Louis Wadsworth

Louis Fenn Wadsworth

• Born ~1825 in Connecticut USA
• Died ~1908 in Plainfield, NJ USA

Biographical Information

Louis Wadsworth (also referred to as Lewis Wadsworth in some sources) played for the New York Gothams/Washingtons beginning in 1852 until 1853. He then joined the New York Knickerbockers in 1854 and played there for a few years before returning to the Gothams in 1857. He represented the Gothams in the Fashion Race Course Games, appearing in games 1 and 3. He was known for sporting a unique fashion choice during games, wearing a white shirt with a picture of a black devil on the back. In an interview in 1887, one former Knickerbocker teammate recalled what it was like to play with Wadsworth and said "His hands were very large and when he went for a ball they looked like the tongs of an oyster rake." He struggled financially in life and was nearly broke when he died in Plainfield, NJ in 1908.

Nine inning rule

Wadsworth is widely credited as being the one who came up with the idea that baseball games should have nine innings. His wife, Maria Isabel Meschutt Fisher was lucky to be involved with multiple inventors as she was a relative of James Meschutt, the alleged inventor of the donut according to John Thorn.