“[I]f he crowds the plate, put it over the inside corner. Then he will be hitting the ball — if he hits it — either near his fingers or with the tip of his bat.” “The Way He Does It,” The Montreal Gazette, September 19, 1898, p6
Previous earliest use (Dickson Baseball Dictionary, 3rd edition, 2009):
1901 (Burt L. Standish, Frank Merriwell’s Marvel, p. 154; Edward J. Nichols).
