Exhibitions – Society for American Baseball Research

February 4, 1861: Brooklyn Atlantics win a baseball game on ice

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

September 29, 1880: Metropolitan club opens new Polo Grounds with a win

August 10, 1883: Cap Anson vs. Fleet Walker

John Clarkson (Public Domain)

September 15, 1884: White Stockings outshine Eclipse at Louisville’s ‘lit’ Southern Exposition

February 9, 1889: A Wondrous Ball Park: The Pyramid Game in Giza, Egypt

April 18, 1890: Amateur John Lyston wins Atlantic League tuneup against Gorhams

June 21, 1891: A Sunday exhibition at Rocky Point, RI

Charlie Bennett (NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME LIBRARY)

August 27, 1894: Charlie Bennett Charity Game

August 23, 1902: Banned from Pennsylvania, Cleveland’s Nap Lajoie returns home to Rhode Island for exhibition

September 1-3, 1904: Philadelphia Giants defeat Cuban X-Giants in championship series

Luis Bustamante (Courtesy of Stephen V. Rice)

June 14-17, 1907: Luis Bustamante and the Cuban Stars visit northern Ohio

George B. Dovey (PUBLIC DOMAIN)

August 7, 1907: Boston Doves delight fans in western Kentucky during owner’s homecoming

July 24, 1911: ‘Galaxy of Stars’ takes the field in Cleveland in honor of Addie Joss

April 5, 1913: Ebbets Field opens with inaugural exhibition game

WickwareFrank

October 5, 1913: Frank Wickware wins barnstorming battle between the Big Train and ‘Black Walter Johnson’

January 1, 1914: Giants beat White Sox as World Tour visits Australia

July 3, 1915: Barnstorming American women compete against male semipros in Saskatchewan

Play Ball! film publicity poster, 1916 (IMDB.com)

September 10, 1916: Giants, Yankees play exhibition for Hollywood, charity

September 27, 1917: All-stars turn out for Tim Murnane benefit

The Chicago White Sox are pictured on April 12, 1918, before an exhibition game against a US Army team at Camp Funston, outside of Junction City, Kansas. Just weeks ear- lier, the first major outbreak of a global influenza pandemic killed 38 soldiers at the base. An estimated 50 million people around the world died from the flu by the time the pandemic subsided in 1920. (BlackBetsy.com)

April 12, 1918: Red Faber, White Sox win exhibition game in epicenter of influenza pandemic

May 5, 1918: Breaking the Sabbath: Navy Yard stars win exhibition at Braves Field

John “Beans” Reardon, left, wearing a flu mask underneath his umpire’s mask, prepares to call a pitch in a California Winter League game on January 26, 1919, in Pasadena, California. During a global influenza pandemic, all players and fans were required by city ordinance to wear facial coverings at all times while outdoors. The catcher and batter’s identities are unconfirmed, but the best available evidence suggests it might be Truck Hannah behind the plate and Rube Ellis at bat.

January 26, 1919: The Flu Mask Baseball Game

April 18, 1919: Babe Ruth thrills hometown Baltimore fans with 6 home runs in 6 at-bats