Remembering Base Ball's First Superstar: Jim Creighton

b. April 15, 1841

d. October 18, 1862

Jim Creighton: third from left.

Jim Creighton at 18-years of age began his career in 1859 playing for the Brooklyn Niagaras and the Brooklyn Star Club.  From 1860 until his untimely death on Oct. 18, 1862, Crieghton most famously pitched for the Brooklyn Excelsiors.  He was the star attraction during the Excelsiors famous barnstorming tour of 1860 through western New York, Canada, and the mid-Atlantic states.  He was an instigator of the pitcher versus batter confrontation.  Rather than assist and serve the batter he challenged the opposition with an unaccommodating speed pitch, thus helping change the whole dynamic of the game.  Tragically a match on Oct. 14, 1862, against the Unions of Morrisania (Bronx) turned out being his last.  It is during this match that he is believed to have sustained fatal internal injuries.  He passed away four days later.  Born on April 15, 1841, he was a mere 21-years old.  So respected was Creighton that his team mates and members from throughout the circuit mourned and buried him at Green-Wood Cemetery with a granite pillar topped by a marble baseball dedicated in his honor.  It also serves as one of the first ever monuments commemorating baseball.