People of Allen County, Indiana

Baseball in Fort Wayne

A sign on Main Street points to Camp Allen Park where a monument was erected May 4, 2017 but not shown in the 2015 Street View photo from Google map. The monument was placed at the old Kekionga Ball Grounds, which is now Camp Allen Park along the St. Marys River on the northwest side of downtown Fort Wayne. It marks the location of the first professional baseball league game played between the Fort Wayne Kekiongas and the Cleveland Forest Citys on May 4, 1871. Fort Wayne defeated Cleveland 2-0 in the game. City Councilman Geoff Paddock, baseball historian Bill Griggs and the local Society of American Baseball Research worked with the Fort Wayne Parks Department to place the monument.

140th anniversary of first professional baseball game May 4, 2011 WANE 15 News on YouTube.
On May 4, 1871, the first professional baseball game was played in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Ross Kinsey talks with baseball historian Don Graham about where the game was played and the impact it still has on the community.

Baseball’s first professional league game, 150 years ago posted Jul 6, 2022 This story originally aired: May. 4, 2021 FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) - by Daniel Beals on YouTube. Interview with Blake Sebring.
May 4 is a special day in baseball, especially here in 21Country. A monument marks a historic site at Camp Allen Park, alongside the St. Marys River. “You could argue that Fort Wayne was part of the first professional sports league in America, which is kind of cool,” sports historian Blake Sebring told us. Sebring has literally written the book on sports history in Fort Wayne. “The Kekiongas were a club team in Fort Wayne,” he said, “they had a little bit of a reputation in the midwest as being a good team.” In 1871, they were invited to join the National Association of Professional Baseball Players. A city in Ohio was slated to make history that day. But Mother Nature had other plans.

See our sections on Camp Allen Park, Fort Wayne Daisies, League Park, Kekionga Ball Grounds, Fort Wayne Kekionga Baseball Team, Parkview Field, Fort Wayne TinCaps, and Fort Wayne Wizards.

  1. Pro baseball began in Cincinnati in 1869 Part of the BASEBALL HISTORY series ,written by Matt Rothenberg at the National Baseball Hall of Fame
  2. Fort Wayne baseball first played May 4, 1871 on our Timeline.
  3. Kekionga Base Ball Grounds and 1871 Fort Wayne Kekiongas Statistics at Baseball Reference.com.
  4. 1871 Fort Wayne Kekiongas season on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
  5. Baseball’s First League Game: May 4, 1871 by John Thorn, the Official Historian for Major League Baseball, posted February 7, 2012 on The MLB.com/Blog of Official MLB Historian John Thorn. The blog includes an image of the nine players with their names titled Kekionga of Fort Wayne, Indiana and image of a clipping of the Fort Wayne Daily Gazette, May 6, 1871 newspaper.

  6. 1883 - Under the Midnight Sun - Game of Base Ball Last Night by Electric Light

    Article from Jun 3, 1883 Fort Wayne Daily Gazette (Fort Wayne, Indiana) 1883, Baseball, Under the lights, Fort wayne, Indiana

    1883 - Under the Midnight Sun - Game of Base Ball Last Night by Electric Light Fort Wayne Daily Gazette Fort Wayne, Indiana, Sunday, June 3, 1883, Page 8

    1883 - Under the Midnight Sun - Game of Base Ball Last Night by Electric Light

    Article from Jun 3, 1883 Fort Wayne Daily Gazette (Fort Wayne, Indiana) 1883, Baseball, Under the lights, Fort wayne, Indiana
     

    1883 - Under the Midnight Sun - baseball - continued

    Article from Jun 3, 1883 Fort Wayne Daily Gazette (Fort Wayne, Indiana) 1883, Baseball, Under the lights, Fort wayne, Indiana

    1883 - Under the Midnight Sun - Game of Base Ball Last Night by Electric Light Fort Wayne Daily Gazette Fort Wayne, Indiana, Sunday, June 3, 1883, Page 8

    June 2, 1883 perhaps the first night baseball game ever played under the lights of Jenny Electric! Another night game was not played again until 1932 from a newspaper article posted October 17, 2022 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.

  7. It’s baseball season! In 1885, George Rawlings created the first patent of a baseball glove, made of felt and rubber...

    Posted by Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan on Thursday, April 25, 2024

    Thursday, April 25, 2024 post by the Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan on Facebook:

    It’s baseball season! In 1885, George Rawlings created the first patent of a baseball glove, made of felt and rubber padding to prevent the players’ hands from bruising. Take a look at the patent behind America’s favorite pastime. America’s Favorite Pastime

  8. Babe Ruth (“Along the Heritage Trail with Tom Castaldi”-- August 2015, No. 127) on History Center Notes & Queries blog.
  9. Camp Allen Park: Play Ball! by Tom Castaldi, local historianposted APRIL 4, 2013 on History Center Notes & Queries blog.
  10. Northeast Indiana Baseball Association Collection of over 100 photographs is at the Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library. About this collection: Northeast Indiana Baseball Association (formerly Fort Wayne Oldtimers' Baseball Association) Collection consists of their quarterly publications: “Newsletter” (1999-2001) and “Line drives” (2002-present), as well as their “Hall of Fame awards banquet” annual brochure.

  11. Spalding's base ball guide, and official league book for ... : a complete hand book of the national game of base ball .. 1877 on Archive.org.
    Record of the Old Professional Association, from 1871 to 1875, Inclusive. The championship campaign of 1871 began with the entry of ten representative clubs for the championship of the association, viz., the Boston Red Stockings — a newly organized club — the Athletics of Philadelphia, the Chicago White Stockings, the Forest City club of Cleveland, the Haymakers of Troy, the Mutuals of New York, the Olympics of Washington and the Forest City club of Rockford, 111. The Kekiongas of Fort Wayne were also among the entries, but their games were thrown out, as they played no legal game after the middle of July. The Eckfords of Brooklyn also entered the lists, but not until August, and consequently these games were not counted. The legal record made up at the close of the season left the eight legitimate contestants occupying the following relative positions in the pennant race of 1871:
    Posted February 3, 2024 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook with comments by local baseball expert Chad Grambling.

  12. Spalding's base ball guide, and official league book for ... : a complete hand book of the national game of base ball .. Volume 1909-1910 on Archive.org.
    Page 208, 1, Elston; 2, Hendricks, Mgr.; 3, Hammond; 4, Osteen; 5, C. Alberts; 6, Van Anda; 7, Dickey; 8, Miller; 9, Kelly; 10, Kempf; 11, Blount; 12, McDermott; 13. Reynolds; 14, Fremer; 15, Hendricks, Jr., Mascot. FORT WAYNE TEAM— CENTRAL LEAGUE. Under Central League 1908 page 205
    Posted February 3, 2024 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook with comments by local baseball expert Chad Grambling.

  13. Fort Wayne Kekiongas in the Archives of Baseball History Daily.
  14. Fort Wayne Sports History: Kekiongas help start the National League by Blake Sebring published June 27, 2013 in The News-Sentinel newspaper
  15. Indiana: The Birthplace of Pro Baseball posted August 9, 2018 on OrangeBean.
  16. Baseball in Fort Wayne, from a minipage written for children by Richard Battin an archived May 27, 1992 Summit City History Notes article on The News-Sentinel newspaper
  17. Baseball in Fort Wayne a book by Chad Gramling, an officer in NEIBA - Northeast Indiana Baseball Association. NEIBA has a Hall of Fame.
  18. Colored Giants African American baseball team played from 1907 thru 1949 is discussed in our African American section.
  19. See our section on the Fort Wayne Daisies womens baseball was popular in Fort Wayne and were league champions from 1952 to 1954.
  20. Fort Wayne Franchise History posted August 30, 2011 at MILB.com.
  21. THE LAST WORD: Souder article details history of professional baseball in Fort Wayne by Kerry Hubartt published April 22, 2019 in The News-Sentinel newspaper. Former 3rd District congressman Mark Souder and local baseball historian wrote an in-depth article about Fort Wayne’s professional baseball history in the semi-annual Old Fort News (Volume 82, No. 1), which is a publication of the Fort Wayne/Allen County Historical Society. It’s called Hugh McCulloch & the Origins of Professional Baseball.
  22. Monument at Fort Wayne park marks first-ever baseball game with photos of monument by: WANE Staff Reports posted: May 3, 2017. updated: May 3, 2017 at CBS WANE-TV NewsChannel 15.
  23. Monument to mark site of 1871 pro baseball game Ceremony will be held Thursday evening at Camp Allen Park by Blake Sebring published May 3, 2017 in The News-Sentinel newspaper.
  24. On May 20, 2017, with the help of City Councilman Geoff Paddock and the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department, Griggs and the Northeast Indiana Baseball Association unveiled a permanent monument on the spot of the game in Camp Allen Park where the first major league baseball game was played. After the Civil War, the Fort Wayne Kekiongas baseball team formed in 1866, and in 1869 the team played the Cincinnati Red Stockings, who were the first team in the country with paid professional players. The Red Stockings won easily 86-8 then won the rematch later that season 41-7. That may not sound like a very important beginning, but the Kekiongas and Fort Wayne were hugely important to the start of professional baseball and later became hosts of the first professional league game ever played. Copied from Fort Wayne Sports History First pitch of pro baseball thrown in city by Blake Sebring published March 25, 2020 in The Journal Gazette newspaper.
  25. Fort Wayne's baseball dynasty ended 60 years ago Red Braden's teams dominated nationally and internationally includes list of major league teams that played in Fort Wayne since 1920 by Blake Sebring published August 17, 2017 in The News-Sentinel newspaper.
  26. June 15, 2022 several photos from The History Centerwere posted on Facebook.
  27. An October 9, 2022 post with a photo from the day's Parade magazine featured the 1962 Wildcat Baseball League on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook on Facebook.
  28. A photo of Dottie Schroeder from the 1948 Fort Wayne Daisies baseball team was also shown in the Parade magazine. A photo of the entire page was posted October 16, 2022 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.

  29. April 3, 2023 post by the Genealogy Center on Facebook:

    Baseball season is upon us! Did you know that we have a digital collection from the NE Indiana Baseball Association? ⚾️

    The Northeast Indiana Baseball Association (formerly Fort Wayne Oldtimers' Baseball Association) Collection consists of their quarterly publications: “Newsletter” (1999-2001) and “Line drives” (2002-present), as well as their “Hall of Fame awards banquet” annual brochure.

    Browse the collection here: Northeast Indiana Baseball Association collection.

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