Jim Foran

Who was Jim Foran?

James H. Foran was an American Major League Baseball player from New York. He was a participant in what is regarded by the Baseball Hall of Fame as the first game ever played in a professional baseball league, which was a contest between his Fort Wayne Kekiongas and the Cleveland Forest Citys on May 4, 1871.

Foran played the majority of time as a first baseman, but did appear in three games in the outfield. In total, he appeared in 19 games as a member of the Kekiongas, and had a .348 batting average, with 31 hits in 89 at bats. His average was considerably higher than his closest teammate, Frank Sellman finished with .231. Foran also led the team in hits, runs scored, RBIs, triples, and tied for the team lead in home runs, with one.

The Kekiongas franchise folded after compiling a 7-12 record through nineteen games, finishing seventh among the nine teams in the league, and after that season, Foran never again played in MLB. Foran died in Los Angeles, California, and is interred at the Calvary Cemetery, also in Los Angeles.