Kekionga Ball Grounds

41°4′36.7″N 85°9′28.48″W / 41.076861°N 85.1579111°W / 41.076861; -85.1579111

The Kekiongas have a splendid ground for playing upon this year. They have six acres enclosed with a high, tight board fence, measuring 1,900 feet lineal, and seats for the convenience of spectators, with canopy overhead.

— Fort Wayne Daily Gazette, May 21, 1870[1]

The Kekionga Ball Grounds was a baseball field in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Built in 1870, it was located on the site of the former Camp Allen, a Union Army base during the civil war, north of what is now Camp Allen Park, and named for Kekionga, the former capital of the Miami tribe which was located at the site of modern Fort Wayne. The precise size and orientation of the Kekionga Ball Grounds is lost, but it was in area on the left bank of the St. Marys River now bounded by Mechanics Street, Elm Street, Cherry Street, Camp Allen Drive, and Fair Street.[2][1][3]

The first National Association game was played at the Kekionga Ball Grounds on May 4, 1871. This was the first professional baseball league game, the first professional league game in any sport in America, and possibly the first game of Major League Baseball (if one credits the National Association as a major league, which some people do and some don't). The Fort Wayne Kekiongas defeated Cleveland by a score of 2–0. Bobby Mathews pitched the shutout for the Kekiongas; the umpire was John Boake.[4][1][5]

A monument to this first game was placed in 2017.[6]

At the time of the 1871 game, a covered grandstand called the "Grand Dutchess" provided spectator accommodations. The Grand Dutchess was open only to women and men accompanying them. (Some sources give "Grand Duchess" as the name of the ballfield itself, but contemporary records contradict this.)[7] The Grand Duchess burned to the ground on November 5, 1871.[3]

The Kekiongas folded before the end of the 1871 season, so the Kekionga Ball Grounds only hosted eight other major league games.[7]

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  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference LeaguePark was invoked but never defined (see the help page).