1868 in sports
Encyclopedia
BaseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
National championship
- National Association of Base Ball PlayersNational Association of Base Ball PlayersThe National Association of Base Ball Players was the first organization governing American baseball. The first, 1857 convention of sixteen New York City clubs...
champion – New York MutualsNew York MutualsThe Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was a leading American baseball club almost throughout its 20-year history. It was established during 1857, the year of the first baseball convention, just too late to be a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players. It was a charter...
Events
- A few clubs count base hits and total bases on hits for every player, beside the commonplace "official scoring" of runs and times put out (hands lostHands LostHands lost was the second statistic to be commonly recorded in baseball. The term refers to the number of times a player is called out. By the late 1850s, this statistic was almost always seen with runs in the NABBP.-References:...
) - In December the National Association permits full professionalism for 1869. The Cincinnati Red StockingsCincinnati Red StockingsThe Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first fully professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players 1867–1870, a time of a transition that ambitious Cincinnati,...
recruit with great success.
BoxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
Events
- With the arrival in America of English boxers Jem MaceJem MaceJem Mace was an English boxing champion. He was born at Beeston, Norfolk. Although nicknamed "The Gypsy", he denied Romani ethnicity in his autobiography...
and Tom AllenTom Allen (boxer)Tom Allen was a boxing champion who claimed the Heavyweight Championship from 1873, when he defeated Mike McCoole, until 1876, when he lost to Joe Goss.-External links:*...
, there are several claimants for the American Championship including Joe CoburnJoe CoburnJoe Coburn was an Irish-American boxer. In 1862 he claimed the Heavyweight Championship from John Carmel Heenan based on Heenan refusing to fight him. Mike McCoole claimed Coburn's title in 1866 after Coburn retired. Coburn came out of retirement in 1871 against Jem Mace...
and Bill Davis, but the most credible claims remain with Jimmy ElliottJimmy ElliottFor the English footballer of the same name see Jimmy Elliott Jimmy Elliot was an Irish-American boxer who was Heavyweight Champion of the World from 1865 to 1868. On December 12, 1870 Elliott was arrested and convicted of highway robbery and assault with intent to kill...
and Mike McCooleMike McCooleMike McCoole was a boxing champion.He claimed the Heavyweight Championship in 1866 after Joe Coburn retired. He lost the title to Tom Allen in 1873.-External links:*...
. - 27 May — Mike McCoole is due to meet Joe Coburn at Cold Spring Station, Indiana, in a fight billed as for the Heavyweight Championship of America, but police intervene and the fight is not held. Coburn and his trainer, Jim Cusick, are arrested.
- 4 September — McCoole is due to fight former champion John C. HeenanJohn C. HeenanJohn Camel Heenan, aka the Benicia Boy was an American bare-knuckle prize fighter. Though highly regarded, he had only three formal fights in his entire career, losing two and drawing one....
near St. Louis, Missouri, but the fight is cancelled. McCoole continues to claim the American Championship. - 12 November — McCoole's only serious rival Jimmy Elliott defeats Charley Gallagher in the 23rd round at Peach Island, near Detroit, Michigan.
CricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
Events
- A team of Australian Aboriginals toured England, the first organised group of Australian cricketers to travel overseas and the first overseas team to complete a tour of England, although none of the matches have been given first-class statusFirst-class cricketFirst-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
. - C A AbsolomCharlie AbsolomCharles Alfred Absolom played cricket for Cambridge University, Kent and England in the period from 1866 to 1879.Absolom was born at Blackheath, Kent, the son of Edward Absolom. He was educated at a school in Calne, Wiltshire and at Trinity College, Cambridge and was awarded cricket and athletics...
became the first player to be given out obstructing the fieldObstructing the fieldObstructing the field is a rare method of dismissal in the sport of cricket.-Definition:Law 37 of the Laws of cricket provides that:"Either batsman is out Obstructing the field if he wilfully obstructs or distracts the opposing side by word or action...
when playing for Cambridge UniversityCambridge University Cricket ClubCambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
v. Surrey at The OvalThe OvalThe Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
.
England
- Champion County – Nottinghamshire
- Most runs – Harry JuppHarry JuppHenry Jupp was an English professional cricketer, who was the opening batsman for Surrey County Cricket Club from 1862 to 1881. Renowned for his defensive technique, Jupp was known as "Young Stonewaller"....
965 @ 24.74 (HS 134) - Most wickets – James SouthertonJames SouthertonJames Southerton was a professional cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1854 and 1879....
150 @ 13.86 (BB 8–34)
GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
Major tournaments
- British OpenThe Open ChampionshipThe Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
– Tom Morris juniorTom Morris, Jr.Tom Morris, Jr. , known as "Young Tom Morris", was one of the pioneers of professional golf, and was the first young prodigy in golf history...
Horse racingHorse racingHorse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
Events
- Formosa becomes the first horse to win four classic races in a single year, although one victory is a dead heat.
England
- Grand NationalGrand NationalThe Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
– The Lamb (first of two wins) - 1,000 Guineas Stakes – Formosa
- 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Formosa and Moslem (dead heat)
- Epsom DerbyEpsom DerbyThe Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
– Blue Gown - Epsom OaksEpsom OaksThe Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 10 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early June....
– Formosa - St. Leger StakesSt. Leger StakesThe St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...
– Formosa
Australia
- Melbourne CupMelbourne CupThe Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
– Glencoe IIGlencoe IIGlencoe was a notable Australian bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1868 Melbourne Cup and eight other principal races.-Pedigree:...
Canada
- Queen's PlateQueen's PlateThe Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...
– Nettie
Ireland
- Irish Derby StakesIrish Derby StakesThe Irish Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July.It is Ireland's equivalent of the Epsom Derby,...
– Madeira
USA
- Belmont StakesBelmont StakesThe Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
– General DukeGeneral Duke (horse)General Duke was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the second running of the Belmont Stakes in 1868.-Early life:General Duke was sired by Lexington, and out of Lilla, who was by the imported stallion Yorkshire. General Duke was foaled in 1865, and was a chestnut stallion. He was bred by...
LacrosseLacrosseLacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
Events
- WhiteWhite peopleWhite people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
players in Upstate New YorkUpstate New YorkUpstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
begin playing lacrosse and it spreads through the New York City metropolitan area, where teams are soon organized.
RowingRowing (sport)Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
The Boat Race
- 4 April — OxfordOxford University Boat ClubThe Oxford University Boat Club is the rowing club of the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in the early 19th century....
wins the 25th Oxford and Cambridge Boat RaceThe Boat RaceThe event generally known as "The Boat Race" is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed between competing eights each spring on the River Thames in London. It takes place generally on the last Saturday of March or the first...
Other events
- The world champion "Paris CrewParis CrewThe Paris Crew is the name given to a quartet of Canadian sport rowers from Saint John, New Brunswick.Robert Fulton, George Price, Samuel Hutton, and Elijah Ross, along with reserve oarsman James Price, became Canada's first-ever international sporting champions when they defeated the London Rowing...
" from Saint John, New BrunswickSaint John, New BrunswickCity of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
wins the Championship of America in Springfield, MassachusettsSpringfield, MassachusettsSpringfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...