Did Henry Finch Hit Baseball’s 1st Ever Traditional Home Run?
An old man claimed to have been the person who accomplished an important first in the history of the sport
Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds are the names most typically bandied about when a discussion of baseball’s home run king comes about. They certainly hit the most, but there are other titans of the long ball for a variety of other reasons. Certainly, the most obscure has to be a man named Henry Finch, who claimed a century ago that he was the first player to ever hit a proper over the fence homer.
A piece that appeared in the December 27, 1922 issue of the Green Bay Press-Gazette detailed the story of Henry Finch of Roswell, Colorado. The 76-year-old man was old enough to have played baseball before there was a professional game. Indeed, he even claimed he took the field with George and Harry Wright, two brothers who were future Hall of players who pioneered the process of playing for pay.
Finch was adamant that he was the father of the home run. While players before him certainly made their way around the bases on home runs of the inside the park variety, he claimed himself to be the first man to clear the fences with a blast.
