The first known box score appears in the New York Morning News
The first known box score appears in the New York Morning News
On October 22, 1845 – The first known box score appears in the New York Morning News. Alexander Cartwright’s notation detailing the game comes a month after some of his fellow Knickerbockers write the first set of rules.
He documented statistics like runs, hits, put outs, assists and errors for the dominant Brooklyn Excelsiors club. Additionally, Chadwick recorded the pitchers’ strikeouts, denoting them with the letter ‘K. Cartwright, wrote for New York Clipper and Sunday Mercury.
“The box score was the only way of showing the game, there really was no photography,” said Chadwick biographer Andrew Schiff. “So the writer really was the person at the center between the fans and the player at the game.”