“The Ram infield fell apart when they saw their ace pitcher turn yellow and run as Ozark charged the mound!”. Ray Gotto, Ozark Ike, August 11, 1949. (Syndicated comic strip)
NOTE: The phrase is used as part of a several-day story line in which the comic strip character Ozark Ike hits a home run off notorious beanball pitcher Fearless Flap Jackson and then charges the mound when Jackson beans the next batter. The phrase “charged toward the mound” appeared as early as 1938 (in an incident when Yankee batter Jake Powell went after Red Sox pitcher Archie McCain after being hit by a pitch), but the comic has the earliest known use of the zippier “charged the mound.”
No earliest use given in 2009 Dickson Baseball Dictionary
