THE HIGGINS OFFICIAL BASEBALL SCORE BOOK - 22 GAMES.

Twelve of twenty-two double-page score sheets have varying degrees of hand scoring of games played by the ROCK GROVE baseball team of Rock Grove, Illinois. The games are for the 1915 Baseball Season. The team played against other teams from Stephenson County, i.e. Davis and Orangeville, and a few games against a team called "Married Men". The score sheets that are filled in completely include team names, players names, where the games were played, and dates the games were played.

Hardcover Baseball Score Book, cloth covered boards, gilt stamping on the front and rear boards, 5x7.5 inches, 22 double page scoring sheets.

GOOD MINUS condition, the cover's cloth is fraying and starting to peel; internally good, the book is complete with all its score sheets and pages of ads, 12 of the 22 score sheets have at least some information, some are only partially filled, some hardly at all, some are written lightly and are hard to read.

This is the earliest extant record of a ROCK GROVE, ILLINOIS baseball game that I can find.

About baseball in ROCK GROVE, ILLINOIS (from various Internet sources):

******Early baseball in Rock Grove, Illinois, involved local rivalries, notably with Orangeville, with a documented game played on June 17, 1915 where Rock Grove played Orangeville, losing 8-2, at a community picnic and Bolender family reunion. This shows baseball was a recognized, organized activity in the community by 1915, fostering local pride and entertainment alongside other town events. - - - - Based on records from 1915, the Rock Grove baseball team (representing the community in Stephenson County, Illinois) played a notable game against Orangeville, Illinois, in a local gathering in 1915. This matchup is part of the local history of Stephenson County, Illinois, involving teams from nearby towns. Orangeville defeated Rock Grove with a score of 8 to 2. - - - - The 1915 gathering "was one of the most enjoyable ever held." It started at 11:00 with an address of welcome made by president George A. Bolender, followed by an address by Rev. William Funkey of the Orangeville Lutheran Church. A large picnic dinner was served at noon with the Bolender band giving a concert afterwards and then selections by a quartet. There was a baseball game at 3:30 between the Orangeville and Rock Grove teams with Orangeville winning 8 to 2.******

NOTE: The June 17, 1915 baseball game between Rock Grove and Orangeville mentioned above is in this Score Book, but the game was not scored, so only team names, place played, date, and Rock Grove players names, are on this score sheet of this game. Still, seeing it hand written in a baseball score book that Rock Grove played Orangeville in 1915 is pretty cool.