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News Writer (Whitman, Perhaps?) Extols "Base," Cricket

Salience	Noteworthy
Tags	Famous, Newspaper CoverageFamous, Newspaper Coverage
Location
City/State/Country:	New York, NY, United States
Modern Address
Game	Base, CricketBase, Cricket
Immediacy of Report	Contemporary
Age of Players	AdultAdult
Holiday
Notables	Walt Whitman
Text	"Public Baths and Grounds for Athletic Exercises.–During many of the pleasant days we have had the past spring, persons walking by the Park, between noon and an hour later, must have observed several parties of youngsters playing “base,” a certain game of ball.  We wish such sights were more common among us. . . .    The game of ball, especially its best game, cricket, is glorious–that of quoits is invigorating–so is leaping, running, wrestling, &c. &c."   [Full text is seen at Supplemental Text, below.]
Sources	The Atlas (New York), June 15, 1845.
Warning
Comment	George Thompson, 1/13/21:  "When New Yorkers said "the Park" in the first half of the 19th century, they meant the Park in front of City Hall.  Not a big area, and today at least it's so cluttered with benches and a fountain that it doesn't seem possible to play a game that involves running about. I will check my notes to see if there is an indication of whether the Park was more open then."   John Thorn, 1/13/21:  "certain lines in the 1845 Atlas note were *also* used by Whitman in his now-famous "sundown perambulations of late" note of July 23, 1846!! . . . . Was Whitman the author of the 1845 Atlas note? Did he later plagiarize himself, or an unnamed other?"  Note:  Whitman's text is at https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/opening-day-e5f9021c5dda.  Whitman's appreciation of base ball is also shown at 1846.6, 1855.9, and 1858.25.       Edit with form to add a comment
Query	Extra credit for sleuthing the authorship of this item! Edit with form to add a query
Source Image	[[Image:|left|thumb]]
External Number
Submitted by	Richard Hershberger
Submission Note	19CBB Posting, January 13, 2021
Has Supplemental Text

1845.31 News Writer (Whitman, Perhaps?) Extols "Base," Cricket"

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Comments

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"Public Baths and Grounds for Athletic Exercises.–During many of the pleasant days we have had the past spring, persons walking by the Park, between noon and an hour later, must have observed several parties of youngsters playing “base,” a certain game of ball.  We wish such sights were more common among us.  In the practice of athletic and manly sports, the young men of new York are very deficient–perhaps more so than those of any other large city that could be mentioned.  Clerks are shut up from early morning till nine or ten o’clock at night–apprentices, after their days’ works, either go to bed or lounge about in places where they benefit neither body or mind–and all classes seem to act as though there were no commendable objects of pursuit in the world except making money, and tenaciously sticking to one’s trade or occupation.

"Now, as the fault is so generally of this kind, we can do little harm in hinting to people that, after all, there may be no necessity for such a drudge system among men.  Let us enjoy life a little.  Has God made this beautiful earth–the sun to shine–all the sweet influences of nature to operate–and planted in man a wish for their delights–and all for nothing?  Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs.  Let us leave our close rooms, and the dust and corruption of stagnant places, and taste some of the good things Providence has scattered around so liberally.

"We would that all the young fellows about town were daily in the habit of spending an hour or two in some out-door game or recreation.  The body and mind would both be benefitted by it.  There would be fewer attenuated forms and shrunken limbs and pallid faces in our streets.   The game of ball, especially its best game, cricket, is glorious -- that of quoits is invigorating - so is leaping, running, wrestling, &c. &c. . . .

 

"It seems not too much, either, to expect of the city rulers that they should appropriate a few acres of ground, out of town, to be used for athletic exercises by the young men of New York.  We hope the idea will be taken up by some member of the Common Council."

 

The [paragraph] after that is about a proposal for public baths.  The final paragraph is about how cheap these proposals would be, and how quickly they would pay for themselves with reduced medical costs on the public purse.  Interestingly, the "few acres of ground" morphs into "two or three gymnasiums."  -- Richard Hershberger, posting to 19CBB, 1/13/2021.