“Schmidt, next at bat, gave the hit-and-run sign, with both runners in motion, hit a hard bounder down toward third base where Tannehill of Chicago was playing.” Daily Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, SD), August 25, 1909, p4
Earlier example of term without sense or runners leaving at the pitch:
— “Corcoran set the runners in motion by lively single to right….” Pittsburgh Daily Post, July 31, 1890, p6
No earliest use given in Dickson Baseball Dictionary
