First Major League Baseball Game

Nine Or More Consecutive Innings Of Perfection

There have been fifteen occasions in Major League Baseball history when a pitcheror, in one case, multiple pitchersrecorded at least 27 consecutive outs after one or more runners reached base. In four instances, the game went into extra innings and the pitcher recorded more than 27 consecutive outs:

In the eleven other instances, the leadoff batter reached base in the first inning, followed by 27 consecutive batters being retired through the end of a nine-inning game. In two cases, the leadoff baserunner was retired, meaning the pitcher faced the minimum:

• On June 30, 1908, Red Sox pitcher Cy Young walked the New York Highlanders‘ leadoff batter, Harry Niles, who was caught stealing. No one else reached base against Young, who also had three hits and four RBIs in Boston’s 80 win. It was the third no-hitter of Young’s career and about as close as possible to being his second perfect game. He is the only pitcher in major league history to retire 27 consecutive men in a game on two occasions.
• On June 23, 1917, Ernie Shore of the Red Sox was on the mound when Ray Morgan, the leadoff batter, who had been walked by Babe Ruth, the previously ejected pitcher, was picked off. Shore retired the next 26 batters in succession .

The remaining instances in which a pitcher recorded 27 consecutive outs in a game, noting how the opponent’s leadoff batter reached base:

• May 24, 1884, Al Atkinson/Philadelphia Athletics
• May 10, 2013, Shelby Miller/St. Louis Cardinals

Although The National Association Only Lasted For Five Seasons It Holds The Distinction Of Being The First Major League On This Day In 1871 The First Official Game In Mlb History Was Played

Over the span of a few short decades, baseball had become a truly popular pastime. It had been a popular game up in the northeast, but when the Civil War occurred and the Yankees marched to war, they brought the game with them. Baseball quickly spread across the country, and within six years of the wars end, the first professional league was born.

The National Association, which would become the precursor to the modern National League, was formed in 1871. Comprising of nine teams, it became the first true instance of what would come to be known as MLB, with teams of paid professionals squaring off against one another in a set confederation.

On this day, the first true MLB game was played. The Cleveland Forest Citys faced off against the Fort Wayne Kekiongas, with Cleveland securing a 2-0 victory. Bobby Mathews earned the win, defeating Al Pratt. Deacon White, who would later be inducted into the Hall of Fame, was 3-4, with his double accounting for the first hit in MLB history.

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It is also interesting that this game was a shutout. In the 127 games played in the NA, there were only four shutouts all season, including this performance. It is also worth noting that teams scored an average of approximately 10.5 runs per game, making this an extremely low scoring affair, and quite unusual for the NA.

New Stadiums And Artificial Surfaces

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, as baseball expanded, NFL football had been surging in popularity, making it economical for many of these cities to build multi-purpose stadiums instead of single-purpose baseball fields. Because of climate and economic issues, many of these facilities had playing surfaces made from artificial turf, as well as the oval designs characteristic of stadiums designed to house both baseball and football. This often resulted in baseball fields with relatively more foul territory than older stadiums. These characteristics changed the nature of professional baseball, putting a higher premium on speed and defense over home-run hitting power since the fields were often too big for teams to expect to hit many home runs and foul balls hit in the air could more easily be caught for outs.

Teams began to be built around pitchingparticularly their bullpensand speed on the basepaths. Artificial surfaces meant balls traveled quicker and bounced higher, so it became easier to hit ground balls “in the hole” between the corner and middle infielders. Starting pitchers were no longer expected to throw complete games it was enough for a starter to pitch 67 innings and turn the game over to the team’s closer, a position which grew in importance over these decades. As stolen bases increased, home run totals dropped. After Willie Mays hit 52 home runs in 1965, only one player ” rel=”nofollow”> George Foster) reached that mark until the 1990s.

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First National League Baseball Game Played

On April 22, 1876, the Boston Red Caps beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 6-5, in the first official National League baseball game. The game, which lasts a little more than two hours, is played in “favorable” weather before 3,000 fans at the Athletics’ grounds at 25th and Jefferson streets. “Great interest was manifested in the result,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, “as it really was the first game of importance played this season.”

“The Athletics should have won the game,” the newspaper added, “but their fielding was poor.” Betting on the game was “about even,” according to the Inquirer.

While this was the first official National League game, the teams were not the first in professional baseballthe first pro team was the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings. Nor was the NL the first major professional baseball leaguethe first league was the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, formed in 1871.

However, the National Association was loosely configured and had no central leadership or authority to govern its teams. Therefore, corruption, gambling, drunkenness and other malpractices became commonplace by 1875 and the league folded. That allowed William Hubert, an Illinois businessman and owner of the Chicago White Stockings, to emerge as the founder of the much more stable National League.

Scandals And A Changing Game

During the 1980s, baseball experienced a number of significant changes the game had not seen in years. Home runs were on the decline throughout the decade, with players hitting only 40 home runs just 13 times and no one hitting more than 50 home runs in a season for the first time since the Dead-ball era .

The 1981 Major League Baseball strike from June 12 until July 31 forced the cancellation of 713 total games and resulted in a split-season format.

In 1985, Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb‘s all-time hits record with his 4,192nd hit, and in 1989 Rose received a lifetime ban from baseball as a result of betting on baseball games while manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Rose was the first person to receive a lifetime ban from baseball since 1943. 1985 also saw the Pittsburgh drug trials which involved players who were called to testify before a grand jury in Pittsburgh related to cocaine trafficking.

The 199495 Major League Baseball strike from August 12, 1994, to April 25, 1995, caused the cancellation of over 900 games and the forfeit of the entire 1994 postseason.

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The Major Leagues Move West

Baseball had been in the West for almost as long as the National League and the American League had been around. It evolved into the Pacific Coast League , which included the Hollywood Stars, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Oaks, Portland Beavers, Sacramento Solons, San Francisco Seals, San Diego Padres, Seattle Rainiers.

The PCL was huge in the West. A member of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, it kept losing great players to the National and the American leagues for less than $8,000 a player.

The PCL was far more independent than the other “minor” leagues, and rebelled continuously against their Eastern masters. Clarence Pants Rowland, the President of the PCL, took on baseball commissioners Kenesaw Mountain Landis and Happy Chandler at first to get better equity from the major leagues, then to form a third major league. His efforts were rebuffed by both commissioners. Chandler and several of the owners, who saw the value of the markets in the West, started to plot the extermination of the PCL. They had one thing that Rowland did not: The financial power of the Eastern major league baseball establishment.

No one was going to back a PCL club building a major-league size stadium if the National or the American League was going to build one too, which discouraged investment in PCL ballparks. PCL games and rivalries still drew fans, but the leagues’ days of dominance in the West were numbered.

Home Run Mania And The Second Coming Of Baseball

The cancellation of the 1994 World Series was a severe embarrassment for Major League Baseball. Fans were outraged and frustrated, their love of the game shaken to its core. The strike was declared an act of war, and fought back: attendance figures and broadcast ratings were lower in 1995 than before the strike. It would be a decade before baseball recovered from the disruption.

On September 6, 1995, Baltimore Oriolesshortstop, Cal Ripken Jr., played his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking Lou Gehrig‘s 56-year-old record. This was the first celebratory moment in baseball after the strike. Ripken continued his streak for another three years, voluntarily ending it at 2,632 consecutive games played on September 20, 1998.

In 1997, the expansion Florida Marlins won the World Series in just their fifth season. This made them the third-youngest team to win the Fall Classic . Virtually all the key players on the 1997 Marlins team were soon traded or let go to save payroll costs .

That same year, the New York Yankees won a record 125 games, including going 112 in the postseason, to win the World Series as what many consider to be one of the greatest teams of all time.

The 1990s also saw Major League Baseball expand into new markets as four new teams joined the league. In 1993, the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins began play, and in just their fifth year of existence, the Marlins became the first wild card team to win the championship.

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Peacock Becomes Exclusive Home Of New Sunday Morning Major League Baseball Game Package To Be Produced By Nbc Sports Beginning In May

First Ever Sunday Morning MLB Package Features 18 Games With 11:30 a.m. ET Start Times in First Six Weeks, Followed by a Dozen Noon ET Games on Peacock with NBC Sports-Produced Pregame & Postgame Shows

Opening Game White Sox vs. Red Sox from Fenway Park at 11:30 a.m. ET on May 8 Features Special Simulcast on NBC Full MLB on Peacock Schedule Released

On Each of its 18 Sundays, Peacock Scheduled to Feature MLB Live Game Exclusivity Until 1:30 p.m. ET

NBC Sports Continues Storied Baseball Tradition Includes First-Ever Game on TV in 1939, 50 Seasons with a Game of the Week Package & 39 World Series

STAMFORD, Conn. April 6, 2022 Peacock will become the exclusive home to a new Major League Baseball game of the week on Sunday mornings, it was announced today. Beginning on May 8, Peacock will live stream an NBC Sports-produced baseball game for 18 consecutive weeks, with start times for the first six Sunday games at 11:30 a.m. ET and the following 12 Sunday games beginning at Noon ET. Each game will feature NBC Sports-produced pregame and post-game shows on Peacock.

The first game will be simulcast on the NBC broadcast network, with the remaining 17 games available exclusively on Peacocks premium service . In addition, Peacock will be the exclusive home of the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game featuring top minor league prospects which will be played during All-Star Week in July at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

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The First Mlb Home Run In Iowa Goes Into A Corn Field

We didn’t have to wait long to see the first major league baseball home run in Iowa.

In the bottom of the first inning, Chicago’s José Abreu sent a shot over the left field wall, dropping in between cornstalks.

A fitting destination for the first MLB home run in Iowa.

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What Was The First Field Of Dreams Game Like

When

The first Field of Dreams Game was played by the Yankees and White Sox on Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021.

Where

This day marked the first major league game ever to be held at the beloved movie location and the first MLB game to be played in Iowa. The state has two minor league teams but no major league team.

The two teams played at Hawkeye Stadium, right beside the historic filming location of the iconic Field of Dreams.

The Game’s Early Stars:

Cy Young Between the National League and the emergence of the American League, baseball’s growing popularity helped introduce some of the game’s first stars, names that live on in baseball lore. When Hulbert formed the National League by poaching other players, one of those players was Cap Anson, still third on baseball’s all time Runs Batted In list. One of the star pitchers in the first “World’s Series” in 1903 was a man named Denton True Young, though his nickname, “Cy,” is more commonly known to fans today. Baseball’s all-time leader in wins, losses, games started, innings pitched and complete games has the annual award given to the best pitcher in each league named for him, the Cy Young award. It’s important to note, however, that when Young was pitching, the notion of relief pitchers hadn’t really been introduced. Of the 815 games he started in his career, Young finished 749 compare that to the most recent player on the all-time games started list, Greg Maddux: he started 740 games in his career , but pitched only 109 complete games. It’s assumed no one will ever beat Young’s records.

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What Is Mlbs Field Of Dreams Game

Major League Baseballs Field of Dreams Game is an event that started in 2021 with the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox. The two teams played a regular season game at a field in Dyersville, Iowa, which also happened to be next to the historic filming site of Phil Alden Robinsons 1989 classicField of Dreams.

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Now the tradition of emerging from the cornstalks, wearing classic jerseys and playing alongside cinematic history has been ingrained in MLB culture.

The First International Leagues

While many of the players that made up the black baseball teams were African Americans, many more were Latin Americans , from nations that deliver some of the greatest talents that make up the Major League rosters of today. Black players moved freely through the rest of baseball, playing in Canadian Baseball, Mexican Baseball, Caribbean Baseball, and Central America and South America, where more than a few achieved a level of fame that was unavailable in the country of their birth.

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The Marketing And Hype Era

From the 1980s onward, the major league game changed dramatically, due to the combined effects of free agency, improvements in the science of sports conditioning, changes in the marketing and television broadcasting of sporting events, and the push by brand-name products for greater visibility. These events lead to greater labor difficulties, fan disaffection, skyrocketing prices, changes in game-play, and problems with the use of performance-enhancing substances like steroids tainting the race for records. In spite of all this, stadium crowds generally grew. Average attendances first broke 20,000 in 1979 and 30,000 in 1993. That year total attendance hit 70 million, but baseball was hit hard by a strike in 1994, and as of 2005 it had marginally improved on those 1993 records.

Mlb Releases 2023 Schedule: All 30 Teams Will Play Each Other For First Time

• Publish date: Aug 24, 2022 4:38 PM EDT

Major League Baseball unveiled its schedule for the 2023 season. All 30 teams will face off against each other for the first time in a season. Opening Day is March 30.

Major League Baseball released its scheduled for the 2023 season Wednesday.

For the first time ever in a season, all 30 teams will play each other.

Each team will play 52 total games against divisional opponents. That is a 24-game decrease from the traditional 76 games teams have played against divisional foes in recent years. Teams will play each divisional opponent 13 times over four series, a decrease from 19 games over six series. Each team will play 26 home games and 26 road games versus divisional opponents.

The total of intraleague games games between teams from the same league that compete in different divisions has been decreased from 66 to 64. Teams will play seven games against four league opponents and six games versus six league opponents. This is the inverse of the previous format, where teams played seven games against six league opponents and six games against four league opponents.

Interleague games will see the greatest uptick from 2022 to 2023. Prior to 2023, teams were playing 20 interleague games in a season. In 2023, teams will play 46 a 230% increase.

Teams will play a home and away series with their natural rival for a total of four games two games at home and two on the road.

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