Henry Dobson

Hervie Alden Dobson

• Born July 3, 1842 in South Apalachin, NY USA
• Died November 27, 1942 in Madison, WI USA

Biographical Information

Henry Dobson was a Civil War veteran who had lost a leg either in the conflict or in a later accident. A baseball fanatic, he was a correspondent for the New York Clipper while working for the Treasury Department in Washington, DC, covering entertainment news and the Washington Olympics, who then joined the newly-formed National Association. On May 5, 1871, he was asked to umpire the first game played by the Olympics in the new league. He seemed to have used a particularly tight strike zone as in that game, a record 28 batters drew walks. He was not asked to umpire again after that.

He is credited with coming up with the notion of batting average, in a letter to the Clipper dated March 11, 1871. Prior to that, "Hits per game" had been the measure preferred by Henry Chadwick.

He eventually became a doctor, and moved to Madison, WI where he died in 1942, shortly after his 100th birthday. As a veteran, he chose to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, where he joined his son, also known as Henry - in his case it was his birth name - who had been killed in action in the Spanish-American War in 1898.

Related Sites

• Henry Dobson on Retrosheet.org
• Find-a-Grave memorial for Henry Dobson