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THE FIRST DAY OF N.B.B.O. BASE BALL

NEW YORK, May 7 (1857) – The National Base Ball Organization held its inaugural day of games yesterday afternoon, with two dozen contests taking place around the Northeastern United States.

The style of baseball on display was all action. Fields were enormous, the only gloves fielders wore were leather work gloves & hand wraps, home runs were inside-the-parkers, and pitchers could only deliver the ball underhanded. Stolen bases were high, errors were astronomical, and batting averages more than made up for any lack of power or walks. What did that mean for offensive output? Only 2/48 teams that took to the field yesterday scored fewer than three runs, with Scranton and Susquehanna in the N.E.L. being the two that put on the sad displays.

The first official game in the history of the N.B.B.O. took place in New York’s Hamilton Square where the Metropolitan Club beat Gotham by the score of 8 to 7, with the teams combining for two dozen hits and thirteen errors. Metropolitan first baseman Garrett Turner was named Player of the Game thanks to 3/4 batting with a double and a pair of RBI.

The man responsible for the first home run in the history of competitive baseball? that would be Fred Skinner, who hit a roundtripper in the top of the fourth inning of Flour City's game at Utica.

The results of the first day of games:


NEW YORK LEAGUE


Gotham 7R, 10H, 6E – L: E. Jewell (3.2 IP, 11 H, 5 ER)
Metropolitan 8R, 14H, 7E – W: R. Eire (6 IP, 8 H, 4 ER), PotG: 1B J. Turner (3/4, 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI)

Union 4R, 9H, 4E – L: W. Adams (10.1 IP, 10 H, 2 ER)
Hilltop 5R, 10H, 7E – W: J. Price (11 IP, 9 H, 1 ER), PotG: J. Price
11 Innings

Binghamton 9R, 11H, 2E – W: S. Battistoni (12 IP, 17 H, 4 ER), PotG: OF O. Stein (3/5, 2B, BB, 3R)
Eagle 5R, 17H, 6E – L: W. Williams (2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER)
12 Innings

Continental 7R, 11H, 1E – W: J. Billings (9 IP, 12 H, 5 ER)
Empire 5R, 12H, 6E – L: H. Harding (7.2, 10 H, 0 ER), PotG: OF A. Green (3/5, 2 2B, 3 RBI)

Harlem 5R, 8H, 3E – L: E. Jackson (7 IP, 11 H, 5 ER)
Mutual 8R, 12H, 4E – W: E. Bush (9 IP, 8 H, 2 ER), PotG: E. Bush

Syracuse 15R, 24H, 7E – W: E. Bell (9 IP, 11 H, 3 ER), PotG: OF H. Eaton (5/6, 4 R, 1 RBI, SB)
Niagara 8R, 11H, 5E – L: B. Schmidt (4.1 IP, 15 H, 5 ER)

Knickerbocker 3R, 8H, 2E – L: W. Simon (8 IP, 11 H, 4 ER)
Orange 6R, 11H, 6E – W: R. van der Hout (9 IP, 8 H, 0 ER), PotG: R. van der Hout

Atlantic 7R, 13H, 12E – L: G. Riesling (5 IP, 9 H, 3 ER), PotG: 3B B. Kruk (3/5, 3 R, 2 RBI, SB)
Kings County 10R, 11H, 4E – W: J. Roberts (7 IP, 13 H, 7 ER)

Eckford 7R, 15H, 6E – L: L. Chilcott (6.2 IP, 8 H, 3 ER)
Nassau County 9R, 9H, 3E – W: R. Rogers (9 IP, 15 H, 5 ER), PotG: OF J. Heilman (4/5, 2B, 3 R, 3 RBI, SB)

Bedford 3R, 10H, 6E – L: A. Maxwell (8.2 IP, 8 H, 1 ER)
Excelsior 4R, 8H, 4E – W: C. Lee (9 IP, 10 H, 3 ER), PotG: C. Lee

Flour City 8R, 11H, 1E – W: H. Oliver (9 IP, 9 H, 3 ER), PotG: H. Oliver, HR: F. Skinner (1)
Utica 3R, 9H, 5E – L: C. Bancroft (6 IP, 9 H, 3 ER)

Minuteman 3R, 12H, 4E – L: J. Kline (8 IP, 5 H, 3 ER)
Victory 6R, 5H, 4E – W: D. Roberts (9 IP, 12 H, 1 ER), PotG: D. Roberts


NORTHEASTERN LEAGUE

Quinnipiac 10R, 14H, 4E – L: E. Latkovic (3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER)
St. John’s 12R, 16H, 4E – W: J. Booth (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER), PotG: C M. Reagan (2/5, 2B, 3 R, 3 RBI)

Scranton 1R, 5H, 2E – L: H. Enfield (8 IP, 10 H, 2 ER)
Pioneer 3R, 10H, 2E – W: F. Huth (9 IP, 5 H, 1 ER), PotG: F. Huth

Mass. Bay 8R, 12H, 1E – W: H. Travis (9 IP, 10 H, 2 ER), PotG: H. Travis
Olympic 4R, 10H, 6E – L: J. Griffin (6.2 IP, 10 H, 6 ER)

Alleghany 6R, 13H, 8E – L: J. Lott (8 IP, 11 H, 6 ER)
Merrimack Mills 8R, 11H, 3E – W: D. Gustafson (9 IP, 13 H, 1 ER), PotG: 1B G. Ford (2/2, 2B, 2 R, 1 RBI)

Green Mountain 8R, 13H, 2E – W: G. Campbell (9 IP, 9 H, 4 ER), PotG: OF A. Hedrick (3/5, 1 R, 2 RBI, SB)
Cantabrigians 6R, 9H, 7E – L: E. Miller (9 IP, 13 H, 4 ER)

Lake Erie 8R, 13H, 4E – W: J. Jefferson (9 IP, 8 H, 2 ER), PotG: J. Jefferson
Reading Ath. 3R, 8H, 5E – L: J. Lissey (6 IP, 10 H, 4 ER)

Susquehanna 2R, 7H, 1E – W: F. Reed (9 IP, 7 H, 1 ER), PotG: F. Reed
Sportsman’s 4R, 8H, 3E – L: W. Moore (8 IP, 8 H, 3 ER)

Newark 3R, 7H, 7E – L: J. Case (5.1 IP, 10 H, 5 ER)
American 9R, 12H, 4E – W: W. Jackson (9 IP, 7 H, 3 ER), PotG: OF A. Waltrip (3/4, 2B, 2 R, 4 RBI)

Trenton Utd. 10R, 17H, 6E – W: W. Havens (2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER), PotG: 2B B. Early (2/2, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB)
Quaker St. 9R, 16H, 2E – L: E. Roark (8.1 IP, 15 H, 10 ER)

Shamrock 7R, 17H, 5E – L: J. Cunningham (4.2 IP, 9 H, 1 ER), PotG: OF T. Maloney (4/5, 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI, SB)
Port Jersey 9R, 13H, 4E – W: F. Clark (9 IP, 17H, 4 ER)

S.o.t.O. 8R, 13H, 7E – W: B. Graves (9 IP, 10 H, 5 ER), PotG: B. Graves
Oceanic 5R, 10H, 7E - L: A. Grimble (8 IP, 12 H, 2 ER)

Granite 7R, 10H, 3E – L: W. Hobbs (7.2 IP, 14 H, 4 ER)
Portland 9R, 14H, 6E – W: W. Hall (8 IP, 8 H, 0 ER), PotG: 2B C. Stokes (3/4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB)