Walt Whitman was born 200 years ago today, May 31, 1819, in West Hills, New York. He left school at age 11 and found employment as a printer's apprentice and typesetter, eventually working at, and writing for, many newspapers. Whitman began composing what would become Leaves of Grass as early as 1850, shortly after his 30th birthday. From its first publication in 1855 until his death in 1892, Whitman continually revised the manuscript, expanding its contents from 12 to over 400 poems.
Whitman was also a huge baseball fan. MLB's official historian (and author) John Thorn posted Whitman's "only known reportage of a baseball game" at his Our Game blog about three years ago.