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Abner Doubleday created the game of baseball in his own backyard. He lived in New York.
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Cincinnati Red Stockings became the 1st pro baseball team.
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The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs with eight teams (Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Hartford, Louisville, New York, Philadelphia, St Louis) was formed in New York.
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The first official NL baseball game took place. Boston beat Philadelphia 6-5.
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, The catcher's mask was first used in a baseball game, by James Tyng of Harvard, in an exhibition game against the Live Oaks of Lynn, Mass. In 1878 Frederick Thayer, manager and 3rd baseman for the Harvard team, applied for and received a patent for the mask. Thayer became a lawyer after graduating and in 1886 successfully sued Spalding for patent infringement.
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Baseball’s first perfect game. The southpaw, left-handed Lee Richmond of the Worcester, Massachusetts, Ruby Legs, pitched himself to perfection with a 1-0 shutout of the Cleveland Spiders in a National League game.
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"Shoeless" Joe Jackson, black sox player (Say it ain’t so, Joe), was born.
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George Herman "Babe" Ruth, baseball's most dominant player, was born in Baltimore. He played with the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees and the Boston Braves and was the first player to hit 60 home runs in one season.
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Byron Bancroft Johnson, president of baseball’s Western League, renamed it as the American League.
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Erve Beck hit the 1st home run in the American League.
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The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the home team Boston Pilgrims (Red Sox), 7-3, in the first World Series game. Boston, however, went on to win the series, five games to three.
