“…. Smith being a diminitive but highly sagacious backstop ….” The Junction [KS] City Union, June 23, 1866, p1
Previous earliest use (Dickson Baseball Dictionary, 3rd edition, 2009):
1884. “[Rudolph Kemmler] looks like a back-stop when he wears the body protector.” Columbus Dispatch, May 21, 1884. [Peter Morris]
