Baseball Tournament on the Ellipse In August 1865 the Washington Nationals Baseball Club invited the Philadelphia Athletics and the Brooklyn Atlantics to come and play in what was billed as a <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/360">tournament</a>. The Nationals constructed stands for spectators on their <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/319">home turf</a> just south of the White House, the area we now call the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/315">Ellipse</a>. Over 10,000 people came to watch the games, even with an admission fee of $1. The Nationals faced the Athletics on August 28 and the Atlantics on the 29th, losing both games. The two out of town teams did not play each other. <em>Daily National Republican</em>, August 29, 1865, Second Edition. <a href="http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86053570/1865-08-29/ed-1/seq-3/">View original</a>. 08/29/1865 <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1860-1889">1860-1889</a>