Who has the distinction of having hit the first home run in National League baseball history?

Charles Roscoe Barnes (May 8, 1850 – February 5, 1915) was one of the stars of baseball's National Association (1871–75) and the early National League (1876–81), playing second base and shortstop. He played for the dominant Boston Red Stockings teams of the early 1870s. Despite playing for star-studded teams, many claim that Ross was the most valuable to his teams.

Before the 1875 season ended, Barnes and four other Boston players signed contracts with the Chicago White Stockings. When word leaked out in Boston before the end of the season, Barnes and his teammates were reviled by Boston fans, being called "seceders", a strong epithet just a decade after the Civil War. It was likely that the National Association would void the signing, but Chicago owner William Hulbert preempted the move by forming the National League and causing the NA to disband.

He has the distinction of having hit the first home run in National League history, on May 2, 1876. During the National League's first year, Ross led the National League batting (.429), on-base percentage (.462), slugging (.562), runs (126), hits (138), bases (190), doubles (21), triples (14), and walks (20). In the 1876 season, Barnes also established the single-season record for runs per game (1.91), a mark which still stands.