Duncan Curry

Pioneer
  • Card series: Pioneer Portraits I: 1850-1874
  • City: New York
  • Team: Knickerbockers

Duncan Curry (1812-1894) is one of a group of illustrious founders of the Grand Old Game. Several have been put forward as the true “Father of Baseball” and Curry’s claim is as sturdy as any. A founder of the Knickerbocker Club (a requisite for paternity), Curry was an integral part of the beginnings of the game, including participation in the “first” game: in Hoboken NJ June 19, 1846.

  • The NJ interlopers destroyed the Knickerbockers in that game 23-1
  • Curry blamed the loss on overconfidence and an opposing pitcher with blinding speed
  • In 1856 Curry’s preferred seven-inning format lost out to Louis Wadsworth’s nine, signaling the transition of the game’s growth out of the hands of the founding Knickerbockers

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