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Henry Chadwick
From BR Bullpen
Henry Chadwick
- Bats Unknown, Throws Unknown
- Born October 5, 1824 in Exeter, Devon, England
- Died April 20, 1908 in Brooklyn, NY USA
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1938
[edit] Biographical Information
Henry Chadwick invented sports journalism. He wrote baseball's first rule book. While he was credited for inventing the box score, Chadwick was the one who modified the box score already in existence and used in cricket and developed it to reflect baseball's particular characteristics. Chadwick introduced statistics such as batting average, which was originally based on runs scored, not hits, divided by bats. He was the first to tabulate singles, doubles, triples and home runs. Chadwick was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on September 13, 1938 by the Centennial Commission.
Born in England in 1824, he was able to use his knowledge of the game of cricket to inform his understanding of the new game of baseball. However, late in life, he wrote an article asserting that the game of rounders was the game from which baseball had derived. He felt that rounders was a children's game, but that baseball had evolved from it by capturing virtues unique to the American spirit and was thus fit to be the country's "national pastime".
Known as "the father of baseball", he died after catching cold while attending a baseball game in April of 1908. Albert Spalding, who had disputed his theory of baseball's origin by claiming the game had originated with Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, NY, received his papers after his death. The years have confirmed Chadwick's views of baseball's origins, but the myth propagated by Spalding has remained vivid, with the Hall of Fame's location in Cooperstown serving as a permanent marker of that legend.
His plaque at the Hall of Fame says: "Baseball's preeminent pioneer writer for half a century. Inventor of the box score. Author of the first rule book in 1858. Chairman of Rules Committee in first nation-wide baseball organization."
He wrote the first hardcover baseball book. He edited the first publicly-sold guide, Beadle's Dime Baseball Player, and also edited other guides such as the Reach Guide and the Spalding Guide. The Hall of Fame contains an original copy of the 1860 Beadle's Dime Baseball Player, and the Hall of Fame store sells a reproduction of that book, listing Henry Chadwick as author on the cover and giving rules for baseball, rounders, and townball.
[edit] Further Reading
- Andrew J. Schiff: The Father of Baseball: The Biography of Henry Chadwick, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2008.
- Andrew J. Schiff: "Henry Chadwick: The 'Father of Baseball' was a Sportswriter", in The National Pastime, SABR, Volume 28 (2008), pp. 26-29.
