National Association

Fort Wayne Kekiongas History

By Patrick Mondout

The Kekionga Base-Ball Club of Fort Wayne (or "Fort Wayne Kekiongas") were a short-lived franchise in the National Association (NA). The team represented Fort Wayne, Indiana and participated in the first ever Major League game.

At a glance... FORT WAYNE KEKIONGAS Franchise Facts Established 1868 Disbanded  1871 Located Fort Wayne, Indiana Executives George Mayers Year by Year Results W L % 1871  7 12 .368 Affiliations NABBP (1868-1870) National Association (1871) Postseason/Titles NA Titles (0) Nicknames Kekionga of Fort Wayne (1871) Ballparks Kekionga Base Ball Grounds (1871) Top Performances Single-Season Career

The team was founded as an amateur team in the old NABBP in 1868, but were never a very good team and it is remarkable that they should hold a relatively important sport in the history of the sport.

The 1870 team was a bit of a joke. They traveled from town to town getting whacked by the local nines and then went home, waited a week or so, and then sent out telegrams saying that they had "reorganized" before heading out for another beating. The March 10, 1871 Chicago Tribune therefore delighted in reporting that the Kekiongas had announced that they had "reorganized" and that they "now feel confident of holding their position among the first clubs of the country during the upcoming season."

The only notable requirement for a team to join the National Association was a $10 entry fee, and hence an obscure and soon-to-be-disbanded team from a small town managed to secure a permanent place in the history of the sport.

The team, which had been made up primarily of former members of the 1870 Maryland Club of Baltimore (C Bill Lennon, P Bobby Mathews, 3B Tom Carey, SS Wally Goldsmith, and CF Ed Mincher), started out strong enough. The Kekionga won the first ever major league game on May 4, 1871 against the Forest Citys of Cleveland. Unfortunately it was one of only seven victories the team would claim before dropping out of the NA.

Former Philadelphia Athletic Jim Foran was the hitting star on the team, leading the Kekionga in just about every offensive category. Despite only being 23 years old, he was never heard from again.

Those interested in the history of baseball in Fort Wayne should check out Chad Gramling's definitive book, Baseball in Fort Wayne and our page on a ballpark in Fort Wayne that was used by the 1902 Cleveland Blues (now known as the Indians).

National Association sources/bibliography:
Baseball: The Early Years by Harold Seymour.
Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search For The Roots Of The Game by David Block.
Baseball in Blue and Gray: The National Pastime during the Civil War by George B. Kirsch.
Blackguards and Red Stockings by William J. Ryczek
The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 by Marshall D. Wright.
Playing for Keeps: A History of Early Baseball by Warren Goldstein.
When Johnny Came Sliding Home: The Post-Civil War Baseball Boom, 1865-1870 by William J. Ryczek

David Nemec, the tireless 19th Century Baseball researcher, has also written a novel called Early Dreams, which takes place during this era and features real-life characters such as Cap Anson, George Wright, and Henry Lucas.

General Baseball History sources/bibliography:
Baseball: A History of America's Game by Benjamin G. Rader.
Baseball: A Film By Ken Burns (PBS DVD)
The Formation, Sometimes Absorption and Mostly Inevitable Demise of 18 Professional Baseball Organizations, 1871 to Present by David Pietrusza.
The Great 19th Century Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball, 2nd Edition by David Nemec.
Early Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1825-1908 by Dean A. Sullivan.
Middle Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1900-1948 by Dean A. Sullivan.
Late Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball 1945-1972 by Dean A. Sullivan
Past Time: Baseball as History by Jules Tygiel
America's National Game: Historic Facts Concerning the Beginning, Evolution, Development and Popularity of Baseball by Albert Spalding
Total Baseball: The Ultimate Baseball Encyclopedia by John Thorn, et al.