James Henry Foran (c. 1847 – November 29, 1906) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, and a participant in the first game ever played in a professional baseball league, between his

Fort Wayne Kekiongas The Fort Wayne Kekiongas were a professional baseball team, notable for winning the first professional league game on May 4, 1871. Though based in Fort Wayne, they were usually listed in game reports as simply "Kekionga" or "the Kekiongas", per the ...

and the

Cleveland Forest Citys The Forest Citys were a short lived professional baseball team based in Cleveland in the early 1870s. The actual name of the team, as shown in standings, was Forest City, not "Cleveland". The name "Forest Citys" was used in the same generic sty ...

on May 4, 1871. Foran had one single in four at-bats, one of only four hits Ft. Wayne had that day; nonetheless, the Kekiongas won, 2-0. Foran first played in the amateur

NABBP The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was the first organization governing American baseball (spelled as two words in the 19th century). The first convention of 16 New York City area clubs was held at Smith's Hotel, 462 Broome ...

in 1869, holding down third base for the original

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

. He is credited with 147 hits and 147 runs scored against only 89 "hands lost" (one of the best marks on the club), leading the Athletics to a 45-8 record. (A batter was given a "hand lost" every time he made at out at bat or on the base paths.) In 1870, he moved to the Union club of

Lansingburgh, New York Lansingburgh is a village in the north end of Troy, New York, United States. It was first laid out in lots and incorporated in 1771 by Abraham Jacob Lansing, who had purchased the land in 1763. In 1900, Lansingburgh became part of the City of Tr ...

(who changed their name to the better-known

Troy Haymakers The Troy Haymakers were an American professional baseball team. History Established in 1860 as the Union Base Ball Club Lansingburgh, located in neighboring Lansingburgh, New York, the Haymakers participated in the first professional pennant ra ...

in 1871); Foran played the outfield and notched 109 hits in 39 games. The following season, with the advent of the all-professional National Association, Foran headed to

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

—easily the smallest city in the fledgling circuit. He played mostly first base, but did appear in three games in the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

. In total, he appeared in 19

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

as a member of the Kekiongas, and had a .348

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, with 31

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

in 89

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s—by far the best on the team, and 13th-best in the entire Association. Foran also led the team in hits,

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

RBIs A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, and tied for the team lead in

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, with one. Despite the presence of Foran and 19-year-old pitcher

Bobby Mathews Robert T. Mathews (November 21, 1851 – April 17, 1898) was an American right-handed professional baseball pitcher who played in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, the National League of Major League Baseball and th ...

(who would go on to win nearly 300 MLB games), the Kekiongas franchise folded after compiling a 7-12 record, finishing seventh among the nine teams in the league. Foran never again played in MLB, but, after making his way to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, did play for San Francisco and Oakland clubs in the original

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

from 1879-81. Jim Foran died in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, and is interred at the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Newark.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foran, Jim Major League Baseball first basemen Philadelphia Athletics (NABBP) players Troy Haymakers (NABBP) players Fort Wayne Kekiongas players Baseball players from Pennsylvania 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen 1840s births 1906 deaths San Francisco Knickerbockers players San Francisco Eagles players San Francisco (minor league baseball) players Oakland (minor league baseball) players