- 1839
| Jun 12 | According to legend, Abner Doubleday, who later became a major name in book publishing, created the game we know as baseball. It happened in Cooperstown, NY which, coincidentally, is the present home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. The name Doubleday is also associated with the current ownership of the NY Mets of the National League. | Ref: 4 |
- 1845
| Sep 22 | Alexander Joy Cartwright organizes world's first baseball team, the Knickerbocker Club. | Ref: 10 |
| Sep 23 | The Knickerbocker Base Ball Club is founded at the instigation of Alexander Cartwright. Ref | |
| Oct 22 | The first known box score appears in the NY Morning News a month after the first set of rules are written by Alexander Cartwright and some his fellow Knickerbockers. | Ref: 1 |
- 1846
| Jun 19 | The NY Knickerbocker Club plays the NY Nines in the first baseball game using Cartwright Rules at Elysian Field, Hoboken, New Jersey. NY Nines 23, Knickerbockers 1. | Ref: 2 |
- 1851
| Jun 03 | The New York Knickerbockers became the first baseball team to wear uniforms. The ball players wore blue trousers, white shirts and straw hats. Sharp! | Ref: 4 |
- 1857
| Jan 22 | National Association of Baseball Players founded, NY. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 07 | Baseball decides 9 innings constitutes an official game, not 9 runs. | Ref: 5 |
- 1858
| Sep 10 | John Holden hits the 1st recorded HR (Bkln vs NY). | Ref: 5 |
- 1859
| Mar 09 | The National Association of Baseball Players adopted a rule that limited the size of bats to no more than 2½ inches in diameter. | Ref: 4 |
| May 31 | The Philadelphia Athletics were formally organized to play the game of Town Ball. The name "baseball" didn’t come into being until almost 20 years later. | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 01 | In the first college baseball game ever played, Amherst defeats Williams College, 73-32 (66-32 by some reports) in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. | Ref: 1 |
| Jul 20 | Brooklyn and NY played baseball at Fashion Park Race Course on Long Island, NY. New York beats Brooklyn, 22-18. The game marked the first time that admission had been charged for spectators to see a ball game. It cost 50¢ to get in and the players on the field received no salary (until 1863). | Ref: 4 |
- 1860
| Feb 22 | Organized baseball played in San Francisco for the first time. | Ref: 5 |
- 1861
| Feb 04 | Wearing ice skates, the champion Atlantics defeat the Charter Oak Club, 36-27 on a game played on frozen Litchfield Pond in South Brooklyn. | Ref: 1 |
- 1862
| May 15 | Baseball's first enclosed park, the Union Grounds, opens in Brooklyn, NY. | Ref: 1 |
| Dec 25 | 40,000 watch the Union army men play baseball at Hilton Head SC. | Ref: 5 |
- 1866
| Jul 23 | Cincinnati Baseball club (The Reds) established. | Ref: 5 |
- 1868
| Nov 26 | First baseball game played in enclosed field in San Francisco, at 25th & Folsom. | Ref: 5 |
- 1869
| Apr 17 | The first professional baseball game ever played sees the Cincinnati Reds defeat the rival Cincinnati Amateurs, 24-15. | Ref: 1 |
| May 16 | Cincinnati Reds play their first baseball game, win 41-7. | Ref: 5 |
| May 31 | The first rain out in professional baseball occurs when heavy rain postpones the Red Stockings game against the Anioch Nine. | Ref: 1 |
| Jun 01 | In the first game ever played by a professional baseball team (all paid players, no amateurs), the Cincinnati Red Stockings beat the Mansfield Independents, 48-14. The total salary outlay was approximately $11,000, with the salary of star shortstop George Wright nearly $2,000. Thus began the era of professional baseball - and of professional team sports. | Ref: 86 |
| Sep 22 | The Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first professional baseball team, arrive in San Francisco after a rollicking, barnstorming tour of the West. | Ref: 2 |
- 1870
| Mar 07 | Cincinnati Red Stockings, first pro BB team, begin 8-mo tour of Midwest & East. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 14 | At the Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, after winning 27 consecutive wins, suffer first loss of the season bowing to the Brooklyn Atlantics, 8-7; the game features the first recorded double play and the first known switch hitter, Brooklyn's Bob Ferguson. In total, Cincinnati won 130 consecutive games, including those that today would be considered exhibition games. | Ref: 1 |
| Aug 16 | Fred Goldsmith demonstrates the curve ball isn't an optical illusion. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 27 | NY Times dubs baseball "The National Game". | Ref: 5 |
- 1871
| Jan 20 | The Boston Red Stockings are incorporated by Ivers Whitney Adams with $15,000 and the help of Harry Wright, who had founded and managed the Cincinnati Red Stockings, America's first professional baseball team. | Ref: 1 |
| Mar 17 | National Association of Professional Base-Ball players organized. | Ref: 5 |
| May 04 | First baseball league game (National Association of Baseball Players), (Fort Wayne 2, Cleveland 0) Deacon Jim White gets first hit, a double. | Ref: 5 |
| May 04 | Bill Lennon becomes first catcher to throw a runner out trying to steal second. He accomplished the feat in the seventh inning of the very first major league game. | Ref: 1 |
| Oct 30 | Phila Athletics beat Chicago for first Natl Assn baseball pennant. | Ref: 5 |
- 1874
| Feb 27 | Baseball first played in England, at Lord's Cricket Grounds. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 02 | Baseball batter's box is officially adopted. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 30 | First baseball teams to play outside US, Boston-Phila in British Isles. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 27 | At Palmar de Junco, a Havanan team plays Matanzas in the first documented baseball game played in Cuba. The game called after seven innings due to darkness with Havana leading, 51-9. | Ref: 1 |
| Dec 28 | At Palmar de Junco, a Havanan team plays Matanzas in the first documented baseball game played in Cuba. The game called after seven innings due to darkness with Havana leading, 51-9. | Ref: 1 |
- 1875
| May 11 | George "Charmer" Zettlein pitches the first 9 inning shutout. | Ref: 5 |
| May 12 | First recorded shutout in pro baseball, Chicago 1, St Louis 0. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 28 | Joe Borden of Philadelphia pitches world's first 9 inning no-hitter against Chicago. | Ref: 10 |
- 1876
| Feb 02 | The National League is officially formed with teams located in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Hartford, Louisville, New York, Philadelphia and St. Louis | Ref: 1 |
| Apr 01 | First official NL baseball game (Boston-6, Phila-5). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 02 | Philadelphia A's & Boston Red Caps play 1st NL game, in Phila | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 15 | The Alleghenies bring professional baseball to Pittsburgh playing their first game at Union Park. Next year, the team will be accepted into the minor-league International Association but will disband in 1878. | Ref: 1 |
| Apr 22 | The Boston Red Stockings play in the very first National League game, scoring two runs in the ninth inning to beat the homestanding Philadelphia Athletics (NL), 6-5, before a crowd of 3,000. | Ref: 86 |
| Apr 25 | The Chicago Cubs win their first NL game, beating Louisville 4-0 in the first National League shutout. | Ref: 86 |
| May 02 | In Cincinnati against the Redlegs, Chicago's Ross Barnes hits the first home run in the history of National League. The former National Association superstar also has, in addition to his inside-the-park homer, a single, a triple, two stolen bases and scores four runs. | Ref: 1 |
| May 23 | Boston’s Joe Borden pitched the very first no-hitter in National League history. | Ref: 4 |
| May 25 | First tie in National League history (Athletics & Louisville, 2-2 in 14). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 14 | Philadelphia Athletic George Hall becomes first major league player to hit for cycle; the Englishman will also become the first player to be banned along with others for throwing 3 1/2 game lead with 12 games to go 1877. | Ref: 1 |
| Jun 17 | First to hit 2 HRs; & score 5 runs in 9 inn NL game (George Hall, A's). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 27 | First NLer to get 6 hits in 9 inn game (Dave Force, Phila Athletics). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 15 | George Washington Bradley pitched the first no-hitter in baseball by leading St. Louis to a 2-0 win over Hartford. | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 22 | In his major league debut, Louisville pitcher Johnny Ryan throws a record 10 wild pitches in a 30-7 loss to Chicago. It will be the rookie's first and last game. | Ref: 1 |
- 1877
| Apr 12 | James Alexander Tyng, while playing a baseball game in Lynn, MA, became the first ballplayer to wear a catcher’s mask. | Ref: 4 |
| May 07 | Cincinnati Enquirer, first uses the term "Bullpen" to indicate foul territory. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 27 | With their 19th victory in the last 20 games, Boston clinches the NL pennant beating Hartford,13-2. James 'Deacon' White, the league's leading hitter, paces the Reds' attack with a 4-for-4 performance. | Ref: 1 |
- 1878
| Jan 16 | Benjamin Douglas is hired as manager of the Providence Grays and Tom Carey is signed as team captain. | Ref: 1 |
| Feb 12 | Frederick W. Thayer, the captain of the Harvard University Baseball Club, patent the now-familiar, baseball catcher’s mask (pat # 200,358). | Ref: 4 |
| May 08 | Providence (NL) Gray outfielder Paul Hines becomes the first player to execute an unassisted triple play (against Boston-NL) after making a shoestring catch in left center field and steping on third retiring both runners who had passed the base. The runners were out due to rules used at the time. | Ref: 1 |
| Dec 29 | In Havana, the Professional Baseball League of Cuba is formed. | Ref: 1 |
| Dec 31 | A reported eight million bats are sold in the United States | Ref: 1 |
- 1879
| Jan 02 | The Northwestern League, a minor league, is organized in Rockford, Illinois. | Ref: 1 |
| Sep 29 | NL owners meeting in Buffalo adopt the reserve clause, giving each team exclusive rights to their players. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 01 | Cincinnati Enquirer publishes the 1st report on baseball reserve clause. | Ref: 5 |
- 1880
| Jun 10 | Charlie Jones becomes first to hit 2 HRs in 1 inning. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 12 | John Richmond, Worcester, pitches a perfect game against Cleveland (NL) winning 1-0. (2003 Sports Illustrated Almanac, ISBN 1-929049-55-2) | |
| Jun 17 | John Monte Ward tossed the second perfect game in major-league history as he and Providence blanked Buffalo 5-0. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 02 | Using three towers illuminating light 100 feet above the playing field, teams from the department stores of Jordan Marsh and R.H. White stage the first night game. | Ref: 1 |
| Oct 06 | Cincinnati is expelled from the National League, due in part to their selling beer in the ballpark. The club returns to the NL for good in 1890. | Ref: 86 |
- 1881
| Feb 22 | George Wright signs a contract with the Boston Reds which he states allows him not to travel with the team on western road trips, but just play in games played in New England and Troy. The arrangement is necessary due to his business commitments. | Ref: 1 |
| Jul 04 | Mickey Welch throws two complete game victories as the Troy Haymakers sweep a doubleheader from Buffalo in National Association action. | Ref: 1 |
| Sep 27 | Chicago Cubs beat Troy 10-8 before record small "crowd" of 12. | Ref: 5 |
- 1882
| Jan 20 | Kentucky lawmakers revise ruling which inadvertently banned playing baseball in the commonwealth. | Ref: 1 |
| Jun 24 | NL expells umpire Richard Higham for dishonesty. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 18 | Louisville Eclipse's Tony Mullane becomes the first major leaguer to pitch both left and right-handed in the same game; the ambidextrous ace, however, loses to Baltimore Orioles, 9-8 | Ref: 1 |
| Sep 25 | First double header baseball game played between Worcester, NY and Providence RI at NY. | Ref: 5 |
- 1883
| Apr 13 | Chester A. Arthur brings the NL's Cleveland Forest Cities to the White House making it the first professional team to visit with a president in Washington. | Ref: 1 |
| May 01 | The New York Gothams (NL) play their first game at a field once used for polo matches at 110th Street and Sixth Avenue. Owners John B. Day and Jim Mutrie are also the owners of the American Association's New York Metropolitans. | Ref: 86 |
| May 01 | National League baseball returns to the City of Brotherly Love as Philadelphia hosts its first NL game since 1876. | Ref: 1 |
| May 22 | Cub's Billy Sunday's first at bat, begins 14 consecutive strike-outs. | Ref: 5 |
| May 23 | Baseball game between one-armed and one-legged players. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 02 | The first baseball game under electric lights is played in Fort Wayne, Indiana. | Ref: 2 |
| Jun 16 | The NY Gothams (modern SF Giants) baseball team admitted all ladies free to the ballpark on this, the first Ladies Day (NY Gothams beat Cleve Spiders 5-2). | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 21 | Providence shuts out Phillies 28-0. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 23 | Phillies make 27 errors against Providence (wild pitches, walks & passballs count as errors prior to 1888). | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 06 | Cub's Burns (extra bases), Williamson & Pfeiffer get 3 hits in 1 inn. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 08 | NY Giants score 13 runs in an inning against the Phillies. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 13 | Cleveland's one-arm pitcher Hugh Daily no-hits Philadelphia, 1-0. | Ref: 1 |
| Sep 16 | Tommy Burns and Ned Williamson of the National League's Chicago White Stockings both score three runs in the seventh inning to establish a major league record which still stands today. | Ref: 1 |
| Nov 24 | Washington, Indianapolis, Brooklyn and Toledo are added to the American Association bringing the number of teams in the league to twelve. | Ref: 1 |
- 1884
| May 01 | In an American Association game against the Louisville Eclipse, Toledo Blue Stockings' catcher Moses Fleetwood Walker becomes first black to play in the major leagues. | Ref: 1 |
| May 22 | 1-armed pitcher Hugh Daily fanned 13 hitters. | Ref: 5 |
| May 30 | Ned Williamson of the Chicago Cubs becomes the first player to hit three home runs in a single game, vs. Detroit. | Ref: 86 |
| Jun 27 | Lawrence Corcoran pitched his third no-hit baseball game, leading Chicago to a 6-0 win over Providence. Corcoran set a baseball record for no-hitters for the feat. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 28 | New York Gotham pitcher Mickey Welch strikes out the first nine Cleveland Blues hitters to face him establishing a major league record. | Ref: 1 |
| Oct 23 | First world series OKed by AA, Providence (NL) beats NY Mets (AA) 6-0. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 19 | League secretary Nick Young replaces Abe Mills who resigned as NL president. | Ref: 1 |
- 1885
| Aug 29 | Phillies Charlie Ferguson no-hits Providence 1-0. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 15 | Hoss Radbourne pitches his 60th win of the season. | Ref: 5 |
- 1886
| Jan 16 | Washington is admitted to the National League bringing the total to 7 teams. | Ref: 1 |
| Aug 15 | Guy Hecker scores 7 runs in 1 game. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 22 | Louisville's Chicken Wolf hits a game-winning home run thanks to a stray dog tearing at Reds' Abner Powell's pant leg causing the center fielder to miss the ball. | Ref: 1 |
| Sep 11 | At Washington's Capitol Park, backstop Connie Mack makes his major league debut as the Senators edge Philadelphia, 4-3. | Ref: 1 |
| Nov 15 | In the first trade ever, the Reds trade Jack Boyle and cash ($400) to the Browns for Hugh Nicol. | Ref: 1 |
| Nov 18 | Pittsburgh leaves the American Association to join the National League. | Ref: 1 |
- 1887
| Jan 18 | Kansas City receives a franchise in the Western League; the team vows to compete with the NL team in town. | Ref: 1 |
| Apr 30 | The Phillies beat the Giants, 19-10 in the first game played at the Baker Bowl located at Broad & Huntingdon Street Park in Philadelphia. | Ref: 1 |
| Apr 30 | The Pittsburgh Alleghenies play their first National League game, defeating the defending league champion Chicago White Stockings, 6-2, in front of nearly 10,000 fans at Recreation Park. | Ref: 86 |
| Jun 15 | NY Giants beat Phila Phillies 29-1. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 28 | Phillies most lopsided shut-out beating Indpls 24-0. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 21 | Mighty (Dan) Casey Struck-out in a game with the NY Giants!. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 08 | Phillies set club record 16th straight victory. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 26 | Detroit (NL) beats St Louis (AA) 10 games to 5 in the World Series. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 30 | The first softball game is played -- in Chicago, IL. The game was really called indoor baseball; it used a broomstick for a bat and a boxing glove for a ball. | Ref: 4 |
- 1888
| Jan 17 | Kansas City is admitted to the American Association to replace the Mets; although the Mets were bought by Brooklyn, the franchise is considered suspended until a Manhattan playing field can be located. | Ref: 1 |
| May 09 | With a twelve-run lead, Louisville Colonels' right-handed pitcher Icebox Chamberlain holds the KS City Cowboys scoreless pitching left-handed for the last two innings . | Ref: 1 |
| May 13 | Ernest L. Thayer’s Casey at the Bat is recited by actor DeWolf Hopper during the second act of the musical comedy, Prince Methusalem, at Wallack’s Theatre in NY City. The recitation began a long association between Hopper and the famous poem. The actor once commented that he had recited the poem some 15,000 times. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 03 | The poem "Casey at the Bat," by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, was first published, in the San Francisco Daily Examiner. | Ref: 70 |
| Jul 03 | NY Giant pitcher Rube Marquard ties record of 19 game win-streak. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 10 | NY Giant pitcher Tim Keefe sets a 19 game win streak record. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 14 | Tim Keefe's nineteen game winning streak ends when Gus Krock and the White Stockings defeat the Giants. | Ref: 1 |
| Oct 04 | Ed Crane, New York Giants, strikes out 4 batters in the 5th inning. (Sporting News Complete Baseball Record Book, 2002, ISBN 0-89204-668-0) | |
| Dec 25 | At the Philadelphia State Fairground Building, the Downtowners beat the Uptowners in the first indoor baseball game ever played, 6-1. | Ref: 1 |
- 1889
| Feb 22 | Italy's King Humbert is among the fans who witness the Chicagos beat the All-Americans, 3-2, outside of Rome at the Villia Borghesi. | Ref: 1 |
| Jun 22 | Louisville Colonels set ML baseball record with 26th consecutive loss. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 10 | At the Seventh Street Park in Indpls, Mickey Welch becomes the first pinch hitter in major league history. Although the Giant right-handed pitcher strikes out in his historic plate appearance, New York prevails beating the Hoosiers, 9-6. | Ref: 1 |
| Oct 18 | 1st all NYC world series NY Giants (NL) play Brooklyn (AA) (World Series #86). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 24 | Softball rules adopted by Mid Winter Indoor Baseball League. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 29 | NY Giants (NL) beat Brooklyn (AA) in world series 6 games to 3. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 04 | Players League begins, declaring independence from baseball's NL. | Ref: 5 |
- 1890
| Apr 19 | The Dodgers play their first NL game against the Braves. | Ref: 1 |
| May 23 | A National League record is set when NY and Pittsburgh combine to steal seventeen bases in a single game. | Ref: 1 |
| May 30 | First Dodger homerun (Dave Foutz). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 28 | Giant hurler Mickey Welch beats the Pirates, 4-2, to become baseball's third 300-game winner. The 31-year old Brooklyn native will win only seven more games before ending his 13-year career next season. | Ref: 1 |
| Aug 06 | Cy Young pitches & wins first game. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 01 | On Labor Day at Washington Park, Brooklyn wins three games against Pittsburgh in the first tripleheader ever played; the Bridegrooms beat the visting Alleghenys, 10-9, 3-2 and 8-4. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 23 | Ed Cartwright bats in 7 RBIs in 1 inning. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 29 | First pro baseball game, NY Metropolitans beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 in 5 innings at the Polo Grounds in NYC. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 22 | The Philadelphia Athletics are expelled from the AA for violating the league's constitution; a new team is placed in Philly with new franchises awarded to Boston, Washington and Chicago. | Ref: 1 |
- 1891
| Jan 16 | A new national agreement is signed by the National League, American Association and the Western Association creating a three-man panel to settle problems among the leagues. | Ref: 1 |
| Feb 17 | The American Association withdraws from the National Agreement thus starting a war with the National League; the AA moves its Chicago team to Cincinnati to compete with the NL team. | Ref: 1 |
| Apr 22 | The Pirates play their first game at Exposition Park, located on the north shore of the Allegheny River across from downtown Pittsburgh; not far from the current site of PNC Park. | Ref: 86 |
| Apr 22 | Once the upstart Players League folds, the New York Giants take over their ballpark, which had been built right next to the second Polo Grounds. Until the full enclosure of the stadium in 1923, fans could stand in the outfield to watch games. | Ref: 86 |
| May 01 | In front of 10,000 fans, Cy Young pitches first game played in Cleveland's League Park Cleveland Spiders 12, Cincinnati Redlegs 3. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 02 | Charles Garder Radbourn wins his 300th game beating the Beaneaters at South End Grounds in Boston, 10-8. 'Old Hoss', who will finish 484 of the 497 games he starts, will end his 11-year career this season with 309 victories. | Ref: 1 |
| Nov 11 | The National League rules the pennant still belongs to the Beaneaters despite Chicago's protest that the Eastern teams helped Boston win; the pennant-winners had won 23 of their last 30, including 18 in a row. | Ref: 1 |
| Dec 17 | The American Association disbands with the Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Browns, Louisville Colonels and Washington Senators becoming part of the 12-team National League. | Ref: 1 |
- 1892
| Apr 17 | In Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Reds beat the St Louis Browns 5-1, in the first Sunday game played in National League history. | Ref: 1 |
| Apr 29 | Charlie Reilly is baseball's first pinch hitter. He strikes out. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 06 | Benjamin Harrison becomes the first US president to attend a major league game as he watches Cincinnati defeat the hometown Washington team in 11 innings, 6-5. | Ref: 1 |
| Jun 07 | The first pinch-hitter in baseball was used in a game. “Now pinch hitting: John Joseph Doyle.” He played in a game between the Cleveland Spiders and Ward’s Wonders of Brooklyn, NY. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 10 | Wilbert Robinson of Balt Orioles sets record of 7 for 7 in 9 inn game. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 28 | Phillies tie club record of 16 straight victories. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 29 | Pop (Billy) Shriver of the Chicago Cubs caught a ball dropped from the top of the Washington Monument in Washington, DC. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 21 | At Cleveland's League Park, John Clarkson of the Spiders beats the Pirates 3-2 to become the fifth pitcher in major league history to win 300 games. The 31-year old right-hander will compile a 328-178 record games during his 12 year Hall of Fame career in the big leagues. | Ref: 1 |
| Oct 15 | On the last day the season, Cincinnati pitcher Charles 'Bumpus' Jones, in his first major league start , no-hits Pittsburgh. This will turn out to be the latest date in the season that a no hitter is ever pitched in the major league. | Ref: 1 |
- 1893
| Apr 23 | The St. Louis Browns (NL) play their last (exhibition) game at the Grand Avenue ballpark. | Ref: 86 |
| Apr 27 | The St. Louis Browns (NL) play their first game in the new Sportsman's Park. | Ref: 86 |
- 1894
| Mar 12 | Pittsburgh issues free season tickets for ladies on Tuesday & Friday. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 24 | Phillies Lave Cross hits for the cycle vs Bkln Dodgers. | Ref: 5 |
| May 16 | Fire in Boston destroys baseball stadium & 170 other buildings. | Ref: 5 |
| May 30 | After going 0-for-6 in the first game of a doubleheader, Beaneater Bob Lowe becomes the first major leaguer to hit 4 HRs in one game helping Boston beat Cincinnati and Elton 'Icebox' Chamberlain, 20-11. | Ref: 1 |
| Jun 15 | Phillies beat Cincinatti Reds, 21-8. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 30 | Future Hall of Famer Fred Clarke makes his major league debut going 5-for-5 for the Louisville Colonels. | Ref: 1 |
| Aug 17 | Pitcher John Wadsworth of Louisville gave up 28 base hits, all singles, in a single game. John set a National League and major-league record. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 17 | Phils get 36 hits, Sam Thompson hits for cycle beating Louisville 29-4. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 31 | Phillies Billy Hamilton steals 7 bases. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 03 | Taking over for the fired manager Ned Hanlon, Connie Mack leads the Pirates to 22-1 rout of his former team, the Washington Senators. | Ref: 1 |
- 1895
| Sep 10 | Joe Harrington of the Boston Braves hits a home run in his first major league at bat. | Ref: 12 |
- 1896
| Jul 13 | In a 9-8 defeat to the hometown Chicago Colts, Phillie Ed Delahanty hits 4 HRs in one game. All of the round trippers are the inside-the-park variety. | Ref: 1 |
| Sep 21 | Connie Mack announces he will leave Pittsburgh to manage Milwaukee in the Western League. | Ref: 1 |
| Sep 26 | Cleveland's Jesse Burkett gets three hits to finish the season at .410; the 'Crab' becomes the first player to hit .400 in consecutive seasons. | Ref: 1 |
- 1897
| Mar 09 | The Cleveland Spiders sign Penobscot Indian Louis Sockalexis; although the fomer Holy Cross star plays only three seasons due to alcoholism, the fans admire his outstanding skills and refer to team as the 'Indians'-in 1915 the name will become official. | Ref: 1 |
| May 11 | Washington Senator catcher Charlie Farrell throws out 8 attempted stealers. | Ref: 5 |
| May 18 | NY Giant William Joyce sets record of 4 triples in 1 game. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 26 | Thomas Lynch and John Heydler were umpires in a baseball doubleheader in Washington, D.C. Each of these umpires went on to become a president of the National League. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 29 | The Chicago Cubs scored 36 runs in a ball game against Louisville, setting a record for runs scored by a team in a single game. | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 16 | At the age of 45, Chicago's (NL) Cap Anson becomes the first major leaguer to amass 3000 hits when he singles off of Baltimore's George Blackburn. | Ref: 1 |
| Jul 31 | St. Louis hurler John Grimes establishes a major league record which still stands by hitting 6 batters in a nine-inning game. | Ref: 1 |
| Aug 03 | Cap Anson is the 1st player to achieve 3,000 Hits and start The Club - his totals will be changed a century later to 2,995. He did so in the midst of his 22nd and final big league season. The landmark hit was a single off St. Louis pitcher Bill Hart. Some baseball historians have questioned Anson's membership in the Club by noting that in 1887 walks were counted as hits (as well as at bats). Discounting the 60 hits (by way of bases in balls) that Anson gained under the bizarre rule would drop the early baseball star's career base hit total to 2,995 hits. Ref | |
| Aug 27 | Future Hall of Fame catcher Senator Roger Bresnahan makes his major league debut as a pitcher shutting out the Browns, 3-0. | Ref: 1 |
| Dec 31 | At the age of 38, Charles H. Ebbets gains a controlling interest of eighty-percent of the Brooklyn Dodgers. | Ref: 1 |
- 1898
| Jan 08 | National League president, Nick Young, announces the more experienced umpire will stay behind the plate when the new two-umpire system is instituted. Previously, the lone ump would stand behind the pitcher only with men on base. | Ref: 1 |
| Apr 21 | In a game against the Giants, Philadelphia Nationals' pitcher Bill Duggelby hits a grand slam in his first major league at-bat. Bobby Bonds will hit one in his first game in his third at-bat, but no one has repeated Duggleby's feat. | Ref: 1 |
| Apr 22 | Baltimore Oriole James Hughes no-hits Boston Braves 8-0. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 22 | Cincinnati Red Theodore Breitenstein no-hits Pirates 11-0. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 29 | Chicago Cubs first baseman Frank Chance debuts in 16-2 win vs. Louisville. | Ref: 86 |
| Jun 25 | 'Jumbo' Davis makes five errors in a 10-3 loss. The KS City Blues (AA) player during the season will commit100 errors in 628 chances. | Ref: 1 |
| Jul 05 | Lizzie (Stroud) Arlington becomes the first woman to play organized baseball when she pitches for Reading in the Eastern League. Some believe she pitched in Atlantic League exhibition games after being hired by Ed Barrow, the league's president. | Ref: 1 |
| Jul 08 | Phillies Red Donahue no-hits Boston Braves, 5-0. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 27 | Reds' first baseman Jake Beckley handles a record 22 chances | Ref: 1 |
- 1899
| Apr 18 | John McGraw, 26, makes his debut as a major league manager, and his Orioles beat the Giants, a team he will later manage for 30 years, 5-3. | Ref: 1 |
| Aug 15 | Louisville's Henry Dowling struck out 5 times in a game. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 13 | The National League announces starting next season there will be two umpires working each game. | Ref: 1 |
| Dec 22 | The fledging AL owners meet to map a strategy against the established National League. They agree to place a team in Chicago with Charles Comiskey as the owner-manager of the franchise. | Ref: 1 |
- 1900
| Jan 19 | Reportedly depressed by his son's death in 1898, Boston Beaneater catcher, Marty Bergen, 28, allegedly kills his family with an axe and then commits suicide in Brookfield, Massachusetts. Billy Hamilton is the only Boston player to attend the backstop's funeral. | Ref: 1 |
- 1906
| May 06 | The Pirates become the first team to use a canvas tarp to cover the infield when it rains. | Ref: 86 |
- 1916
| Feb 18 | Major league baseball initiates an option plan to protect minor league players. | Ref: 1 |
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Baseball Before 1900 Chronology