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Two Eight-player Teams Play Bass Ball at Elysian Fields

Salience	Noteworthy
Tags
Location	HobokenHoboken
City/State/Country:	Hoboken, NJ, US
Modern Address
Game	Base Ball, Bass BallBase Ball, Bass Ball
Immediacy of Report	Contemporary
Age of Players	AdultAdult
Holiday
Notables
Text	"An exciting game of Bass Ball came off at the Elysian Fields on Thursday last. The club was organized at the “Pewter Mug” (kept by that patriotic and devoted friend of the “Sage of Lindenwald,” the Widow Lynch), and proceeded to the ground; where Doctor Ingraham, of the Statesman, and John Midmer, Esq., were selected as captains.  Ingraham, having the first choice, selected Messrs Malbrun, Bouts, McConnell, Watson, Wells, and our friend, Captain Joe Cornell, of the sheriff's office. Midmer made up his side with Messrs. John M.. Rue (the best player of the party), Chase, Alderman Fream, John Robbins, Aaron Butterfield, Car, and Burrett. Doctor Walters, the coroner, was appointed game-keeper and judge—twenty-one ins the game. All things being in readiness, the sport commenced, and the game was warmly contested for about three hours, with various prospects of success. Night coming on, and there being no liquor in the neighborhood, the judge decided that neither party could win. The decision was cheerfully submitted to by all; and it was agreed, unanimously, to meet at the same place next Friday, and finish the game. With this understanding, the party made the best of their way to York, where the individual performances were duly discussed, and the sportsmen themselves amply refreshed—of course. The issue of this great game is certainly “highly important,” and we hope to be able to announce it next Sunday."
Sources	New York Atlas, April 29, 1849 and May 6, 1849. Note: Richard's full 19CBB posting appears in the Supplemetal Text, below.
Warning	We assume that the phrase"21 ins the game" means that the first side to score 21 runs was the game's winner.
Comment	Edit with form to add a comment
Query	Richard asks:  "I don't recognize the individuals. These clearly are men of substance, so I expect they can be tracked down. The mention of "the club" is intriguing. Is this an actual organized club, with or without baseball as its primary purpose? Or is that an informal usage?" Edit with form to add a query
Source Image	[[Image:|left|thumb]]
External Number
Submitted by	Richard Hershberger
Submission Note	19CBB Posting, 5/26//2019
Has Supplemental Text	Yes

1849.16 Two Eight-player Teams Play Bass Ball at Elysian Fields"

---

Comments

<comments voting="Plus" />

Supplemental Text

Re: a new 1849 game
Sun May 26, 2019 6:16 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"John Thorn" jthorn
Outstanding, Richard!

john thorn

On 5/25/2019 5:46 PM, Richard Hershberger rrhersh@yahoo.com [19CBB] wrote:
>
>
> Back from a lovely day at the Library of Congress. Puttering around,
> waiting for a book to show up, I found a new game from 1849. At least
> it is new to me, and not in Protoball. Games from this period are
> extraordinarily rare. After a surge of activity, with games reported
> in 1845 and 1846, organized baseball collapsed, not recovering until
> the early '50s. So here goes:
>
> "An exciting game of Bass Ball came off at the Elysian Fields on
> Thursday last. The club was organized at the “Pewter Mug” (kept by
> that patriotic and devoted friend of the “Sage of Lindenwald,” the
> Widow Lynch), and proceeded to the ground; where Doctor Ingraham, of
> the Statesman, and John Midmer, Esq., were selected as captains.
> Ingraham, having the first choice, selected Messrs. Malbrun, Bouts,
> McConnell, Watson, Wells, and our friend, Captain Joe Cornell, of the
> sheriff's office. Midmer made up his side with Messrs. John M.. Rue
> (the best player of the party), Chase, Alderman Fream, John Robbins,
> Aaron Butterfield, Car, and Burrett. Doctor Walters, the coroner, was
> appointed game-keeper and judge—twenty-one ins the game. All things
> being in readiness, the sport commenced, and the game was warmly
> contested for about three hours, with various prospects of success.
> Night coming on, and there being no liquor in the neighborhood, the
> judge decided that neither party could win. The decision was
> cheerfully submitted to by all; and it was agreed, unanimously, to
> meet at the same place next Friday, and finish the game. With this
> understanding, the party made the best of their way to York, where the
> individual performances were duly discussed, and the sportsmen
> themselves amply refreshed—of course. The issue of this great game is
> certainly “highly important,” and we hope to be able to announce it
> next Sunday." The Atlas (New York) April 29, 1849.
>
> "That game of 'base ball,' the commencement of which was chronicled in
> last week's Atlas, was finished on Friday last. We regret that we
> were unable to avail ourselves of the polite invitation of the club to
> be present. We understand there was rare sport on the ground, and that
> the game was handsomely won by Capt. Midmer's side." The Atlas (New
> York) May 6, 1849
>
> I don't recognize the individuals. These clearly are men of substance, so I expect they can be tracked down. The mention of "the
> club" is intriguing. Is this an actual organized club, with or
> without baseball as its primary purpose? Or is that an informal usage?
>
> Richard Hershberger