From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)

Base ball (spelled baseball today) was a leisure sport that was played by African American civilians in Kentucky starting in the late 1860s. It has also been said that the game was played by African American enlisted men during the U.S. Civil War. Though, no records have been found to document U.S. Colored Troops or Black Confederated troops playing baseball in Kentucky. The most recently shared resources are in reference to the baseball games played by Buffalo Soldiers, though not in Kentucky. At this time, no documents have been found to verify or deny whether enslaved Africans in Kentucky played the game of baseball. 

Sources: "Buffalo Soldiers and Baseball. Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument." National Park Service website; Greg Martin. "Remembering the 24th Infantry: Playing Ball." Medium.com website; Civil War America: a social and cultural history by Maggi M. Morehouse and Zoe Trodd; Baseball in Blue and Gray : the National Pastime During the Civil War by George B. Kirsch; Baseball : the people's game by Harold Seymour; "The Harold's Army correspondent. Base ball at Fort Ellis. Helena Weekly Herald, 15 October 1868, p.8; "The Army base ball club of Northampton" in the article "Out-door amusements." The Springfield Daily Republican, 05 August 1865, p.5; John Thorn. "Did African American Slaves Play Baseball?" The MLB.com/Blog, 26 December 2012.

In Kentucky, civilians in the African American communities throughout Kentucky began to form competing baseball teams in the late 1860s. These were independent teams that played against other African American base ball clubs when the teams could find a place to play. There were a few opposing teams with members who were not African Americans. It is not know at this time if there were integrated base ball teams in Kentucky during the Reconstruction Period (1863-1877).

The African American base ball teams in Kentucky did not always get a warm welcome from city officials and there were restrictions as to where the teams could play, where the team members could eat, and where they could find lodging. The names of the baseball teams are not always given in the newspapers. Individual teams are often referred to as "the colored base ball club." 

With the formation of the early teams, there were no leagues or a governing body that enforced game rules or regulations. The game of base ball was a fun and leisure sport for African American men who played the game using agreed upon rules, and there may or may not have been an umpire. Attending base ball games became a favorite outing for African American community members. The rules of segregation still applied at the games. From time to time, there were disturbances between team members and those opposed to African Americans playing base ball. Sometimes there were fights between the team members. The teams were sometimes referred to by racist terms in a local newspaper. 

Much of what is known about the earliest African American base ball teams in Kentucky comes from the newspapers. There are no archival records in Kentucky about the teams, team members, or game and team statistics. The teams played opponents in Kentucky and out-of-state, therefore, newspapers from other states will contain information about the base ball teams from Kentucky. Not all of the existing teams, between 1860-1870, were mentioned in the newspapers.

NOTES: 

Southern League of Colored Base Ballists - 1886, the first organized African American baseball league. Online article.

National Colored Base Ball League (NCBL) - 1887, next attempt at an organized African American baseball league. The Louisville Falls Citys was one of the eight league teams. Online article.

COLORED BASE BALL TEAMS, KENTUCKY, 1860s-1870s

CARLISLE
[Colored Base Ball Club]

CLOVERPORT
Eagles

COVINGTON
Actives
[Colored Base Ball Club]
Starlights

DANVILLE
[Colored Base Ball Club]

FRANKFORT
Athletics

HARDINSBURG
Stars

HARTFORD
Omega

HENDERSON
Atlantics

LEBANON
[Colored Base Ball Club]

LEXINGTON
Blue Stockings
Civil Rights
Darting Eagles
Haymakers

LOUISVILLE
Brown Stockings
Fair Play
Globes
Mutuals

MAYFIELD
[Colored Base Ball Club]

MAYSVILLE
[Colored Base Ball Club]

McHENRY
[Colored Base Ball Club]

MILLERSBURG 
[Colored Base Ball Club]

NEWPORT
Holt Juniors

OWENSBORO
[Colored Base Ball Club]

PARIS
Flying Eagles
[Colored Base Ball Club]

PADUCAH
Blue Clippers

VERSAILLES
Blue Stockings

WINCHESTER
[Colored Base Ball Club]

SOURCES:

Black Baseball, 1858-1900: a comprehensive record of the teams, players, managers, owners and umpires by James E. Brunson, III

"Newport." Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, 31 July 1868, p.7.

"Covington. A Colored baseball club called the Starlights ..." Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, 24 August 1870, p.7.

"Colored base ball - Frankfort triumphant - The Darting Eagles of Lexington ..." The Tri-Weekly Kentucky Yeoman, 17 June 1873, p.3.

"Frankfort again triumphant." The Tri-Weekly Kentucky Yeoman, 24 June 1873, p.3.

"Miscellaneous Items. The Mutuals and Globes, two city colored clubs ..." The Courier-Journal, 25 August 1874, p.4.

"The Colored base ball club of this city ..." The Paris True Kentuckian, 23 September 1874, p.3.

"Base Ball. ... and the Civil Rights, colored club of Lexington ..." The Tri-Weekly Kentucky Yeoman, 18 May 1875, p.3.

"Colored base ball." The Tri-Weekly Kentucky Yeoman, 22 June 1875, p.3.

"Won't play with N......" The Hartford Herald, 04 August 1875, p.3.

"The Brown Stocking base ball club of Louisville ..." Kentucky Advocate, 13 August 1875, p.3.

"Base Ball." Weekly Kentucky Yeoman, 24 August 1875, p.3.

"A Colored base ball club was organized in this city ..." The Paris True Kentuckian, 26 April 1876, p.3.

"Base Ball Brevities." Evansville Courier and Press, 13 July 1876, p.4.

"Colored Base Ball. The Athletics ... defeated the Blue Stockings ..." Weekly Kentucky Yeoman, 18 July 1876, p.3

"Base-Ball. Cincinnati Base-Ball Park." The Cincinnati Enquirer, 19 July 1876, p.5.

"The Fair Plays and Globes, colored representatives ..." The Courier-Journal, 16 August 1876, p.4.

"Covington. A colored base ball club will be organized in this city tonight." The Cincinnati Daily Star, 17 April 1877, p.3.

"The Colored base ball club ..." Mayfield Monitor, 30 June 1877, p.3.

"It Has Come." Maysville Weekly Republican, 13 April 1878, p.3.

"A Colored base ball nine ..." The Paris True Kentuckian, 01 May 1878, p.2. 

"Tice Hall, in company with the colored base ball club ..." The Carlisle Mercury, 25 July 1878, p.3.

"Clark County. Winchester colored base ball club played ..." The Paris True Kentuckian, 18 August 1878, p.2.

"Base Ball. The Hartford (colored) club played the McHenry (colored) club ..." The Hartford Herald, 21 August 1878, p.3. 

"The Hardinsburg Star and Cloverport Eagle base ball clubs, colored, ..." The Breckenridge News, 25 September 1878, front page.

See also De Witt's base-ball guide. For 1874. : containing the new rules of the game as revised at the professional convention of 1874 by Henry Chadwick.