“Sutton followed with a safe grounder, and Ham’s muff of Carleton’s grounder sent the latter to first and filled the bases.” “Defeat of the Rockford Club by the Cleveland Nine,” Chicago Tribune, May 8, 1871, p4
Previous earliest use (Dickson Baseball Dictionary, 3rd edition, 2009):
1884. (De Witt’s Base-Ball Guide, p.47; Edward J. Nichols).
