Invention of the Game-BASEBALL

7/28/2019 Invention of the Game-BASEBALL

1/16

Origins of baseballFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected fromHistory of baseball)
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_baseball&redirect=nohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_baseball&redirect=nohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_baseball&redirect=nohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_baseball&redirect=no


2/16

Part of the Baseballseries on

History of baseball

ins of baseball

Early years

First league

Knickerbocker Rules

Massachusetts rules

Alexander Cartwright

Doubleday origin myth

First pro team

First pro league

Close relations:

Stoolball

Rounders

Old Cat

Town ball

Softball

History of baseball in:

Worldwide

Australia

Canada

Cuba

Greece

Ireland

Japan

South Korea

Netherlands

Nicaragua

Palau

Spain

United States

United Kingdom

Venezuela

Negro lea

baseball

Women in

baseball

Minor Le

Baseball
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1845_to_1868_in_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1845_to_1868_in_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Base_Ball_Playershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Base_Ball_Playershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knickerbocker_Ruleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knickerbocker_Ruleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Massachusetts_Gamehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Massachusetts_Gamehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cartwrighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cartwrighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_baseball#Abner_Doubleday_misconceptionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_baseball#Abner_Doubleday_misconceptionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Red_Stockingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Red_Stockingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Professional_Base_Ball_Playershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Professional_Base_Ball_Playershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Cathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Cathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball_outside_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball_outside_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Cubahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Cubahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Greecehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Greecehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Irelandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Irelandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_South_Koreahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_South_Koreahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_the_Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_the_Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball_in_Nicaraguahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball_in_Nicaraguahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Palauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Palauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Spainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Spainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball_in_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball_in_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_the_United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_the_United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Venezuelahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Venezuelahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro_league_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro_league_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro_league_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_League_Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_League_Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_League_Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1845_to_1868_in_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Base_Ball_Playershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knickerbocker_Ruleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Massachusetts_Gamehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cartwrighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_baseball#Abner_Doubleday_misconceptionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Red_Stockingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Professional_Base_Ball_Playershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Cathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball_outside_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Cubahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Greecehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Irelandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_South_Koreahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_the_Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball_in_Nicaraguahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Palauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Spainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball_in_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_the_United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Venezuelahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro_league_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro_league_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_League_Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_League_Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_cricket_and_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_cricket_and_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_(TV_series)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Baseball_Hall_of_Fame_and_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_American_Baseball_Researchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Years_in_baseball


3/16

The question of the origins of baseball has been the subject of debate and controversy for more than

a century.Baseball and the other modern bat, ball and running games,cricket and rounders, were

developed from earlier folk games in England.

Early forms of baseball had a number of names, including "Base Ball", "Goal Ball", "Round Ball",

"Fletch-catch", "stool ball", and, simply, "Base". In at least one version of the game, teams pitched to

themselves, runners went around the bases in the opposite direction of today's game, and players

could be put out by being hit with the ball. Then as now, a batter was called out after three strikes.

Few details of how the modern game developed from earlier folk games are known. Some think that

various folk games resulted in a game called town ball from which baseball was eventually born.

Others believe that town ball, a game similar to rounders, played in 18th and 19th century North

America, was independent from baseball.

Contents

[hide]

1 Folk games in England

o 1.1 Stoolball

o 1.2 Dog and cat

o 1.3 Cricket

o 1.4 Cat, One Old Cat

o 1.5 Trap ball

o 1.6 Four (Your) Old Cat, Town Ball, Round Ball, and Massachusetts Base Ball

2 Abner Doubleday myth

3 Alexander Cartwright

4 Before 1845

o 4.1 Cricket and rounders

5 Elysian Fields

6 After 1845

7 References

o 7.1 Notes

o 7.2 Bibliography

8 External links

Folk games in England[edit]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_seasonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Folk_games_in_Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Dog_and_cathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Cat.2C_One_Old_Cathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Trap_ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Four_.28Your.29_Old_Cat.2C_Town_Ball.2C_Round_Ball.2C_and_Massachusetts_Base_Ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Abner_Doubleday_mythhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Alexander_Cartwrighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Before_1845http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Cricket_and_roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Elysian_Fieldshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#After_1845http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Noteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Bibliographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_cricket_and_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_(TV_series)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Baseball_Hall_of_Fame_and_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_American_Baseball_Researchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Years_in_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_seasonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:History_of_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Folk_games_in_Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Dog_and_cathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Cat.2C_One_Old_Cathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Trap_ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Four_.28Your.29_Old_Cat.2C_Town_Ball.2C_Round_Ball.2C_and_Massachusetts_Base_Ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Abner_Doubleday_mythhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Alexander_Cartwrighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Before_1845http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Cricket_and_roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Elysian_Fieldshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#After_1845http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Noteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#Bibliographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=1


4/16

A number of early folk games inEngland had characteristics that can be seen in modernbaseball (as

well as in cricket androunders). Many of these early games involved a ball that was thrown at a target

while an opposing player defended the target by attempting to hit the ball away. If the batter

successfully hit the ball, he could attempt to score points by running between bases while fielders

would attempt to catch or retrieve the ball and put the runner out in some way.

Since they were folk games, the early games had no official, documented rules, and they tended to

change over time. To the extent that there were rules, they were generally simple and were not written

down. There were many local variations, and varied names.

Many of the early games were not well documented, first, because they were generally peasant games

(and perhaps children's games, as well); and second, because they were often discouraged, and

sometimes even prohibited, either by the church or by the state, or both.

Aside from obvious differences in terminology, the games differed in the equipment used (ball, bat,club, target, etc., which were usually just whatever was available), the way in which the ball is thrown,

the method of scoring, the method of making outs, the layout of the field and the number of players

involved.

An old English game called "base", described byGeorge Ewing at Valley Forge, was apparently not

much like baseball. There was no bat and no ball involved. The game was more like a fancy game of

"tag", although it did share the concept of places of safety (for example, bases) with modern baseball.

In an 1801 book entitled The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, Joseph Strutt claimed to

have shown that baseball-like games can be traced back to the 14th century, and that baseball is a

descendant of an English game calledstoolball. The earliest known reference to stoolball is in a 1330

poem by William Pagula, who recommended to priests that the game be forbidden within churchyards.

Instoolball, a batter stood before a target, perhaps an upturned stool, while another player pitched a

ball to the batter. If the batter hit the ball (with a bat or his/her hand) and it was caught by a fielder, the

batter was out. If the pitched ball hit a stool leg, the batter was out. Traditionally it was played

by milkmaids who used their milking stools as a "wicket", according to one belief while waiting for their

husbands to return from working in the fields.

According to many sources, in 1700,Anglican bishop Thomas Wilson expressed his disapproval of

"Morris-dancing, cudgel-playing, baseball andcricket" occurring on Sundays. However, David Block,

in Baseball Before We Knew It(2005), reports that the original source has "stoolball" for "baseball".

Block also reports the reference appears to date to 1672, rather than 1700, and that it was the English

game of baseball that had arrived in the U.S. as part of "a sweeping tide of cultural migration" during

the colonial period.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Ewinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Ewinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Forgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Forgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Strutt_(engraver_and_antiquary)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Pagulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkmaidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Wilson_(bishop)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Before_We_Knew_Ithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Before_We_Knew_Ithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Ewinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Forgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Strutt_(engraver_and_antiquary)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Pagulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkmaidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Wilson_(bishop)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Before_We_Knew_Ithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-1


5/16

Woodcut from "A Little Pretty Pocket-Book" (1744)England, showing first reference to baseball

A 1744 publication in England by children's publisher John Newbery calledA Little Pretty Pocket-

Bookincludes a woodcut of stoolball and a rhyme entitled "Base-ball". This is the first known instance

of the word baseball in print.[2] Today the game is popular in United Kingdom among schoolgirls in the

form of rounders.[3]

In 1755, a book entitled "The Card", authored by John Kidgell, in Volume 1 (there are two volumes to

the book) on page 9, mentions baseball: "the younger Part of the Family, perceiving Papa not inclined

to enlarge upon the matter, retired to an interrupted Party at Base-Ball (an infant Game, which as it

advances in its teens, improved into Fives ...). Kidgell's book contains the earliest surviving use of the

term. "Base-ball" had appeared in 1744 in A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, but no copies of the first edition

or other early editions have surfaced to date, only the 10th and later editions of Pocket-Book, from

1760 forward. Therefore, "The Card" by Kidgell dating to 1755 is the earliest surviving reference to

baseball.

In 1748, the family ofFrederick, Prince of Walespartook in the playing of a baseball-like game. The

English lawyer William Bray recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford,Surrey;

Bray's diary was verified authentic in September 2008.[4][5]

A 1791 bylaw in Pittsfield, Massachusettsbans the playing of baseball within 80 yards of the town

meeting house.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Pretty_Pocket-Bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Pretty_Pocket-Bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Pretty_Pocket-Bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Pretty_Pocket-Bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Pretty_Pocket-Bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick,_Prince_of_Waleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick,_Prince_of_Waleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guildfordhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guildfordhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surreyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsfield,_Massachusettshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsfield,_Massachusettshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aprettylittlepocketbook.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aprettylittlepocketbook.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Pretty_Pocket-Bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Pretty_Pocket-Bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Pretty_Pocket-Bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick,_Prince_of_Waleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guildfordhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surreyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsfield,_Massachusetts


6/16

By 1796 the rules of this English game were well enough established to earn a mention in the

German Johann Gutsmuths' book on popular pastimes. In it he described "Englische Base-ball" as a

contest between two teams in which "the batter has three attempts to hit the ball while at the home

plate"; only one out was required to retire a side.[6] The book also predates the rules laid out by the

New York Knickerbockers by nearly fifty years.

The French book Les Jeux des Jeunes Garons is the first known book to contain printed rules of a

bat/base/running game. It was printed in Parisin 1810 and lays out the rules for "poison ball", in which

there were two teams of eight to ten players, four bases (one called home), a pitcher, a batter, and

flyball outs.

Another early print reference isJane Austen's novel Northanger Abbey, originally written 1798-1799. In

the first chapter the young English heroine Catherine Morland is described as preferring "cricket, base

ball, riding on horseback and running about the country to books." [7]

In 1828, William Clarke ofLondon published the second edition ofThe Boys Own Book, which

included rules of rounders, and contains the first printed description in English of a bat and ball base-

running game played on a diamond.[8] The following year, the book was published in Boston,

Massachusetts.[9] Similar rules were published in Boston in "The Book of Sports", written by Robin

Carver in 1834,[7] except the Boston version called the game "Base" or "Goal ball". The rules were

identical to those of poison ball, but also added fair and foul balls and strike-outs.

Also, in 1828, an article published in a Hagerstown, Maryland, newspaper briefly describes a young

girl who is drawn away from her daily chores to play a familiar game with her friends. In "A Village

Sketch", author Miss Mitford wrote: "Then comes a sun-burnt gipsy of six, beginning to grow tall and

thin and to find the cares of the world gathering about her; with a pitcher in one hand, a mop in the

other, an old straw bonnet of ambiguous shape, half hiding her tangled hair; a tattered stuff petticoat

once green, hanging below an equally tattered cotton frock, once purple; her longing eyes fixed on a

game of baseball at the corner of the green till she reaches the cottage door, flings down the mop and

pitcher and darts off to her companions quite regardless of the storm of scolding with which the mother

follows her runaway steps."[10]

The account byFred Lillywhite(182966) of the first English cricket tour to Canada and the United

States in 1859 refers to the "base-ball game [being] somewhat similar to the English and Irish game of

'rounders.'" A day's play was lost during a cricket match in New York due to snow, but a game of

baseball was arranged about a mile away between "the players of that game and a portion of the

English party" (The English Cricketers' Trip to Canada and the United States, 1860).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Friedrich_GutsMuthshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Friedrich_GutsMuthshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northanger_Abbeyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-John_Lloyd_2006-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Londonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston,_Massachusettshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston,_Massachusettshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston,_Massachusettshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-John_Lloyd_2006-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Lillywhitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Lillywhitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Lillywhitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Friedrich_GutsMuthshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northanger_Abbeyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-John_Lloyd_2006-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Londonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston,_Massachusettshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston,_Massachusettshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-John_Lloyd_2006-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Lillywhitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket


7/16

A unique British sport, known asBritish Baseball, is still played in parts ofWalesandEngland.

Although confined mainly to the cities ofCardiff,Newport and Liverpool, the sport boasts an annual

international game between representative teams from the two countries.

Stoolball[edit]

Instoolball, which developed by the 11th century, one player throws the ball at a target while another

player defends the target. "Stob-ball" and "stow-ball" were regional games similar to stoolball. In stob

ball and stow ball the target was probably a tree stump, since both "stob" and "stow" mean stump in

some dialects. ("Stow" could also refer to a type of frame used in mining). What the target originally

was in stoolball is not certain. It could have been a stump, since stool in old Sussex

dialectmeans stump.

According to one legend, milkmaids played stoolball while waiting for their husbands to return from the

fields. Another theory is that stoolball developed as a game played after attending church services, in

which case the target was probably a church stool.

Originally, the stool was defended with a bare hand. Later, a bat of some kind was used (in modern

stoolball, a bat like a very heavytable tennis paddle is used).

There were several versions of stoolball. In the earliest versions, the object was primarily to defend the

stool. Successfully defending the stool counted for one point, and the batter was out if the ball hit the

stool. There was no running involved. Another version of stoolball involved running between two

stools, and scoring was similar to the scoring in cricket. In perhaps yet another version there were

several stools, and points were scored by running around them as in baseball.

Because of the different versions of stoolball, and because it was played not only in England, but also

in colonial America, stoolball is considered by many to have been the basis of not only cricket, but both

baseball and rounders as well.

Dog and cat[edit]

Another early folk game was "dog and cat" (or "cat and dog"), which probably originated in Scotland. In

cat and dog a piece of wood called a catis thrown at a hole in the ground while another player defends

the hole with a stick (a dog). In some cases there were two holes and, after hitting the cat, the batter

would run between them while fielders would try to put the runner out by putting the ball in the hole

before the runner got to it. Dog and cat thus resembled cricket.

Cricket[edit]

The history of cricket prior to 1650 is something of a mystery. Games believed to have been similar to

cricket had developed by the 13th century. There was a game called "creag", and another game,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiffhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpoolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpoolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussex_dialecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussex_dialecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussex_dialecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_tennishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_tennishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiffhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpoolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussex_dialecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussex_dialecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_tennishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cricket


8/16

"Handyn and Handoute" (Hands In and Hands Out), which was made illegal in 1477 by King Edward

IV, who considered the game childish, and a distraction from compulsory archery practice.

References to a game actually called "cricket" appeared around 1550. It is believed that the

word cricketis based either on the word cric, meaning a crooked stick possibly a shepherd's crook

(early forms of cricket used a curved bat somewhat like a hockey stick), or on the Flemish word

"krickstoel", which refers to a stool upon which one kneels in church.

The Toronto Cricket Club was established in that city by 1827 and theSt George's Cricket Clubwas

formed in 1838 in New York City. Teams from the two clubs faced off in the first international cricket

game in 1844 which Toronto won by 23 runs. [11]

Cat, One Old Cat[edit]

See also:Old Cat

A game popular in colonial America was "one hole catapult", which used a catapult like the one used in

trap-ball.

The game of "cat" (or "cat-ball") had many variations but usually there was a pitcher, a catcher, a

batter and fielders, but there were no sides (and often no bases to run). A feature of some versions of

cat that would later become a feature of baseball was that a batter would be out if he swung and

missed three times.

Another game that was popular in early America was "one ol' cat", the name of which was possibly

originally a contraction ofone hole catapult. In one ol' cat, when a batter is put out, the catcher goes to

bat, the pitcher catches, a fielder becomes the pitcher, and other fielders move up in rotation. One ol'

cat was often played when there weren't enough players to choose up sides and play townball.

Sometimes running to a base and back was involved. "Two ol' cat" was the same game as one ol' cat,

except that there were two batters.

Trap ball[edit]

InTrap ball, played in England since the 14th century, a ball was thrown in the air, to be hit by a

batsman and fielded. In some variants a member of the fielding team threw the ball in the air, in others,

the batsman caused the ball to be tossed in the air by a simple lever mechanism; versions of this,

calledBat and trapandKnurr and spell, are still played in some English pubs.

Four (Your) Old Cat, Town Ball, Round Ball, and Massachusetts Base

Ball[edit]

[12]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Edward_IVhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Edward_IVhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Cricket_Clubhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_George's_Cricket_Clubhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_George's_Cricket_Clubhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_George's_Cricket_Clubhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v_Canada_(1844)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v_Canada_(1844)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-cricinfo_article-11http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Cathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Cathttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=6http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trap_ball&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trap_ball&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_and_traphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_and_traphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_and_traphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knurr_and_spellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knurr_and_spellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knurr_and_spellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Edward_IVhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Edward_IVhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Cricket_Clubhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_George's_Cricket_Clubhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v_Canada_(1844)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v_Canada_(1844)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-cricinfo_article-11http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Cathttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=6http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trap_ball&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_and_traphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knurr_and_spellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-12


9/16


10/16

never inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, although a large oil portrait of him was on display at the

Hall of Fame building for many years.

Doubleday's invention of baseball was the finding of a panel appointed byAlbert Spalding, a former

star pitcher and club executive, who had become the leading American sporting goods entrepreneur

and sports publisher. Debate on baseball's origins had raged for decades, heating up in the first years

of the 20th century, due in part by a 1903 essay baseball historian Henry Chadwick wrote in Spalding's

Official Baseball Guide stating that baseball gradually evolved from English game of "rounders".[13] To

end argument, speculation, and innuendo, Spalding organized the Mills Commission in 1905. The

members were baseball figures, not historians: Spalding's friendAbraham G. Mills, a formerNational

League president; two United States Senators, former NL president Morgan Bulkeleyand former

Washington club presidentArthur Gorman; former NL president and lifelong secretary-treasurerNick

Young; two other star players turned sporting goods entrepreneurs (George Wright andAlfred Reach);

and AAU president James E. Sullivan.[14]

The final report, published on December 30, 1907, included three sections: a summary of the panels

findings written by Mills, a letter byJohn Montgomery Ward supporting the panel, and a dissenting

opinion by Henry Chadwick. The research methods were, at best, dubious. Mills was a close friend of

Doubleday, and upon his death in 1893, Mills orchestrated Doubleday's memorial service in New York

City and burial.[15]Several other members had personal reasons to declare baseball as an "American"

game, such as Spalding's strongAmerican imperialismviews.[16] The Commission found an appealing

story: baseball was invented in a quaint rural town without foreigners or industry, by a young man who

later graduated fromWest Point and served heroically in the Mexican-American War, Civil War, and

U.S. wars against Indians.

The Mills Commission concluded that Doubleday had invented baseball in Cooperstown, New York in

1839; that Doubleday had invented the word "baseball", designed the diamond, indicated fielders'

positions, and written the rules. No written records in the decade between 1839 and 1849 have ever

been found to corroborate these claims, nor could Doubleday be interviewed (he died in 1893). The

principal source for the story was one letter from elderlyAbner Graves, a five-year-old resident of

Cooperstown in 1839. Graves never mentioned a diamond, positions or the writing of rules. Graves'

reliability as a witness was challenged because he spent his final days in an asylum for the criminallyinsane. Doubleday was not in Cooperstown in 1839 and may never have visited the town. [7]He was

enrolled at West Point at the time, and there is no record of any leave time. Mills, a lifelong friend of

Doubleday, never heard him mention baseball.

Although the Baseball Hall of Fame was finally built in Cooperstown, Doubleday was never inducted

into it. Versions of baseball rules and descriptions of similar games have been found in publications
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Hall_of_Famehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Spaldinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Spaldinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Chadwick_(writer)http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spalding%27s_Official_Baseball_Guide&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spalding%27s_Official_Baseball_Guide&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_Commissionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_G._Millshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Leaguehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Leaguehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Bulkeleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Bulkeleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Pue_Gormanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Pue_Gormanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Pue_Gormanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Young_(executive)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Young_(executive)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Young_(executive)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Young_(executive)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wright_(sportsman)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Reachhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Montgomery_Wardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Chadwick_(writer)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_imperialismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_imperialismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Military_Academyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Military_Academyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican-American_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperstown,_New_Yorkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abner_Graves&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-John_Lloyd_2006-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-John_Lloyd_2006-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Military_Academyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Hall_of_Famehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Hall_of_Famehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Spaldinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Chadwick_(writer)http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spalding%27s_Official_Baseball_Guide&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spalding%27s_Official_Baseball_Guide&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoolballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_Commissionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_G._Millshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Leaguehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Leaguehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Bulkeleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Pue_Gormanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Young_(executive)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Young_(executive)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wright_(sportsman)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Reachhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Montgomery_Wardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Chadwick_(writer)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_imperialismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Military_Academyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican-American_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperstown,_New_Yorkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abner_Graves&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-John_Lloyd_2006-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Military_Academyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Hall_of_Fame


11/16

that significantly predate his alleged invention in 1839. Despite this, the ballpark only a few blocks

down from the Hall of Fame still bears the name "Doubleday Field".

Alexander Cartwright[edit]

Alexander Cartwright

The first published rules of baseball were written in 1845 for a New York City "base ball" club called

the Knickerbockers.[17] The author,Alexander Cartwright, is one person commonly known as "the

father of baseball". One important rule, the 13th, stipulated that the player need not be physically hit by

the ball to be put out; this permitted the subsequent use of a farther-travelling hard ball. Evolution from

the so-called "Knickerbocker Rules" to the current rules is fairly well documented.

On June 3, 1953, Congress officially credited Cartwright with inventing the modern game of baseball,

and he is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, the role of Cartwright himself has been

disputed. His authorship may have been exaggerated in a modern attempt to identify a single inventor

of the game, although Cartwright may have a better claim to the title than any other single American.

Cartwright, a New York bookseller who later caught "gold fever", umpiredthe first-ever recorded U.S.

baseball game with codified rules in Hoboken, New Jersey on June 19, 1846. He also founded the

older of the two teams that played that day, the New York Knickerbockers. The game ended, and the

other team (The New York Nines) won, 22-1. Cartwright also introduced the game in most of the cities

where he stopped on his trek west to California to find gold.

One point undisputed by historians is that the modern professional major leagues, that began in the

1870s, developed directly from amateururbanclubs of the 1840s and 1850s, not from the pastures of

small towns such as Cooperstown.

Before 1845[edit]

Evolution of the game that became modern baseball is unknown before 1845. The Knickerbocker

Rules describe a game that they had been playing for some time. But how long is uncertain and so is

how that game had developed. Shane Foster was the first to come up with suspicions of how the origin

came into effect.

There were once two camps. One, mostly English, asserted that baseball evolved from a game of

English origin (probably rounders); the other, almost entirely American, said that baseball was an

American invention (perhaps derived from the game of one-ol'-cat). Apparently they saw their positions

as mutually exclusive. Some of their points seem more national loyalty than evidence: Americans
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Knickerbockershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-17http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-17http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cartwrighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cartwrighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cartwrighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knickerbocker_Ruleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_Cartwright_Baseball.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_Cartwright_Baseball.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Knickerbockershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-17http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cartwrighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knickerbocker_Ruleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=10


12/16

tended to reject any suggestion that baseball evolved from an English game, while some English

observers concluded that baseball was little more than their rounders without the round.

Cricket and rounders[edit]

That baseball is based on English and Gaelic games such as cat,cricket, androunders is difficult todispute. On the other hand, baseball has many elements that are uniquely American. The earliest

published author to muse on the origin of baseball,John Montgomery Ward, was suspicious of the

often-parroted claim that rounders is the direct ancestor of baseball, as both were formalized in the

same time period. He concluded, with some amount of patriotism, that baseball evolved separately

from town-ball (i.e. rounders), out of children's "safe haven" ball games. [18]

Certainly baseball is relatedto cricket and rounders, but exactly how, or how closely, has not been

established. The only certain thing is that modern cricket is much older than modern baseball.

Games played withbat-and-ball together may all be distant cousins; the same goes for base-and-ball

games. Bat, base, and ball games for two teams that alternate in and out, such as baseball, cricket,

and rounders, are likely to be close cousins. They all involve throwing a ball to a batsman who

attempts to "bat" it away and run safely to a base, while the opponent tries to put the batter-runner out

when liable ("liable to be put out" is the baseball term for unsafe).

Elysian Fields[edit]

Early baseball game played at Elysian Fields, Hoboken (Currier & Ives lithograph).

In 1845, the Knickerbocker ClubofNew York City began using Elysian Fieldsin Hoboken to

play baseballdue to the lack of soft grounds onManhattan. In 1846, the Knickerbockers played

the New York Nineon these grounds in the first organized game between two clubs. A plaque and

baseball diamond street pavings at 11th and Washington Streets commemorate the event. By the
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Montgomery_Wardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Montgomery_Wardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat-and-ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat-and-ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Knickerbockershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Knickerbockershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elysian_Fields,_Hoboken,_New_Jerseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elysian_Fields,_Hoboken,_New_Jerseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoboken,_New_Jerseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_York_Nine&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_York_Nine&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Baseball1866.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Baseball1866.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crickethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Montgomery_Wardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat-and-ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Knickerbockershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elysian_Fields,_Hoboken,_New_Jerseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoboken,_New_Jerseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_York_Nine&action=edit&redlink=1


13/16

1850s, several Manhattan-based members of the National Association of Base Ball Playerswere using

the grounds as their home field.

In 1865 the grounds hosted a championship match between theMutual ClubofNew York and

theAtlantic ClubofBrooklyn that was attended by an estimated 20,000 fans and captured in

the Currier & Iveslithograph"The American National Game of Base Ball".

With the construction of two significant baseball parks enclosed by fences in Brooklyn, enabling

promoters there to charge admission to games; the prominence ofElysian Fields began to diminish. In

1868 the leading Manhattanclub,Mutual, shifted its home games to the Union Grounds in Brooklyn. In

1880, the founders of theNew York Metropolitans andNew York Giants finally succeeded in siting a

ballpark in Manhattan that became known as thePolo Grounds.

After 1845[edit]

In 1851, the game of baseball was already well-established enough that a newspaper report of a game

played by a group of teamsters on Christmas Day referred to the game as, "a good old-fashioned

game of baseball."[19]

In 1857, sixteen clubs from modern New York Citysent delegates to a convention that standardized

the rules, essentially by agreeing to revise the Knickerbocker rules. In 1858, twenty-five including one

from New Jersey founded a going concern but the National Association of Base Ball Players is

conventionally dated from 1857. It governed through 1870 but it scheduled and sanctioned no games.

In 1858, clubs from the association played a cross-town, all-star series pitting Brooklyn clubs against

clubs from New York and Hoboken.[20] On July 20, 1858, an estimated crowd of about 4,000 spectators

watched New York and Hoboken defeat Brooklyn by a score of 22-18. The New York team included

players from the Union, Empire, Eagle, Knickerbocker and Gotham clubs. The Brooklyn team included

players from the clubs Excelsior, Eckford, Atlantic and Putnam.[21] In a return match held August 17,

1858, and played at the Fashion Course in the Corona neighborhood of Queens, a slightly smaller

crowd cheered Brooklyn to a win over New York and Hoboken by a score of 29-8. [22] New York won a

third game in the series, also played at the Fashion Course, on September 10, 1858. [23] It appears that

admission fees were charged, as "surplus funds" from the games were to be donated to charity. [24]

By 1862 some NABBP member clubs offered games to the general public in enclosed ballparks with

admission fees.

During and after theAmerican Civil War, the movements of soldiers and exchanges of prisoners

helped spread the game. As of the December 1865 meeting, the year the war ended, there were

isolated Association members in Fort Leavenworth, St. Louis,Louisville, andChattanooga,

Tennessee, along with about 90 members north and east ofWashington, D.C..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Base_Ball_Playershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Base_Ball_Playershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Mutualshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Mutualshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Mutualshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Atlanticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Atlanticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklynhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currier_%26_Iveshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithographhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithographhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithographhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklynhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elysian_Fields,_Hoboken,_New_Jerseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elysian_Fields,_Hoboken,_New_Jerseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Mutualshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Mutualshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Groundshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklynhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Metropolitanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Metropolitanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Giantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Giantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo_Groundshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo_Groundshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Baseball_Playershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-23http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-24http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Leavenworth,_Kansashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville,_Kentuckyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville,_Kentuckyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville,_Kentuckyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattanooga,_Tennesseehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattanooga,_Tennesseehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattanooga,_Tennesseehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Base_Ball_Playershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Mutualshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Atlanticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklynhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currier_%26_Iveshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithographhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklynhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elysian_Fields,_Hoboken,_New_Jerseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Mutualshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Groundshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklynhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Metropolitanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Giantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo_Groundshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Baseball_Playershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-23http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-24http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Leavenworth,_Kansashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville,_Kentuckyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattanooga,_Tennesseehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattanooga,_Tennesseehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.


14/16

In 1869 the first openly professional baseball team formed. Earlier players were nominally amateurs.

The Cincinnati Red Stockings recruited nationally and effectively toured nationally, and no one beat

them until June 1870.

Already in the 19th century, the "old game" was invoked for special exhibitions such as reunions and

anniversaries and for making moral points. Today hundreds of clubs in the U.S. play "vintage base

ball" according to the 1845, 1858, or later rules (up to about 1887), usually in vintage uniforms. Some

of them have supporting casts that recreate period dress and manner, especially those associated

withliving history museums.

The origins of baseball were summarized in a documentary produced by Major League Baseball in

2009 entitled Base Ball Discovered.[25]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

1. ^David Block, Tim Wiles (2006) Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of

the Game p.156. University of Nebraska Press

2. ^"Major League Baseball told: Your sport is British, not American".The Daily

Telegraph (London). 2008-09-11. Retrieved 2010-05-20.

3. ^Rounders. Encyclopedia Britannica.

4. ^"Major League Baseball Told: Your Sport Is British, Not American". Telegraph (London).

September 11, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-03. "Oldest Reference to Baseball in the World". Surrey

County Council. September 11, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-03. [dead link]

5. ^BBC "History of baseball exposed". 11 September 2008

6. ^Block (2005), pp. 6775, 181; Gutsmuths quoted: p. 86.

7. ^ abcLloyd, J&Mitchinson, J: "The Book of General Ignorance." Faber & Faber, 2006.

8. ^David Block (2006)Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the

Game p.192. University of Nebraska Press. Retrieved May 6, 2011

9. ^The Boys Own Book by William Clarke Maine Historical Society. Retrieved May 7, 2011

10. ^The Torch Light and Public Advertiser (Hagerstown, MD), 27 November 1828.

11. ^Williamson, Martin."The oldest international contest of them all". Cricinfo. Retrieved

2009-10-16.

12. ^http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?

trg=1&strucID=138021&imageID=56105&total=940&num=20&word=baseball&s=1&notword=&d=&

c=&f=&k=1&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=38&e=w
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Red_Stockingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1870_in_sportshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1870_in_sportshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vintage_base_ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vintage_base_ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1887_in_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_history_museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_history_museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-25http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=14http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-2http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/baseball/2799671/Major-League-Baseball-told-Your-sport-is-British-not-American.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/baseball/2799671/Major-League-Baseball-told-Your-sport-is-British-not-American.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-3http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/510872/roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-4http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/baseball/2799671/Major-League-Baseball-told-Your-sport-is-British-not-American.htmlhttp://www.surreycc.gov.uk/SCCWebsite/sccwspages.nsf/searchresults/d6edee917b44f96a802574c1005675bb?OpenDocumenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-5http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7609000/7609897.stmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-John_Lloyd_2006_7-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-John_Lloyd_2006_7-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-John_Lloyd_2006_7-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-John_Lloyd_2006_7-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-John_Lloyd_2006_7-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lloyd_(writer)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lloyd_(writer)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lloyd_(writer)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mitchinsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mitchinsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_General_Ignorancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-8http://books.google.com/books?id=DBCt7IZfGv8C&pg=PA192&dq=william+clarke+1828+The+Boy%E2%80%99s+Own+Book&hl=en&ei=8cHETf_QMoOl8QOb3-zcAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CGEQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=william%20clarke%201828%20The%20Boy%E2%80%99s%20Own%20Book&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=DBCt7IZfGv8C&pg=PA192&dq=william+clarke+1828+The+Boy%E2%80%99s+Own+Book&hl=en&ei=8cHETf_QMoOl8QOb3-zcAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CGEQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=william%20clarke%201828%20The%20Boy%E2%80%99s%20Own%20Book&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=DBCt7IZfGv8C&pg=PA192&dq=william+clarke+1828+The+Boy%E2%80%99s+Own+Book&hl=en&ei=8cHETf_QMoOl8QOb3-zcAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CGEQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=william%20clarke%201828%20The%20Boy%E2%80%99s%20Own%20Book&f=falsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-9http://www.mainehistorystore.com/noname4.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-cricinfo_article_11-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-cricinfo_article_11-0http://content-www.cricinfo.com/usa/content/story/141170.htmlhttp://content-www.cricinfo.com/usa/content/story/141170.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricinfohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricinfohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-12http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=138021&imageID=56105&total=940&num=20&word=baseball&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=38&e=whttp://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=138021&imageID=56105&total=940&num=20&word=baseball&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=38&e=whttp://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=138021&imageID=56105&total=940&num=20&word=baseball&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=38&e=whttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Red_Stockingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1870_in_sportshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vintage_base_ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vintage_base_ballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1887_in_baseballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_history_museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_note-25http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=14http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-2http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/baseball/2799671/Major-League-Baseball-told-Your-sport-is-British-not-American.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-3http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/510872/roundershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-4http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/baseball/2799671/Major-League-Baseball-told-Your-sport-is-British-not-American.htmlhttp://www.surreycc.gov.uk/SCCWebsite/sccwspages.nsf/searchresults/d6edee917b44f96a802574c1005675bb?OpenDocumenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-5http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7609000/7609897.stmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-John_Lloyd_2006_7-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-John_Lloyd_2006_7-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-John_Lloyd_2006_7-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lloyd_(writer)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mitchinsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_General_Ignorancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-8http://books.google.com/books?id=DBCt7IZfGv8C&pg=PA192&dq=william+clarke+1828+The+Boy%E2%80%99s+Own+Book&hl=en&ei=8cHETf_QMoOl8QOb3-zcAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CGEQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=william%20clarke%201828%20The%20Boy%E2%80%99s%20Own%20Book&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=DBCt7IZfGv8C&pg=PA192&dq=william+clarke+1828+The+Boy%E2%80%99s+Own+Book&hl=en&ei=8cHETf_QMoOl8QOb3-zcAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CGEQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=william%20clarke%201828%20The%20Boy%E2%80%99s%20Own%20Book&f=falsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-9http://www.mainehistorystore.com/noname4.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-cricinfo_article_11-0http://content-www.cricinfo.com/usa/content/story/141170.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricinfohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-12http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=138021&imageID=56105&total=940&num=20&word=baseball&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=38&e=whttp://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=138021&imageID=56105&total=940&num=20&word=baseball&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=38&e=whttp://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=138021&imageID=56105&total=940&num=20&word=baseball&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=38&e=w


15/16

13. ^Boston, Talmage (2005). 1939: Baseball's Tipping Point. Bright Sky Press.

p. 203.ISBN193172153X.

14. ^This list of panelists and the organization and publication dates follow "The Mills

Commission" in "The Origins of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum" by that

institution. The Hall and Museum owes its Cooperstown location and its 1839 birth date, at least, to

the Mills Commission finding.

15. ^Talmage p. 207.

16. ^Talmage p. 203.

17. ^Civil War Vets Help Popularize Baseball

18. ^Base-Ball: How to Become a Player by J.M. Ward

19. ^New-York Daily Tribune. December 29,

1851 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1851-12-29/ed-1/seq-

6/;words=base+ball?date1=1836&sort=date&date2=1860&searchType=basic&state=New+York&rows=20&proxtext=+b

ase+ball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=5|url= missing title (help). Retrieved 23

November 2012.

20. ^"Charlton's Baseball Chronology - 1858". baseballlibrary.com. Retrieved 27 November

2012.

21. ^New York Daily Tribune. July 21,

1858 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-07-21/ed-1/seq-5/;words=Baseball?

date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dat

eFilterType=yearRange&index=0|url= missing title (help). Retrieved 20 November 2012.

22. ^New York Daily Tribune. August 18,

1858 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-08-18/ed-1/seq-7/;words=base-ball?

date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dat

eFilterType=yearRange&index=7|url= missing title (help). Retrieved 20 November 2012.

23. ^New-York Daily Tribune. 11 September

1858 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-09-11/ed-1/seq-6/|url= missing

title (help). Retrieved 27 November 2012.

24. ^New-York Daily Tribune. August 17,1858 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-08-17/ed-1/seq-7/|url= missing

title (help). Retrieved 23 November 2012.

25. ^http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=7823662

Bibliography[edit]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/193172153Xhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-17http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-17http://thisweekinthecivilwar.com/?p=1213/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-18http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/19975http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-19http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1851-12-29/ed-1/seq-6/;words=base+ball?date1=1836&sort=date&date2=1860&searchType=basic&state=New+York&rows=20&proxtext=+base+ball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=5http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1851-12-29/ed-1/seq-6/;words=base+ball?date1=1836&sort=date&date2=1860&searchType=basic&state=New+York&rows=20&proxtext=+base+ball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=5http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1851-12-29/ed-1/seq-6/;words=base+ball?date1=1836&sort=date&date2=1860&searchType=basic&state=New+York&rows=20&proxtext=+base+ball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=5http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1851-12-29/ed-1/seq-6/;words=base+ball?date1=1836&sort=date&date2=1860&searchType=basic&state=New+York&rows=20&proxtext=+base+ball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=5http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1851-12-29/ed-1/seq-6/;words=base+ball?date1=1836&sort=date&date2=1860&searchType=basic&state=New+York&rows=20&proxtext=+base+ball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#bare_url_missing_titlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-20http://www.baseballlibrary.com/chronology/byyear.php?year=1858&previous=yeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-21http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-07-21/ed-1/seq-5/;words=Baseball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=0http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-07-21/ed-1/seq-5/;words=Baseball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=0http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-07-21/ed-1/seq-5/;words=Baseball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=0http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-07-21/ed-1/seq-5/;words=Baseball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#bare_url_missing_titlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-22http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-08-18/ed-1/seq-7/;words=base-ball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=7http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-08-18/ed-1/seq-7/;words=base-ball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=7http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-08-18/ed-1/seq-7/;words=base-ball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=7http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-08-18/ed-1/seq-7/;words=base-ball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#bare_url_missing_titlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-23http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-23http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-09-11/ed-1/seq-6/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#bare_url_missing_titlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-24http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-24http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-08-17/ed-1/seq-7/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#bare_url_missing_titlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-25http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=7823662http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/193172153Xhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-17http://thisweekinthecivilwar.com/?p=1213/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-18http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/19975http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-19http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1851-12-29/ed-1/seq-6/;words=base+ball?date1=1836&sort=date&date2=1860&searchType=basic&state=New+York&rows=20&proxtext=+base+ball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=5http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1851-12-29/ed-1/seq-6/;words=base+ball?date1=1836&sort=date&date2=1860&searchType=basic&state=New+York&rows=20&proxtext=+base+ball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=5http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1851-12-29/ed-1/seq-6/;words=base+ball?date1=1836&sort=date&date2=1860&searchType=basic&state=New+York&rows=20&proxtext=+base+ball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#bare_url_missing_titlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-20http://www.baseballlibrary.com/chronology/byyear.php?year=1858&previous=yeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-21http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-07-21/ed-1/seq-5/;words=Baseball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=0http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-07-21/ed-1/seq-5/;words=Baseball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=0http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-07-21/ed-1/seq-5/;words=Baseball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#bare_url_missing_titlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-22http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-08-18/ed-1/seq-7/;words=base-ball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=7http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-08-18/ed-1/seq-7/;words=base-ball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=7http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-08-18/ed-1/seq-7/;words=base-ball?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1859&proxtext=baseball&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#bare_url_missing_titlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-23http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-09-11/ed-1/seq-6/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#bare_url_missing_titlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-24http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1858-08-17/ed-1/seq-7/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#bare_url_missing_titlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball#cite_ref-25http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=7823662http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origins_of_baseball&action=edit&section=16


16/16

Block, David (2005).Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game.

Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.ISBN0-8032-1339-5.

Block, David (2001). "Baseball's Earliest

Rules?" http://forums.sabr.org/htdocs/dcforum/User_files/3c08097500f21711.html(consulted 5

August 2006).

Henderson, Robert W. ([1947] 2001). Ball, Bat, and Bishop: The Origin of Ball

Games (paperback ed.). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.ISBN0-252-06992-7.

Hoerchner, Martin. "Stoolball is Alive and Well in Sussex." The Examiner11 (1999 July).

Cleveland, OH: SABR. 2002 reprint?http://www.sabruk.org/examiner/11/stoolball.html(consulted

5 August 2006).

Morris, Peter (2008). "But Didn't We Have Fun?: An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer

Era, 1843-1870." Ivan R. Dee Publishing.

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (no date). "Origins of the National Baseball Hallof Fame and Museum."http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/about/history.htm(consulted 5 August

2006).

Thorn, John (no date). "Doc Adams". SABR Bioproject. http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?

a=v&v=l&bid=%20639&pid=16943

Thorn, John (2005). "Four Fathers of Baseball". Thorn Pricks July 16,

2005. http://thornpricks.blogspot.com/2005/07/four-fathers-of-baseball.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Before_We_Knew_Ithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Before_We_Knew_Ithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8032-1339-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8032-1339-5http://forums.sabr.org/htdocs/dcforum/User_files/3c08097500f21711.htmlhttp://forums.sabr.org/htdocs/dcforum/User_files/3c08097500f21711.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-252-06992-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-252-06992-7http://www.sabruk.org/examiner/11/stoolball.htmlhttp://www.sabruk.org/examiner/11/stoolball.htmlhttp://www.baseballhalloffame.org/about/history.htmhttp://www.baseballhalloffame.org/about/history.htmhttp://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=%20639&pid=16943http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=%20639&pid=16943http://thornpricks.blogspot.com/2005/07/four-fathers-of-baseball.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Before_We_Knew_Ithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8032-1339-5http://forums.sabr.org/htdocs/dcforum/User_files/3c08097500f21711.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-252-06992-7http://www.sabruk.org/examiner/11/stoolball.htmlhttp://www.baseballhalloffame.org/about/history.htmhttp://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=%20639&pid=16943http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=%20639&pid=16943http://thornpricks.blogspot.com/2005/07/four-fathers-of-baseball.html

Documents

Invention of the Game-BASEBALL