1869.15: Difference between revisions

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(Created page with "{{Chronology Entry |Year=1869 |Year Suffix= |Year Number=15 |Headline=Teams Hassle Over Choice of Game Ball |Salience=2 |Tags=Equipment, The Ball, |Location=Philadelphia, PA,...")
 
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|Year Suffix=
|Year Suffix=
|Year Number=15
|Year Number=15
|Headline=Teams Hassle Over Choice of Game Ball
|Headline=Teams Hassle Over Choice of Game Ball -- Redstockings Liked  Less-elastic Variety
|Salience=2
|Salience=2
|Tags=Equipment, The Ball,  
|Tags=Equipment, The Ball,  
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|City=Philadelphia
|City=Philadelphia
|Modern Address=
|Modern Address=
|Game=Base Ball,
|Game=Base Ball
|Immediacy of Report=Contemporary
|Immediacy of Report=Contemporary
|Age of Players=Adult
|Age of Players=Adult
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|Warning=
|Warning=
|Comment=<p>Richard Hershberger explains (email to Protoball, 12/17/2021):&nbsp;<span>&nbsp;"The elasticity of balls varied wildly in this era.&nbsp; Typically clubs that were better hitters than fielders preferred more elastic, i.e. lively, balls, while clubs that were better fielders preferred less elastic, i.e. dead, balls.&nbsp; This was a frequent source of dispute before games.&nbsp; The problem was eventually solved when the National League adopted an official league ball for all championship games."</span></p>
|Comment=<p>Richard Hershberger explains (email to Protoball, 12/17/2021):&nbsp;<span>&nbsp;"The elasticity of balls varied wildly in this era.&nbsp; Typically clubs that were better hitters than fielders preferred more elastic, i.e. lively, balls, while clubs that were better fielders preferred less elastic, i.e. dead, balls.&nbsp; This was a frequent source of dispute before games.&nbsp; The problem was eventually solved when the National League adopted an official league ball for all championship games."</span></p>
|Query=<p>[] Was the official NL ball relatively elastic or relatively inelastic, compared to the range in available base balls?&nbsp; Were cricket balls, which had very similar dimensions and weights,&nbsp; more or less elastic than period base ball?</p>
<p><span>Corky Gaskell adds, (email of 12.20/2021):&nbsp;<span>George Ellard made the base balls for the Cincinnati club.&nbsp; I am not 100% sure when he started doing that, but if my memory serves me right, he was making them during the 1869 season, and it wasn't uncommon for them to want that less lively ball to help their defense do its thing.</span></span></p>
|Query=<p>[] Was the official NABBP ball relatively elastic or relatively inelastic, compared to the range in available base balls?&nbsp; Were cricket balls, which had very similar dimensions and weights,&nbsp; more or less elastic than period base ball?</p>
<p>[] Prior to the NL, was the convention that the home club furnished the ball?</p>
<p>[] Prior to the NL, was the convention that the home club furnished the ball?</p>
<p>[] Were there many "championship games" in the early NL?</p>
<p>[] Were there many "championship games" in the early NL?</p>

Revision as of 18:27, 20 December 2021

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Teams Hassle Over Choice of Game Ball -- Redstockings Liked Less-elastic Variety

Salience Noteworthy
Tags Equipment, The Ball
Location Philadelphia, PA
City/State/Country: Philadelphia, PA, United States
Game Base Ball
Immediacy of Report Contemporary
Age of Players Adult
Text

 

"Over a quarter of an hour’s time was wasted in a dispute as to what ball should be played with, the Athletics insisting that a lively elastic Ross ball should be used, whilst the Cincinnatis claimed that as they were the challenging party, they had the right o furnish the ball, and therefore proposed to use a ball made expressly for them, of a non-elastic nature, by which they hoped to equalize any advantage that the Athletics might possess over them in batting. The dispute was finally decided by the Cincinnatis agreeing to play with the ball furnished by the Athletics, as it always has been the custom for the club on whose ground a match is played to furnish the ball."

The game was Cincinnati vs. Athletic 6/21/1869.

 

Sources

Philadelphia Sunday Mercury, June 27, 1869

Comment

Richard Hershberger explains (email to Protoball, 12/17/2021):  "The elasticity of balls varied wildly in this era.  Typically clubs that were better hitters than fielders preferred more elastic, i.e. lively, balls, while clubs that were better fielders preferred less elastic, i.e. dead, balls.  This was a frequent source of dispute before games.  The problem was eventually solved when the National League adopted an official league ball for all championship games."

Corky Gaskell adds, (email of 12.20/2021): George Ellard made the base balls for the Cincinnati club.  I am not 100% sure when he started doing that, but if my memory serves me right, he was making them during the 1869 season, and it wasn't uncommon for them to want that less lively ball to help their defense do its thing.

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Query

[] Was the official NABBP ball relatively elastic or relatively inelastic, compared to the range in available base balls?  Were cricket balls, which had very similar dimensions and weights,  more or less elastic than period base ball?

[] Prior to the NL, was the convention that the home club furnished the ball?

[] Were there many "championship games" in the early NL?

 

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Submitted by Richard Hershberger
Submission Note Hershberger Clippings Collection



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