Henry Chadwick (October 5, 1824 – April 20, 1908) was an English-American sportswriter, baseball statistician and historian, often called the "Father of Baseball" for his early reporting on and contributions to the development of the game.
Biographer Andrew Schiff writes that Henry Chadwick "was not brought up to value possessions or with an understanding of commerce and trade; rather he received an education that was drenched in moral philosophy and science." He began to write music and to teach piano and guitar. In 1848, Chadwick married Jane Botts from Richmond, Virginia.
Chadwick and his wife had three children, Richard Westlake Chadwick, in 1849, Susan Mary Chadwick, in 1851, and Rose Virginia Chadwick, 1853. Chadwick became a frequent player of cricket and similar ball games such as rounders.
Chadwick and his wife had three children, Richard Westlake Chadwick, in 1849, Susan Mary Chadwick, in 1851, and Rose Virginia Chadwick, 1853. Chadwick became a frequent player of cricket and similar ball games such as rounders.
Chadwick and his wife had three children, Richard Westlake Chadwick, in 1849, Susan Mary Chadwick, in 1851, and Rose Virginia Chadwick, 1853. Chadwick became a frequent player of cricket and similar ball games such as rounders.
He first came across organized baseball in 1856 as a cricket reporter for The New York Times; he watched a match between New York's Eagles and Gothams.
In 1857 he focused his attention as a journalist and writer on baseball after joining the New York Clipper, and was also soon hired on to provide coverage for other New York papers including the Sunday Mercury. ==Contributions to baseball== ===Promotion of the game=== Chadwick was one of the prime movers in the rise of baseball to its popularity at the turn of the 20th century.
The first box score appeared in an 1859 issue of the Clipper.
Chadwick assigned numbers to each defensive position for scorekeeping purposes, a system that remains in modern baseball scorekeeping. Newspapers had previously tallied runs scored, but Chadwick's 1859 box score looked similar in structure to modern ones.
They ignored that element of it and that did distort the game for a lot of people." The box score was popularized in 1925 when Baseball Magazine republished Chadwick's 1859 Clipper article. Chadwick is credited with devising statistical measures such as batting average and earned run average (ERA).
In his 1861 Beadle guide, he listed totals of games played, outs, runs, [run]s, and strikeouts for hitters on prominent clubs, the first database of its kind.
In 1864, the bound rule was eliminated for balls hit into fair territory.
His goal was to provide numerical evidence to prove which players helped a team to win. In 1867 he accompanied the National Base Ball Club of Washington D.C.
It is typical of his style of sports journalism, and that of his time: A Base Ball tourney had been held in Chicago on July 4, 1867, in which the Excelsiors of that city and the Forest City Club, of Rockford, had been the leading contestants.
Bill James and John Thorn are among the award's recipients. A collection of historical baseball items, which featured a letter written by Chadwick on the origins of baseball, sold at auction in 2004 for $310,500. Chadwick was inducted to the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame during 2020. Chadwick, through the Spalding Athletic Library collection, added "The Ancient History of Base Ball" in 1867 and "Technical Terms of Base Ball" in 1897.
Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ==External links== Hall of Fame graves – Gravesites of Baseball Hall of Famers The Game of Base Ball (1868)—Complete text of Chadwick's 1868 book Review of "The Father of Baseball: A Biography of Henry Chadwick" Green-Wood Cemetery Burial Search 1824 births 1908 deaths National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees American sportswriters Baseball developers Baseball writers English emigrants to the United States Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery People from Exeter
In 1874 was instrumental in organizing a tour of England which included games of both baseball and cricket.
Chadwick later willed his baseball library to Spalding. Author William Cook wrote that "Chadwick was at times a bit self-aggrandizing, but his heart was always deeply rooted in looking after the best interest of the game." An 1876 Chicago Tribune article attacked Chadwick's status as the father of baseball, saying in part that Chadwick "has had enough experience to have made himself a man of respect had heaven but given him a head ...
The bound rule for foul balls persisted into the 1880s. Chadwick edited The Beadle Dime Base-Ball Player, the first annual baseball guide on public sale, as well as the Spalding and Reach annual guides for a number of years and in this capacity promoted the game and influenced the infant discipline of sports journalism.
Bill James and John Thorn are among the award's recipients. A collection of historical baseball items, which featured a letter written by Chadwick on the origins of baseball, sold at auction in 2004 for $310,500. Chadwick was inducted to the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame during 2020. Chadwick, through the Spalding Athletic Library collection, added "The Ancient History of Base Ball" in 1867 and "Technical Terms of Base Ball" in 1897.
In late 1905, he wrote the editor of The New York Times to propose widening of the baseball bat to overcome the advantage that pitchers had established in the game.
Henry Chadwick (October 5, 1824 – April 20, 1908) was an English-American sportswriter, baseball statistician and historian, often called the "Father of Baseball" for his early reporting on and contributions to the development of the game.
In his letter, Chadwick noted that some cricket experts had advocated for the narrowing of the cricket bat to bring balance to the advantage that belonged to the batter in that game. In the winter before the 1908 baseball season, Chadwick was struck by an automobile and was bedridden for several weeks.
They ignored that element of it and that did distort the game for a lot of people." The box score was popularized in 1925 when Baseball Magazine republished Chadwick's 1859 Clipper article. Chadwick is credited with devising statistical measures such as batting average and earned run average (ERA).
He was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938. ==Early life== Chadwick was born in Exeter, England.
Henry Chadwick is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. ==Legacy== For his contributions to the game of baseball, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1938.
Bill James and John Thorn are among the award's recipients. A collection of historical baseball items, which featured a letter written by Chadwick on the origins of baseball, sold at auction in 2004 for $310,500. Chadwick was inducted to the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame during 2020. Chadwick, through the Spalding Athletic Library collection, added "The Ancient History of Base Ball" in 1867 and "Technical Terms of Base Ball" in 1897.
He was inducted in the same ceremony as Alexander Cartwright. In 2009, the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) established the Henry Chadwick Award to honor the outstanding contributions of baseball researchers.
Bill James and John Thorn are among the award's recipients. A collection of historical baseball items, which featured a letter written by Chadwick on the origins of baseball, sold at auction in 2004 for $310,500. Chadwick was inducted to the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame during 2020. Chadwick, through the Spalding Athletic Library collection, added "The Ancient History of Base Ball" in 1867 and "Technical Terms of Base Ball" in 1897.
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