Few People Know Indiana Was Home To The First Professional Baseball Game In America
By Tori Jane|Published March 27, 2023
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Tori Jane
Author
Tori Jane is a storm chaser, writer, photographer, and the village idiot - in that order. When she's not out and about dancing with the meanest storms on planet Earth for funsies she can be found wandering, shooting landscapes, writing, editing photos, and otherwise up to no good. Legend has it that she can also be occasionally spotted typing up short bios in the third person, but those rumors are unsubstantiated.
Everyone knows that Indiana is pretty much the home of speedway racing (it was, in fact, the very first place to hold a long-distance automobile race – and we all know how that turned out). But did you know that yet another beloved sport was also birthed here, and most folks have no idea? Yep – Indiana was the first state to ever hold a professional baseball game. That’s right: baseball. America’s pastime was born right here in the Hoosier State, and honestly, we’re pretty proud of it. Of all the historic firsts in Indiana, we get to claim baseball as our own. Check it out!
The date was May 4, 1871. The place: Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Ultimately, the Kekiongas (which is what they were referred to as; the addition of "Fort Wayne" would come much later) would be victorious, going on to play (and win) plenty of games before the team ultimately disbanded due to numerous factors at the end of 1871 - the same year they'd claimed victory in the first-ever pro game.
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Interestingly, as of 2023, there are no major league baseball teams in Indiana (which is kind of strange, given our claim to fame and all).
Of course, Indiana hasn't quite let go of its roots in baseball, as there have been numerous major-league players that came from the Hoosier State over the decades (or century, even). There are SO many major-league players originally from Indiana (366!), in fact, that we cannot even START to list them all - it would take multiple pages!
Of course, we CAN mention some particularly-notable players, so here goes:
There was Sam Thompson, of Danville, who was the right fielder for the Detroit Wolverines and the Philadelphia Phillies from 1885 to 1898. There was Amos Rusie, from Mooresville, who began his career with the Indiana Hoosiers in 1889 and went on to lead the league with 50 complete games with the New York Giants (and ultimately, he would go on to complete 393 games in his decade-long career, 246 of which were wins).
The list, of course, goes on, including more amazing folks such as Jouett Meekin, Babe Adams, Hooks Dauss, Oscar Charleston, Dizzy Trout, Gil Hodges, Don Larsen, Scott Rolen... you get the idea.
...we wish we could list them all, but there are truly just too many, and honestly - that just fills us with even more pride. Who knew Indiana has such an amazingly notable role in the history of America's favorite game?
Indiana may not have an official team as of the time of this writing, but overall, we've been able to claim five major league teams throughout our state's history.
Teams have come and gone for many reasons over the years, but one thing remains steady: Indiana has an amazingly rich, truly fascinating history in the world of baseball, and it's not every day we get to claim America's pastime as ours (okay, technically we probably could).
Are you a baseball fan? Did you realize we have so much to brag about? We didn’t, but now we do! What’s your favorite team? Let us know!
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