America's First Baseball Star

America's First Baseball Star James Creighton (1841 - 1862), a phenomenal pitcher and batter, dominated baseball's amateur era. The movement, vement, command and velocity of his pitches overwhelmed opposing batters, spurring the transformation of the pitcher from a mere server into a decisive weapon. He paved the way toward the modern game, where the battle to control the strike zone is paramount. In 1860, Creighton led the champion Brooklyn Excelsions on a multi-state tour. They defeated all comers, usually by astronomical scores, and inspired clubs across the country to take up the "New York Game" - which soon became the National Pastime. Many locals were so impressed by Jim that they named their teams the Creightons. Jim Creighton's shocking death at the age of twenty-one — from a strangulated intestine — only increased his fame. A popular mounted image of Creighton is considered the first baseball card. His grave here, baseball's first monument, became a place of pilgrimage, at which players and fans paid homage to baseball's first national star.