“In the fifth inning, owing to the sore arm of Morris, I. Miller took the box for the first time during this series of games, and fanned the batters out in order as they faced him.” Santa Maria [CA] Times, October 8, 1887, p3
- NOTE: There is also this cute poem from the Daily Times of Davenport, IA on May 3, 1889
There comes a voice from Peoria, From the Illinois' muddy shore; It is a wail of anguish— We have been "scooped" once more. McCauley got his work in, With his curvelets, swift and slow, And he fanned our hardest hitters— D—n that south-paw twirler, O.
Previous earliest use (Dickson Baseball Dictionary, 3rd edition, 2009):
1ST USE. 1903. “[Rube Waddell] ‘fanned’ twelve of the St. Louis Browns” (Chicago Tribune, July 19; Peter Morris).
