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Jefferson Street Grounds

Jefferson Street Grounds was a baseball field located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was most commonly referred to by the club and in the press by its location, Twenty-Fifth and Jefferson Streets. It was first home to the amateur Olympic Base Ball Club beginning to 1864 when it was referred to as the Olympic Ball Ground. It was home to three different professional baseball teams, competing in three different leagues. Notably, it was the venue for the first game in National League history, played on April 22, 1876. The grounds were owned by the City of Philadelphia and leased to the teams.

Baseball had first been played on the site in 1864. Several local clubs held their games there, including the historic Olympic Ball Club of Philadelphia, which had begun playing various varieties of town ball starting in the early 1830s and had adopted the "New York game" by 1860. When they began playing at the Jefferson site, the diamond was situated at the southeast corner, at 25th (first base) and Master (third base). The Olympics built a clubhouse along Master. Jefferson was behind right field. Local newspapers typically gave the ballfield location as "25th and Jefferson".

The grounds would be home to three different professional teams:

The grounds were located on a large block bounded by Jefferson Street (north); 25th Street (east); Master Street (south); and 27th Street (west). Across the street to the south was the Spring Garden Reservoir, which has since been filled in. Although often listed as one ballpark, the 1870s diamond was located in the opposite corner of the block from the 1880s diamond.

One of the first games was played on May 25, 1864 between selected players from New Jersey and Pennsylvania for the benefit of the Sanitary Commission. The field was referred to as the "Olympic Ball Ground, adjoining the Spring Garden Basin." More than 2,000 spectators saw the New Jersey nine defeat the Pennsylvania team 18-10. The following day, May 26, 1864, Athletic played a team of players from New York, Brooklyn, and Newark.

On September 3, 1869, Olympic hosted the Pythian in what the Philadelphia Inquirer described as "perhaps the first base ball game of the kind" between a white and black club. Octavius Catto played second base and batted second for Pythian. Olympic won the game 44-23 before a large crowd that overflowed the ropes and obstructed much of the last two innings of the game with on hand police making little effort to control it. Pythian were reported to have "acquitted themselves in a very creditable manner."

On March 27, 1871, the Inquirer reported, "Last week work was begun upon the Athletic Base Ball Club's new grounds, at Twenty-fifth and Jefferson Streets. A substantial board fence, ten feet high, is to be erected and other improvements made... The pavilions now on the old ground will be placed on the left of the catcher's position, and additional seats will be provided and so arranged that every spectator can have a perfect and unobstructed view of the game."

The first game was scheduled for April 10, 1871 at 3pm against a picked nine of local players including former players of the city's Olympic Club. Work on the facility had not yet been completed and it was anticipated that the expected nice weather would allow it to be completed in the following days. Athletic defeated the picked nine 19-4 before 3,000 fans.

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