May 24, 1935 – A landmark event occurred at the ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio. President Franklin D. Roosevelt flicked the switch ceremoniously from the Nation’s Capitol and the lights went on for a Major League baseball game for the first time in history!
Despite the neigh-sayers, National League President Ford Frick embraced the technology in a speech while in attendance saying, “One game of course, but the players were not handicapped in any way that I could see and I believe we will have more of it in 1936.”
Very prophetic words indeed as look at the amount of night baseball games played in this era of the sport. The Reds held on to win it 2-1 over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies in front of a crowd of over 20,000. According to a post on OfftheBenchBaseball.com, there are twice as many MLB night games played nowadays as there are daytime versions.
To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.
More From Sports History Network
Little Big Man: Joey Sternaman of the Chicago Bears
It is now common in the National Football League to have quarterbacks who are
3 Legendary Dirt Bike Events Shaping Riding Culture
The smell of castor oil, the thwap of two-strokes ricocheting off canyon walls, and
The Match Starts at Tea Time: Football Fever and the Numbers Behind Bets
Football fandom here is rarely quiet. It’s the sport that sneaks into daily life:
Football Learning Academy: An Online Resource Of Gridiron History
In this episode, I talk to Ken Crippen about his new company, the Football
Tales From Pro Football Hall of Fame Players (My Personal Accounts)
Roughly twenty years ago, while browsing the Pro Football Hall of Fame website, I
7 Of The Biggest Draws In Boxing History
In this, I am going to discuss famous draws that have occurred in the
Super Bowl XXVIII (Bills vs. Cowboys): An Ultimate Recount of the Game
Today we have Super Bowl XXVIII, which was held on January 30, 1994, at
A Brief History of the New York Yankees of the Early 60s (1960-1964)
In a span of ten years, from 1949 to 1958, the New York Yankees