Jim Creighton
Encyclopedia
James Creighton, Jr. was an American
baseball
player during the game's amateur
era, and is considered by historian
s to be the its first superstar
. As a pitcher
in baseball's amateur era, he changed the sport from a game that showcased fielding, into a confrontation between the pitcher and batter
. In this period, a pitcher was required to deliver the baseball in an underhand motion with a stiff arm/stiff wrist manner. The speed with which Creighton was able to pitch the ball had previously been thought of as impossible without movement of either his elbow or wrist. Although any movement was imperceptible, opponents and spectators believed them to be illegal.
Playing for the Excelsior of Brooklyn
from 1860 to 1862, at the the height of his popularity, he injured himself in a game in October 1862 when he suffered a ruptured abdominal hernia hitting a home run
. The internal bleeding this created subsequently caused his death four days later. A repected member of both baseball and cricket
communities, his death caused concern in each that public perception would considered them dangerous, which could hurt their popularity.
, a borough
of New York City
, to James and Jane, but was raised in Brooklyn
. By the age of 16, he had become well-known in the Brooklyn area for his batting skills in both baseball and cricket. In 1857, he, along with other neighborhood youths, formed Young America, a local baseball club. Amateur ballclubs during this era spent much of their time practicing and playing intrasquad games, with occasional matches against other clubs. Youth America played a few games before disbanding, and Creighton became a member of Niagra of Brooklyn as their second baseman
.
In 1859, Creighton and the Niagaras were losing a match to the Star Club of Brooklyn, when Creighton, who had to this point been used primarily in the infield, came into the game as a relief pitcher
. Using what was described as a "low, swift delivery", Creighton threw the ball unthinkably hard for the time. With the balls "rising from the ground past the shoulder to the catcher", the Star batsmen were unable to hit them effectively. The Star batsmen claimed that he used an illegal snap of the wrist to deliver the pitch. Creighton called it his "speedball", while he also threw a high-arcing slower pitched called a "dew-drop". At the time, the rules of baseball stated that a pitcher must deliver the ball underhanded, locked straight at the elbow and the wrist. It was the duty of the pitcher to make it easy for the batter to hit the ball; fielding the ball was considered the game's true skill. Although the Star Club prevailed, Creighton became their new member following the game.
Before the 1860 season, Creighton left the Star Club and joined one of the highest-profile clubs in the game at the time, Excelsior of Brooklyn
. In 1860, with their new star pitcher, they were becoming a national sensation. The Excelsior Club organized the first known national tour, which the played local teams down the East Coast of the United States
. That first season, Crieghton scored 47 runs
in 20 match games, and was retired just 56 times, not once striking out
. On November 8, in a game against the St. George Cricket Club, he recorded baseball's first shutout
. In 1862, Creighton became the game's best batter, in addition to his pitching. During that year, he was retired just four times, either as a batter or baserunner
.At the time, players out on the basepaths were charged with the out, instead of the batter as today.
When observing Creighton pitch a baseball, English Cricketer John Lillywhite
commented, "Why, that man is not bowling, he is throwing underhand. It is the best disguised underhand throwing I ever saw, and might readily be taken for a fair delivery." Another observer said that his pitch was "as swift as [if] it was shot out of cannon." Exclesior teammate John Chapman
later in his life wrote that Creighton "...had wonderful speed, and, with it, splendid command. He was fairly unhittable." Others, especially the conservative members among the baseball community, complained that not only were his pitched illegal, but also unsportsman-like. After holding the famed rival Brooklyn Atlantics
to five runs, an extraordinarily low total for the era, the Brooklyn Eagle
dispatched a reporter to determine whether or not his pitch was legal; in the end, it was determined he was throwing a "fair square pitch", rather than a "jerk" or an "underhand throw."
, jumped from the Excelsior Club to the Atlantic Club of Brooklyn
. This move lasted only three weeks, and without having played any games, both players returned to the Excelsior Club. While this practise spread over all of baseball in the coming years, open professionalism didn't begin until the 1869 season, with the Cincinnati Red Stockings
paying a salary to each member of the team.
community, playing for pleasure and for pay. He performed for the American Cricket Club in both 1861 and 1862, often playing against the all-England team whenever he could, whether at the Elysian Fields
or elsewhere. Though the English teams would dominate these matches, Creighton faired well. In a match of 11 Englishmen against 16 Americans, he clean bowled
five wicket
s out of six successive balls.
On October 14, 1862, in a match against the Union of Morrisania, Creighton had hit four doubles
in four at bat
s during the first five innings while Brainard pitched. In the sixth he took over pitching duties. In his next at bat he hit a home run
, however, he suffered an injury during his swing.Players of the held the bat with their hands separated and swung by twisting their upper-body with little or no movement of the wrists. Creighton commented to Flanley when he crossed home plate that he heard something snap, thinking that it might have been his belt. After the game he began to experience severe pain in his abdomen, hemorrhaging from what was reported at the time a ruptured bladder.Aided by modern medical understanding, the injury was most-likely a ruptured inguinal hernia. He died in his home on October 18 at the age of 21 years. He was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery
in Brooklyn
.
Though it is generally accepted that he fatally injured himself while playing baseball, it was reported that the Excelsior president, Dr. Jones, made comments during the National Association convention of 1862 in attempt to "correct" the notion that Creighton had suffered the injury while playing cricket instead of baseball. At the time, Cricket was the most popular sport in the United States, but Creighton and the Excelsiors had brought considerable notoriety to baseball. It is thought that his remarks were his attempt to save baseball's image as having nearly-equal standing with cricket, as well as his team's legacy considering that they had now lost their best player.
In an 1887 issue of early sports newspaper
The Sporting Life
, a letter-writer, who signed only as "Old Timer", sent in his account of the event. Robert Smith (Baseball in America, Holt Rinehart Winston, 1961, p. 10,13) as well as the Findagrave website http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3296 reported it is a ruptured bladder. Others speculate that it was some already-present injury or disease, or that his appendix
or spleen
had burst after the game. Contemporary writers were vague, only stating that he had suffered a "strain".
Such was his fame at the time of his death, and such was the grief of the baseball community, that a 12-foot marble obelisk, topped with a large baseball, was erected at his grave site. For the next several years, the Excelsiors' programs had a portrait of their fallen star, shrouded in black, featured prominently in the center.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
baseball
Baseball
Baseball 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...
player during the game's amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
era, and is considered by historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
s to be the its first superstar
Superstar
A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity.Superstar or superstars may also refer to:-People:* Warhol Superstar, associates of Andy Warhol* WWE Superstar, the term used to refer to entertainers from the WWE...
. As a pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
in baseball's amateur era, he changed the sport from a game that showcased fielding, into a confrontation between the pitcher and batter
Batting (baseball)
In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for one's team. A batter or hitter is a person whose turn it is to face the pitcher...
. In this period, a pitcher was required to deliver the baseball in an underhand motion with a stiff arm/stiff wrist manner. The speed with which Creighton was able to pitch the ball had previously been thought of as impossible without movement of either his elbow or wrist. Although any movement was imperceptible, opponents and spectators believed them to be illegal.
Playing for the Excelsior of Brooklyn
Excelsior of Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Excelsiors were an amateur baseball team that played in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1854, the Excelsior ballclub featured stars such as Jim Creighton, Asa Brainard, and Candy Cummings.-1860 Championship Season:...
from 1860 to 1862, at the the height of his popularity, he injured himself in a game in October 1862 when he suffered a ruptured abdominal hernia hitting a home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
. The internal bleeding this created subsequently caused his death four days later. A repected member of both baseball and cricket
Cricket
Cricket 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...
communities, his death caused concern in each that public perception would considered them dangerous, which could hurt their popularity.
Early life
Creighton was born on April 15, 1841 in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, a borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, to James and Jane, but was raised in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. By the age of 16, he had become well-known in the Brooklyn area for his batting skills in both baseball and cricket. In 1857, he, along with other neighborhood youths, formed Young America, a local baseball club. Amateur ballclubs during this era spent much of their time practicing and playing intrasquad games, with occasional matches against other clubs. Youth America played a few games before disbanding, and Creighton became a member of Niagra of Brooklyn as their second baseman
Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
.
Discovery by the Stars
Relief pitcher
A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...
. Using what was described as a "low, swift delivery", Creighton threw the ball unthinkably hard for the time. With the balls "rising from the ground past the shoulder to the catcher", the Star batsmen were unable to hit them effectively. The Star batsmen claimed that he used an illegal snap of the wrist to deliver the pitch. Creighton called it his "speedball", while he also threw a high-arcing slower pitched called a "dew-drop". At the time, the rules of baseball stated that a pitcher must deliver the ball underhanded, locked straight at the elbow and the wrist. It was the duty of the pitcher to make it easy for the batter to hit the ball; fielding the ball was considered the game's true skill. Although the Star Club prevailed, Creighton became their new member following the game.
Before the 1860 season, Creighton left the Star Club and joined one of the highest-profile clubs in the game at the time, Excelsior of Brooklyn
Excelsior of Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Excelsiors were an amateur baseball team that played in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1854, the Excelsior ballclub featured stars such as Jim Creighton, Asa Brainard, and Candy Cummings.-1860 Championship Season:...
. In 1860, with their new star pitcher, they were becoming a national sensation. The Excelsior Club organized the first known national tour, which the played local teams down the East Coast of the United States
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
. That first season, Crieghton scored 47 runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
in 20 match games, and was retired just 56 times, not once striking out
Strike Out
Strike Out, , North American Harness racing championStrike Out was born in 1969 at Castleton Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, and is by Bret Hanover out of the mare Golden Miss....
. On November 8, in a game against the St. George Cricket Club, he recorded baseball's first shutout
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
. In 1862, Creighton became the game's best batter, in addition to his pitching. During that year, he was retired just four times, either as a batter or baserunner
Baserunning
In baseball, baserunning is the act of running around the bases performed by members of the team at bat.In general, baserunning is a tactical part of the game with the goal of eventually reaching home to score a run. In fact, the goal of batting is generally to produce baserunners, or help move...
.At the time, players out on the basepaths were charged with the out, instead of the batter as today.
When observing Creighton pitch a baseball, English Cricketer John Lillywhite
John Lillywhite
John Lillywhite was an English cricketer during the game's roundarm era....
commented, "Why, that man is not bowling, he is throwing underhand. It is the best disguised underhand throwing I ever saw, and might readily be taken for a fair delivery." Another observer said that his pitch was "as swift as [if] it was shot out of cannon." Exclesior teammate John Chapman
Jack Chapman
John Curtis "Jack" Chapman was an American Major League Baseball player and manager who was born in Brooklyn, New York. He began playing in the National Association when he played for the Brooklyn Atlantics and the St. Louis Brown Stockings. In , when the National League formed, he became the...
later in his life wrote that Creighton "...had wonderful speed, and, with it, splendid command. He was fairly unhittable." Others, especially the conservative members among the baseball community, complained that not only were his pitched illegal, but also unsportsman-like. After holding the famed rival Brooklyn Atlantics
Brooklyn Atlantics
The Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn was baseball's first champion and its first dynasty.Established in 1855, Atlantic was a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players in 1857. In 1859, with a record of 11 wins and 1 loss, Atlantic emerged as the recognized champions of...
to five runs, an extraordinarily low total for the era, the Brooklyn Eagle
Brooklyn Eagle
The Brooklyn Daily Bulletin began publishing when the original Eagle folded in 1955. In 1996 it merged with a newly revived Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and now publishes a morning paper five days a week under the Brooklyn Daily Eagle name...
dispatched a reporter to determine whether or not his pitch was legal; in the end, it was determined he was throwing a "fair square pitch", rather than a "jerk" or an "underhand throw."
Professionalism
During this era of baseball, the game was strictly an amateur sport. However, this rule was circumvented by many clubs to retain star players. They did this by hiring the player in a created position in the Club's administration, with the understanding that there no actual duties required. In 1860, the Excelsior Club ultimately prevailed over their cross-town rivals by luring Creighton, along with teammate George Flanley, thus are believed to be the first "professional" baseball players. After winning the National Association championship in 1860, Creighton and teammate Asa BrainardAsa Brainard
Asahel "Asa" Brainard , nicknamed "Count", was the ace pitcher of the original Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first fully professional baseball team, after having pitched for the Excelsior club of Brooklyn, New York....
, jumped from the Excelsior Club to the Atlantic Club of Brooklyn
Brooklyn Atlantics
The Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn was baseball's first champion and its first dynasty.Established in 1855, Atlantic was a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players in 1857. In 1859, with a record of 11 wins and 1 loss, Atlantic emerged as the recognized champions of...
. This move lasted only three weeks, and without having played any games, both players returned to the Excelsior Club. While this practise spread over all of baseball in the coming years, open professionalism didn't begin until the 1869 season, with the Cincinnati Red Stockings
Cincinnati Red Stockings
The 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,...
paying a salary to each member of the team.
Cricket
Creighton was considered a prominent member of the cricketCricket
Cricket 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...
community, playing for pleasure and for pay. He performed for the American Cricket Club in both 1861 and 1862, often playing against the all-England team whenever he could, whether at the Elysian Fields
Elysian Fields
-General use:* Elysium, in Greek mythology, the final resting places of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous- Places :* Elysian Fields, Hoboken, New Jersey, site of the first organized baseball game* Elysian Fields Avenue, New Orleans* Elysian Fields, Texas...
or elsewhere. Though the English teams would dominate these matches, Creighton faired well. In a match of 11 Englishmen against 16 Americans, he clean bowled
Bowling (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler; a bowler who is also a competent batsman is known as an all-rounder...
five wicket
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...
s out of six successive balls.
Death
Double (baseball)
In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....
in four at bat
At bat
In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance...
s during the first five innings while Brainard pitched. In the sixth he took over pitching duties. In his next at bat he hit a home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
, however, he suffered an injury during his swing.Players of the held the bat with their hands separated and swung by twisting their upper-body with little or no movement of the wrists. Creighton commented to Flanley when he crossed home plate that he heard something snap, thinking that it might have been his belt. After the game he began to experience severe pain in his abdomen, hemorrhaging from what was reported at the time a ruptured bladder.Aided by modern medical understanding, the injury was most-likely a ruptured inguinal hernia. He died in his home on October 18 at the age of 21 years. He was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 as a rural cemetery in Brooklyn, Kings County , New York. It was granted National Historic Landmark status in 2006 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.-History:...
in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
.
Though it is generally accepted that he fatally injured himself while playing baseball, it was reported that the Excelsior president, Dr. Jones, made comments during the National Association convention of 1862 in attempt to "correct" the notion that Creighton had suffered the injury while playing cricket instead of baseball. At the time, Cricket was the most popular sport in the United States, but Creighton and the Excelsiors had brought considerable notoriety to baseball. It is thought that his remarks were his attempt to save baseball's image as having nearly-equal standing with cricket, as well as his team's legacy considering that they had now lost their best player.
In an 1887 issue of early sports newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
The Sporting Life
Sporting Life (US sports journal)
The Sporting Life is a defunct US newspaper published in Philadelphia, PA, that ran from 1883 to 1917 and from 1922 to 1924.A British paper of the same name ran from 1859 to 1998....
, a letter-writer, who signed only as "Old Timer", sent in his account of the event. Robert Smith (Baseball in America, Holt Rinehart Winston, 1961, p. 10,13) as well as the Findagrave website http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3296 reported it is a ruptured bladder. Others speculate that it was some already-present injury or disease, or that his appendix
Vermiform appendix
The appendix is a blind-ended tube connected to the cecum , from which it develops embryologically. The cecum is a pouchlike structure of the colon...
or spleen
Spleen
The spleen is an organ found in virtually all vertebrate animals with important roles in regard to red blood cells and the immune system. In humans, it is located in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. It removes old red blood cells and holds a reserve of blood in case of hemorrhagic shock...
had burst after the game. Contemporary writers were vague, only stating that he had suffered a "strain".
Such was his fame at the time of his death, and such was the grief of the baseball community, that a 12-foot marble obelisk, topped with a large baseball, was erected at his grave site. For the next several years, the Excelsiors' programs had a portrait of their fallen star, shrouded in black, featured prominently in the center.