Golden Baseball Magazine
Baseball Firsts


Alexander Cartwright


First baseball card


Mel Allen


Jack Brickhouse

Baseball Firsts
  • 1845
    The first important set of written rules was authored by Alexander Cartwright of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club. The "original 20 rules of baseball" were not very specific and only 14 actually were rules pertaining to the field and the play. Rule 13 stated that a player could not be put out by being hit by a thrown ball.

  • 1889
    First salary cap - $2,400 per man with a club ceiling of $30,000 in the National League.

  • 1902
    First pinch-hit grand slam in major league history - Mike O'Neill of the Cardinals on June 3.

  • 1933
    First baseball bubble-gum card set every issued; #1 was St. Louis Browns C Benny Bengough

  • 1934
    Cincinnati Reds became the first team to fly during the season.

  • Television firsts
    1939
    NBC produced its first MLB game on an experimental TV station

    NBC telecasts baseball game from Ebbets Field, Brooklyn
    1950
    The first televised All-Star game took place on July 11 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
    1951
    WCBS-TV in New York aired the first baseball game in color on August 11.
    NBC provided the first coast-to-coast telecast of a baseball game on October 1 - the third game of the National League playoff between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants from the Polo Grounds - Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" game.
    1955
    First World Series broadcast entirely in color (NBC)
    1959
    First use of what today is called instant replay when Mel Allen asked his director to replay a base hit that broke up the no-hitter that Yankee Ralph Terry was pitching.
    1962
    First baseball game televised via satellite - July 23, 1962 when Jack Brickhouse announced the Cubs vs the Phillies.

  • 1971
    First night game in World Series history: Game 4 - Orioles @ Pirates

RETURN TO BASEBALL MAGAZINE

BASEBALL FIRSTS ARCHIVES

Baseball Firsts - I
Fielders' Gloves | PA Announcer | Resin Bag | Pitching Machine | Amateur Draft | Uniform Numbers | Umpiring | Player Homering from Both Sides in Game | Pinstripes | Retired Number | Radio Play-by-Play | First World Series Telecast | Electronic Scoreboard | Steel/Concrete Stadium | Team Statistician | Woman Owner | Umpiring Staff | Batting Doughnut | Front Numerals

Baseball Firsts - II
Season Opener on Film | Switch-Hitter | Spring Training | Gold Gloves | Star Spangled Banner | Woman Professional | Stadium | Foul Line Umpires | Female Major League At-Bat | Lights on in World Series | Throw 3 Out at Plate | K for Strikeout

Baseball Firsts - III
Lineup Card and "Clean Up Man" | AL Pinch-Hit Grand Slam | Dishonest Ump | Polo Grounds Game | Yankee Stadium Game | Televised Game | Major League Telecast | Diamond Vision | Teammates Ejected for Fighting | North Side Park

Baseball Firsts - IV
Air Travel | 20-Game Winner by Age 20 | No-Hitter at Coors Field | Black MVP | Canadian MLB Game | Two 500 HR Hitters in One Lineup | African-American ML Pitcher | Hall-of-Fame Game | Back-to-Back Twice | Grand Slam and Three-Run Dinger by P

Baseball Firsts - V
Player Ejected from World Series | LSU Player in Majors | College Game | Ejected Twice in One Day | Domed Stadium | 60-Homer Season | Name on Jersey; Exploding Scoreboard | World Series Game Outside U.S. | Uniforms | More Ks Than Hs

Baseball Firsts - VI
Night All Star Game | Catcher's Mask | Ted's Debut | Batting Glove | Pentagonal Home Plate | 3,000 K Lefty | World's Series | All-Star Brothers | Ballpark with Waterfall | More Than 100K, Fewer Than 10W

Baseball Firsts - VII
AL Game in Canada | "Over-Thrown" Pitches | One Man-Two World Series Records | Shin Guards | President Attends World Series | Coach's Boxes | 18-inning Scoreless Game | Nine Non-White Starters | NLCS MVP on Losing Team | AL Night Game

Baseball Firsts - VIII
Reserve Clause

 

 

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