The Fort Wayne Kekiongas

Fort Wayne Kekiongas

The Fort Wayne Kekiongas were a professional baseball team, notable for winning the first professional league game on May 4, 1871. Kekionga - pronounced KEY-key-awn-guh - is the name of Chief Little Turtle's Miami Indian settlement where the St. Joseph River and the St. Mary's River join to form...

played their first and only season in 1871 as a charter member of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players

National Association of Professional Base Ball Players

The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , or simply the National Association , was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season...

. They finished seventh in the league with a record of 7-12.

First game

The honor of playing the first game of the newly-organized National Association of Professional Baseball Players was decided by coin flip.

Bobby Mathews

Bobby Mathews

Robert T. Mathews was an American right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher for twenty years beginning in the late 1860s. He is credited as being one of the inventors of the spitball pitch, which was rediscovered or reintroduced to the major leagues after he died. He is also credited with the...

, 5'5", 140 lbs, and 20 years old, hurled a 2-0 shutout for the Kekiongas. Deacon White

Deacon White

James Laurie "Deacon" White was an American baseball player who was one of the principal stars during the first two decades of the sport's professional era...

, catcher for the Cleveland Forest Citys

Cleveland Forest Citys

The Forest Citys were a short lived professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio in the early 1870s. The actual name of the team, as shown in standings, was Forest City, not "Cleveland". The name "Forest Citys" was used in the same generic style of the day in which the team from Chicago,...

got 3 hits in 4 at-bats; the other Cleveland players only shared 2 hits among them. Deacon White scored the first hit, the first extra-base hit (a double) and was the first to hit into a double-play.

The game was rained out in the top of the 9th inning. Attendance was 200.

Bobby Mathews, who went on to play five seasons each in the National Association, National League, and American Association, is the only player ever to pitch 100 games or to win at least 50 in three different major leagues. He is credited with inventing the spitball and the out-curve. Deacon White was another historic player, ending his 22-year career as playing owner of Buffalo's Brotherhood team.

Regular season

Roster

1871 Fort Wayne Kekiongas
Roster
Pitchers		Catchers Infielders		Outfielders		Manager

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C		12	48	11	.229	0	5
1B		19	89	31	.348	1	18
2B		19	87	20	.230	0	10
SS		19	88	18	.205	0	12
3B		14	65	15	.231	1	10
OF		9	34	7	.206	0	3
OF		12	49	11	.224	0	5
OF		18	67	15	.224	0	7

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
	9	36	8	.222	0	5
	5	25	5	.200	0	2
	6	22	4	.182	0	2
	5	17	4	.235	0	2
	3	12	2	.167	0	1
	2	8	2	.250	0	1
	1	5	1	.200	0	1
	1	3	0	.000	0	0
	1	2	0	.000	0	0

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	19	169	6	11	5.17	17