the success of the Forest Citys by a score of 29 to 23 in a nine innings game, twice interrupted by rain

Credits Henry_Chadwick_Baseball.jpg uses_of_parliament_city_of_london_england.jpg _ _000/gallery/images/ldpd_ _000_ jp g p qzz0_400.jpg %20james%20in%20the%20hall%20of%20fame.jpg