Pictured, Magnolia ISD teacher Tom Pierett is a contributing writer for a new book, “Let There Be Light: A History of Night Baseball, 1880-2008.”

Photo by Holly Dutton

Pierett, who currently teaches high school Social Studies at Magnolia ISD’s Alpha Academy, said he contributed about four chapters to the book, which was chiefly penned by Robert Payne. The book focuses early on about the social and economic factors that led to the first official baseball game played under lights, May 24, 1935 at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field, a baseball cathedral Pierett had frequented several times as a child and says “is still in the hearts and minds of people my age and older.”

Pierett became involved with the book’s writing after learning of a website created by Chuck Foertmeyer, “Where’s Crosley Now?” which included a section called “Night Baseball Comes to the Majors.”

As it often goes with fans of a particular baseball team, Pierett and Foertmeyer became “Internet friends” and Pierett was soon recruited to contribute to Payne’s book. Published by AuthorHouse, “Let There Be Light” contains several wonderful photos from the most popular era of Reds baseball, as well as copies of original documents involving the installation and lighting of the lights at Crosley Field.

Pierett explained that the desire by the Reds ownership for ballpark lighting centered mostly on the possibility of increased attendance.

“Larry MacPhail (who owned the Reds) realized most people work during the day and most people can’t take their kids to a 1:30 game when they work until 3:30, 4,” Pierett said.

With games starting later, Pierett added, families living in towns farther away from Cincinnati were then able to make the driver to a night game in time to see the first pitch.

“It almost immediately turned the Reds around,” he said.

Nearly every team in Major League Baseball quickly followed the Reds lead, save the Chicago Cubs who staunchly opposed night baseball until the late 1980s when ownership finally relented. Despite what Pierett calls as the “innate conservatism” of baseball ownership, by 1990 every big league ball park was adorned with lights.

While the first “official” night game was at Crosley Field in 1935, its origins could be traced back to 1880 not long after Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. Pierett said teams were experimenting with illuminating ballparks back then, with varying degrees of success.

“Every time they turn on the lights, it goes back to that night in 1880 when they lit it up,” he said.

2010 marks the 75^th anniversary of that night in Cincinnati and Payne and Pierett’s book is a tribute to one of the most significant events in sports history and the events that led up to it.

“Let There Be Light,” described as “not a book of statistics, but is one which reveals how civilization and culture develops through hard work and visionary leaders,” is available on amazon.com.