One of the most important baseball trophies extant. Sterling silver trophy given to James Whyte Davis in 1875 to commemorate his 25th year with the New York Knickerbocker Baseball Club, the first ever organized baseball team. This is one of the oldest baseball trophies known, given to one of the earliest ballplayers. It comes in its original case, a hinged hard-shell display with ‘James Whyte Davis Sept. 26, 1875’ stamped on top. The case is a velvet lined presentation box and in VG condition. The exquisite silver trophy inside is in the form of a baseball and has two silver bats lying in front of it. The award presentation took place at a banquet following baseball’s first old-timers’ game, between the Knicks of 1850 (known as the “Veterans.” The team included Daniel Luscious Adams the catcher and founding father) and players from the 1860 squad, the “Youngs.” Davis pitched for them. ”J. W. Davis. K.B.B.C” is engraved on each of the bats and the ball reads: “Presented to James Whyte Davis on the Twenty Fifth Anniversary of his election as a member of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club by his fellow members. 1850 Sept. 26 1875. Never ‘Too Late.’” Davis had two nicknames: “The Fiend” and “Too Late.” The names were as a result of his protesting at not being included in a game after arriving a few minutes late. James Whyte Davis was born in New York in 1826. He eventually chose the profession of stockbroker after deciding he did not wish to be part of his father’s trade as a shipmaster but it was baseball that made him tick. He loved it with an almost unmatched passion and this passion led him to the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club. Just before the team reached its 10th anniversary in 1855 they unveiled their first banner on their clubhouse at Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey. The banner was taken home by Davis and it remained draped over his dresser. The original seller of this trophy discovered it in the attic of her husband’s uncle in New Jersey in 1877, after his uncle had died. All we know about him is that he was in his 80s and that he had been an enormous fan of baseball whom had grown up in the area in the early 1900s. The woman who found it has had it in storage ever since, but she wants its new owner to be someone who truly appreciates baseball history as well as someone who understands just how important this trophy is. If that describes you, then we need to go no further.