19th Century – Society for American Baseball Research

July 4, 1833: In the beginning, Olympics vs. Camden

Circa 1840: The legendary Doubleday Game

October 1845: The first recorded baseball games in New York

June 3, 1851: Match play, Knickerbockers vs. Washington Club (NY)

New York Clipper, May 29, 1858

May 31, 1858: Winthrop tops Olympic in first match game played under ‘Massachusetts’ rules

Summer 1858: The Brooklyn-New York baseball rivalry begins

September 9, 1858: The New York rules in New England

June 30, 1859: Caught on the fly: Knickerbockers vs. Excelsiors

July 1, 1859: Baseball goes to college

October 11, 1859: Upton Excelsiors become the Massachusetts champions

July 1860: The Grand Excursion of the South Brooklyn Excelsiors

July 24, 1860: The first enclosed ballpark

August 23, 1860: No gentlemen’s game, Excelsior vs. Atlantic

September 1860: The Grand Excursion, part 2: Excelsiors of South Brooklyn

September 21, 1861: Harry Wright plays his first base ball game as a professional

July 4, 1862: The Civil War POW Game

September 18, 1862: The ‘Silver Ball’ Game

October 14, 1862: The Martyrdom of Jim Creighton

This 1865 photograph of the Atlantics of Brooklyn by Charles H. Williamson depicts the “Champion Nine” of 1864 and was given to opposing teams who played The Atlantic Club. (Library of Congress)

August 18, 1865: Eurekas almost strike gold against the champion Atlantics

September 28, 1865: The first fixed baseball game

May 12, 1866: Atlanta’s first recorded game of base ball

July 16, 1866: Lipman Pike’s home run record

October 1866: A return on their investment

July 25, 1867: The most important game in baseball history?