FACT or FICTION: Albert G. Spalding claimed that he had received a letter describing the visit of a Republican committee that traveled to Springfield, Illinois to notify Lincoln of his selection as the party’s nominee for presidency. According to Spalding, the men found him “engaged in a game of Base Ball.” When a messenger alerted [Lincoln] to the imminent arrival of the delegation, he replied, “Tell the gentlemen that I am glad to know of their coming; but they’ll have to wait a few minutes until I make another base hit.” This excerpt is taken from “Baseball in Blue and Gray: The National Pastime during the Civil War” by George B. Kirsch.

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