In Pittsfield in 1791

Pre-pro Baseball

Pittsfield, MA Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games Greater New York City Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games MA Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games United States Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games

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Date of Game	1791
Game	wicket,baseball,batball
Location	Pittsfield, MA, United States
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Description	In Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to promote the safety of the exterior of the newly built meeting house, particularly the windows, a by-law is enacted to bar "any game of wicket, cricket, baseball, batball, football, cats, fives, or any other game played with ball," within eighty yards of the structure. However, the letter of the law did not exclude the city's lovers of muscular sport from the tempting lawn of "Meeting-House Common." This is the first indigenous instance of the game of baseball being referred to by that name on the North American continent. It is spelled herein as bafeball. "Pittsfield is baseball's Garden of Eden," said Mayor James Ruberto. Per John Thorn: The History of Pittsfield (Berkshire County),Massachusetts, From the Year 1734 to the Year 1800. Compiled and Written, Under the General Direction of a Committee, by J. E. A. Smith. By Authority of the Town. [Lea and Shepard, 149 Washington Street, Boston, 1869], 446-447. The actual documents themselves repose in the Berkshire Athenaeum.
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