Famous Baseball Firsts in the Dead Ball Era by Baseball Almanac

Dead Ball Era Famous Firsts

Parks are rebuilt and walls are closed in as admission to baseball games becomes as normal as the game itself. Ten thousand dollars a year is paid to a player and U.S. Presidents will do more than attend games when they start throwing pitches and begin a tradition.

The Opening Day pitch, the birth of the "World Series" and countless other historic occassions mark this, the Dead Ball Era of famous baseball firsts.

"There ain't much to being a ballplayer if you're a ballplayer." - Hall of Famer (and the first 20^th Century player to reach the 3,000 hit plateau) Honus Wagner

The Dead Ball Era 1901 - 1919
Date	Famous Firsts in the Dead Ball Era Event Description
04-17-1901	First American League game is played: White Sox 8 versus Broncos 2.
06-03-1902	Mike O'Neill of the St. Louis Cardinals hits the Major League's (and National League's) first pinch-hit grand slam in history — which was also the first grand slam hit in the 20^th century.
1903	First "moving-picture" of a baseball game is made.
1903	First World Series between the American League (Boston Americans) and National League (Pittsburgh Pirates) is played.
10-01-1903	First World Series game is played and Pittsburgh defeats the mighty Americans 7-3 making the Pirates the first team to win a single Fall Classic game.
10-13-1903	The Pirates & Americans go to a deciding Game 8 during the 1903 World Series and the American League Boston Americans win the game 3-0 to become the first champions of a modern World Series match-up (taking five games & losing three).
1905	Roger Bresnahan is the first to wear a helmet in a game.
07-01-1905	Frank Owen is the first American League pitcher to throw two complete game wins in the same day.
09-26-1908	Ed Reulbach is the first pitcher to throw two shutouts in one day.
04-12-1909	Shibe Park in Philadelphia opens and it is the first ballpark made from concrete and steel.
04-12-1909	Doc Powers is the first baseball related death when he crashes into the wall trying to catch a popup fly. He finishes the game, has surgery when it's over, two more after that, then passes away on 04-26-1909.
07-19-1909	Neal Ball is the first American League player to turn an unassisted triple play.
04-14-1910	President Taft is the first president to throw "the" first pitch.
07-19-1910	Cy Young wins his five-hundredth game and is the first and only pitcher to achieve five-hundred plus wins.
1911	First cork-n-rubber center ball appears in a Major League game.
06-09-1914	Honus Wagner is the first twentieth century player to get three-thousand hits.
1915	New York Yankees wear pinstriped uniforms for the first time.
1915	Eddie Plank is first southpaw to win three-hundred games.
1916	Sam Crawford is first and only player with three-hundred plus triples.
09-24-1916	Marty Kavanagh of the Cleveland Indians hits the American League's first pinch-hit grand slam in history and helps his team defeat the Red Sox 5-3.
06-27-1917	Hank Gowdy is the first player to enter World War I.
1918	First shortened Major League season occurs due to World War I.
1919	The first World Series fix and baseball tragedy — 1919 World Series & 1919 Chicago White Sox.
Date	Event Description
Famous Firts in the Dead Ball Era

Honus Wagner became the first twentieth century 3,000 Hit Club member during the Dead Ball Era — and the first "un-debateable" member.

What else happened during this era? Two (2) shutouts by one (1) pitcher in the same day and the first player makes to receive a ten thousand dollar a year salary.

The first Presidential pitch took place on April 14, 1910, and a baseball tradition was born. Visit our U.S. Presidents section to see every instance where a sitting President visited a Major League ballgame and read more presidential firsts.

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