Night game

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the film see Night Game (movie)
A night game at Fenway Park.
A night game at Fenway Park.

A night game in Major League Baseball is a game that takes place, completely or partially, after the local sunset.

Contents

[edit] Baseball

Although night games played under artificial illumination dated back to the 1880s and were introduced in minor league baseball in the late 1920s, they were initially dismissed as an unwelcome gimmick by the big-league clubs. The first night game in Major League history occurred on May 24, 1935, when the Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 at Crosley Field.[1] The original plan was that the Reds would play seven night games each season, one against each visiting club.[2] Night baseball quickly found acceptance in other Major League cities and eventually became the norm; the term "day game" was subsequently coined to designate the increasingly rarer afternoon contests.

The last non-expansion/non-relocated team to play all their home games in the daytime were the Chicago Cubs; they played their first official night game in Wrigley Field on August 8, 1988, and beat the New York Mets 6-4.[3]

The first night All-Star Game was held at Philadelphia's Shibe Park in 1943, while the first World Series night game was Game 4 of the 1971 Series at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

[edit] Other Sports

The term has also been adopted by other outdoor stadium sports such as American football. The first night football game was played in Mansfield, Pennsylvania on September 28, 1892 between Mansfield State Normal and Wyoming Seminary. The world’s first night football game ended bitterly in a 0-0 tie.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Night Baseball Comes to the Majors. CrosleyField.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
  2. ^ Hy Hurwitz, "Cronin Urges More Clubs to Put Player Names on Uniforms" The Sporting News, May 3, 1963, page 4.
  3. ^ Wrigley Field History. MLB.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
  4. ^ Mansfield, Pennsylvania - It happened one night - First Football under lights - Mansfield PA 1892

[edit] External links

Languages