Massachusetts Game
| Game | Massachusetts Game |
|---|---|
| Game Family | Baseball |
| Location | New England, WNY, Upper Midwest |
| Regions | US |
| Eras | 1800s, Predecessor |
| Invented | No |
| Tags | |
| Description | This is the game played according to rules that were codified in May 1858 in Dedham Massachusetts (see the Dedham rules). It featured short basepaths, an absence of foul ground, plugging of runners, a smaller and softer and lighter ball, wooden stakes in place of sacks as bases, winners defined as the first team to reach 100 (or another set number of ) “tallies,” and a one-out-side-out rule. It remains unclear how close these rules -- written 13 years after the Knickerbocker rules were codified -- were to round ball, goal ball, and/or base games played in MA for the previous 50-75 years. The Massachusetts Game declined fairly rapidly after 1860. |
| Sources | The Mass game rules appeared in Mayhew and Baker, Base Ball. A For a more modern treatment, see John Thorn's Our Game blog on July 3, 2012, and May 23, 2023, the latter at https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/the-game-that-got-away-a385699cd936 |
| Source Image | [[Image:|left|thumb]] |
| Comment | See the article on the Massachusetts game in the Origins Committee Newsletter, September, 2021. See also Porter's Spirit of the Times, Dec. 27, 1856, and Lovett, Old Boston Boys p. 129-132 for the style of play. He says that the bat used was flat and short. The MA game ball was smaller and lighter than the NY game, to allow for "soaking" without serious injuries. Per the report on the Amherst-Williams 1859 game in Our Game, "The Amherst ball weighed 2½ oz., and was 6½ inches around. It was made by Mr. Henry Hebard of North Brookfield, Mass., and was really a work of art. The Williams ball, we judged to be 7 inches in circumference, and not to exceed in weight 2 oz. It was also covered with leather of some light color, drab or buff, so as not to be easily distinguished by the batter." In practice, games to 100 could last for many hours or even days--which contributed to the move to play the NY Rules game instead. Edit with form to add a comment |
| Query | Edit with form to add a query |
| Has Supplemental Text |
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