Baseball League History

Events in Sport

  • 1871-05-04 1st baseball league game (National Association of Baseball Players), (Ft Wayne 2, Cleveland 0) Deacon Jim White gets 1st hit, a double
  • 1887-12-02 International Baseball League disbands; teams in Syracuse, Toronto, Hamilton, and Buffalo form the International Association; those in Newark, Jersey City, Wilkes-Barre, and Scranton become the Central League
  • 1889-10-24 Softball rules adopted by Mid Winter Indoor Baseball League
  • 1901-09-05 National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, better known as Minor League Baseball is formed at the Leland Hotel in Chicago
  • 1915-12-22 Organized baseball and Federal League sign a peace treaty at Cincinnati; Federal Baseball League dissolves
  • 1919-10-30 Baseball league presidents call for abolishment of spitball
  • 1920-02-13 Baseball Hall of Famer “Rube” Foster and 7 other team owners create the first Negro National League (NNL) at a meeting in a Kansas City YMCA
  • 1920-05-02 1st game of National Negro Baseball League played in Indianapolis
  • 1934-01-05 National & American baseball leagues select a uniform ball

Josh Gibson Hospitalized

1943-01-01 Negro Baseball League star Josh Gibson suffers a nervous breakdown; admitted to hospital for rest and treatment; released in time for pre-season training

Negro Baseball League Forms

1945-05-07 Branch Rickey announces formation of the US Negro Baseball League

  • 1946-02-19 New York Giants outfielder Danny Gardella is 1st major leaguer to announce he is jumping to the "outlaw" Mexican Baseball League for a fee of $10,000

Williams' Mexican League Offer

1946-03-09 Ted Williams is offered $500,000 to play in Mexican Baseball League, he refuses

  • 1948-09-20 Mexican Baseball league disbanded
  • 1955-10-23 Dominican Professional Baseball League moves to winter play for first time
  • 1958-11-13 NYC Mayor Robert Wagner announces plans to begin a new baseball league called the Continental League, to fill the void created by the city's Giants and Dodgers moving to the west coast
  • 1960-02-18 Continental League President Branch Rickey and Toronto team owner Jack Kent Cooke announce the opening date of their new baseball league as April 18, 1961
  • 2014-12-01 Utility Claudio Liverziani becomes first 3-time MVP in the Italian Baseball League; 291/.444/.472 season, with 30 HRs and 20 RBI in 38 games for Fortitudo Bologna

Deaths in Sport

  • 2010-11-22 Jean Cione, American All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player (b. 1928)