Baseball's First Formal Game

This famous lithograph by Currier & Ives is of Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey. This was the first formal match game between men's teams, the Knickerbockers versus the New Yorks. It was played on June 19, 1846.

Top hats were worn by spectators of that era, as depicted in the crowd on the right. The individual wearing the overcoat in the foreground, unidentified, is presumed to be the umpire of the game.

Imagine if one of the spectators were keeping score during the game. There would be a written record of the first formal game of baseball ever played.