An Exeter baseball ground will be named after Henry Chadwick, a Devon native honored as “the father of baseball” by President Theodore Roosevelt, in celebration of the 200th anniversary of his birth.
Born in Exeter in 1824, Chadwick emigrated to the United States as a child and went on to write baseball’s first rule book, earning a place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Exeter Spitfires baseball team has acquired land to build its inaugural home diamond, which will be named Chadwick Field in his honor. Matthew Cousins, chairman of the Spitfires, noted the remarkable coincidence that Chadwick was born less than a mile from the new site. He remarked, “In his autobiography, he mentioned playing a game similar to baseball on these very fields, making it fitting that we commemorate that 200 years later.”
The club recently held a “turf cutting” ceremony at the future site of the field, which is slated for completion by 2026.
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Chadwick, who was born in October 1824, is the only journalist inducted into the Hall of Fame, located in Cooperstown, New York. Tom Shieber, curator of the Hall, stated, “Henry Chadwick was a passionate advocate for baseball and for improving the game. It’s wonderful to see Exeter celebrating the significant contributions he made to America’s national pastime.”
