Today in Sports History: December 5th

12/05/1865 - New York Mercury coins a phrase

In a Sunday edition of the New York Mercury, the local newspaper calls the game of baseball "the national pastime," the first time this terminology was used to described it. "The national pastime" would become the official slogan of baseball and is still used to this day.

One day later, Congress ratified the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, officially abolishing slavery. [The more you know...]

12/05/1877 - Four Grays banned from baseball

On the second day of winter meetings, the National League (then operating solely without the American League, which had yet to be organized) bans four players from the Louisville Grays: Jim Devlin, who had pitched in every inning of every game, utility infielder Al Nichols, left fielder George Hall, and shortstop and team captain Bill Craver.

At one point in August, the Grays were leading the Boston Red Stockings by a full game, only to lose their next seven games in a row. Louisville finished seven games behind Boston, a suspiciously large drop-off that reeked from the beginning. In the late 1800's, gambling was what performance-enhancing drugs are to baseball to now. Louisville previously had a player, George Bechtel, who had been implicated in throwing games and became the first baseball player to be expelled from the game.

Devlin, Hall, and Nichols were all banned after confessing that they had indeed been influenced by gamblers. Craver, who was innocent but did not cooperate in the National League's investigation, was banned as well. For baseball, it was the first major scandal in its history. For the Grays, the distressing news was too overwhelming for the franchise, which immediately folded the next season.