James Henry O'Rourke was born on the East Side of Bridgeport in 1850, the son of Irish immigrants.
James Henry OâRourke was born on the East Side of Bridgeport in 1850, the son of Irish immigrants.
He grew up playing baseball on the farm and on the fields speckled around the city and in 1872 signed on to play with the Middletown Mansfields of the old National Association. He hit .307 that year for the 5-19 club with four doubles, a triple and 12 RBI.
In 1873 he joined the Boston Red Stockings for three years before joining the Boston Red Caps of the new National League. On April 22, 1876, OâRourke collected the first hit in the history of the league and 22 years later 2,643 hits and a .311 batting average with 465 doubles, 151 triples, 62 homers and 1,203 RBI.
He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945, 26 years after his death.
The Bridgeport Orators vintage base ball team is named in his honor and has taken up the cause of The First Hit, which seeks âto relocate, preserve and maintain the historic home of James Henry OâRourke, presently located at 274 Pembroke Street, as an integral component of Bridgeportâs re-energized waterfront. The house, a valuable example of Victorian architecture, will be transformed into a museum and education center for and about baseball in Bridgeport and Connecticut. Exhibits and activities will celebrate James OâRourke and the cityâs one hundred-plus year legacy of professional and amateur baseball. The museum will foster an appreciation for the place of baseball in America and international culture as well as examine the gameâs impact on the diverse cultures that have found common ground on Bridgeport diamonds.â
The Orators (OâRourke was nicknamed Orator because of his knack for lengthy discourse and rhetoric on the base ball field â not so ironically, he earned a law degree from Yale University in 1887 while a member of the New York Giants) played an exhibition with the Newtown Sandy Hooks last weekend at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard and hosted the vintage base ball festival at Seaside Park and both events benefited The First Hit.
Visit www.thefirsthit.org to learn more.