First Base Hit (1869)

“If you make a first base hit it immediately plays ‘Jordan is a hard road to travel….” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 29, 1869, p2. [Whimsical article about a supposed Musical Base Ball Bat that plays a different tune depending on how hard the ball is hit. Different tunes for a first base hit, a second base hit, a third base hit, and a home run, as well as for a ball caught on the fly and one missed by a fielder. [Ken Liss]

Previous earliest use (Dickson Baseball Dictionary, 3rd edition, 2009):
1ST USE. 1871. “Each nine made 13 first base hits” (The Cleveland Morning Herald, Aug. 14).

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