The Only Baseball Game Ever Played At The Pyramids
In 1888, Chicago White Stockings executive and former Hall of Fame pitcher Albert Spalding, (yes, that Spalding), took it upon himself to expand the game of baseball around the world. Having already organized and played in multiple games across the UK in 1874 as a member of the Boston Red Stockings, Spalding this time set his sights even higher.
Originally conceived as a trip to Australia, Spalding molded his new plan into a world tour, stopping in numerous countries on a voyage across the Middle East, Asia, and eventually the land down under. One of those stops? The Great Pyramid of Giza.
The game featured Spalding's Chicago White Stockings against a group of American All-Stars called the "All-Americas." As author Mark Lamster wrote in his book Spalding's World Tour,
"The Great Pyramid, Cheops, would stand as a distant backstop behind home plate, with the Sphinx down the third-base line and the sunken tombs of the Fifth Dynasty pharaohs somewhere beneath the players' feet."
The game ended in a 10-6 White Stockings loss in front of around 200 local spectators.
The world tour continued, but what few photos exist of that game in 1889 capture baseball's timeless beauty, and its ability to transcend borders, language, and culture in every country it's played in.
Playing the Game
The Great Pyramid Stands Watch
Photos With the Sphynx
The players take a group photo.
The Chicago White Stockings
During their 1888-1889 world tour.
World Tour Stops
The route taken by the Spalding baseball tourists.
Team Photo
In the Roman Colosseum during the word tour.
Posing Before a Game
Playing in the garden of the Villa Borghese in Rome.
A New Tour
Following in Spalding's footsteps, New York Giants manager John McGraw and new White Sox owner Charles Comiskey planned a world tour of their own, returning to Egypt in 1914. This photo shows players once again in front of the Sphynx.
Sphynx Photo
As shown in a new report.
Family Photo
A "family group" of the White Sox and Giants world tourists in front of the Sphinx.
