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The National Base Ball Club
Baseball fever officially hit Washington in 1859. As the nation stood on the brink of civil war, a small group of federal workers founded the Washington Base Ball Club and its team the Washington Nationals. Initially, they honed their skills by competing with local teams. After the war, they faced more formidable rivals from New York and Philadelphia. By the 1867 season, after luring a few of baseball's greatest talents onto the team, they launched a twenty-day, ten-stop "grand western tour" that was covered by baseball journalist Henry Chadwick. In the heat of that summer, the Nat's bats were on fire as they went on to win nine out of ten matchups, outscoring their opponents 735 to 146. Only the Forest City team from Rockford, Illinois, led by seventeen-year old ace pitcher Albert Goodwill Spalding, claimed the lone victory. The cover illustration depicts a loose interpretation of the Massachusetts Game rules for laying out the grounds: a square field and stakes for bases. |