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A
<p>[A] A boys’ game reportedly played in Hawaii before the game of base ball was introduced in the 1860s. As described, its rules were consistent with those of [[wicket]], but no running or scoring is mentioned.</p>
<p>[B] See also item [[1855c.10]]:</p>
<p>"In 1855 the new game of wicket was introduced at Punahou [School] and for a few <a id="PXLINK_1_0_1" class="pxInta">years</a> was the leading athletic game on the campus. . . . [The] fiercely contested games drew many spectators from among the young ladies and aroused no common interest among the friends of the school."</p>
<p>"One game they all enjoyed was wicket, often watched by small Mary Burbank. Aipuni, the Hawaiians called it, or rounders, perhaps because the bat had a large rounder end. It was a forerunner of baseball, but the broad, heavy bat was held close to the ground."</p>
<p>[Through further digging, John Thorn suggests the migration of wicket to Hawaii through the Hawaii-born missionary Henry Obookiah. At age 17, Obookiah traveled to New Haven and was educated in the area. He may well have been exposed to wicket there. He died in 1818, but not before helping organize a ministry [Episcopalian?] in Hawaii that began in 1820.</p>
<p>See also John Thorn's 2016 recap is the supplementary text to [[1855c.10]].</p>
<p> </p> +
H
Games featuring baserunning and/or plugging (but no batting). +
B
Safe-Haven games featuring running among bases, a bat, pitching, and two distinct teams. +
A
<p>A hybrid cricket-baseball game reportedly introduced in Chicago in 1870. The game is described as generally having cricket rules, except with no LBW rule, and with the addition of a third base, so that the bases form a triangle with sides of 28-yards. We have no other accounts of this game.</p>
<p>Full text: </p>
<p>"A NEW AMERICAN GAME</p>
<p>The <em>Philadelphia Mercury</em> contains the following: 'A new game of ball has recently been introduced in Chicago, under the name of American cricket. The field is laid out like a cricket-field, and the striker wields the willow instead of the ash. The bowler, who stands twenty-two yards from the striker, bowls as in cricket. The striker, in making a tally, runs to first base and then to third (dispensing with the second), these being in the form of a triangle and at a distance of twenty-eight yards apart. There are no fouls to cause delays. There are none of the stupid and senseless six-ball 'overs.' 'Out leg before wicket' is dispensed with, a rule which, while in force, gives great annoyance to the umpire and general dissatisfaction to the batsman. The prominent and attractive features of both the English game of cricket and the American pastime of base-ball are taken and rolled into one, thereby making a magnificent game.'"</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
B
<p>In 1805 a game of “bace” was reportedly played among adult males in New York City. Its rules were not reported. The word “bace” is extremely rare in sport: it appeared in a 1377 English document, and, in a list of obsolete Cornish terms, for the game Prisoner’s Base in Cornwall in 1882. Unlike the usual case for prisoner’s base, however, a final score [41-35] was reported for this match.</p>
<p>"Bace" is also reported as an obolete term for a British game, the nature of which is not yet known. </p> +
<p>Elmore (1922) describes this as a game of attrition for ages 8-12 that involves throwing a ball against a wall. One player is named to catch it. If the player does, “stand” is shouted, and other players are to freeze in their places. If the player with the ball can plug someone, that player is out; if not, the thrower is out. This game has not batting or baserunning.</p> +
<p>per Perrin (1902). A school-time running game of one-on-one contests between a pitcher and a batter, who propels the tossed ball with the hand and runs bases while the pitcher retrieves the ball. Caught flies and a failure to reach third base before the pitcher touches home with the ball in hand are outs. Batters receive one point for each base attained, and five for a home run. Three-out half innings are used.</p> +
<p>per Block. The 1836 book Perth Traditions described Ball-Paces, by then almost extinct, as a game that used a trap to put a ball into play, at which point in-team runners at each of four bases run to the next bases, stopping only when the ball was returned to the original batsman’s station. There is no mention of plugging.</p> +
<p>per Dick, 1864. A team game like rounders, but having large safety areas instead of posts or bases. A feeder makes a short gentle toss to a batter, who tries to hit it. The batter-runner then chooses whether to run for a distant goal-line or a nearer one, for which there is a smaller chance of being plugged. The nearer station can hold several runners at once. Three missed swings makes an out, as does a caught fly. Versions of Ball-Stock are found in British and American boys’ books in the mid-Nineteenth Century.</p>
<p>From another source:</p>
<p>BALL-STOCK, or Ball-stick, is, as its name would indicate, a German game, but in some respects resembles our favorite English sport of "Rounders." The players are divided into two parties; six bases are then marked out, as in the accompanying Diagram; and for the first " innings" the players toss up.</p>
<p> C _l_l_l_l_l_l_l_ D</p>
<p> E (.) F</p>
<p> A _l_l_l_l_l_l_l_ B</p>
<p> l l l</p>
<p> c b a</p>
<p>The in-players occupy the "home" — A to B; the out-players station themselves as in Cricket, having one boy as feeder who stands at <em>a</em>, and another at <em>c</em> who acts as wicket-keeper, and tosses back the ball when tipped or missed. The striker stands at <em>b</em>. The ball having been thrown, and, we will suppose, well hit by the striker, he runs off to the base C — D, touching on his way at the resting base E — F; but if he has only tipped the ball, or struck it but a very short distance, or if it is stopped by one of the out-players, he should make off at once for the resting base E — F, and remain there until relieved by one of his fellow-players, whose fortunate hit may drive the ball so far out of range as to enable him to escape to C — D, or even run " home." If struck with the ball on his way from one base to another, he goes out. The other regulations are the same as in "Rounders."</p>
<p>From Elliott, <em>The Playground and the Parlour</em> (1868), p. 57</p>
<p>Translated as “rounders” in an 1855 translation of a French poem. Maigaard identifies it as a longball-type game with four bases [set in a line] and in which the ball is thrown into the field by a member of the in team to initiate play.</p> +
<p>A fungo-like game played in Elizabethan times in England. The ball was an inflated leather bag, and was knocked with the arm - sometimes aided by a wooden brace. Hitting for distance was evidently desired, but no running or fielding is described.</p>
<p>An illustration and description of "balloon ball" is in Hone, p. 96</p> +
<p>According to Gomme [1894], Bandy-Wicket is Cricket played with a bandy (a curved club) instead of a cricket bat. This name was evidently once used in Norfolk and Suffolk.</p>
<p>"Bandy Wicket" was also used in the US.</p> +
<p>A two-player game set against a wall or barn. The pitch is made from about ten feet away against the wall, and the batter tries to hit it on the rebound. If successful, he runs to the wall and back. If he misses the ball, and the pitcher catches the rebounding pitch on the fly or on one bound, the batter is out. Beard (1896) calls a similar game House Ball. It specifies a brick house, perhaps for the peace of mind of occupants.</p> +
H
Games for which the rules of play are not known and, and some that are commonly encountered by researchers but that are not safe-haven games (including shinty, bandy, and stow-ball). +
K
Safe-Haven games featuring running among bases, pitching, and two distinct teams (but no batting). +
F
Games featuring batting/hitting (but no baserunning). +
S
Safe-Haven games featuring running among bases, pitching, and a bat (but no teams). +
B
<p>Sometimes seen as a name for base ball. While some references to “base” most likely denote Prisoner’s Base (a team form of tag similar in nature to modern Capture the Flag and, perhaps, today’s Laser Tag), others denote a ball game. David Block reports that the earliest clear appearance of “base” as a ball game is from New England in 1831, and that his source groups base with cricket and cat as young men’s ballgames.</p> +
<p>Elmore (1922) describes this game as a form of Square Ball (Corner Ball) for 7th graders through high schoolers in which a player can prevent being called out by catching a ball thrown at him. An “indoor baseball” is used. The game involves no batting or baserunning.</p> +
<p>America’s national pastime since about 1860. Writing about rounders in 1898, Gomme mused that “An elaborate form of this game has become the national game of the United States.” The term “baseball” actually arose in England as early as 1748, referring to a simple game like rounders, but usage in England died out, and was soon forgotten in most parts of the country. The term first appeared in the United States in 1791.</p> +
<p>Baste, or baste ball, may simply be a variant spelling of base ball. The most famous US usage is in a Princeton student’s diary entry for 1786 (5 years before the first known use of "base ball" in the US), which reveals only that the game involves catching and hitting. <strong>Note</strong><strong>: </strong>Princeton was known as the College of New Jersey until 1896.</p>
<p>As of February 2017, Protoball knows of only three US uses of the term Baste: the Princeton diary, in an account of President Benjamin Harrison's teen years around 1850, and in Tennessee in 1874. Further input is welcome.</p>
<p>In early 2017,David Block summarized his English research findings: "Regarding 'baste,' I have seen at least two dozen examples of the term 'baste-ball' used in England in the 18th and 19th centuries. It's clear from context that this was an alternate spelling of base-ball, along with bass-ball. I don't doubt the same was true for the few instances of baste-ball's use in America." </p>
<p>A superficial Google search for <baste pastime game> in February 2017 throws no further light on ballplaying forms of baste. A somewhat primitive tagging game for children -- Baste the Bear -- in Europe and England is known, but does not appear to be consistent with US finds reported to Protoball.</p> +
<p>We have references to bat-ball from 1791 (when it was banned in both Pittsfield and Northampton MA), but the basic rules of this game as first played are unclear. Writers have diversely compared it to bandy, to schlagball, and to punchball. It is clear that a club was not always required for hitting, as the ball could instead be slapped into play by the hand.</p> +
<p>All we know about Batton is that in 1851 boys played a game in the village of Norfolk, MA - about 20 miles SW of Boston.</p> +
<p>Baseball for blind players. The balls emit beeps, and a base buzzes once a ball is hit. Runners are out if the ball is fielded before they reach base. Sighted players serve as pitcher and catcher for the batting team, but cannot field. There is a national association for the game, and annual World Series have been held since 1976.</p> +
<p>per Fraser (1975) - A game played in Dundee, Scotland, in about 1900 and later understood as a “corruption of baseball.” Balls were hit with the hand instead of a bat, and the game evidently sometimes used plugging.</p> +
<p>A game called bittle battle is mentioned [[[as such?]]] (but not described) in the famous 1086 Domesday Book in England. Some have claimed that this game resembled Stoolball:</p>
<p>[A] In fact, Gomme [1894, ] describes Bittle-Battle as “the Sussex game of ‘Stoolball.,’ but does not link it to the Domesday Book.</p>
<p>[B] Similarly, Andrew Lusted reports that an 1875 source lists bittle battle as "another word for stoolball," </p>
<p>[C] Andrew Lusted also finds an 1864 newspaper account that makes a similar but weaker claim: "Among the many [Seaford] pastimes were bittle-battle, bell in the ring, . . . "</p>
<p>[D] From David Block: "<span>the source of the Domesday myth appears to be in an article entitled “The Game of Stoolball” by Mary G. Campion from the January 1909 issue of “The Country Home.” She wrote: <span style="font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Fira Sans', 'Droid Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">The game is an old one. It is mentioned in Domesday Book as Bittle Bat, and the present name of Stoolball is supposed to have originated from milkmaids playing it with their stools.” As you can see, she didn’t write '</span></span><span style="color: #000000; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Fira Sans', 'Droid Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">bittle-battle', she wrote “battle-bat.” Grantham cited her but changed the name to 'bittle-battle.' Here is a link to the publication; the Campion article starts on p. 153: <a href="https://www.stoolball.org.uk/media/4h2brgma/stoolball-illustrated-and-how-to-play-it.pdf">https://www.stoolball.org.uk/media/4h2brgma/stoolball-illustrated-and-how-to-play-it.pdf</a>."</span></p> +
<p>Maigaard (1941) notes they while most forms of rounders and longball are now lost, three - baseball, cricket, and bo-ball - remain vigorous. He places Bo-Ball in Finland. The only known source on this game, called Lahden Mailaveikot in Finnish, is a Finnish-language website, one that shows photographs of a vigorous game with aluminum bats, gloves, helmets, and much sliding and running but no solid hints for English-speakers about the nature of the game. Similarities to Pesapallo, including the gentle form of pitching, are apparent.</p> +
<p>per Perrin (1902) – Apparently an indoor game derived from baseball. A member of the in-team throws the ball to an area guarded by the pitcher, and runs if and when the ball passes through. There is tagging but no plugging.</p> +
<p>[A] per Bronner [1997]. Using three sidewalk squares, a “pitcher” throws the ball into the box closest to his opponent, who tries to slap the ball into the box closest to the pitcher. If he missed the box or the pitcher catches ball on the fly, it is an out. There is no baserunning. Also called “Boxball.”</p>
<p>[B] New York City streets are composed on concrete squares approximately [X?] feet square. Players would be separated by three squares. They would alternate pitcher/catcher and hitter depending on who was up. The pitcher had to have the ball bounce in the box closest to the batter. The pitcher would place the ball and fluke it in order to make it difficult to hit after the bounce. The batter was required to slap the ball so that it landed in the box closest tot he pitcher. If the pitcher caught the ball on a fly, it was an out. One bounce was a single, two a double, etc, The batter would try to hit the ball low and fast in order to get it past the pitcher.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
<p>A Swedish game, also played in Germany and Denmark. A batting and running game with four bases, this game involved fungo-style hitting to start a play. As in some forms of longball, a base can be occupied by more than one runner. A caught fly ball gives a point to the out team, but the runner is not thereby retired. Innings are timed. A home run is six points. A 90-degree fair territory is employed. This game may relate to Swedeball, a game reportedly played in the US upper midwest. It has been reported that that Brannboll is played in Minnesota, but no such references are known.</p> +
<p>per Brewster [1953]. “Basemen” stand at each corner of a bounded field of play, and try to plug other players inside the bounds. Each player has three “eyes” [lives]. A player loses an “eye” if plugged or if a target player catches a ball thrown at him. There is no batting or baserunning in this game.</p> +
<p>Bunt is downsized baseball. One reported Massachusetts version was a one-on-one game in which any hit ball that reached the not-distant field perimeter was an out. The batter ran out hit balls, and the pitcher fielded them, but thereafter base advancement was done by ghost [imaginary] runners. Terrie Dopp Aamodt reports playing a similar game as an adolescent girl.</p> +
<p>According to Gomme, a Lincolnshire glossary specifies that Bunting is a name for Tip-Cat.</p> +
<p>per Appel [1999]. Appel reports that the young Mike Kelly, growing up on Washington DC in the late 1860’s, first played Burn Ball, a form of base ball that included "plugging" or "burning" of baserunners by thrown balls.</p> +
C
<p>A game in which a ball is tossed up among players and one player’s name is then called out. That player must obtain the ball and try to hit fleeing compatriots with it. Newell [1883] notes that this game was played in Austria.</p> +
<p>per Jamieson (1825). A game known in County Fife. Two teams, armed with clubs, try to drive a ball into a hole defended by their opponents. This game may have resembled field hockey more than a safe-haven game.</p> +
<p>For a recent description of Cat/Old-Cat, see <strong>Supplemental Text below.</strong> </p>
<p>Per Culin. A batting game played with a six-inch, pointed wooden “cat.” The cat is pitched to a batter standing near a four-foot circle. The batter is out if he hits a caught fly or if the ball falls, unhit, into the circle. If put out, the batter goes to the end of the sequence of fielders, and the pitcher becomes the new batter. A batter can accrue points based on the distance from the circle to the where the hit ball lands. A version described by Newell[39] allows the batter to elevate and hit any cat that is pitched outside the circle.</p>
<p><strong>Note: </strong>A Dutch book printed in 1845 also describes "Kat:" See http://protoball.org/1845.29.</p>
<p>"The Kat is a piece of wood about 6 inches long, 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide at the midpoint and comes to a point at both ends making the form of a double cone. The Kat is placed on the ground in the middle of a big circle and a player uses a "ball stick" to hit one end of it to launch it into the air. As it comes down he tries to hit it out of the circle. If he fails to hit it or doesn't hit it out of the circle he steps off and the next player takes his turn. If he's successful he's assigned a certain number of points depending on how far he hit it." </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
<p>per Brand and Jamieson. All but one player stands by a hole, holding a stick [called a “cat.”] The last player, holding a ball, gives a signal, and the others run to place their stick in the next adjacent hole before a ball enters it, or he will become the thrower.</p>
<p>Gomme specifies that when before thrower tosses the ball, he gives a sign and all the (boy) players must scramble to a neighbor's hole to obstruct the ball from entering it. Her c. 1894 description:</p>
<p>"A game well known in Fife (a county northeast of Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth), and perhaps in other countries. If seven boys are to play, six holes are made a certain distances. Each of the six stands at a hole, with a short stick in his hand; the seventh stands at a certain distance holding a ball. When he gives the word, or makes the sign agreed upon, all the six change holes, each running to his neighbour's hole, and putting his stick in the hole which he has newly seized. In making this change, the boy who has the ball, tries to put in into an empty hole. If he succeeds in this, the boy who had not his stick (for the cat is the Cat) in the hole to which he had run is put out, and must take the ball. There is often a very keen contest whether one will get his stick, and the other the ball, or Cat, first put into the hole. When the Cat <em>is in the hole,</em> it is against the laws of the game to put the ball into it -- Jamieson</p>
<p>Kelly, in his <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Scottish Proverbs</span> p. 325, says" 'Tine cat, tine game:' an allusion to a play called 'Cat i' the Hole', and the English 'Kit-cat.' Spoken when man at law have lost their principal evidence." [Originally published in 1721.]</p> +
<p>per Burnett. Burnett identifies Cat-and-Bat as a form of cricket that was played in Scottish streets in about 1860.</p> +
<p>A fungo game played in Manhattan in the 1950s. A fungo hitter is replaced by a fielder who catches a ball (or sometimes three balls) on the fly. Played when fewer than six kids were at the ballyard and a team game wasn’t possible.</p> +
<p>per “Boys’ Own Book” (1881). A game similar to Nineholes, but without the holes. A ball is thrown up, and a player named. If that player cannot catch it before it bounces twice, he must plug another player or lose a point.</p> +
<p>According to Maigaard, Cerkelspelen was “rounders without batting” as played in Flanders. The game evidently had five bases, with fielders near each one, but the infield area was occupied only by the in-team.</p> +
<p>In an email of 12/10/2008, Tom Altherr tells of the game of chermany, defined in a 1985 dictionary as “a variety of baseball.” Early usage of the term dates to the 1840s-1860s. Two sources relate the game to baseball, and one, a 1912 book of Virginia folk language, defines it as “a boys’ game with a ball and bats.” We know of but eight references to chermany [churmany, chumny, chuminy] as of October 2009. Its rules of play are sketchy. A Confederate soldier described it as using five or six foot-high sticks as bases and using “crossing out” instead of tagging or plugging runners to retire them.</p> +
<p>per Strutt. Strutt speculates that Club-ball was the ancient ancestor of many ball games. Its rules of play are not known. Hone book has 2 illustrations.</p>
<p>Collins, "Popular Sports" (1935) says (without citing a source) that club ball was similar to Single wicket cricket.</p> +
<p>According to Morrison (1908) this game is “practically identical with the game of “Rounders.” He goes on to describe a game with three bases set 50 yards apart, with plugging and crossing as ways to retire batters. Games are played to 50 or 100 counts. The game is depicted as “practically dead” in Uist (In the Outer Hebrides off Scotland) but formerly was very popular.</p> +
<p>This game, encountered in Upper Egypt in the 1850s, is briefly described: it is “played likewise with a ball; one tosses it, and another strikes it with his hand, and runs to certain limits, if he can, without being hit by a ‘fag’ who picks up the ball and throws in.”</p> +
<p>Evidently primarily a St. Louis pastime, Corkball is presumably derived from baseball, involving down-sized bats and balls. The ball is pitched overhand from a distance of 55 feet. There is no running, but imaginary runners advance on hits by succeeding batters. Hit balls are defined as singles, and sometimes as longer hits, depending on where they land. Caught flies are outs. The game is said to have originated over a century ago among brewery workers using broomsticks and the bungs [corks] used to seal beer barrels. Team sizes vary from two to five players. Annual tournaments have been held at least through 2012. Dedicated corkball fields are reportedly found in St. Louis.</p>
<p>When played with tennis balls, the game is sometimes called [[Fuzz-Ball]].</p>
<p>Some additional 2013 data from Corkball fan Jeff Kopp in St. Louis:</p>
<p>[] The game was reportedly first played in about 1890.</p>
<p>[] There are four active clubs in St.L, and pickup games appear on many Sundays at the Don Young Corkball Fields at Jefferson Barracks Park.</p>
<p>[] Special balls and bats are supplied by the Markwort Sporting Goods Company.</p>
<p>[] Isolated reports of corkball play are found in other US locations. Drummer Butch Trucks, a nephew of Tiger pitcher Virgil Trucks and founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, reportedly played corkball in Jacksonville FL and taught his band-mates the game. Another account places the game in an area from St. Louis "only" north to Springfield IL. A Chicago Corkball Club was reportedly active around 2010.</p>
<p>[] Another form of the game, played with bottle caps in place of balls/corks, is called [[Bottle Caps]]. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
<p>A plugging game that is closer to dodge ball than to safe-haven games. Some players, standing at designated corners or the perimeter of the playing area, pass the ball teammate to teammate in order to make it easier for one of them to plug anyone among group of players swarming around inside the field. If plugged, a player is out of the game.</p> +
<p>A reference to “crekettes” in a 1533 poem has been construed as evidence that the game of cricket originated in a pastime brought to England by Flemish weavers , who arrived in the 14th Century. A German scholar thinks that this earlier game originated in the Franco-Flemish border area as early as 1150. We have no faint notion of how this earlier game might have been played.</p> +
<p>is defined in the OED as “a kind of rounders.” Gomme equates Cuck-Ball with Pize Ball and Tut-Ball.</p> +
<p>per Gomme. Two holes are made about ten feet apart. A player on the out-team pitches a cat toward a hole, and its defender tries to hit it with his stick. He and his in-team mate then run between the holes. When more than four boys play the extra out-team players field as in cricket.</p> +
<p> </p>
<p><strong>"Curb ball</strong> - no baserunning - played with 1 -3 players per team on a side street directly under my (Bronx) bedroom window [which allowed me to participate whenever i wished because i could always hear the game organizing] - a 1 1/2 lane street separated the hitting curb from a 3 1/2 foot chain link fence beyond which was a 2 lane street beyond which was a small grassy rise - spaldeen was thrown against the curb - balls that missed the point of the curb and bounced off the building wall [~10 feet away] were foul balls but if caught on the fly were outs - balls that were thrown below the curb point were in play [but usually weakly hit]; balls hitting the point often went very far[or fast] - caught fly balls or caught grounders were outs, unfielded ground balls were singles - balls off the first fence were singles - balls over the first fence [where 2nd and 3rd players could be positioned] were doubles if not caught on the fly - balls on the rise were triples, balls over the walls were homers - major hazards were moving cars and mothers yelling out their windows for us to quiet down."</p>
<p>(Email from Raphael Kasper, February 3, 2020.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Gregory Christiano describes curb ball as a game he played in the Bronx in the mid-1950s:</p>
<p>CURB BALL: Hit the 'spaldeen' against the sharp edge of the curb causing it to fly up as high as possible. The fielder must catch it on the fly to get an out...otherwise the number of bounces determines if it was a single, double, triple. Four bounces is a homer. There were no actual bases to run. The players would take turns when the inning was over. A regular nine-inning game was played.</p> +
D
<p>A game played from 1916 to 1926, when it transformed into Softball. Diamond ball was also known as women's baseball. Particularly popular in Sarasota FL, this game was played in the 1920s on sandy beaches (sometimes at night under lights) , and uses a 14-inch ball like used in indoor baseball. Games were played in less than an hour, affording lunch-hour play. </p> +
<p>According to an 1860 text, players sit on stools placed in a circle, and one player tosses or strikes a ball into the air. If he retrieves the ball and hits another player before that player reaches the next stool, the two players switch roles.</p> +
<p>[1] Drive ball: An 1835 book published in New Haven describes drive ball. David Block's summary: "In this activity, two boys with bats face each other, taking turns fungoing the ball. When one boy hits the ball, the other has to retrieve it as quickly as he can, then fungo it back from the spot he picked it up."</p>
<p>From the 1835 text: "'Drive Ball’ is a game for two players only, who are placed each with a bat, at some distance from, and facing each other. The ball is then knocked back and forth, from one to the other, each endeavoring to drive it as far as possible, where it must be picked up and knocked back to the other player, who is at liberty to advance as near as he pleases. If he advance too near, however, his opponent will be likely, with a vigorous stroke, to force him to retreat again. The space of ground passed over will readily show which is the victor."</p>
<p>A 1849 chapbook from Babcock also mentions drive ball as the last mentioned of six common games played with a ball, naming "base-ball, trap ball, cricket, up-ball, catch-ball and <span class="sought_text">drive ball."</span></p>
<p>--</p>
<p>[2] Drive: A ball game, listed along with the Old Cat games and Baseball, is mentioned in the memoirs of a New Hampshire man born in 1831. The rules of this game are not given. It may not have been a baserunning game.</p>
<p><em>Drive Ball’ is a game for two players only, who are placed each with a bat, at some distance from, and facing each other. The ball is then knocked back and forth, from one to the other, each endeavoring to drive it as far as possible, where it must be picked up and knocked back to the other player, who is at liberty to advance as near as he pleases. If he advance too near, however, his opponent will be likely, with a vigorous stroke, to force him to retreat again. The space of ground passed over will readily show which is the victor.</em></p> +
<p>A Scottish name for rounders as played by “Edinburgh street boys” in about 1880 and by schoolgirls in about 1900.</p> +
<p>This game, called “long out of date” in an 1867 newspaper article, seemed to resemble Long Ball but with three bases. A “tosser” lofted the ball and a nearby batter hit it, then ran to a base [a “bye”] a few feet away, then to a second base 25-30 feet distant, then home. Completing this circuit before the ball was returned by fielders to the tosser gave the striker another turn at bat. The account does not say whether this was a team game, whether it employed plugging, or whether runners could elect to stay on base. It seems possible that the adjective "dutch" indicated that the game came from Holland or Germany.</p> +
E
<p>A version of this game described in 1860 has players place their hats near a wall. One of them tosses a ball from 15 feet away, and if the ball lands in a player’s hat, he tries to quickly plug a fleeing compatriot or else he receives an “egg” [a small stone] in his hat. Three stones and you’re out of the game.</p> +
<p>per Gilbert (1910). Remembered as Town Ball, this game was a simple fungo game played in the 1850s in which a fielder who caught a hit ball on the fly or on one bounce became the fungo batter.</p> +
F
<p>per “The Boy’s Own Book.” A non-team form of rounders using three bases in which a player who is put out then takes on the role of feeder [pitcher]. An 1859 handbook describes feeder as a game with four or five stones or marks for bases. Plugging is permitted.</p>
<p>As of 2023, the Protoball chronology has 10 items of the game of feeder.</p>
<p>One, found at [[1841.1]], refers to clockwise baserunning. David Block's <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Baseball before We Knew It,</span> cites the game at pages 24,138-9, 153, 205,, 207, 284-5.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
<p>Fielders catch fungo hits, with a caught fly worth 100 points, a one-bouncer 75 points, etc. A player who accrues 500 points becomes the hitter. In some versions, muffed catches deduct points, and the [[Hit-the-Bat]] option for returned throws is employed. Land’s review of schoolyard games includes two references to 500. It is also evidently called [[Twenty-One]] in some localities.</p> +
<p>Gregory Christiano recalls this as a fungo game for times where there were too few players for stick-ball in The Bronx, New York in the mid-1950s. A fielder who caught the ball on the fly went “up” to bat.</p>
<p>Gary Land quotes New York City resident Michael Frank: “Hardball? Never. Other baseball-related games we played included Stickball in the street and “Flies-Up” in the playground. The latter game is not further described, but could be a species of Fungo.</p> +
<p>Protoball's <em>Glossary of Games</em> includes many nonrunning games in which the ball (or cat, or other object) is put in play by a batter who gently lofts a ball and bats, or "fungoes," it to other players. Some better-known examples are Brannboll (Sweden), Catch-a-Fly (Manhattan), Corkball (St. Louis), 500, Half-ball, Indian Ball (MO), Sky Ball (CT), and Tip-Cat.</p>
<p>Some early references:</p>
<p>Culin (1891): A batter fungoes balls to a set of fielders. A fielder who first catches a set number of balls on the fly becomes the batter.</p>
<p>Chadwick (1884) describes Fungo as requiring the hitter to deliver the ball on the fly to the fielders, or he loses his place. This practice probably has had numerous local variant names such as Knock Up and Catch and Knocking Flies.</p>
<p>It is common for those coaching baseball to give outfielders practice in judging and fielding fly balls by hitting balls toward them fungo-style.</p> +
G
<p>Bowen (1970) writes that “Gate-ball (‘Thorball’), as found in the early Dutch and Danish accounts is “obviously but wicket [cricket], again.”</p> +
<p>per Perrin (1902). This game involves pitching a ball to a batter who hits it into a field where an opposing team’s fielders are. He tries to reach a goal line at the end of the playing area [80 feet away] and to return to the batting zone without being plugged by the ball. There is no mention of the possibility of remaining safely at the goal area. Three outs constitute a half-inning, and a team that scores 25 “points” [runs] wins the contest. The game resembles the family of "battingball" games reported by Maigaard.</p> +
<p>This game, described as an amalgam of Baseball and traditional German Schlagball, was introduced in 1986 by Roland Naul in the context of a revival of Turner games for German youth. In the mid-1990s, a one-handed wooden bat was developed especially for the game. As of October 2009, we are uncertain how the two sets of rules were blended to make this new game. The author mentions that the fielding team can score points as well as the batting team.</p>
<p>From 2012 searches, it is not clear that this game is still played.</p> +
<p>A 1921 handbook and a 1922 handbook depicts German Bat Ball as a team game that uses a ball like a volleyball and that has neither a bat nor pitching. A “batter” puts the ball in play by serving or “posting” it [as in schoolyard punchball] and then running around a post (Clark) or to a distant safe-haven area (Elmore/O’Shea). A run is scored if the runner can return to the batting base without being plugged. It is unclear whether the runner can opt to stay at the distant base to avoid being put out. A caught fly is an out, and a three-out-side-out rule applies.</p> +
<p>per Leavy. A biography of Sandy Koufax reports that he played “stickball, punchball, square ball, and Gi-Gi ball in his neighborhood. We don’t know what Gi-Gi Ball is.</p> +
<p>Court records from 1583 [Elizabeth I was in her 25th year as queen] show a dim view of this game. “Whereas there is great abuse in a game or games used in the town called ‘Gidigadie or the Cat’s Pallet . . . ‘ no manner persion shall play at the same games, being above the age of seven years, either in the churchyard or in any streets of the this town, upon pain of . . . being imprisoned in the Doungeon for the space of two hours . . . . Thus, Gidigadie may be another name for Cat’s Pallet.</p> +
<p>In Baseball Before We Knew It, [page 207] David Block describes a game in a German manual that “is identical to the early French game of la balle empoisonee,” and that an illustration of two boys playing it “shows it to be a bat-and-ball game." ''Giftball'' in German translates literally as "poison ball."</p> +
<p>Another name for early base ball, perhaps confined to certain areas. Usage of the name is known in New England. As of June 2012, the Protoball Chronology lists 10 references to the game of Goal Ball or Goal, or games in which bases are term "goals." All refer to play in the six New England states, and all but two are found before 1850. A new reference to the game "gould" in 2020 may denote the same game (see [[1854.23]]).</p>
<p>On 11/3/2020 Brian Turner added the following clarification: "<span>As best I can tell based on examples I've put together for an article I'm doing for <em>Base Ball</em>, "gould" (AKA "gool") are regional pronunciations of "goal." The region in which those terms occur includes western Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, mostly in rural communities where (I surmise) old-time game names may have survived into the 19th century. Peter Morris has identified two instances associated with Norway, Maine, where "gool" is used as synonymous with "base" as late as the 1860s, but when one of those the incidents was recalled in the 1870s, it's clear that the use struck the lads of Bowdoin attending the game as risible. The use of "goal" for "base" is consistent with Robin Carver's 1834 inclusion of the term in </span><em>The Book of Sports</em><span>. One must be cautious about anointing every use of "goal" or "gool" or goold" as synonymous with base and therefore "base ball," since, like base by itself, goal can be used to describe other sorts of games. By itself, "base" can refer to Prisoner's Base, a running game that seems to resemble a team form of tag. So too "goal" by itself."</span></p>
<p> </p> +
<p>per Wieand. This is a game with pitching and batting but no running. A caught fly ball results in an out, and the batter then goes to the outfield, or grutz, to begin his rotation back to the batting position. If a ball is not caught, the fielder tries to return it to home through an arch made by the batter.</p> +
<p>An apparent non-running relative of tip-cat. A batter hits a gulli (a six-inch cat) with a danda, and is out if a fielder catches it. If it falls to the ground, a fielder throws it back, trying to hit the danda, which is laid on the ground. It is not clear if this is a team game, or if the gulli is pitched on simply fungoed. There is no running. The geographical range of its play is unclear.</p> +
H
<p>Thomason (1975) recalls Half-Rubber as a 1930s school recess game involving a sponge-rubber ball sliced cleanly in half and a sawed-off broomstick as a bat. Thrown side-arm, the ball had good movement, and was difficult to field. There was no running, but outs and innings were recorded and (virtual) base advancement depending on the lengths that the ball was batted.</p>
<p>(A 1997 newspaper article recalls a similar game recalled as Half-Ball being played in the Philadelphia area.)</p>
<p>This game emerged in about 1910 in the SC/GA area of the south, and retained strong popularity into the 1970s.</p> +
<p>per McLean. McLean notes that hand-in and hand-out was among the games banned by King Edward IV in 1477. She identifies it as “probably a kind of trick catch.” The 1477 ban spelled the game name as “handyn and handout.”</p> +
<p>A form of Roly Poly (or Roley Poley or Roll Ball) that substitutes hats for holes in the ground. Newell says this game was played among the Pennsylvania Dutch.Brewster says that Hat Ball variants are known in many countries, and include Petjeball [Dutch] and Kappenspiel [German].</p> +
<p>A fungo game in which a ball is hit to a group of fielders. If one of them can roll the ball back and hit the bat so that the ball hits the ground before the batter can catch the ricochet, the two exchange places.</p>
<p>Baserunning and pitching are not part of this fungo game.</p>
<p>[As recalled in Central New York in the 1950s]</p> +
<p>per Culin. A team game resembling Kick the Ball, but using a simple catapult to put into play a 3-inch stick instead of a ball. Fly outs retire the batsman. The bases are the four street-corners at an intersection.</p> +
<p>Our single reference to this game comes from an 1847 Alabama newspaper in its attempt to describe curling to southern readers: “Did you ever play ‘bass ball,’ or ‘goal,’ or ‘hook-em-snivy,’ on the ice?” Its nature is unknown. “Hookum-snivy” is slang for adultery, not that it matters.</p> +
<p>Only known from Francis Willughby’s 17th century <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Book of Games</span>, hornebillets is played with a cat (fashioned from animal horn), which is thrown toward holes defended by players with dog-sticks. When they hit the cat, batters run to the next hole, placing the stick in the hole before the cat can be retrieved and be put into the hole. The number of holes depends on the number of players on each team.</p> +
<p>per Jamieson (1825.) Two teams of two boys, defend their holes with a sticks, described as like a walking sticks, against a cat (“a piece of stick, and frequently a sheep’s horn”) thrown “at some distance” by their opposite numbers.</p> +
<p>Scotland - per MacLagan. The Scots name for the ordinary English game of Rounders. Pitched balls are struck by hand.</p> +
<p>Confected in 2009 at an unidentified school in Howland, Ohio, this game (“usually played from May to September”) melds baseball and rounders. Teams of six players populate an area with an infield in the form of an isosceles triangle [two sides are 83 feet long, and the base is 62 feet long, with home set at the angle at the right side of the base, and foul lines extending from home through the two running posts]. The counterparts to balls and strikes are influenced by whether a pitch lands in a net to the rear of the home square. Apparently, a batter cannot stay at a base, but must try to complete a round before the fielders can return the ball to the net. A local league is reported to play the game.</p> +
I
<p>Per Brewster, 1953: A down-sized, non-running baseball variant. Two teams of five players form. A regular softball is pitched underhand to the batter. Outs are recorded for caught fly balls and ground balls cleanly fielded inside the baselines. Unlimited swings are permitted. Three-out-side-out innings and five-inning games are prescribed. The playing field is represented in a figure showing a fair ground of less than 45 degrees.</p>
<p>See also the text of "Teach Your Kids to Play Indian Ball!," below. The variant of the non-running game Indian Ball described in this 2013 article entails pitching by a member of the batting team, strikes called on all balls that are not hit fair (including pitches not swung at), outs on short fair hits, home runs for suitably long fair hits, employment of a baseball or tennis ball, and ghost runners. The author, at playcorkball.com, stresses that players can play this game without adult supervision.</p>
<p>An account of Indian Ball as played in St. Louis in 2008 is found at <a href="http://www.stlmag.com/St-Louis-Magazine/July-2008/What-the-Is-Indian-Ball/">http://www.stlmag.com/St-Louis-Magazine/July-2008/What-the-Is-Indian-Ball/</a>. </p>
<p>The O'Leary article below has the "rules" of the game, and a diagram. The field is triangular, and the game is said to be a variant of stickball when you have less than 18 players, and with as few as three.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
<p>Evolving from an 1887 innovation in Chicago involving a broomstick as a bat and a boxing glove as the ball, indoor baseball is described in a 1929 survey as particularly popular in gymnasiums in the US mid-west in the early 20th century. The game of softball traces back to indoor play.</p>
<p>Origins -- On Thanksgiving Day at te Farragut Club in Chicgo in 1887, a participant recalled, "[T]he fellows were throwing an ordinary boxing glove around the room, which was struck at by one of the boys with a broom. George W. Hancock suddenly called out, 'Bpys, let's play baseball!'" Hancock was later known as the Father of Indoor Baseball.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
<p>A name for Scrub used in Philadelphia in the 1930s and possibly before/after that.</p> +
<p>A communication received from Peadar O Tuatain describes what is known of the ancient game of Irish Rounders. Details of the old game are apparently lost to history, but some rules encoded in 1932 were used for a revival in 1956, and the revival version, which resembles baseball much more than it does English rounders, is still being played. It employs a hurling ball and a game comprises five three-out innings. The game is played without gloves and, perhaps unique among safe-haven games, batted balls caught in the air are not outs.</p> +
J
<p>Lowth (1855) describes Jellal, encountered among the people of Upper Eqypt, as resembling “in some of its parts our old game of Rounders” as he knew it in England. There was hitting and “getting home,” but a difference that he noted was that one boy hit the ball and another ran.</p> +
K
<p>According to Brewster, Kappenspiel is the German word for Hat Ball.</p> +
<p>per Brewster. A team form of Hat Ball. A player throws a ball to the other group, and runs toward it. If the receiving group can plug the thrower, he is captured, and the game continues until one side is depleted.</p> +
<p>An 1834 book on a tour to Abyssinia mentions this game, taken to be “the same game we call bat ball” in England.</p> +
<p>per Gomme. A game played at Sitxwold [huh?] resembling “Trap, Bat, and Ball.</p> +
<p>per Culin (1891). A team game generally resembling Kickball, but using a small rubber ball. There is no plugging; runners are out if they are between bases when the fielding team returns the kicked ball to a teammate near home. No mention is made of fly outs. There is a three-out-side-out rule, and a game usually comprises four innings. Johnson (1910) lists Kick the Ball as a Baseball game.</p> +
<p>per Culin. A game identical to Kick the Wicket [below] but using a can instead of a wicket.</p> +
<p>per Culin. The wicket is a piece of wood or a short section of a hose. Players kick the wicket, and then run among [usually four] bases. An “it” player tries to catch the ball, or to retrieve and reposition it while baserunners are between bases. The game is not described as a team game.</p> +
<p>A traditional school recess game in the U.S., Kickball has lately grown in popularity as a co-ed adult game. Kickball strongly resembles Baseball, but the large rubber ball is put in play by bowled delivery and struck by a kicker-runner, who then runs from base to base. Plugging below the neck retires a runner who not at a base. The rules of the World Adult Kickball Association, with 25,000 registered members, specifies 11 players per team, 60-foot basepaths, and a strike zone about 30 inches wide and one foot high.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On kickball history: </p>
<p>"Kickball, originally called "Kicking Baseball" was claimed to have been invented as early as 1910 by Dr. <a title="Emmett Dunn Angell" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Dunn_Angell">Emmett Dunn Angell</a> in his noted book <em>Play: Comprising Games for the Kindergarten, Playground, Schoolroom and College : How to Coach and Play Girls' Basket-ball, Etc</em> (1910). His description and field illustration in this book is both the closest and earliest known precursor to the modern game of kickball. He also notes that "The game seems to afford equal enjoyment to the children and it gives a better understanding of the national game (Baseball), and at the same time affords them an exercise that is not too violent and is full of fun.".<sup id="cite_ref-Play_1-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickball#cite_note-Play-1">[1]</a></sup></p>
<p>A later documented inventor claim, as early as 1917, was by Nicholas C Seuss, Supervisor of Cincinnati Park Playgrounds in <a title="Cincinnati" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati">Cincinnati</a>, <a title="Ohio" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio">Ohio</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-ThePlayground1917_2-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickball#cite_note-ThePlayground1917-2">[2]</a></sup> Seuss submitted his first documented overview of the game which included 12 rules and a field diagram in <em>The Playground Book</em>, published in 1917. Kickball is referred to as "Kick Base Ball" and "Kick Baseball" in this book."<sup id="cite_ref-ThePlaygroundBook_3-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickball#cite_note-ThePlaygroundBook-3"><br/></a></sup></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Source: https://www.rookieroad.com/kickball/history/</p>
<p> </p>
<p>According to another source, "The game [of matball] is a derivative of kickball and in most situations follows similar basics. According to history (site not provided), kickball Also known as kick baseball was invested [sic] in 1917 by Nicholas C. Seuss." Seuss is described as working for Cincinnati Park Playgrounds.</p>
<p>Source: https://kickballzone.com/detailed-look-matball/</p>
<p>per MacLagan. A player stands at the center of 11 stations marked with a stone, and a player at each. At the central player’s signal, the other 11 must change positions, and he tries to strike one with the ball before they can complete their move. Each position can be occupied by but one player.</p> +
<p>Brand describes Kit-Cat as a game for two teams of three players each. Each player on the in-team stands near a hole with a two-foot stick. One is thrown a cat. If he hits it (and if it is not caught in the air for an out), the in-team runs from hole to hole, placing their sticks in each hole and counting the number passed. Outs can also be made by throwing a cat into an unoccupied hole, or by strikeout. The number of outs per half-inning, and the number of missed swings that constitute an out, are agreed in advance.</p> +
<p>An off-shoot of Indoor Baseball played early in the 20th Century. In 1920, 64 men's teams and 25 women's teams played regularly in the Twin Cities. Authorites changed the name of the game to diamond ball in 1922. In the 1930s, the game merged with sofball.</p> +
<p>A ball game recorded in the “Younger Edda:” Its rules are not known.</p>
<p>In April 2022, Bruce Allardice added this comment to chronology item [[1000c.1]]:</p>
<p>"Vikings also played a ball game with stick and ball. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to get hurt or even killed, as Vikings played rough. Women did not participate in these games, but they would gather to watch the men . . . . </p>
<p>The stick-ball game was <em><strong><span title="Icelandic-language text"><em lang="is">Knattleikr</em></span></strong></em> (English: 'ball-game'), an ancient ball game similar to hurling played by Icelandic Vikings."</p>
<p>--</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On 4/4/2022, this Youtube introduction to the game, described as an Icelandic game similar to lacrosse, was found at: </p>
<p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6KSqgkJxnY</p>
<p>Historical sources for this interpretation are not supplied. The game as illustrated does not appear to involve baserunning.</p>
<p>On 4/5/2022, Swedish scholar Isak Lidstrom added:</p>
<p>"That is a great game! Usually called knattleikr. The rules and practice of the game is unclear. In the early 20th century a theory was launched stating that lacrosse was developed out of knattleikr. A more plausible theory states that knattleikr is closely related to hurling or shinty. This article mentions everything worth knowikng about the game. <a id="LPlnk39510" class="OWAAutoLink" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24862870?seq=1">https://www.jstor.org/stable/24862870?seq=1</a></p>
<p>Isak"</p>
<p> </p>
<div id="LPBorder_GT_16491030726680.6410949594727869"> </div>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
<p>A fungo game in which a player who catches the ball on the fly qualifies to become the hitter. Regionally variant names include Knock-Up and Knock-Up and Catch.</p> +
<p>“Among the several types of Dutch kopfspeel there is one like rounders.” No other lead to kopfspeel is provided, and we don't know if the game is still alive.</p> +
a traditional Finnish game, features of which were incorporated into Pasepallo. +
L
<p>One 1895 source, identifies this game as Tip-cat. He writes that Tip-cat “is doubtless a very old diversion for children. It is illustrated as “La Batonet” in the charming series of children’s games designed by Stella and published in Paris, 1657, as “Les Jeux et Plaisiris [sic] de l’Enfance.”</p> +
<p>Maigaard (1941) notes they while most forms of rounders and longball were now lost, three - baseball, cricket, and bo-ball - remain vigorous. Bo-Ball is played in Finland. The only known source on this game, called Lahden Mailaveikot in Finnish, is a Finnish-language website, on that shows photographs of a vigorous game with aluminum bats, gloves, helmets, and much sliding and running but no other helpful hints for English-speakers. Similarities to Pesapallo are apparent.</p>
<p><strong>HELP?</strong> Can you help us get a fix on the nature of contemporary Lahden Mailaveikot?</p> +
<p>Varying accounts of this game are found. It is claimed that evidence places a form of the game to the time of Peter the Great, and that bats and leather balls date back to the 1300s. One 1989 news article reports that it is now strictly a children’s game. Still, some Russians say that “baseball is the younger brother of baseball.” In contemporary play, the fielding team’s “server” stands next to a batter and gently tosses a ball up to be hit. After the hit, runners try to run to a distant line [one 1952 account calls this the “city”] and back without being plugged. Caught fly balls are worth a point, but a successful run is two points. A time clock governs a game’s length.</p>
<p>A 1952 article does not mention a pitcher or points awarded for catches (but not runs?), but notes use of a round stick to hit with and also confirms the use of plugging. Neither account says that runners can stay safely at the "city" if they don't venture to run back home.</p>
<p>As of July 2020, we note four lapta finds on YouTube. They show some variance in playing rules. In some, batters strike the ball directly overhead, as seen in a tennis serve. The bats sown are narrow flat paddles. After each hit, multiple runners (other members of the batting side?) take diverse paths, evading plugging by fielders. Tennis balls are commonly used.</p> +
<p>Apparently a form of Stickball played in Chicago area streets as early as the 1940s that uses 16-inch circumference softballs (the standard softball is about 12 inches), a slow-pitch delivery, small teams, and an unspecified bat. The type of hit achieved depended on where the ball fell among lines marked on the street (implying that baserunning was not part of this game.</p> +
<p>Maigaard sees Long Ball as the oldest ancestor of rounders, cricket and baseball, a game that was played in many countries. Long Ball is described as using teams of from 4 to 20 players. It involved a pitcher, batter, and an “out-goal” or base that the batter-runner tried to reach after hitting (or after missing a third swing) and without being plugged. Caught flies signaled an immediate switch between the in-team and the out-team. Many members of the in-team could share a base as runners. Runs were not counted, as the objective was to remain at bat for a long period. A 1914 US text describes Long Ball in generally similar terms, but one that uses a regular "indoor baseball." There is a single base to run to, scoring by runs, a three-out-side-out rule, and no foul ground. Plugging is allowed.</p>
<p>A weblog written in the Australian outback in 2007 described a version of contemporary Long Ball. Modern variants of Long Ball are still played on a club or school basis, including Danish Longball in Denmark and England, <em>Schlagball</em> in Germany and Silesia and <em>Palant</em> in Poland.</p> +
<p>Only two sources mentions this game. Cassidy implies that there were only two bases, and that if a runner only got to the far base, that runner would need to return home as the pitcher and catcher played catch. The era of play is uncertain.</p>
<p>A 2004 website for a teen camp program also soptslights its "long-dutch baseball" tradition for both boys and girls. The camp is located at Onaway Island in Wisconsin.</p>
<p> </p> +
<p>Curtis (1914) mentions Long Town as an alternative name for Long Ball. We have several references to Long Town Ball, most in the South and mid-West states, none north of a line between New York and Chicago. Most describe no rules of the game. One account in Lehigh County PA (about 50 miles NE of Philadelphia) recalls the game as played in the 1850s as having two bases about 25 paces apart, plugging, a fly rule, and as allowing multiple runners on the (non-batting) base.</p> +
M
<p>This is the game played according to rules that were codified in May 1858 in Dedham Massachusetts. It featured short basepaths, an absence of foul ground, plugging of runners, a smaller and softer and lighter ball, wooden stakes in place of sascks as bases,winners definied as the first team to reach 100 “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.</p>
<p>The Massachusetts Game declined fairly rapidly after 1860.</p> +
<p>This invented game, an invented form of Kick Ball, is an indoor game reportedly played in many US schools. It uses large mats instead of bases, and multiple runners can safely occupy a base. The standard format uses an all-out-side-out rule to define a half-inning, can involve large teams, can have areas (e.g., a scoreboard or a basketball hoop) for designated home runs, a fly rule, tagging, and scoring only when a runner passes home and successfully returns to first base. Some schools use the infield format of Massachusetts base ball - the striker hits from between the first and fourth base. Foul territory varies, but forward hits are required.</p> +
<p>Described in 1977 as a children’s game played at PS 172 in New York City, Mickey resembles traditional Barn Ball. A pitcher bounces a spaldeen ball off a wall and a batter tries to hit it on the rebound. Rules for baserunning and scoring are not given.</p> +
<p>per Games and Sports. Each player is assigned the name of a day of the week. A player throws a ball against a wall, calling out a day. The player assigned that day must catch the ball, or if missing it must throw as one of his fleeing compatriots, losing a point if he misses.</p> +
<p>per Brewster. Baseball for small groups. This game is very similar to Scrub, Work-up and Rounds, but sets the usual number of players at 12, and specifies a rotation of 1B-P-C-batter instead of 1B-C-P-batter. A variant name is Move-up Piggy.</p> +
<p>per Gomme. A boy throws a small stick to another boy standing near a hole, who tries to hit it with a three-foot stick, and then to run to a prescribed mark and back without being touched by the smaller stick, and without that stick being thrown into or very near the hole. Any even number of boys can play this game.</p> +
N
<p>per Brewster. A Czech variant of Call Ball is called Nations. Each player is assigned a country name, a ball is placed in a hole, and a country name is called out. The player with that name retrieves the ball as all others start running away. The ball-holder can then call “stop,” and the others must freeze in position while he attempts to plug one of them.</p> +
<p>Sometimes described as a board game or a form of quoits, Nine Holes is elsewhere (1853-1868) depicted as a running game -- in which players had to run among holes without being plugged by a ball -- that resembles Hat-ball and Egg-Hat.</p> +
<p>A game described as the same as [[Trap Ball]]. Also names as Nor and Spel, Knur and Spell, and Nur and Spel. Gomme notes that a wooden ball was sometimes used. The objective was mainly to hit the ball for distance.</p> +
<p>A game described as the same as [[Trap Ball]].</p> +
<p>This game is mentioned, along with Swede Ball in a 1908 book on North Dakota folkways. Said to be taught to local children by Swedish newcomers and a Swedish teacher, the game is only depicted as being “played somewhat like ‘one old cat.’” It seems conceivable that this game is Brannboll. Maigaard (1941) notes a Norwegian form of Long Ball, noted as “probably recent,” that uniquely uses a field that resembles baseball’s use of a 90-degree fair territory delimitation.</p> +
O
<p>A game played at the intersection of West 184th Street and Park Avenue in New York City, as recalled by Gregory Christiano. A player would slam the ball into a painted square on a concrete median barrier, and it would rebound onto Park Avenue, then still paved with cobblestones. The player would then try to reach the first base (an open sewer) before a fielder could field it and throw to the baseman there. There were two sewer-bases and home in this game.</p> +
<p>A game played in Romania, reportedly traced back to a shepherd’s game, played in southern Romania from the year 1310. The game is described as involving two 11-player teams that alternate batting as in a one-innings game of cricket. The pitch is a soft toss from a teammate.</p>
<p>One 1990 report says that there are nine (fielder's?) bases set out over 120 yards, that the defensive team can score on tagging and plugging putouts, and that there were over 1500 teams throughout Romania, mostly in rural areas. That account describes a ball the size of a baseball and a bat resembling a cricket bat. A second report from 1973 describes the ball as small, and the bat only a little thicker than a billiard cue, and that if a runner deflects a thrown ball with the palms, he is not put out. Note: Protoball’s initial evidence on oina came from the two western news accounts provided in the Hall of Fame’s “Origins of Baseball” file (cited below).</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">2017 Input: </span>In early 2017 we viewed a handful of Youtube videos (only one of which was in English), and we office the following rough impressions of the game. Most were discovered by John Thorn, and they depict mature players. </p>
<p>The most interesting feature, to a baseball fan, is that oina has found a way to preserve plugging (you may know it as burning, soaking, etc.) as a way to retire runners. This appears to be handled by requiring fielders to throw at runners from a few specific spots, so that runners at risk can remain at some distance. They resemble dodgeball players in their attempted evasions, but if they deflect a ball with the palms of their hands, they remain immune.</p>
<p>The detailed rules for scoring remain non-obvious.</p>
<p>In the available clips, we did not see outs made when fly balls were caught. There are foul lines for hit balls.</p>
<p>Baserunners appear to be restricted to the far end-line when a new batter bats. Two or more baserunners may occupy that station, according to rules that are hard to fathom at this point.</p>
<p>Pitches are very soft short lobs, none appearing to soar much above the batter's head. Servers must smartly step away to avoid the lustily swung bat.</p>
<p>Very long hits appear to be treated as (trotless) home runs. </p>
<p> </p>
B
<p>The term “old fashioned base ball” appears to have been used in the decades after the 1850s to describe whatever game was played locally before the New York game arrived. The term was used extensively in upstate New York and New Jersey. We are still uncertain as to whether OFBB had common rules. In Western New York State, OFBB seems to align with the old form of the Massachusetts game, but prior to the codification of Mass Game rules in 1858. It is possible that the term was used for diverse variations of local safe-haven games in other areas.</p>
<p>One might speculate that later still, such games would be thought of as “town ball.”</p> +
O
<p>A game described in 1845 as another name for town ball, and played in North Carolina with an all-out-side-out rule. </p>
<p>There is not conclusive evidence that Old Hundred is or was a safe-haven ballgame. However, one North Carolina writer saw it as a "variety of baseball" as played in the 1840s: see chronology entry [[1840c.33]]. </p> +
<p>In a 1939 account, Om El Mahag is described as elementary baseball, and said to be analogous to rounders and old-cat. It was reported that Om El Mahag was only played by the Berber tribes.</p>
<p>Descriptions of the game are not detailed enough at this point to determine how it related, or relates, to base ball, long ball, or other early safe-haven games.</p> +
<p>per Culin. A non-team variety of base ball entailing fly outs and four bases and a three-strike rule, but no plugging. Players rotate through a series of fielding positions with each out, until they become one of two batters. “An ordinary base-ball bat is used.”</p> +
<p>per Culin. Identical to Culin’s One O’Cat, differing only in the way that players call out their initial positions.</p> +
<p>A 1934 reference from Massachusetts: “One-three-one-one” was the old game the boys used to play when I went to school. Regular baseball - very similar to Stub One.”</p>
<p><strong>Query:</strong> This is our only reference to one-three-one-one or Stub One. Can we find others? Is it reasonable to surmise that "1 3 1 1" reflected the number and deployment of fielders?</p> +
<p>This game[141] is described as a reduced form of softball with no running (ghost runners determine when runs score) and soft tossing by a team-mate as pitching. Fair ground is defines by an acute angle much smaller than 90 degrees, and a line is drawn about 20 yards from home. Three or four players make up a team. Balls hit past the line and not caught on the fly are counted as singles, unless they pass the deepest fielder. A bobbled grounder is counted as Reached on Error. The game is played as a beach game in the San Diego area[142]. Pitches are gentle lobs. Peter Morris writes that this game is an offshoot of softball.</p> +
P
<p>A Polish game. Chetwynd (2008) notes that Palant, similar to baseball, had a long history. “Poland had played its own traditional bat-and-ball game - particularly in the areas of Upper Silesia and the Opole District - dating back centuries and, by the 1920s, the game of Palant had a popular following.”</p>
<p>A Polish website describes Palant as using a rectangular field of about 25 yards by 50 yards, being governed by a clock, and having a provision by which, if a runner is hit, his teammates can enter play and retain their ups by plugging a member of the fielding team. David Block identifies Palant [Pilka Palantowa] as the Silesian game played in Jamestown VA in 1609 by a small group of Polish craftsmen.</p>
<p>Polish play is now reportedly resticted to rural areas.</p>
<p> </p> +
<p>A form of baseball in which the ball is slapped by the slapper-runner, rather than being batted with a club. (Needs verification.)</p> +
<p>Patch Baseball is evidently name for a form of baseball that allows the plugging of runners. We find the term used in upstate New York in about 1850. "Patching" is another word for "plugging" or "burning" baserunners.</p> +
<p>Described as akin to Pepper, this bat-control game involved hitting lobbed pitches toward a fence featuring extra-base zones. Cleanly-fielded balls, wide hits, and hits over the fence were outs. Baserunning is not part of this game.</p> +
<p>(Cat’s Pellet, Cat’s Pallet, Gidigadie) - per MacLagan (1905). This game is played like Tip-Cat, but with a ball and a one-handed bat, and with plugging instead of crossing to put runners out. An Orkney game. Elsewhere MacLagan described the game as using four small holes in a twelve-foot square. An 1882 source finds a usage of “cat’s pellet” in 1648, and defines it as “a game, perhaps the same as tip-cat.” Court records from 1583 seem to indication that the game “Cat’s Pallet” was also called Gidigadie, at least in the Manchester area.</p> +
<p>A drill to sharpen the batting eye and fielding reflexes in baseball. A few players stand side by side in a line and toss the ball to a batter who hits short grounders to them in turn. Forms of the game involve penalizing players for fielding errors and mis-hits. There is no running and no team play in this exercise.</p>
<p>A lifelong baseball man Reflected on the game of pepper. "Another problem [with today's practices] is the absence of pepper games. I had a discussion once with Ted Williams, ans we both agreed that playing pepper was important in the conditioning of every player. Every movement that you make in a pepper game, whether you're swinging a bat or fielding the ball or throwing the ball or whatever, you would use in a professional baseball game. . . . But pepper games are gone. . . . It would still be worth putting every player through a pepper session every day."</p> +
<p>Pesapallo is “Finnish Baseball.” This invented game is based on American baseball, and on the traditional Finnish games kuningaspallo, pitkapallo, and poltopallo, and was introduced in 1922. Some call it Finland’s national game.</p>
<p>Pesapallo involves two 9-player teams, pitching via vertical toss from close to the batter, a zigzag basepath of progressive length [about 65 feet from home to first, about 150 feet from third to home], optional running with fewer than two strikes, a three-out-side-out rule, runners being either “put out” or “wounded” (thus not counted as an out, and allowed to bat again), no ground-rule home runs, and four-inning games.</p>
<p>Nations with sizable Finnish emigrants (Sweden, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) compete in the annual world cup of Pesapallo.</p>
<p> </p> +
<p>Called an “advanced form” of [[German Bat Ball]], this game involves three bases for runners instead of one, and runners can remain at a base if they believe they cannot safely advance further. Runners can tag up after caught flies. Otherwise, the rules of German Bat Ball apply.</p> +
<p>The game that arose in Philadelphia in the 1830’s. The rules of this game have recently been induced from game accounts by Richard Hershberger. The game is distinct from the Massachusetts Game. It’s signature features were 11-player teams, an absence of set defensive positions, stakes [as bases] set in a circle 30-foot diameter, non-aggressive pitching, a lighter, softer ball, an all-out-side-out rule, and a bound rule.</p>
<p>This game was evidently the game of choice in the Philadelphia area until about 1860, when the New York game came to dominate Philly play.</p>
<p> </p> +
<p>Heslop (1893) defines this word: “a game resembling the game of Rounders, however, the ball is always struck with the hand.”</p> +
<p>A game - evidently evolved uniquely by Bob Boynton -- with two players, a field marked with zones for singles, doubles, etc., and employing a ping-pong ball thrown from 33 feet to a batter standing at a home plate of 12 inches square. Bats were the size of broomsticks with toweling for padding. There was some fielding but all “baserunning” used only imaginary runners.</p> +
<p>Gregory Christiano recalls this urban game as being a derivative of [[Stickball]] for two or more players. A square painted on a building was the strike zone. A batter used a broomstick to hit a pitched spaldeen ball across the street, where the height at which the ball hit a wall across the street determined the bases advanced orand runs scored. This game could be played with only two players. He played he game in The Bronx in the mid-1950s.</p> +
<p>a traditional Finnish game, features of which were incorporated into [[Pesapallo]].</p> +
<p>a game defined in the OED as “a game similar to Rounders in which a ball is hit with the flat of the hand.” The game is mainly associated with the English North Country, and is said to feature three or four ‘tuts,’ or stopping-places. The first cited use appeared in 1796. Gomme (page 45) adds that if the batter-runner is hit before reaching on of the “tuts” he is “said to be <em>burnt</em>, or out.</p> +
<p>Johnson (1910) lists Playground Ball among seven “Baseball" games. The rules of this game are not explained.</p> +
<p>This game is modification of cricket evidently designed to expedite play, and is played at several English schools. Batters must run when they make contact with a bowled ball. Bowled balls can not hit the ground in front of the wicket, and a baseball bat is used instead of a flat cricket bat.</p> +
<p>According to an undated early 19th-Century text, “La Ball Empoisonée” was a game for two teams of eight to ten boys involving repelling the ball (presumably by hitting it by the palm of the hand) and running to bases trying to avoid being plugged.</p>
<p>"THE IMPOISONED BALL. Eight should play at this game; and the method is as follows:</p>
<p>"Make a hole, and mark it so as to know it again; then draw, to see who is to throw the ball; that done, he must endeavor to put it into one of the holes, and the person's hole it enters must take the ball and throw at a player, who will endeavor to catch it; the person touched must throw it at another, and he who fails in either of these attempts, or he who is touched, is obliged to put into the hole which belongs to him, a little stone, or a piece of money, or a nut, or any thing to know the hole by. This is called a counter. He who first happens to have the number of counters fixed upon, is to stand with his hand extended, and every player is to endeavor to strike the hand with the ball."</p>
<p> </p> +
<p>a traditional Finnish game, features of which were incorporated into [[Pesapallo]].</p> +
<p>Maigaard (1941) lists this game as the Swiss variation of Long Ball.</p> +
<p>[A] This is a variation of baseball in which a rubber ball is punched, and not hit with a bat, to start a play. One set of modern rules is at <a href="http://www.spaldeen.com/punchball.html">http://www.spaldeen.com/punchball.html</a>. Johnson (1910) lists Punch Ball under “Baseball games.”</p>
<p>[B] A <strong>big-city</strong> form of this game is recalled by Gregory Christiano as being played in The Bronx in the 1950s: </p>
<p>"Played with a 'spaldeen' and a fist in the middle of the street. Similar to a stickball game except that there was no pitching-in or use of a stick. The "batter" would throw the ball in the air and punch it toward the fielders, and running the bases (which were usually car door handles on parked cars), tires or sewers. It was scored like a regular baseball game."</p>
<p>[C] <strong>Brooklyn. </strong> "Regular baseball rules. Batter uses fist to hit. One swing. Miss ball and you are out. No bunting, no stealing. Sometimes when there were not enough players for full teams you had to shorten the field by bringing in the foul lines so that you virtually played on a square, with the foul lines each 90 degrees from first and third bases. You had to do this because with a fist a good player could place a line drive anywhere on the field. So there were 9 or 10 players on the field. No pitcher because the batter held the ball and there was no bunting. Catcher is the most important position as this is a hitter's game. Scores are 20-30 runs a team. Many plays at the plate. Most outs are made on the bases. Very action-packed game. (Communication from Neil Selden and Mark Schoenberg on Brooklyn games.)</p>
<p>[D] <strong>Bronx.</strong> "Punch ball in another section of the p.s. 81 schoolyard, located between 2 fences - baserunning involved - played with from 3 to infinity players per team - scraggly schoolyard trees formed first and third bases, a sand pit [located on the schoolyard for no good reason and never used for any purpose other than as second base] was second base, home plate was marked on the concrete - batter bounced spaldeen, hit it with a closed fist, and then ran the bases - most regular baseball rules applied. (E-Mail from Raphael Kasper, 2/3/2020.)</p>
<p>[E] A brief 4/30/1989 letter to the New York Times argued that stickball was a "sissyfied" sport in comparison to punchball. "We played with six or seven players, nickel a player. We had one-sewer homers and two-sewer homers. The game was so popular in Brooklyn that a daily newspaper, <em>The Graphic</em>, sponsored a punchball tournament, pitting one street against another." The players used a spaldeen, and chalked in foul lines and first and third bases."</p>
<p> </p>
R
<p>per Brewster. When a player throws a ball high in the air, the others run away. When he catches it, he yells “caught,” the others freeze in position, and he tries to plug them.</p> +
<p>per Culin. (Elsewhere Roly Poly, Roll Ball, Roley Holey.) Each player defends a hole (or hat). If another player rolls a “medium-sized” rubber ball into the hole, he tries to hit another player with it to prevent having a count made against him.</p> +
<p>McCurdy (1911) lists this game, along with [[Old Cat]] and [[Fungo]], as minor forms of bat-and-ball. One might speculate that it is a non-team game like [[Scrub]] and [[Move-Up]], in which players rotate among positions on the field as outs are made.</p> +
<p>This appears to be the name given to the game played in Massachusetts . . . and possibly beyond that . . . in the years before the Dedham rules of 1858 created the [[Massachusetts Game]].</p>
<p>We have about a dozen references to round ball from about 1780 to 1856 -- all in New England and especially the state of Massachusetts. New England also has references to goal, or goal ball, base, or base ball, and bat-and-ball for this period. There is no indication if or how these games differed, or whether they are direct antecedents of the Mass Game rules of 1858.</p>
<p>Morris, p. 23 has a description of the game, from an early Detroit baseball player reminiscing in 1884: ""Previous to the time [1857] we had played the old-fashioned game of round ball. There were no 'balls' or 'strikes' to that. The batter waited till a ball came along that suited him, banged it and ran. If it was a fly and somebody caught it, he was out and couldn't play any more in the game. If the ball was not caught on the fly the only way to put a batter out was to hit him with the ball as he ran. There were no basemen then; everybody stood around to catch flies and throw the ball at base runners." (citing Detroit Free Press, April 4, 1884)</p> +
<p>Round Cat is a game noted by Tom Altherr in September 2009. We find several brief mentions of this game being played from Washington DC southward, but no explanation of how it was played. One account identifies it as similar to [[Scrub]] as played in New England.</p> +
<p>Round Town (also found as 'round-town,' or 'Round Town Ball') has been found in a handful of sources listed below. It appears to have been played at times from the 1850s-1890s in locations outside the northeast US:</p>
<p>[A] "In rural Virginia the ball game of choice was known as round-town, a sport that was "well understood and much enjoyed by every country boy, though only a few of their city cousins know the first rudiments of it." </p>
<p>--</p>
<p>[B] As played in Eastern PA in the 1850s, <strong>Round Town</strong> is recalled as having four or five bases or “safety spots,” tagging instead of plugging, the fly rule, the sharing of bases by multiple runners, and a bat made of a rail or clap-board. A game “similar to baseball” recalled as being played by school boys in 1891 in a grove of trees in Beech Grove, Kentucky.</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>[C] Another game called <strong>Round Town</strong> is described as follows:</p>
<p><span>An Old Virginia Ball Game</span><br/><br/><span>Mount Crawford, a town in Rockingham County, Va., was the scene of a novel </span><span>ball game on, January 13 last, the occasion being a contest at the old </span><span>Virginia game of ball known as "Round Town, " the weather being unusually </span><span>mild for winter.</span><br/><br/><span>This game is well understood and is much enjoyed by every country boy, though </span><span>only a very few of their city cousins know the first rudiments of it. </span></p>
<p><br/><span>Forty-four men and boys were engaged in the game mentioned above, and they</span><span> were the best throwers, surest catchers, and hardest strikers of the two </span><span>neighborhoods. A large sized crowd watched with unabating interest the </span><span>movements of the game. </span></p>
<p><span>The game of <strong>round-town</strong> is played in this manner: Two </span><span>sides are formed, the number of players of the division being equal. Four </span><span>bases are used and are placed in the same manner as if they were being fixed </span><span>for a game of baseball, although men are only placed in the positions of the </span><span>pitcher, catcher, and first baseman, the rest of the players being scattered </span><span>in the field where they think the ball is most apt to be knocked. The first </span><span>batsman on the opposing side takes his place at the plate, and he has in his </span><span>hand a paddle an inch or two thick, and in which only one hand is used ins </span><span>striking. The pitcher delivers a solid gum ball with all the swiftness </span><span>attainable, the use of the curve never being thought of, and it is therefore </span><span>very seldom that a "strike out" occurs. The batter hits the ball at the </span><span>first opportunity and endeavors to drive it over the heads of the opponents, </span><span>for if it is caught on the fly or the first bound the runner is called out, </span><span>and also if it is begotten to the first baseman before the runner arrives at </span><span>the base. Should the runner reach first base safely he can continue to run </span><span>to the other bases if he wishes, but his opponents have the privilege of </span><span>hitting him with the ball, and as it is very painful to be struck with a gum </span><span>ball, the runner is very cautious, and if he is struck he is counted out of </span><span>the game, although should he reach any of the other bases he is safe. </span></p>
<p><span>Another batsman appears and if he makes a safe hit with the ball the runners </span><span>can continue to move until stopped from fear of being hit with the ball. In </span><span>case a man is on second base and a ball is knocked and caught on the fly or </span><span>first bound, the runner must stay at the base until the ball is returned to </span><span>the pitcher. Each side has only one inning and that continues until every </span><span>man has made out: therefore if a man makes an out at the first time at the </span><span>bat he is disqualified to play until all on his side have done likewise, then </span><span>they take the field. If a player makes the circuit safely it is called a run.</span><br/><br/><span>The result of the contest was the success of the Mt. Crawford twenty-two by a </span><span>score of 104 runs to 90, the contest occupying the whole afternoon.</span></p>
<p><span>---<br/></span></p>
<p><span>[D] In February 2016, Bill Hicklin added:<br/></span></p>
<p>I found two references to Virginia "<strong>round-town</strong>," both from Dickinson County, Virginia (in the Appalachian coal country). They come from <span style="text-decoration: underline;">School and Community History of Dickenson County, Virginia</span> (ed. Dennis Reedy), a compilation of articles published over many years in the local paper, which were themselves based on a series of oral-history interviews conducted at the behest of the school superintendant with senior and retired Dickenson teachers.</p>
<p> [1] William Ayers Dyer: "I was born May 10, 1880 at Stratton, Dickenson County, Virginia and started to school to Johnson Skeen at the Buffalo School in 1885 when I was 5 years old... The games we played at the Buffalo were straight town, <strong>round town</strong>, base, bull pen and antnee over." (Bull pen was dodgeball, but played with a baseball. Ouch!)</p>
<p> [2]Hampton Osborne (b. 1894): "'<strong>Round-town'</strong> and 'straight-town' were popular games. Round-town had four bases in a circle, as baseball does today. If the batter was caught or crossed-off both ways, he was out. Straight-town had four bases in a row and you used the same rules as round-town.</p>
<p><span>--- </span></p>
<p>[E] Bruce Allardice contributed:</p>
<p>"There are several newspaper mentions in the late 1800s of "round town" by people who claimed to have played it as a boy:</p>
<p>Easley (SC) <em>Messenger</em>, May 2, 1884. W. P. Price (1846-1940) claimed to have played "round Town" and "cat" as a boy at Holly Springs Academy</p>
<p>Piqua (OH) <em>Daily Call</em>, Aug. 22, 1891: J. P. Smith of Urbana, OH says he played "round town" and "bull pen" as a boy.</p>
<p>Edina (MO) Sentinel, Aug. 5, 1886: writer played "round town" as a boy.</p>
<p>Greenleaf <em>Sentinel</em>, Nov. 11, 1887. when writer was a boy we used to play "round town," "three cornered cat" and "bull pen." Similar, Smithfield (NC) <em>Herald</em> Aug. 17, 1917.</p>
<p>Scranton <em>Tribune</em>, May 8, 1899. Writer talks of boys playing "Round Town Ball and Two Holy Cat."</p>
<p>Philadelphia <em>Times</em>, Aug. 3, 1890 has a long article with a complete description of Round Town Ball, as it was played in Perry County.</p>
<p>Old-time "round, or town ball" played. Warren (PA) <em>Democrat</em>, July 9, 1895.</p>
<p>Asheville <em>Gazette-News</em>, Aug. 9, 1913: "afore the war" the "darkies" played "round town ball from which the [game of] baseball originated."</p>
<p>New Philadelphia <em>Times</em>, June 13, 1910 claims Cy Young played "round town" ball and three cornered cat as a youth.</p>
<p>Bucyrus (OH) <em>Evening Telegraph</em>. Aug. 18, 1915 says there will be a game of round town ball at a picnic. Ditto Jackson (OH) <em>Center News</em>, Oct. 15, 1920; Dresden (TN) <em>Enterprise</em>, Dec. 4, 1914; Wilkes-Barre <em>Times Leader</em>, Sept. 5, 1908; Harrisonburg (VA) <em>Evening News</em>, Dec. 5, 1899, March 15, 1909.</p>
<p>Doney, "Cheerful Yesterdays" p. 67 says he learned to play RTB and others c. 1877.</p>
<p>Prokopowicz, "All for the Regiment" p. 85 quotes a Feb. 7, 1862 diary entry from a soldier in Co. C, 17th Ohio saying the soldiers play RTB in their spare time.</p>
<p>Pleasant's "History of Crawford County, Indiana" (1926) says that c. 1840, the boys played three cornered cat, round town ball, long town ball, bat ball and baseball.</p>
<p>"Punxsatawney Centennial, 1849-1949" p. 22 says c. 1870 the boys played RTB and long town ball."</p>
<p>-- Bruce Allardice</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> <strong>What Protoball Knows, May 2023</strong></span></p>
<p>Note that our sources now extend to MD, NC, OH, PA, SC, and VA, as of May 2023. </p>
<p>Known reports of Round Town appear to run to the end of the 19th Century.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong> </strong></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong> </strong></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong> </strong></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong> </strong></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong> </strong></span></p>
<p><span> </span></p>
<p><span> </span></p>
<p>This game resembles contemporary British rounders. The bases form a regular pentagon, a pitcher stands at its center, fly balls are outs, and there is plugging. A baserunner, however, could make plays on subsequent batter-runners as a member of the fielding team.</p> +
<p>per Brewster. Baseball modified for small groups. Players count off, the first two or three becoming batters, the next the pitcher, the next the catcher, the next first base, etc. For most outs, the retired player goes to the last fielding position, and others move up one position, the pitcher becoming a batter. For fly outs, the batter and the successful fielder exchange places. The game is not notably different from [[Scrub]] and [[Workup]].</p> +
<p>Gene Carney describes this game as a one-out-all-out team game, but notes that “a fielder catching a ball on the fly joined the offense immediately.”</p> +
<p>In his definition of Rounders, Hazlitt suggests that “it is possible that this is the game which, under the name of rownes (rounds) is mentioned in the ‘English Courtier and the Country Gentleman,’ in 1586.”</p> +
<p>A name given in some localities, evidently, to the game played in the Boston area in the early 19th century; it is possibly another name for what is elsewhere in New England recalled as Round Ball. Our single reference to this game comes from a letter written in 1905 by a Boston man, T. King.</p>
<p>"This [Massachusetts Run-Around] was ever a popular game with us young men, and especially on Town Meeting days when there were great contests held between different districts, or between the married and unmarried men, and was sometimes called Town Ball because of its association with Town Meeting day."</p>
<p>"It was an extremely convenient game because it required as a minimum only four on a side to play it, and yet you could play it equally as well with seven or eight. . . . There were no men on the bases; the batter having to make his bases the best he could, and with perfect freedom to run when and as he chose to, subject all the time to being plugged by the ball from the hand of anyone. It was lively jumping squatting and ducking in all shapes with the runner who was trying to escape being plugged. When he got around without having been hit by the ball, it counted a run. The delivery of the ball was distinctly a throw, not an under-hand delivery as was later the case for Base Ball. The batter was allowed three strikes at the ball. In my younger days it was extremely popular, and indulged in by everyone, young and old."</p> +
S
<p>A longball variant still played in Germany. “German Schlagball (‘hit the ball’) is similar to rounders.” No other clues to schlagball are provided.</p>
<p>Other unverified sources state that schlagball evolve as early as the 1500s.</p>
<p>The game certainly features pitching and hitting. An early form was described by Gutsmuths as the German Ballgame ([[Deutsche Ballspiel]]). Rules can be found [[Modern rules of Schlagball|here]]. One write-up compares schlagball to [[lapta]] stating that while the running base in lapta is a line, in schlagball runners proceed along a series of discrete bases; this is a misapprehension. In modern Schlagball the goal line is replaced with two side-by-side "touch posts," either one of which may serve as the running base.</p> +
<p>Scrub appears to usually denote non-team games, as seen with the games of [[Work-up]] and [[Move-Up]]: A handy way to get a game going when two full teams cannot be mustered, the available players are fed initially divided between several defensive positions and a smaller number of batters. If a batter is put out, he/she becomes the fielder who is last in line [in right field, perhaps] to return to the batting position, and must work the way back, advancing position by position. A fielder who catches a fly ball exchanges places immediately with the batter. Because the small number of player precludes team play, “ghost (imaginary) runners” and special ground rules are sometimes required. Plugging is allowed, at least when the ball is soft enough to permit that. Once called [[Ins and Withs]] in the Philadelphia area (Source?).</p> +
<p>Single-wicket cricket uses teams smaller than the usual 11-player teams. All bowling is to a single wicket.</p>
<p>There is, in effect, a foul ground behind the wicket, so unlike full-team cricket, only balls hit forward are deemed to be in play.</p>
<p>As late at 1969 there were annual single-wicket championships at Lord’s in London. In the very early years, most cricket is believed to use a single wicket, and each references to cricket in the US usually reported very small numbers of players. Early cricket rules called for single-wicket play when team sizes were five or fewer.</p>
<p>This game was nearly as popular as cricket in England through the 1840s, when it lost favor (see Steel). Frederick Duke of York (1763-1827; son of George III) played SWC with his brothers when he was young.</p>
<p>The Sunbury <em>Gazette</em>, Sept. 3, 1859 reprints an essay on cricket from the <em>North American</em>, and labels single-wicket a predecessor game to cricket.</p>
<p>H. Rowell, "The Laws of Cricket for Single and Double Wicket" (Toronto, 1857) p. 17 says single wicket is for teams of 5 or less, and specifies "bounds" placed 22 yards apart in a line from the off and leg stump (which appears to give a 180 degree fair territory). The ball had to be tossed, not thrown, underhand. </p>
<p>"THE LAWS OF CRICKET<br/>Revised by the Marylebone Club in the Year 1823<br/>Printed by Carpenter and Son, Engravers and Printers, 16 Aldgate High=Street.<br/>Broadsheet in Sloane=Stanley Collection.<br/>Copy by RS Rait Kerr held at the MCC Library at Lord’s</p>
<p>LAWS FOR SINGLE WICKET</p>
<p>When there shall be less than five players on a Side, Bounds shall be placed twenty-two yards each in a Line from the Off, and Leg Stump.</p>
<p>The Ball must be hit before the Bounds to entitle the Striker to a Run; which Run cannot be obtained unless he touch the Bowling Stump (or Crease in a line with it) with his Bat, or some Part of his Person; or go beyond them; returning to the Popping Crease as at double wicket according to the 22nd Law.</p>
<p>When the Striker shall hit the Ball, one of his Feet must be on the Ground, and behind the Popping Crease; otherwise the Umpire shall call “No Hit”.</p>
<p>When there shall be less than five Players on a Side neither Byes, nor Overthrows shall be allowed; nor shall the Striker be caught out behind the Wicket, nor stumped out.</p>
<p>The Field’s Man must return to Ball so that it shall cross the Play between the Wicket and the Bowling Stump, or between the Bowling Stump, and the Bounds; the Striker may run till the Ball shall be so returned.</p>
<p>After the Striker shall have made one Run, if he start again he must touch the Bowling Stump, and turn before the Ball shall cross the Play to entitle him to another.</p>
<p>The Striker shall be entitled to three Runs for lost Ball, and the same number for Ball stopped with Hat; with Reference to the 29th, and 34th Law at double wicket.</p>
<p>When there shall be more than four Players on a side there shall be no Bounds. All Hits, Byes, and Overthrows shall then be allowed.</p>
<p>The Bowler is subject to the same Laws as at double Wicket.</p>
<p>Not more than one Minute shall be allowed between each Ball."</p>
<p>A 2009 article reports on a game played mostly in Chicago involving a ball of 16” circumference and using no gloves. No other variations are covered. The article is not clear on the local name for the game, but another account calls the large ball a “clincher,” and notes that games were sometimes played in the street. (Note: [[Line Ball]], another Chicago game, also used a large ball.) It appears that the game generally follows the rules of softball.</p>
<p><strong>Query: </strong>Can you supply further details about this game?</p> +
<p>A game banned, along with cat-ball, in Norwich CT in 1832. A 1890 source describes Sky-Ball as a fungo game in which a player who can catch the hit ball qualifies to hit the next fungo.</p> +
<p>Maigaard (1941) lists this game. It varies from other regional variations in placing the batting area mid-way between the home area and the first of two "resting areas" for runners. It is possible that this represents a form of [[Palant]].</p>
<p><strong>Query: </strong>can we determine the local name for this game?</p>
<p><strong></strong></p> +
<p>Hall-of-Famer Cap Anson recalls that "'soak ball' was at this time [as an Iowa schoolboy in the early 1860's] my favorite sport. It was a game in which the batter was put out by running the bases by being hit with the ball," which was "comparatively soft." [[Patch baseball]] was, arguably, another name for this game.</p>
<p> </p> +
<p>An 1887 source reporting that Rounders was still being played in some Southern and Western states, also noted that the game was called Sockey in some states. Our only reference to Sockey is in an 1888 recollection of ballplaying at a PA school, and notes that this game was played against the wall of a stable.</p> +
<p>As described in Bealle, Softball evolved from Indoor Baseball, which was first played in 1887. Softball rules are close to Baseball rules, but the infield dimensions were set to be smaller and the ball is pitched with an underhand motion. A full team has ten players. Many forms are played, depending on the age and agility of the players. The term Softball debuted in 1926.</p> +
<p>per MacLagan. The Uist form of [[Pellet]]. A horse-hair ball is put in play with a trap, and the batter attempt to hit it with a bat. Outs are attained by caught fly balls, three missed swings, throwing the ball into the hole at home, and plugging runners between two calaichean (harbors). Points are scored by measuring the lengths of hits in bat-lengths.</p>
<p><strong>Query:</strong> can we determine when this game was played?</p> +
<p>The name for rounders in Crathie in Scotland around 1900, according to a 1975 source.</p> +
<p>per Leavy. A biography of Sandy Koufax reports that he played “stickball, punchball, square ball, and Gi-Gi ball in his neighborhood. In one 1922 handbook, Square Ball appears to be a variant of Corner Ball in which the peripheral plugging team and the central target team are equal in number, and is which the ball, after hitting a player on the target team, can be retrieved, “Halt!” called, and the ball thrown at “frozen” members of the peripheral team.</p> +
<p>According to Block, an 1838 encyclopedia describes the game of Squares as “roughly identical” to contemporary Rounders and Baseball.</p> +
<p>A game usually played in urban streets. The ball is rubber -- a “spaldeen,” now virtually the same that used in racketball, and bats vary but include broom handles. Allowances are made for traffic of various sorts, and the bases are specified at the start of play. (Verification sought.)</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>[A] Some Bronx Variants:</strong></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>(1) A report from <em>Kevin Finneran,</em> 1/19/2023:</p>
<p><span>"You will be happy to learn that stickball is still played in the South Bronx on a street that has been named Stickball Boulevard. But it's not real stickball because it's played by adults and is organized into formal teams with standings and team shirts. You can learn all about it here: </span><a href="https://vimeo.com/36239036">https://vimeo.com/36239036</a>. That is where you will learn that stickball was included in the 2001 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. </p>
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<div>One key characteristic of stickball: it was illegal. The cops in my neighborhood liked to break the bats in front of us. To focus on the many <em>varieties of stickball</em>: In my neighborhood alone there were at least half a dozen popular stickball venues, and the rules were different at each place and for the two or three varieties of the game played at each place. At the great anarchic heart of stickball is the fact that there was nothing standard, not even the Spalding spaldeen, which was the most common ball. There was also a more expensive and somewhat bouncier ball we called a Pinky, a name sometimes applied incorrectly to spaldeens. We seldom used it because it gave the hitter too much advantage, and we couldn't afford it. In addition, the length and thickness of the bat, the distance between manhole covers, the width of the street, the placement of impediments, the slope of the street, and anything else you can imagine also varied. All of these will be documented in my four-volume dissertation, a work that will be matched in significance only by the Reverend Causabon's "A Key to All Mythologies" from Middlemarch. I've started talking to a friendly editor at Simon & Schuster about the size of my advance. The only problem is that there are thousands of kids who grew up playing stickball, and each of them has his own compendium of games. I need to get there first.</div>
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<div>A sidebar on the hazards of pinkness, which were not just political: I've already told you about the toxic sewer ball, but what I feared even more was the <span style="text-decoration-line: underline;">egg ball</span>. A spaldeen hit with a lot of spin would deform into an egg shape in the air, which meant as a fielder you would be trying to catch in your tiny 8-year-old bare hands a dauntingly spinning pink egg. It's a recurring nightmare that probably also afflicted Joe McCarthy.</div>
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<div>(2) A report from <em>Norm Metzger,</em> 1/19/2023:</div>
<div> </div>
<div><span>Stickball was a game for poor boys in a poor neighborhood, a game created out of materially little and shared imagination.</span></div>
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<div>Stickball in my part of the Bronx (i.e. poor part) had several features worth noting, and maybe best forgotten. There was of course the game itself plus the ancillaries including confiscations of our hard to acquire sticks, the economics of maintaining a supply of Spaldeens, various encounters with neighbors not least NYPD District 46, and certainly including local candyman Leo.</div>
<div>
<p>The game is a simple one. No running the bases since there were none, certainly no umpires, but there were rules:</p>
<p>If the ball hit a car and bounced back into the field of play aka the street it was playable; else out. If hit beyond two sewers that was a homerun. However, rules were flexible. For example, if too few showed up to play meaning no "outfielders", the game became one-sewer stickball. </p>
<p>There were risks, meaning the appearance of a NYPD District 46 squad car. The "handover" was ritualized. The car slowed down, the cop stuck out his hand, stick surrendered, and a search launched for another one; there was no "bat rack".</p>
<p>The loss of the ball was another matter. Most often, a ball was "lost" when the batter fouled it over the roof of the back of the one-story Safeway. Then, finances become operative, and whoever "lost" the ball was obliged to get another Spaldeen, an "obligation" frequently violated. Acquiring a new Spaldeen meant a trip to the end of our block, our "playing field", and a visit to the corner candy store and a chat with the proprietor, Leo, who had several distinctions including his generally good disposition and a tattoo of blue numbers on his right forearm. Leo also made very good egg creams, which, following the classical recipe, contained neither egg or cream. Go figure. </p>
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<div>
<p>(3) A report from Raph Kasper, 2/4/2020: </p>
<p>Stickball as played in the Public School 81 schoolyard [Bronx] -- no live baserunning - played with 1 or 2 players per team - pitcher threw a Spaldeen or tennis ball from a line ~65-70 feet from the school wall on which was marked a chalk rectangle running from knee - shoulder kid height and about 2x as wide as a baseball home plate [hence considerably larger than a normal strike zone] - batter stood in front of wall - balls that were not hit were called balls or strikes depending on whether they struck the wall within or outside the rectangle - arguments occasionally occurred, usually when the pitcher had particularly good curve ball - batted balls were scored as outs if they were grounders or were caught on a fly - balls that hit a very high chain link fence ~125 feet away from the school wall on one bounce were singles, on the fly were doubles, over the fence but short of another fence a further ~100 feet away were triples, balls that hit the second fence on a fly or cleared it were home runs</p>
<p>(4) From Gregory Christiano, who played in the 1950s:</p>
<p>Stickball wasTHE quintessential game played on most city streets. Everyone played stickball. The equipment: A broomstick and the Spalding High-Bounce Pink Ball (the Spaldeen), three manholes and a lot of kids. [You have to consider – this light rubber bouncing ball made playing a ball game in the street safe. Apart from a hardball or softball, the Spaldeen bounced harmlessly off parked cars, never broke a window, and never knocked anyone out cold]. Bases were car door handles, car tires, manhole covers, and Johnny pumps, anything that served as a practical base. The walls of the apartment buildings were the foul lines. If the ball hit them it was foul. Parked cars were ignored except if they were used for bases. (full text at Supplemental Text, below).</p>
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<div>--</div>
<p><strong>[B]</strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Brooklyn variants</strong></span>: From Neal Seldman and Mark Schoenberg</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">1- With (invisible, or "ghost" base runners)</span>. Pitching and balls and strikes. Strikes determined by a chalk drawn box on wall behind batter. Box is filled in with chalk so that all strikes make a mark on the ball. Ball has to be wiped off after strike.</p>
<p>A ball hit past the pitcher on a fly is a single, a hit midway to the outfield fence is a double, hitting the fence and bouncing is a triple, and over the fence is a home run. A ground ball that gets past the fielders and hits the fence is a single. If the grounder is caught cleanly it is an out. If missed it is and error and hitter is on first. </p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">2 - With live baserunning.</span> Same rules, runners run out the hits. If there is a catcher, there is stealing. Sometimes this game is played with the pitch coming on a bounce</p>
<p>When no facility was nearby, this game was often played on the street using sewer covers and cars as bases and landmarks for the number of bases awarded.</p>
<p>Traditional pitching and catching. Umpires call balls and strikes from behind the pitcher. There is stealing.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">At Inlet Grounds</span><span style="text-decoration: underline;">, PS 206</span>, East 23rd Street and Gravesend Neck Road.</p>
<p>The inlet is about 120 feet wide and five stories high. Two high walls with windows (with metal bars to prevent breaking windows: a well hit Spaldeen easily breaks a window.) Best played with three people on a team. Pitcher, catcher, and fielder. But there are 4-person games *(2 fielders) and one-on-one games. The fielders stand somewhere near the batter in order to catch the ball off the wall behind the pitcher. Caught off the wall, is out. A hit off the wall up to the second floor is a single. Higher up the wall, a double, then a triple. On the roof is a homer. BUT most of the balls hit on the roof come back. That is, the spin of the hitting a ball that soars within 120 feet has a backspin. If the ball is caught off the roof it is an out. This is a very dramatic play as it takes a few seconds for the ball to get on the roof, a few more seconds to the ball to roll back, then a few more seconds to see if the fielder will be able to make the play on a ball falling five stories and within a few inches of the wall, with backspin.</p>
<p>Usually pink Spaldeens were used. But tennis balls allowed the pitcher much more variation and sharper curves and screwballs -- more surface.</p>
<p>(Communication from Neal Seldman and Mark Schoenberg)</p>
<p> Stickball was played all over Brooklyn when I grew up. The game and its rules were infinite depending location and availability of "cawts". The "coop" in the school yard could be one on one or 2 on two.</p>
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<div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql">
<div dir="auto">One swing and if not in play was an out. Anything caught on a fly off the wall behind pitcher was an out. Pitcher catching hit on bounce was a single. Designated spots, higher and higher on building wall were double, triple, or HR.</div>
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<div dir="auto">Also played with balls and strikes if there was an available wall to chalk on strike zone.</div>
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<div dir="auto">Played in the street, with narrow foul lines. Could be running bases or not. All kinds of ground rules. Cars shallower than first "sewer" (manhole cover could be out or foul, Off cars behind first sewer was fair ball. (Please mister, could you pawk foider up da street, yaw parkin' on da cawt.)</div>
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<div dir="auto">Always used broomstick bat and pink Spaldeen ball</div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>[C] NYC </strong></div>
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<div dir="auto">(From a 2022 FaceBook ) "Your rules are more complicated than the ones we used on Long Island."</div>
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<div dir="auto">Roth: Rules were not complicated as much as rules had to accommodate where you played and how many people were available. Each location had its "ground rules."</div>
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<div dir="auto">-- Joshua Roth, 3/18/2022 FB posting.</div>
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<p>According to Gomme (1898), stones was a game played in Ireland in about 1850, using either a ball or a lob-stick. A circle of about a half-dozen stones is arranged, one for each player on the in team. A member of the out team throws the ball/stick at the stones in succession. If the defending player hits it away, all members of the out team must move to another stone. The in and out teams exchange places if a stone is hit by the thrower, the ball/stick is caught, or a player is hit while running between stones.</p> +
<p>Stoolball’s first appearance was in the 1600’s; there are many more references to stoolball than to cricket in these early years. For Protoball's listing of over 60 specific (but mostly fragmentary) sources on early stoolball -- 45 of them preceding the year 1700 -- see [[Chronology:Stoolball]].</p>
<p>Believed to have originated as a game played by English milkmaids using a milking stool set on its side as a pitching target, stoolball evolved to include the use of bats instead of bare hands, and running among goals or bases.</p>
<p>The modern form of the is actively played in counties in the south east of England, and uses an opposing pair of square targets set well off the ground as goals, and heavy paddles as bats. Since 2010, the game has experienced a renaissance, and now has active youth programs, a season-ending All-England match of prominent players, and the expansion of mixed-gender play. (The ancient game was played by women and men, but in recent years most players and have been women.) The game is reportedly played in other countries as well.</p>
<p>For more information on Stoolball England and the current status of the game, see <a href="http://www.stoolball.org.uk/">http://www.stoolball.org.uk/</a>. Also see an account of today's stoolball at <a>https://protoball.org/Stoolball_Today_--_The_Rejuvenation_of_an_Ancient_Pastime</a></p>
<p>Note: McCray suggests that before 1800, there is limited convincing evidence that stoolball involved baserunning.</p> +
<p>A fungo-style game for two teams as shown in an 1863 handbook. A feeder throws the ball to a batter, who hits it as far as possible. A member of the out-team picks up that ball and bowls it toward the bat, which lies on the ground. If the ball hits or hops over the bat, the batsman is out. The batsman is also out with three missed swings.</p> +
<p>This game is most often seen as a schoolyard game with from two to five players. A strike zone is drawn on a suitable wall, and a batter stands before it, attempting to hit a tennis ball, a rubber ball or another type of projectile. Baserunning is not usual. All other rules - for base advancement by imaginary runners, changing of batters, etc., seem flexible to circumstance. (Verification needed.)</p>
<p>As of Fall 2013, it is our preliminary impression that there are several local variants of strike-out, the name used in Central New York, and we group them together here under that name; they include [[PeeGee ball]] and [[Indian Ball]].</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
<p>Apparently a baseball-like game, perhaps played in Massachusetts in the early 20th Century. We have but one obscure reference to this game, in Cassidy.</p> +
<p>This game is mentioned, along with Norwegian Ball in a 1908 book on North Dakota folkways. Said to be taught to local children by Swedish newcomers and a Swedish teacher, the game is only depicted as being “played somewhat like ‘one old cat.’” It seems conceivable that this game is related to Brannboll. Maigaard (1941) lists two Swedish variants for Long Ball.</p> +
T
<p>Arabian -- In an 1873 book on Arab children’s games Tabeh is described as “base ball and drop ball.” That’s all we know right now.</p> +
<p>Craig Waff came across an 1894 reference to Three-Base Ball as having been played at Erasmus Hall, a school in Brooklyn. The game, reported as being playing circa 1840, involved vigorous plugging and while its rules are not further described, its playing positions suggest base ball. [[Two Old Cat]] is described separately in the 1894 article.</p> +
<p>Block discusses whether Thèque belongs on the list of baseball’s predecessors. Thèque is an old Norman game, but there are evidently few descriptions of the game before baseball and rounders appeared. He cites an 1899 depiction of the game that shows five bases, plugging, and the pitcher belonging to the in-team, but otherwise resembles baseball and rounders. Block concludes that there is insufficient evidence to say whether Thèque came before or after the English counterpart game.</p> +
<p>Strutt (1801) says there were various versions of Tip-Cat, and describes two of them. The first is basically a fungo game: a batter stands at the center of a circle and hits the cat a prescribed distance. Failing that, another player replaces him. (A similar version appears in <em>The Boy’s Handy Book</em>, but adds the feature that the fielding player tries to return the cat to the hitter’s circle such that the hitter does not hit it away again.)</p>
<p>In a second version, holes are made in a regular circle, and each is defended by an in-team player. The players advance after the cat is hit away by one of them, but they can be put out if a cat crosses them - that is, it passes between them and the next hole. Gomme (1898) notes that in some places runners are put out be being hit with the cat, and three misses makes an out. She adds that Tip-Cat was “once commonly played in London streets, now forbidden.” Writing in 1864, Dick noted that Tip-Cat was only rarely being played in the U.S. In 1896, however, Beard advises that it was experiencing a revival in the US, Germany, Italy, “and even in Hindostand,” whereas in about 1850 it had been confined to “rustics on England.” Richardson (1848) notes Tip-Cat’s resemblance to [[Single-Wicket Cricket]]. “Twenty-one [runs] is usually a game,” he adds. The earliest reference to a cat-stick we have is the 1775 report that a witness to the Boston Massacre carried a cat-stick with him.</p> +
<p>There appear to be two distinct games that have been labeled Touch-Ball. One was as a local synonym for Rounders, as recalled in an 1874 Guardian article written on the occasion of the 1874 base ball tour in England. That game was recalled as having no bats, so the ball was propelled by the players’ hands; the “touch” was the base. Writing in 1922, Sihler that in Fort Wayne IN from 1862 to 1866 (when base ball arrived) “the favorite game was ‘touch-ball,’ where “touch” referred to the plugging or tagging of runners.</p> +
<p>Writing of the Ohio youth of a Civil War general in about 1840, Whitelaw Reid (1868) reported that “Touch-the-Base” was the favorite game, and of all who engaged in the romp, none were more eager or happy than ‘Jimmy” (the late Major-General James McPherson). We cannot be sure that this was a ball game.</p> +
<p>Writing of the late 1860’s boyhood of a World War I General, Johnston (1919) writes that “the French boys were accustomed to play a game called tournoi, or tournament, which was something similar to the game of Rounders.” That’s all we seem to know about Tournoi.</p> +
<p>Ideas of how to understand the term “Town Ball” are still evolving. In most common usage, the term seems to have been used generically to denote, in substantially later years, any of a variety of games that preceded the New York game in a particular area. [[Philadelphia Town Ball]], however, used the term to denote a current game before the New York game emerged, and had generally standard rules (see “[[Philadelphia Town Ball]],” entry, above). In Cincinnati another form evolved, and there are many recollections of town ball from the South and mid-West. Town ball is not infrequently confused with the [[Massachusetts Game]], but the term is in fact very rarely found in MA sources in the 19<sup>th</sup> century.</p>
<p>For more information on Town Ball, see Chronology entry [[1831.1]] and [[Philadelphia Town Ball]] in the Protoball Glossary of Games.</p>
<p> </p> +
<p>Heslop (1893) defines this word as “a boys’ game of ball, otherwise known as [[Rounders]], and formerly called [[Pie-Ball]] locally.</p> +
<p>Trap ball is one of the earliest known ball games. Its distinguishing characteristic is the use of a “trap,” a mechanical device that, when triggered by a batter, lofts the ball to a height at which it may be struck. Most forms of trap ball do not involve running or bases; to the modern eye, it is a fungo-type game. Trap ball commonly used foul territory to define balls that were in play, where the “play” involved the catching and tossing back of the ball toward the batter. Trap ball persists today in Kent, England, as a tavern game.</p>
<p><span>Per wikipedia article on "knurr and spell": "<strong>Knurr and spell</strong><span> (also called </span><strong>northern spell</strong><span>,</span><sup id="cite_ref-cne_1-0" class="reference"></sup><span> </span><strong>nipsy</strong><span> or </span><strong>trap ball</strong><span>) is an old </span><a title="England" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England">English</a><span> game, once popular as a </span><a title="Pub game" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pub_game">pub game</a><span>. </span>The game originated in the </span><a title="Moorland" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorland">moors</a><span> of </span><a title="Yorkshire" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkshire">Yorkshire</a><span>, in </span><a title="England" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England">England</a><span>, but then spread throughout the north of England.</span><sup id="cite_ref-nie_2-0" class="reference"></sup><span> It can be traced back to the beginning of the 14th century.</span><span> It was especially popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, but was virtually unknown by the 21st century,</span><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"></sup><span> though there was a local revival in the 1970s.</span><sup id="cite_ref-countryfile_4-0" class="reference"></sup><span> As late as the 1930s exhibition games of knur and spell by veterans drew large crowds to the </span><a class="new" title="Rusland Valley (page does not exist)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rusland_Valley&action=edit&redlink=1">Rusland Valley</a><span> in North </span><a title="Lancashire" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancashire">Lancashire</a><span>, according to the chronicles of the </span><em><a class="mw-redirect" title="North-West Evening Mail" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North-West_Evening_Mail">North-West Evening Mail</a></em><span>, but even then it was regarded as an archaic game....</span></p>
<p>In Yorkshire it is played with a levered wooden trap known as a spell, by means of which the knurr, about the size of a <a title="Walnut" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walnut">walnut</a>, is thrown into the air. In Lancashire the knurr is suspended stationary from string. The knurr is struck by the player with the stick. The object of the game is to hit the knurr the greatest possible distance, either in one or several hits. Each player competes as an individual, without interference, and any number can enter a competition.<sup id="cite_ref-nie_2-1" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knurr_and_spell#cite_note-nie-2"><br/></a></sup></p>
<p>The stick is a bat consisting of two parts: a 4 feet (1.2 m) long stick made of <a class="mw-redirect" title="Ash tree" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_tree">ash</a> or <a title="" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxandra_lanceolata">lancewood</a>; and a pommel, a piece of very hard wood about 6 inches (150 mm) long, 4 inches (100 mm) wide and 1 inch (25 mm) thick. This was swung in both hands, although shorter bats for one hand were sometimes used. A successful hit drives the ball about 200 yards (180 m). The stroke is made by a full swing round the head, not unlike a drive in <a title="Golf" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf">golf</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-nie_2-3" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knurr_and_spell#cite_note-nie-2"><br/></a></sup></p>
<p>Originally the ball was thrown into the air by striking a lever upon which it rested in the spell or trap, but in the later development of the game a spell or trap furnished with a spring was introduced, thus ensuring regularity in the height to which the knurr is tossed, somewhat after the manner of the <a title="Shooting" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting">shooter</a>'s <a title="Clay pigeon shooting" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_pigeon_shooting">clay pigeon</a>. By means of a <a class="mw-redirect" title="Thumbscrew (fastener)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumbscrew_(fastener)">thumb screw</a>, the player can adjust the spring of the spell or trap according to the velocity of release desired for the ball.<sup id="cite_ref-nie_2-4" class="reference"></sup><sup id="cite_ref-eb_5-3" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knurr_and_spell#cite_note-eb-5"><br/></a></sup></p>
<p>On a large moor, and where the game is general, the ground is marked out with wooden pins driven in every 20 yards (18 m). In matches each player supplies their own knurrs and spells and has five rises of the ball to a game."</p>
<p><span>In the US, in 1821 the Kensington House, a popular resort near NYC, advertised that its grounds were "well adapted to the playing of the noble game of cricket, base, trap-ball, quoits, and other amusements..."</span></p>
<p><span>Illustration in Hone.</span></p>
<p>Gomme (1898) identifies this game as the Lancashire version of [[Trap Ball]]. A game named Trypet is listed in a English-Latin dictionary from the 1300s.</p> +
<p>An old Dutch game. Chetwynd reports that a proponent of the importation of baseball to the Netherlands in the 1910s “pitched it as an ideal summer activity. It probably helped that Grasé pointed out that baseball bore a resemblance to an ancient Dutch game, called “Tripbal,” which had been played by American colonists.” We have no other reference to this game in the US, and no indication of how it was played.</p> +
<p>Gomme (1898) identifies this game as the Newcastle version of [[Trap Ball]].</p> +
<p>Gomme (1898) identifies this game as a Norfolk version of [[Trap Ball]], but with a hole for the trap and a cudgel for a bat.</p> +
<p>Gomme's compilation (1898) includes the game of Trunket, played with short sticks, and using a hole instead of wickets. </p>
<p>"The ball being 'cop'd', instead of bowled or trickled on the ground, it is played in he same way [as cricket]; the person striking the ball must be caught out, or the ball must be deposited in the hole before the stick or cudgel can be placed there."</p>
<p>This implies to Protoball that the batter runs bases after hitting the ball. </p> +
<p>Also called Tut, this game was in 1777 called “a sort of stool ball much practiced about the Easter holidays,” according to the OED. OED identifies Tut-Ball with [[Stoolball]] and [[Rounders]].</p>
<p>[A] Gomme also cites a view that “This game is very nearly identical with ‘rounders.’” Another writer is known to say that Tut-Ball is the same as Pize-Ball. </p>
<p>Gomme, however reports that balls were hit back with the palm of the hand, not a bat, at least in its earlier form.</p>
<p>[B] Writing in 1905, Joseph Wright said: </p>
<p>"<span>Yorkshire</span>: Now only played by boys, but half a century ago [1850's] by Adults on Ash Wednesday, believing that unless they did so they would fall sick in harvest time. This is a very ancient game, and was elsewhere called stool-ball. [West Yorkshire]. <span>Shropshire</span>: Tut-ball; as played at a young ladies school at Shiffnal fifty years ago. (See also [[1850c.34]]). The players stood together in their 'den,'behind a line marked on the ground, all except one, who was 'out', and who stood at a distance and threw the ball to them. One of the players in the den then hit back the ball with the palm of the hand, and immediately ran to one of three brick-bats, called 'tuts' . . . . The player who was 'out' tried to catch the ball and to hit the runner with it while passing from one 'tut' to another. If she succeeded in doing so she took her place in the den and the other went 'out' in her stead. This game is nearly identical with rounders."<span> </span></p> +
<p>This game is a fungo game that enhances fielding skill. A batter hits a ball, fungo style, to a number of fielders. A fielder receives 7 points for a caught fly, 5 points for a ball caught on one bounce, 3 points for catching a bouncing ball, and 1 point for retrieving a ball at rest. Points are similarly lost for muffed balls. Fielders who amass 21 points become the batter. Another form of this game is [[<span class="toctext">Five Hundred]]</span>, which proceeds similarly.</p> +
<p>Describing ballplaying in the Confederate regiments during the Civil War, Wiley suggests that “the exercise might be of the modern version, with players running four bases, or it might be two-base town ball.” It is not clear whether he means “two-base town ball” as a formal name, or simply as a way to distinguish prior folk game(s) in the South. Long Ball and Long Town used two bases.</p> +
U
<p>per Endrei and Zolnay. “We may be of the opinion that these ‘hitting’ games, which were universal in the Middle Ages, have disappeared entirely. This is far from true: in the Balkans they are still played by children . . . .” No other lead to the Balkan games is provided.</p> +
<p>per Guarinoni. This game, reportedly played in Prague circa 1600, involved two teams, pitching, and a small leather ball “the size of a quince.” The bat was tapered and four feet long. Caught balls caused the teams to change positions. Baserunning is not mentioned, according to David Block, but is at least inferred by Endrei and Zolnay: who say that the batter “attempted to make a circuit of the bases without being hit by the ball.” Guarinoni mentions that the Poles and the Silesians were the best players.</p> +
<p>per Endrei and Zolnay. “In Hungary several variants of rounders exist in the countryside.” No other lead to these variants is provided.</p> +
<p>The nature of this game is unknown. It is found an 1849 chapbook printed in Connecticut: “there are a great number of games played with balls, of which base-ball, trap ball, cricket, up-ball, catch-ball and drive-ball are the most common.”</p> +
V
<p>A sport that claims 1500 players among the women of Queensland, Australia, Vigoro is a souped-up version of (slightly down-sized) cricket. A key point is that if a ball Is hit forward of the crease, running is compulsory.</p> +
W
<p>Gomme (1898) compares Waggles to a game of four-player Cricket using cats instead of balls.</p> +
<p> </p>
<p>Author Martin Johns describes Welsh baseball as having evolved from rounders, and having been re-named baseball in 1892. It has been largely confined to Cardiff and Newport, and further to the working-class sections of those towns. Sixty neighborhood clubs were playing in 1921, and five Cardiff schools formed a baseball league in 1922.</p>
<p>In 2015, the Welsh Baseball website at http://www.welshbaseball.co.uk/ lists eight clubs in a Premier League, several of them evidently providing summer sport for local soccer clubs. </p>
<p>This game uses a smaller ball than is found in US baseball, and features a flattened bat, underhand pitching, eleven-player teams, no foul ground, an all-out-side-out rule, and two-inning games.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Note:</em></span> in 1927, the rules for Welch baseball and Liverpool baseball were evidently combined. See "British Baseball" at http://protoball.org/British_Baseball and at http://protoball.org/British_Baseball_(Welsh_Baseball). </p> +
<p>The game of wicket was evidently the dominant game played in parts of Connecticut, western MA, and perhaps areas of Western New York State, prior to the spread of the New York game in the 1850’s and 1860’s. Wicket resembles cricket more than baseball. The “pitcher” bowls a large, heavy ball toward a long, low wicket, and a batter with a heavy curved club defends the wicket. Some students of cricket note that it resembles cricket before it evolved to its modern form, with its higher narrower wicket.</p>
<p>A 1834 book published in Boston (See Robin Carver, below) includes, as a final word on cricket, an account of a simpler form of cricket, this view:</p>
<p>"This is, I believe, the old and original way of playing cricket. It is also played in a simpler way. Two wickets are placed at some distance from each other. The consist each of two short stakes fixed in the ground, and a cross stick places in notches, in the stakes about the height of the ball from the ground. Two bowlers stand at each wicket and roll the ball along the ground with the view of knocking off the cross stick. The striker strives to prevent this by hitting the ball with his bat: but if he strike it so that it is caught by any of the other players, he is out."</p>
<p>This very low wicket certainly resembles the target in the game called wicket in the Nineteenth Century.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
<p>A Wiffle Ball is a hollow plastic ball with holes strategically placed in order to exaggerate sideways force, and thus enabling pitchers to produce severe curves and drops (and rises?). Competitive games of Wiffleball are known, some exhibiting team play. Few, we believe (as of September 2018), appear to involve active baserunning, and the Wiffle Ball company site's "suggested rules say that live running "has been eliminated."</p>
<p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Note: </span>Wiffle Ball, Inc.</em>, which holds and protects key trade marks, has set out a set of rules at http://www.wiffle.com/pages/game_rules.asp?page=game_rules. However, many leagues, and tournaments, treasure their innovative rule options, including the doctoring of balls to make them curve more dramatically, and of bats that are dissimilar to those familiar thin yellow plastic cudgels you may think of. Multiple leagues and tournaments seem to claim that their championships produce the true national crown for wiffle ball. </p>
<p>The poem, <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Wiffle Ball,</span></em> appears in he Supplemental Text below. It was furnished to Protoball by its author, Glenn Stout, on 8/17/2018. </p>
<p>A fine recollection of wiffle ball games is found in Glenn's "Wiffle Rules", at https://verbplow.blogspot.com/2018/08/wiffle-rules.html.</p>
<p>A September 2019 <em>Boston Globe </em>article by Billy Baker (cited below), features an account of the National Golden Stick Wiffle Ball championships (motto: "A backyard game taken way too far.")</p>
<p> </p> +
<p>In this game opponents position themselves on the opposite sides of as wire strung over the street. Singles, doubles, etc., are determined by whether the ball hits the wire and whether it is caught by the out team as it descends. There is no running or batting in this urban game.</p> +
<p>Another label for the game [[Scrub]]/[[Move-Up]]: The available number of players is initially divided between several defensive positions and a smaller number of batters. A batter who is put out, becomes the fielder who is last in line to return to batting [right field, when there are enough fielders], and must work the way back position by position. A fielder to catches a fly ball exchanges places immediately with the batter. Because the small number of player precludes team play, “ghost runners” and special ground rules are sometimes required. Plugging is allowed when the ball is soft enough to permit that.</p> +
C
<p>Cricket is not generally seen as a source of base ball. However, it shares many of base ball's key characteristics: base-running, batting, pitching (bowling), innings, etc. And the physical dimensions of the ball are close to that of base ball.</p>
<p>The game is (arguably) recorded in 1300 in England, and for sure in 1598. See Altham, "A History of Cricket" p. 18-19, and Green, "A History of Cricket" p. 12-13.</p>
<p>A game played in the United States, called wicket, bears some resemblance to cricket as it was played in the 1800s. Wicket is reported in many U.S. states, led by Connecticut and Massachusetts. It seems to have crested in the post Civil War era, and town vs. town matches, some using teams of as many as 30 players. See [[wicket]]</p>
<p>The English exported cricket to many of its colonies. To see how the game later evolved in a section of New Guinea, see the well-presented 53-minute clip at: </p>
<p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYZFNRc9mKk.</p>
<p> </p> +
B
A listing of resources by author's last name +
A list of resources by year +
O
A listing of resources that can be accessed online +
T
A listing of 326 available sources collected in the Buzz McCray Library at Protoball. (We don't lend them out, but we can usually inspect them on behalf of researchers and writers.) +
Tom Altherr has made many new finds of very early ballplaying. Protoball's Chronology is dedicated to Tom. +
R
<p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Note:</em></span> Protoball's PrePro data base includes data on 15 early clubs and 11 early games in the Rochester proper, as of August 2014. Other data for nearby play in Western New York has not been tabulated</em></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p><em>“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” - </em>Rogers Hornsby</p>
<p>Winters in Rochester are cold, snowy and very long. However, the worst part about winter here isn’t trying to cautiously navigate your car on interstate 490 during a whiteout – for many of us, the worst part is the absence of baseball.</p>
<p>One frigid night in the winter of 2007, a small group of Rochester baseball history enthusiasts met at the Webster home of noted baseball historian, Priscilla Astifan. Gathered around a fireplace, the group began to discuss ways to add a little baseball flame into the cold Rochester winter months. What eventually grew out of this meeting was The Rochester Baseball Historical Society (RBHS) – a kind of “hot stove” group.</p>
<p>Like most historical societies, it was decided that education would be central and because baseball has been an important Rochester tradition since the early 19<sup>th</sup> century, there is a lot to learn. The society’s mission is to research, preserve and interpret Rochester’s long, rich baseball heritage. To help accomplish this, the RBHS seeks to educate its members and the community through the exhibition of historically significant artifacts and through various meetings and programs designed to foster discussion. </p>
<p>Award winning sports reporter and columnist, Scott Pitoniak, has been one of the driving forces behind the society from the start. “The history of Rochester baseball is like one of Luke Easter’s legendary home runs – long and compelling – and it’s been a thrill to be a part of a fledgling group dedicated to bringing that history to life for past, current and future generations," says Scott, who has authored three books and scores of articles about Rochester baseball through the years. "It still boggles the mind to think the game was played here at least as far back as 1825 – a good 14 years before Abner Doubleday was supposed to have invented the sport and more than a century before the Red Wings took flight.”</p>
<p>Our city’s love affair with baseball is as old as the game itself. Many of Rochester’s founding fathers were among those playing baseball in the mid 1820s. They played in a pasture known as Mumford’s Meadow, located on the west bank of the Genesee River near the current day Andrews Street Bridge and just a few blocks from our current home for baseball, Frontier Field. In those early days of old fashioned baseball, perhaps brought here by settlers from New England, Rochester baseball pioneers recorded outs when a gloveless fielder successfully hit the runner with the ball as he tried to reach one of the four foot high stakes (instead of bases). If you were on the meadow back then, you might have also witnessed them skillfully swinging their homemade bats with one hand in an attempt to achieve accurate ball placement.</p>
<p>Many 19<sup>th</sup> century Rochester baseball pioneers are buried in the Mt. Hope Cemetery and one of the organization’s on-going research projects has been to search for and identify their resting places. The group plans to conduct tours in conjunction with the Friends of Mt. Hope, led by society members who will attempt to bring these players back to life through short biographies.</p>
<p>The RBHS is also presenting an exhibit at the Rundel Memorial Building of the Central Library, 115 South Avenue. The exhibit, entitled <em>Rochester Baseball – from Mumford’s Meadow to Frontier Field</em>, opens on April 1, 2013. <em>Rochester Baseball</em> accompanies the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s traveling exhibit, <em>Pride and Passion – the African-American Baseball Experience, </em>which opens on May 1, 2013. Both exhibits close on June 14, 2013. They are free and open to the public.</p>
<p>Members of the society have wide interests when it comes to learning and studying the various eras of baseball in the Flower City. Some are fascinated by the 19<sup>th</sup> century early amateur period while others are curious about the dead ball era which saw teams like the Rochester Broncos and the Rochester Hustlers. Of course the majority are passionate about the rich history of our current Rochester Red Wings.</p>
<p>RBHS member and vintage base ball player Tony Brancato has conducted extensive research on the nationally recognized 19<sup>th</sup> century team the Rochester Live Oak Base Ball Club. “I became interested in studying the Live Oak Base Ball Club, Rochester’s first city champions in 1858, after spending many summers playing for the modern Live Oaks in the vintage base ball program at the Genesee Country Village & Museum,” says Tony, a sure handed outfielder. “These men were among the many true baseball pioneers in Rochester. Their 1858 city championship helped spark local interest in the game back then.”</p>
<p>As our long winter gives way to spring and the ice begins to melt on the mighty Genesee, baseball once again returns to our great city. Our Red Wings fly north from Florida, home to Rochester once again. But in the minds and hearts of the Rochester Baseball Historical Society members, baseball never left. Their connection to the American past-time is year long.</p>
<p><em>To learn more about the Rochester Baseball Historical Society or to become a member visit them at http://www.RochesterBaseballHistory.org/</em></p>
C
<p>César introduced several new finds in his “March, Conquest, and Play Ball: The Game in the Mexican-American War, 1846-1848,” Base Ball: A Journal of the Early Game, volume 5, number 1 (Fall 2011), pp 13 – 22.</p> +
E
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Written</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>A</strong>uthor; <span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Rules of the Game</span> (2002, Self-published) <a href="http://www.19cbaseball.com/baseball-rules-1845-1900.html">http://www.19cbaseball.com/baseball-rules-1845-1900.html</a> </p>
<p><strong>C</strong>o-Author; <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Forfeits and Successfully Protested Games in Major League Baseball: A Complete Record, 1871-2013</span> (2014, McFarland & Co.) <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Forfeits-Successfully-Protested-League-Baseball/dp/0786494239">https://www.amazon.com/Forfeits-Successfully-Protested-League-Baseball/dp/0786494239</a> </p>
<p><strong>C</strong>ontributing Author; <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900; Vol I & II</span> (2011, McFarland & Co.) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Major-League-Baseball-Profiles-1871-1900/dp/080323533X/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&qid=1414880257&sr=8-32&keywords=david+Nemec">http://www.amazon.com/Major-League-Baseball-Profiles-1871-1900/dp/080323533X/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&qid=1414880257&sr=8-32&keywords=david+Nemec</a> </p>
<p><strong>C</strong>ontributed an article for the McFarland & Company Inc. Publication, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Base Ball; A Journal of the Early Game</span>. (Spring 2011, McFarland & Co.) <a href="https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/base-ball-a-journal-of-the-early-game-vol-5-no-1-spring-2011/">https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/base-ball-a-journal-of-the-early-game-vol-5-no-1-spring-2011/</a></p>
<p><strong>C</strong>ontributed an article for the SABR Publication, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Inventing Baseball; The 100 Greatest Games of the 19<sup>th</sup> Century</span>. (2013, SABR) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inventing-Baseball-Greatest-Century-Digital/dp/1933599421/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414880304&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=inventing+base+ball">http://www.amazon.com/Inventing-Baseball-Greatest-Century-Digital/dp/1933599421/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414880304&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=inventing+base+ball</a></p>
<p><strong>C</strong>ontributed an article for the SABR Publication, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Boston's First Nine, The 1871-75 Boston Red Stockings</span>. (2016, SABR) <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bostons-First-Nine-1871-75-Stockings/dp/1943816298/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Boston%27s+First+Nine+The+1871-75+Boston+Red+Stockings&qid=1605403447&sr=8-1">https://www.amazon.com/Bostons-First-Nine-1871-75-Stockings/dp/1943816298/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Boston%27s+First+Nine+The+1871-75+Boston+Red+Stockings&qid=1605403447&sr=8-1</a></p>
<p><strong>C</strong>ontributed three articles for the SABR Publication, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Base Ball's 19<sup>th</sup> Century "Winter" Meetings, 1857-1900</span>. (2018, SABR) <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Base-Balls-Century-Winter-Meetings/dp/1943816913/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=base+ball%27s+19th+century+winter+meetings&qid=1605403141&sr=8-1">https://www.amazon.com/Base-Balls-Century-Winter-Meetings/dp/1943816913/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=base+ball%27s+19th+century+winter+meetings&qid=1605403141&sr=8-1</a></p>
<p><strong>C</strong>ontributed an article for the McFarland & Company Inc. Publication, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Base Ball 10</span>. (2018, McFarland & Co.) <a href="https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/base-ball-10/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnb79BRDgARIsAOVbhRpnZni5JJPSQeu0Tqk3naOS4x1KT3yAOl-0ylP5f7SWBqXz3Csrd3YaAntUEALw_wcB">https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/base-ball-10/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnb79BRDgARIsAOVbhRpnZni5JJPSQeu0Tqk3naOS4x1KT3yAOl-0ylP5f7SWBqXz3Csrd3YaAntUEALw_wcB</a></p>
<p><strong>C</strong>ontributed an article for the SABR Publication, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Glorious Beaneaters of the 1890's</span>. (2019, SABR) <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Glorious-Beaneaters-1890s-Baseball-Library-ebook/dp/B082DVQ23N/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Glorious+Beaneaters+of+the+1890%27s&qid=1605403668&sr=8-1-fkmr0">https://www.amazon.com/Glorious-Beaneaters-1890s-Baseball-Library-ebook/dp/B082DVQ23N/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Glorious+Beaneaters+of+the+1890%27s&qid=1605403668&sr=8-1-fkmr0</a></p>
<p><strong>C</strong>ontributed an article for the McFarland & Company Inc. Publication, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Base Ball 11</span>. (2019, McFarland & Co.) <a href="https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/base-ball-11/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnb79BRDgARIsAOVbhRqdLg5-1mx81q3Fkejnm35hpbpMvMtV4nYcF-2t9aEuDG33Z621tJMaArD1EALw_wcB">https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/base-ball-11/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnb79BRDgARIsAOVbhRqdLg5-1mx81q3Fkejnm35hpbpMvMtV4nYcF-2t9aEuDG33Z621tJMaArD1EALw_wcB</a></p>
<p><strong>C</strong>ontributed an article for the McFarland & Company Inc. Publication, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Base Ball 12</span>. (2021, McFarland & Co.) <a href="https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/base-ball-12/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnb79BRDgARIsAOVbhRqrhdatbyFKjEcbrXkInlm3va4OronMCSOqDcAOq8lWWp7QitEtNAUaAsTQEALw_wcB">https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/base-ball-12/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnb79BRDgARIsAOVbhRqrhdatbyFKjEcbrXkInlm3va4OronMCSOqDcAOq8lWWp7QitEtNAUaAsTQEALw_wcB</a></p>
<p><strong>C</strong>ontributed an article for the SABR Publication, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">The 1883 American Association Philadelphia Athletics</span>. (2021, SABR)</p>
<p><strong>C</strong>ontributed an article for the McFarland & Company Inc. Publication, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Base Ball 13</span>. (2022, McFarland & Co.)</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Presenting </span>(Hall of Fame only)</p>
<p>October 2004 – Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum – Part of a live two hour presentation on 19<sup>th</sup> century base ball held exclusively for San Diego High School teachers.</p>
<p>April 2005 - Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum – Presented the history of the 19<sup>th</sup> century pitcher, 1860-1887, with Ozzie Smith for two live internet broadcasts, reaching an estimated 17.5 million grade school students. Produced by Ball State</p>
<p>October 2007 - Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum – 19<sup>th</sup> Century Base Ball Conference; Presenter, The Evolution of the Batter’s Position During the 19<sup>th</sup> Century.</p>
<p>April 2012 - Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum –Frederick Ivor- Campbell 19<sup>th</sup> Century Base Ball Conference; Moderator for the panel discussion, “The Ten Best Rule Changes of the 19<sup>th</sup> Century.”</p>
<p>April 2013 - Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum –Frederick Ivor- Campbell 19<sup>th</sup> Century Base Ball Conference; Panelist for the topic, “Evolution of the Pitching / Catching Battery.”</p>
<p>April 2015 - Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum –Frederick Ivor- Campbell 19<sup>th</sup> Century Base Ball Conference; Presenter, “Better than Creighton.”] </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Playing (modern 19<sup>th</sup> century base ball)</span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span></p>
<p>Atlantic of Brooklyn BBC; 1999</p>
<p>Mutual Club of New York; 2000-2009 (Founding Member)</p>
<p>Dark Blue of Hartford BBC; 2004-2010</p>
<p>Liberty BBC (CT); 2010– Present (Founding Member)</p>
<p>Eckford of Brooklyn BBC; 2011-Present (Founding Member); Pitcher, Shortstop, Catcher (Team Historian, Scheduler)</p>
<p>Playing Member, Old Bethpage Village Restoration; 1998-Present</p>
<p>19th Century Base Ball Coordinator, Old Bethpage Village Restoration; 2000-2009</p>
<p>Played in over 900 19<sup>th</sup> century matches</p>
<p>Pitching record; 415-32-1 (through the 2019 season) </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Vintage Base Ball Association (VBBA)</span> </p>
<p>Vintage Base Ball Association (VBBA) Trustee; 2005-2006</p>
<p>VBBA Historian and Executive Board Member; 2009-2013 & 2015-2019</p>
<p>VBBA Secretary and Executive Board Member; 2014</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Other</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Founder & Owner; 19C Base Ball Inc.</p>
<p>Founder & Owner; Striker to the Line Productions.</p>
<p>From 2006 through 2008, hired as a Historical Consultant / Advisor to Da-Cor Pictures for the independent film titled, “The Silent Natural Dummy Hoy” (2007). In October of 2008, the baseball scenes were re-shot in Evansville, Indiana. Hired to ensure authenticity by providing training in the styles of 19<sup>th</sup> century base ball to the actors and assist in directing these scenes. During the two day re-shoot, responsible for all of the pitching during the filming and doubled for the lead actor in some scenes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>New York Islanders (NHL) – 1987-1990; Stick boy.</p>
<p>Louisville Icehawks (ECHL) – 1990-1992; Equipment Manager and Trainer</p>
<p>Houston Oilers (NFL) – 1990, 1991; Equipment Assistant (Pre and Post Training Camp)</p>
<p>New York Islanders (NHL) – 1996-2000; Assistant Equipment Manager and Practice Goalie</p>
<p>Team USA (Ice Hockey) – 1997; Equipment Manager World Championships, Turku and Helsinki; Finland</p>
<p>East Islip High School (Ice Hockey) – 2018 - Present; Organizational Goaltending Coach</p>
<p>USA Hockey – January 2021 - Goaltending Development Leader (GDL), NY State</p>
<p>Owner – 2022 - Eric's Long Island Goaltenders (Goaltending Academy)</p>
<p>USA Hockey – October 2023 - Associate-Coach-In-Chief of Goaltending (ACIC), NY State</p>
C
<p>Craig died suddenly of a stroke in 2012. The<em> Protoball Games Tabulation</em>, a major portion of the site's "<em>PrePro Data Base</em>," is now named in his honor.</p>
<p> </p> +
L
Origins Researchers +
B
Bruce S. Allardice is a Professor of History at South Suburban College, near Chicago. His article on “The Spread of Baseball in the South Prior to 1870” received the McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award in 2013. +
An Overview of an Enriched Data Base: NOTE -- This article was updated and re-cast by Bruce Allardice in 2018 +
D
'''NOTE''': ''Material in this section started as a series of short notes on Digger activities and plan as described in past issues of The [[Next Destin'd Post]], a semi-regular newsletter associated with the Protoball Project. Issuance was suspended for some time while Larry McCray served as Chair of the SABR Committee on the Origins of Base Ball and guest editor of the "Special Issue on Origins" of ''Base Ball Journal'' (volume 5, number 1, Spring 2011). Updates are always welcome. +
F
<p>Writing in volume 5, no. 4 (April 2012) of ''Originals,'' Tom Altherr notes that a 1900 source on schoolyard games noted "The game of Flip Up or Sky-Ball is still played by smaller children, and sometimes by large ones (especially girls). It is often played by as many as a dozen players and is here as "Tip-Up," or "Tippy-Up." The 1900 source is D. C. Gibson, "Play Ball," ''Mind and Body: A Monthly Journal'',Volume 7, no 73 (March 1900), page 7. No rules for this game are given, but Sky-ball is elsewhere descrived as a fungo game.</p> +
B
<p>Tom Altherr has found a reference to buff-ball in Baltimore in 1773.</p>
<p>A visitor wrote in his journal for 10/28/1773: "In Baltimore for some Buff-Ball." Tom notes that the nature of the game is not known, but that OED lists "to hit something" as one meaning of "buff."</p>
<p>Bruce Allardice has reviewed contemporary literature and found that the term "buff-ball" seems to refer not to a game, but rather to a cleaning brush or agent. Cf. The Middlebury (VT) Mercury, Sep. 13, 1809; Hartford Courant, Nov. 20, 1797. The Fithian Journal is big on recording his shopping trips.</p>
<p> </p> +
S
<p>"There were no bats, no nything except a lot of boys, as a ball with which they were trying to hit one another. But if one threw and missed, or his ball was caught, he was out. When all but one, or an agreed number, were out, the game was ended." </p>
<p>Thus, "sockball" seems to have been a game we might now call [[dodgeball]].</p> +
H
<p>H. J Philpott used the names "hole-ball and "wibble-wobble" as games that seem consistent with hat-ball. One player would place the ball in a hole or hat, and the other players would scatter before being hit with the ball by the player designated as "it." This game thus shares evasive running and plugging with base ball.</p> +
W
<p>H. J Philpott used the names "hole-ball and "wibble-wobble" as games that seem consistent with hat-ball. One player would place the ball in a hole or hat, and the other players would scatter before being hit with the ball by the player designated as "it." This game thus shares evasive running and plugging with base ball.</p> +
N
Digger News Archives +
T
<p>Bowen (1970) writes that “Gate-ball (‘Thorball’), as found in the early Dutch and Danish accounts is “obviously but wicket [cricket], again.”</p> +
C
<p>Court records from 1583 [Elizabeth I was in her 25th year as queen] show a dim view of this game. “Whereas there is great abuse in a game or games used in the town called ‘Gidigadie or the Cat’s Pallet . . . ‘ no manner persion shall play at the same games, being above the age of seven years, either in the churchyard or in any streets of the this town, upon pain of . . . being imprisoned in the Doungeon for the space of two hours . . . . Thus, Gidigadie may be another name for Cat’s Pallet. The rules of this game are as yet unknown.</p> +
T
<p>In Tip-e-Up, boy A would loft a short soft toss to a batter B, who wouold hit the ball upward. If A could catch the fungoed ball on the fly, he took possession of the bat.</p> +
W
<p>Lieutenant Ebenezer Elmer of the 3rd New Jersey Regiment referred five times to playing whirl between September 16, 1776, and 1777. The nature of play is not described, but one note may be taken to mean it was a ball game.</p>
<p>"<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=CeMYoyV3OXoC&pg=PA54&dq=new+jersey+1777&hl=en&ei=5Bs_TbuVN4GB8gbJtrHbCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CD4Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=whirl&f=false">Vol III of the Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society</a> (1848-1849) includes the Journal of Lieutenant Ebenezer Elmer of the 3rd NJ Regiment, in which he makes mention of a game called Whirl played while on garrison duty in September, 1776. </p>
<p>[September 16th, 1776] "...we had a long play at whirl with the Colonel and Mr. Kirtland, (who exercises among us with the greatest familiarity), some of the Indians, and such of the officers as saw fit: continued at it for a very considerable period of time. After which I went with some others and took a drink of grog..."<br/><br/>[September 18th, 1776] "...in the afternoon the Colonel, Parsons, and a number of us played whirl."<br/><br/>[September 20th, 1776 a.m.] "...we had a game or two more at whirl; at which Dr. Dunham gave me a severe blow on my mouth which cut my lip, and came near dislocating my under jaw..."<br/><br/>[September 20th, 1776 p.m.] "Played ball again."</p>
<p>Lt. Elmer makes mention of playing ball in October of that year, and again in 1777 in New Jersey when the Regiment had returned from the New York Frontier. </p>
<p><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=DBCt7IZfGv8C&pg=PA231&dq=baseball+game+called+whirl&hl=en&ei=W8dBTd3zIsP98AawtMGzAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=baseball%20game%20called%20whirl&f=false">Some researchers</a> into the origins of baseball have inferred from the two entries on September 20th that "Played ball again" is in reference to the previous game of Whirl, although no one knows anything more about the game, its origins, or how it was played.</p>
<p>An article by Bonnie S. Ledbetter entitled "Sports and Games of the American Revolution", published in the <span>Journal of Sports History</span>, Vol. 6 No. 3 (Winter 1979), proposes that Whirl may have been a game of Elmer and his associates own invention to while away their unaccustomed leisure time at Fort Schuyler, as his is the only known reference to a game by that name. If so, it may not have been very complicated to learn, as Mr. Kirtland the parson had only recently joined the regiment to replace Reverend Caldwell, yet seems to have joined in with great gusto. I tend to think that whatever game it was would have been very similar to other games more familiar to participants, especially if they were able to field a team that included their native american allies."</p>
<p>Numerous web searches have failed to turn up other clues about this game.</p>
H
<p>Halfball was a game using half of a rubber ball and imaginary baserunning. It seems likely to resemble [[Half-Rubber]], which was reportedly played in the US. South and the Philadelphia area.</p>
<p>It is also described as a street game on Wikipedia.</p>
<p>Baby Boomer Jack Hammer (actual name!) describes <em>Half Ball </em>as a subspecies of a street game (known there as stickball) as played in Cambridge MA in the late 1950s. The ball used in this game was a hollow pink spiky object known as a "pimple ball," which, when stressed by play, tended to split open along its seam. The players separated the two halves, and the resulting game was called half ball. A half ball had interesting aerodynamic behaviors.</p>
<p>The bat used in this game was a broom handle sawed off at about 30 inches. Man-hole covers in the street could serve as bases for actual baserunning. Jack adds: "Besides manhole covers, sometimes we marked outlines of bases with chalk (rarely available) or with pieces of slate roof tiles. Sometimes we used a board for home or second base. First base and third base could be a tree, a utility pole, or the tail light or head light of parked vehicles." (Email of 12/31/2019.) </p>
<p>Another subspecies of game , called "Judge," employed imaginary runners.</p>
<p>For these games, oncoming traffic was marked by a common shriek -- "Carrr!!!" -- that cleared the motorway of lads. </p> +
T
<p>Only framentary information is as yet known about Tire-Ball. The game takes its name from the length of bicycle tube that served as the game's ball (later, a short section of garden hose filled that need more often. Other rules are unclear to us at this point.</p> +
F
<p>Fuzz-Ball evidently takes many local variant forms, but all employ a tennis ball (often with its surface fuzz burned off and a slim bat. The number of strikes per out and outs per inning, among other parameters, vary from place to place. It is placed in the "fungo" category here, but in some areas real baserunning is seen, making it close to baseball. Teams are often small.</p>
<p>In St. Louis, some players use the term [[Corkball]] for Fuzz-ball.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
S
<p>There was a distinct form of cricket at the Roman Catholic College of Stonyhurst. The game played there used a single-wicket, which took the shape of a 17-inch milestone, used a misshapen hand-crafted ball with an exaggerated seams, encouraged bowling with two or more bounces before reaching the batsman, used"baselines" set at 30 yards instead if 22-yards, and 3 to 5 players per side. There was an out-of-bounds line.</p>
<p>The college was located outside England from about 1600 to 1794, and tre conjecture is that this game evolved separately from the dominant 11-man game during that period.</p> +
R
<p>Rounders was first described in the late 1820s. Current researchers believe that the game was similar to English base ball, which had been described almost 80 years earlier, but it is clearer that rounders employed a bat than that English ball did.</p>
<p>Rounders in the 19th Century generally resembled the game that Mass game; it used overhand throwing, plugging, etc. </p>
<p>In describing rounders in 1898, Gomme notes a one-out-side-out rule applied for caught (fly?) balls. Batters who missed three pitches were compelled to run on the third swing as if they had struck the ball.</p>
<p>Rounders is now played in British schools, often by young women.</p>
<p><strong>Rounders Rules</strong></p>
<p>(from https://www.mastersofgames.com/rules/rounders-rules.htm: accessed 6/1/2023)</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 2em;">Rounders Rules</span></p>
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<p>Rounders is an ancient field game for two teams that is popular in schools and is the ancestor of more modern sports like Baseball and Softball.</p>
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<p>See also: <a href="https://www.mastersofgames.com/cat/outdoor/rounders.htm">Rounders Equipment</a>.</p>
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<div class="productimggrid productimggrid3 matchheight"><span style="font-size: 1.17em;">Rounders Equipment & Preparation</span></div>
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<div class="textblockinteriorbeige"><span class="textblockinterior"><span class="textblockinterior"><br/>The equipment needed for rounders consists of a truncheon shaped rounders bat, a rounders ball and 4 posts set out in a diamond shape. A traditional ball is hard and covered in leather although safer, softer balls for schools are also available.<br/><br/>The pitch features a bowler's square (2.5m) which is 7.5m from the batter's square (2m). 1 metre behind the batter's square the Backstop line should be marked. The four posts are positioned around the bowler's square as shown in the diagram (black lines show lines that should be marked; green lines are for measuring only).<br/><br/><img src="https://www.mastersofgames.com/images/outdoor/rounders-pitch.jpg" alt="" /><br/><br/>Of course, if you are just playing in the park or your garden, exact dimensions don't matter and shrubberies and flower beds may come into play...<br/><br/>For a decent game, each team should have at least 6 people, so that when fielding, a person can stand next to each post in addition to the bowler and the backstop.<br/></span></span>
<h3>Rounders Basics</h3>
<span class="textblockinterior"><span class="textblockinterior">Each team has two innings with all people in the team having a go at batting. The innings is over when all the batting players are either out or at a base so that there is no-one left to face the next ball.<br/><br/>One, by one, the batters line up to take their turn in the batting square. The bowler throws the ball towards the batter.<br/><br/></span></span>
<h3>Bowling and No-Balls</h3>
<span class="textblockinterior"><span class="textblockinterior">The bowler must bowl a ball towards the batter so that:</span></span>
<ul>
<li>it is thrown with a smooth underarm action</li>
<li>the ball arrives without bouncing and within the batters square</li>
<li>the ball is above the batter's knee, below the batter's head, and not at the batter's body</li>
<li>the bowler's feet are inside the bowler's square when the ball is bowled</li>
</ul>
<p>otherwise a 'no-ball' is called.<br/><br/>A batter can attempt to hit a no-ball and can run on a no-ball, if desired whether the ball is hit or not, but cannot return once first post is reached. If two consecutive no-balls are bowled to the same batter, the batter scores a half-rounder.</p>
<h3>Batting</h3>
<ul>
<li>The batter gets one chance to hit the ball (ignoring no-balls) and must run even if the ball is not struck.</li>
<li>If the ball is hit behind the batting square or not hit at all, the batter may can only run to first base.</li>
<li>Otherwise, the batter runs around as many of the bases as possible and stops at a post only when the batter thinks there is a danger of the next post being 'stumped'.</li>
</ul>
<p>The batter is out if:</p>
<ul>
<li>the batter hits the ball and it is caught without first hitting the ground</li>
<li>the post being run to is 'stumped' - a fielder touches it with the ball</li>
<li>the batter runs inside a post</li>
<li>the batter loses contact with a post when the bowler has the ball inside the bowler's square</li>
<li>the batter overtakes a fellow batter when running around the posts.</li>
<li>while not running between posts, the batter obstructs a fielder</li>
<li>the batter's foot is outside the batter's square when the ball is bowled</li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size: 1.17em;">Scoring Rounders</span></p>
<span class="textblockinterior"><span class="textblockinterior">A score is immediately posted in the following situations:</span></span>
<p> If the batter hits the ball or is bowled a no ball and then reaches the fourth post, a rounder is scored.</p>
<ul>
<li>If the batter fails to hit the ball and reaches the fourth post, a half-rounder is scored.</li>
<li>If the batter hits the ball and reaches the second post, a half-rounder is scored.</li>
<li>A fielder obstructs a batter running to a post, a half-rounder is scored.</li>
<li>If the batter hits the ball and reaches the first, second or third post without being out, the batter stays at that post (and must keep in contact with it) until the next ball is bowled. As soon as the ball leaves the bowler's hand, such a batter can run to the next post, if they wish, even if a no-ball is called.</li>
</ul>
<p>If the batter does not keep contact with the post, the fielding side can stump the next post to get the player out. 2 batters cannot be at the same post so a batter must run on to the next post if the next batter catches up with them.</p>
<ul>
<li>A batter who continues in this way and reaches the fourth post scores a half-rounder.</li>
</ul>
<p>Once the fourth post is reached, the person goes to the back of the batter's line and awaits their next turn to bat.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1.17em;">Winning</span></p>
<span class="textblockinterior"><span class="textblockinterior">After both sides have played both innings, the side with the most rounders wins.<br/><br/></span></span>
<h3>Other Rounders Rules</h3>
<span class="textblockinterior"><span class="textblockinterior">The above rules are consistent with the National Rounders Associations laws. However, those wishing to play more strictly, may also wish to incorporate the following NRA rules which aren't really necessary for a friendly game.</span></span>
<ul>
<li>A team consisting of a maximum of 15 players and a minimum of 6 of whom no more than 9 may be on the field at one time. An innings is over when the 9th batter is out.</li>
<li>If the ball goes behind, the batter may only run to first post but may continue to run once the ball has returned in front of the batter's square again. In this way, it is possible to reach 4th post and score a rounder, even if the ball is hit behind (although this would only happen in practice due to a fielding error).</li>
<li>A batter can run to a post even if it has been previously stumped but there is no score if this is done on 4th Post</li>
<li>Batsmen must carry their bat when running</li>
<li>When the bowler has the ball in his square, you cannot move on, but if you are between Posts, you can carry on to the next.</li>
<li>You must touch 4th Post on getting home.</li>
</ul>
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D
<p>Dodgeball is a basic youth game with no batting or safe-haven bases. Two teams form. A player can be put out by being hit with a throw rubber ball, unless he catches it, in which case the thrower is out. The game ends when the last player on a team is put out.</p>
<p>A discussion of several dodgeball variants is found at <a href="http://www.funandgames.org/games/GameDodgeball.htm.">http://www.funandgames.org/games/GameDodgeball.htm.</a> None mentions base-running or batting, but plugging is a central feature. </p>
<p>Some trace the history of dodgeball to the ancient Egyptions, and the Romans played a version of the game. (citation?)</p>
<p>There is a National College Dodgeball Association at <a href="http://www.ncdadodgeball.com/index.html">http://www.ncdadodgeball.com/index.html</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
T
A Chronology of Ballmaking up to 1872 – and a list of 32 Ballmakers, 1858 to 1890 +
E
Essays Contributed by Diggers.<br/> Note: See also http://protoball.org/Blogs for sites with recent articles on Origins era topics. +
A
<p>Anita is the Research and Education Officer of Stoolball England.</p> +
C
<p>A game for three players. Two defend foot-wide holes set about 26 feet apart with a club, or “dog.” A third player throws a four-inch cat toward the hole, and the defender hits it away. If the cat enters the hole, defender and thrower switch places. Gomme, who uses the name Cat and Dog Hole, describes a game using a ball in which a stone replaces the hole where the batter stands, and adds that if the third player catches a hit ball in the air, that player can try to hit the stone, which sends the batter out.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">On US play, 1866</span>: "Cat and Dog -- An interesting trial of skill at this old time game was played at Pittsburgh Pa., on the 5th inst., between the Athletics, of South Pittsburgh, and the Enterprise of Mt. Washington. The game was witnessed by a large crowd of ladies and gentlemen.</p>
<p>[The printed box score shows three players on each side, a pitcher-catcher and two fielders. The result was the Athletics, 180 "measures" and the Enterprise 120 measures. There is no indication of the use of innings, a side-out rule, or fly rule]</p>
<p>[This spare account leaves the impression of a one-time throwback demonstration.]</p>
<p>For other references to cat-and-dog, see these Chronology items;</p>
<p><a>http://protoball.org/1706.2</a> [Scotland]</p>
<p><a>http://protoball.org/1833.3</a> [Cat-and-dog as the ancestor of cricket]</p>
<p><a>http://protoball.org/1841.11</a> [Scottish dictionary account]</p>
<p><a>http://protoball.org/1856.30</a> [Nyack, NY, 1856]</p>
<p><a>http://protoball.org/1866.10</a> [Pittsburgh PA throwback game]</p> +
E
<p>Only in the 21st Century did we come to appreciate that a major predecessor of modern baseball was an English pastime known as <wait for it> “base ball”.</p> +
B
<p>"Bat-and-Ball" is a term that can help you find very early references to predecessor games in the US.</p>
<p>Brian Turner finds that the term is likely to connote a distinct form of early ballplaying; in an April 2020 email to Protoball, he said "<span>I can confirm that Newburyport and other coastal towns north of Boston -- Salem, for example -- were places where the term "bat and ball" was used to refer to an unambiguously distinct game." </span></p>
<p><span>A May search of the Protoball Chronology for <bad and ball> yields 44 hits from circa 1745 to 1845. A subset of them may be specifically denote a game locally known as Bat and Ball. </span></p>
<p><span>The earliest seems to be in US President John Adams, in a reflection on his ballplaying youth.</span></p>
<p><span> </span></p>
<p> </p> +
C
<p>The <em>New York Clipper </em>reported two 1860 games in southernmost Ontario as "the Canadian game" between the Ingersoll and Woodstock clubs [add locations?].</p>
<p>The playing rules for this game are not given [is there anything beside the 11 player sides that signals that it's unusual?]. </p>
<p>In May 2015, William Humber re-examined other accounts of Canadian ballplaying, and suggests/hypothesizes/concludes that seven playing conventions/rules/practices may have distinguished it from other North American predecessor games:</p>
<p>[1] Eleven players.</p>
<p>[2] All-out-side out innings.</p>
<p>[3] Two innings to be played.</p>
<p>(Note that these three rules are familiar cricket rules)</p>
<p>[4] Use of four bases, in addition to home base</p>
<p>[5] The plugging of baserunners when away from bases</p>
<p>[6] Throwing, not pitching to batsmen</p>
<p>[7] 40-foot bases [sic?], with first base [how?] close to home</p>
<p>In drawing up this list, Humber drew on the <em>Clipper </em>articles, recollections of Adam Ford that may have come from his own playing days from 1848 to 1855, and a <em>Clipper </em>account of a 1859 game played by [a London Ontario club? Woodstock itself? other?].</p>
<p>By [date/year], it appears that all Ontario clubs had adopted the NY rules. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
B
<p>William (Bill) Humber continues his never-ending digging into early baseball, a passion dating back to his 1950s boyhood in Toronto. Along with environmental education and advocacy, his formal baseball enthusiasm includes SABR membership since 1978. This year (2018) marks the 40th year of his Seneca College course “Baseball Spring Training for Fans” – a midwinter excuse to talk baseball in a college classroom. Recently announced for induction into Canada’s Baseball Hall of Fame he is author of five books on baseball including, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Diamonds of the North: A Concise History of Baseball in Canada</span>, from Oxford University Press (1995). </p>
<p>[Provided by Bill, 2/4/2018]</p> +
C
The main chronology from ancient times to 1700 (136 entries) +
The chronology from 1701 to 1780 (123 entries) +
The chronology from 1781 to 1815 (147 entries) +
B
<p>Bandy was a game that reportedly resembled shinty or modern field hockey, in which players on two teams attempted to advance a ball with a club into the opposing team's goal.</p>
<p>The Richmond <em>Whig</em>, Aug. 21, 1866 speaks of southerners 20 years prior playing bandy and chermany. In 1850 Tarborough, NC banned the playing of bandy in the streets. In 1858 boys were arrested in DC for playing bandy on the streets (Washington Star, Nov. 27, 1858).</p>
<p>The New York Clipper, June 1, 1861 has a long article on Bandy, which it describes as a Welsh version of Hurling.</p> +
N
<p>Novaball was played as All-Star competition by the Arlington softball program in 2001 and 2002. Each inning, one team selected a special rule for that inning; examples are clockwise baserunning, the use of 6 bases in place of 4, force outs implemented by throwing the ball into a 5-gallon paint bucket, etc.</p> +
C
The chronology from 1861 to 1865 (215 entries) +
The chronology from 1831 to 1845 (220 entries) +
A
A collection of the most prominent entries in the chronology. (This list is currently being curated, with 90 entries selected so far.) +
G
K
<p>"As a rule, boys played rougher games. One of them was the competitive<em>Kichke-pale</em> or <em>Chizshkes,</em> as it was known in the Polesie region. <em>Kichke-pale</em> was an East European Jewish version of cricket or baseball, and was similar to the English game called <em>Peggy.</em> The <em>kichke</em> was a small peg pointed at both ends, while the <em>pale</em> was the longer stick. The <em>kichke</em> was placed on an elevated spot, near a hole in the ground. The player would hit the pointed end of the peg with the larger stick that would send the peg flying into the air. He would then run and again try to hit the peg while it was airborne, to send it farther away from the plate. The more times one hit the peg, the more skilled the player. The other player would run to get the peg and throw it to the plate. The peg was not to be struck on its return to the plate. But if it were not successfully returned, the first player would then strike the peg wherever it happened to fall. This would continue until the second player got the peg back to the plate, after which he became the striker and the other player, the catcher. The game would go on until the second player scored a given number of hits of the peg, usually twenty or thirty. The loser would then have to give the winner what was called a <em>yarsh,</em> which meant that the winner would have the right to strike the peg even when it was being returned to the plate. The <em>yarsh</em> would end when the peg fell on the plate."</p> +
L
something +
W
A Source-Based Description of Town Ball Play +
<p>A writer's recollection of past Boston sports, including base ball, includes the unexplained game of "Whoop."</p> +
O
<p>A writer's recollection of past Boston sports, including base ball, includes the unexplained game of "Old Grope."</p> +
R
<p>A writer's recollection of past Boston sports, including base ball, includes the unexplained game of "Rickets."</p> +
C
The chronology from 1851 to 1855 (103 entries) +
A
<p>From the 1860s to the 1880s, Navahos in NM played a gmae that evolved from one (possibly the Massachusetts game?) taught to them on a NM reservation mannned by the US Cavalry. This game is recalled as involving plugging, very feisty baserunning customs, no foul ground, four strikes, one-out-side-out innings, and multiple batters at the same time.</p> +
C
The chronology from 1846 to 1850 (131 entries) +
B
<p>Balagu ("foot-baseball") is identified as a form of kick-ball in Korea, a "staple in PE classes within elementary schools."</p> +
W
A Source-Based Description of Rounders Play +
B
A listing of resources by title +
D
The year 2000 and beyond +
Regions and Themes of Research and the Diggers Who Research Them +
B
<p>[A] The first known game of base ball played on ice skates occurred on in January 1861 near Rochester NY. Skating was very popular, and the hybrid game was played into the late 1800s.</p>
<p>A few special rules are known, a key one being that runners were not at risk when they overskated a base. Deliveries were pitches, not throws; a dead ball was used and the bound rule was in effect. A ten-player team deployed a left shortstop and a right shortstop.</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>[B] Richard Hershberger posted the following on Facebook on 2/4/22 [See clip, below]:</p>
<p> "150 years ago in baseball: baseball on ice. This was a thing. Look at the list of the "Capitoline Ten" and you will see some top ball players. This is not true of the Brooklyn Skating Club's players, raising the question, is baseball or skating skill more important here? Good question. I don't know. I also don't know if there is money involved here, or if everyone is doing this for fun.</p>
<p><br/><span>Adapting sports for ice skates was a thing more broadly. In Britain they sometimes played cricket on ice, which takes real devotion. They also adapted the fine old summer game of hockey to play on ice. This will spread to Canada, where it will be discreetly forgotten that they hadn't come up with the idea themselves.</span><br/><br/><span>Baseball on ice required some rules adaptations. Ten players is the most obvious, the extra fielder playing at right short. Chadwick had been advocating this for the regular game for years. Spoiler alert: It won't happen. But it was standard for the ice version. Over-skating the bases also was standard, and this variant did influence regular baseball. The rule allowing the batter-runner to overrun first base was borrowed from the ice game. This was a safety measure, advocating by George Wright who had pulled a hammy. But while safety was the motivation, ice baseball provided the solution to the problem. There will be discussions for another twenty years about extending the right to overrun to the other bases, but nothing will come of it. <span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Sunday Mercury</span> February 4, 1872:</span><span> </span></p>
<div class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl gpro0wi8 oo9gr5id lrazzd5p"> </div>
W
<p>The earliest known game of water baseball was played in 1879 on the [Hudson?] River. Pitcher, catcher, and btter stood in waist-deep water and other players in deeper water. </p>
<p>A variety devised in the 1930s involved teams of six, baselines of 45 yards, balls put in play by throws from a diving board, and runner-swimmers vulnerable to being put out by plugging with the [rubber] ball.</p> +
D
<p>In its 1934 manifestation, donkey baseball let the donkeys run, and the players ride. "[A]ll participants, excepting the catcher, pitcher and the batsman are astride donkeys. After hitting the ball it is necessary for the hitter to get on the back of a donkey and make his way to first base before the fielders, also on donkeys, retrieve the ball."</p>
<p>The earliest version of donkey base ball was named for "donkey races," which Peter Morris sees as "a silly type of contest." The team that scored the fewest runs was the winner. Maybe you had to be there to agree with the <em>Brooklyn Eagle</em> that the game was "very amusing , and perhaps the most novel match ever played."</p> +
O
<p>The game was played as late as the 1940 by the Mi-kmaq tribe in eastern Canada. "Old-fashion preserved an intriguing number of remnantsof ball-games of the pre-Knickerbocker era,including no foul ground, one out per inning, soaking (plugging), and soft, hnome-made balls." The rules were reported to be flexible. </p> +
C
The chronology from 1816 to 1830 (175 entries) +
D
<p>Debbie is the author of an article on women base ball players in the Spring 2011 isue of <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nine.</span> She is at work on a monograph tentatively titled <em>Bloomer Girls: Women Baseball Pioneers</em>, and is also collecting data on female play of base ball's predecessor games.</p> +
C
<p>See Colin's paper on the evolution of batting statistics at</p>
<p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0btLf16riTaR3l2TmFLTThiSWc/edit?usp=sharing"><span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0btLf16riTaR3l2TmFLTThiSWc/edit?usp=sharing</span></a></p> +
The chronology from 1866 to 1876 (102 entries) +
<p>Craig's website is at <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><a href="http://www.threadsofourgame.com/"><span style="color: #0000ff;">http://www.threadsofourgame.com</span></a> </span></p> +
W
A Sourced-Based Description of Massachusetts Game Play +
D
<p>This game resembles other northern European safe-haven games like lapta. Batters bat, then run to a single distant base, trying to return as later batters have their turns.</p>
<p>Some unique aspects of this game are that only one (good) pitch is allowed, and the batter runs whether the ball is hit or not; multiple runners can occupy the single base if they don't think they can reach home safely; once a runner leaves the runing base, he/she cannot return; fielders cannot run with the ball; a three-out-side-out rule obtains, except for the case of a caught fly, which immediately retires the in team; runners are out if tagged, or plugged below the knee.</p>
<p>This game is apparently played today in Canada and Australia. The paper does not discuss the origins or history of the game.</p>
<p>For its origins, see David Block, <em>Baseball Before we Knew It</em> pp. 260-274.</p> +
S
<p>Spicket Club won 36-16 keeping the champion bat. Game started at 2pm and ended at 6pm</p> +
H
<p>The Lawrence Sentinel September 14th 1867</p>
<p>See games tab</p>
<p>Hope Club left Lowell 15 Sept 1868 to play a match game against Riverside Club of Nashua, NH. Hope had won the last match with Riverside, July 4, 1868. Lowell Daily Citizen, Sept. 15, 1868 [brian sheehy]</p> +
L
<p>The Common (now, Campagnone Common) is/was bounded by Common, Jackson, Haverhill and Lawrence Sts.</p> +
S
<p>See games</p> +
T
<p>Lawrence won the game.</p>
<p>"After the game by invitation of Wm. Kimball the Lawrence Club went to Drew's saloon, where an excellent supper was prepared for them, to which they did ample justice."</p> +
Y
<p>See games</p> +
T
<p>The Lowell Daily Citizen July 5, 1867 says the Lawrence Club of Lawrence and the Clipper Club of Lowell "played a match game at the Fair Grounds yesterday."
</p><p>Lawrence MA (1860 pop. about 18,000 -- 51st largest US city then) is about 25 miles N of Boston and near the NH state line.
</p> +
I
Interviews with Diggers +
F
Stories About Important and Interesting Digs +
1
Summaries of goings-on within 19CBB, 2012-2013 +
N
<p>"Catcher of the first nine of the "Nationalist", Mr. George H Whittemore is a youth of ten summers.</p> +
S
<p>See games tabulation</p> +
N
<p>See games tabulation</p> +
G
<p>"A return match between the Granite State Club of this city and the Star Club of Kittery, (Juniors) came off at the latter place Saturday afternoon. In the previous game the Granite State boys won by 19 runs and were again victorious in the return game the score standing 36 for the Granite States and 35 for the Stars."</p> +
<p>See games tabulation</p> +
R
<p>See games tabulation.</p> +
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Whipple-</span> Home Runs 6; C. Hayes 2, Keen 2, Philbrick 1, Parker 1.</p>
<p>Fly Catches 2; Otis 1, Philbrick 1</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Rockinghams</span>- Fly Catches, 4; Buzzel 1, Dow 3.</p> +
W
<p>See games tabulation</p> +
T
Archive of the Next Destin'd Post Newsletter +
D
<p>David Block describes the Dutch game of <strong>Da Kat </strong>as a form of [[<strong>tip-cat</strong>]].</p> +
C
A List of the Number of Contributions per Digger +
<p>“Corinth, Miss., July 23… The Courtland (Alabama) club did not defeat the Corinth base-ball club last week.” Memphis Daily Appeal, July 27, 1876. Turns out Corinth got beat by a combined team from Huntsville, Florence, Decatur and Courtland, dubbed the Valley Base Ball Club.
</p><p>Courtland's current population is about 775.
</p> +
<p>The New York Herald, June 9, 1868, reported that “the young men of Prattsville [sic], Ala. Have organized a club for baseball…”</p>
<p>This is probably the Qui Vive Club of Prattville, mentioned in the The <em>Montgomery Weekly Advertiser</em>, Sept. 15, 1869, and in the <em>Selma Morning Times</em>, Sept. 9, 1869</p>
<p>Prattville AL (pop.in 1900 was 1300, now is about 34,000) is about 80 miles S of Birmingham and about 10 miles NW of Montgomery.</p> +
P
<p>Gadsden Times October 8, 1869, says the Gadsden Etowahs played the Talladega Peabody Club at Jacksonville. This was the club of the Peabody school. See the Talladega <em>Our Mountain Home</em>, Dec. 21, 1910.</p>
<p>Talladega AL (1870 pop. about 1900) is about 45 miles E of Birmingham. Gadsden is about 40 miles to the N of Talladega and Jacksonville AL is about about 35 miles to the NE.</p> +
B
<p>The Columbus Daily Enquirer, August 24, 1877, reports: “The game of base ball between the Bloods of Troy, and Seminoles of Union Springs, played at Troy yesterday, resulted in favor of the Bloods, by a score of 41 to 19.”
</p><p>Troy AL (pop. about 1000 in 1870 and 2300 in 1880) is about 150 SE of Birmingham and about 40 miles SE of Montgomery. It is about 30 miles SW of Union Springs AL.
</p> +
S
<p>The Columbus Daily Enquirer, August 24, 1877, reports: “The game of base ball between the Bloods of Troy, and Seminoles of Union Springs, played at Troy yesterday, resulted in favor of the Bloods, by a score of 41 to 19.”
</p><p>Troy AL (pop. about 1000 in 1870 and 2300 in 1880) is about 150 SE of Birmingham and about 40 miles SE of Montgomery. It is about 30 miles SW of Union Springs AL.
</p> +
C
<p>The Fayetteville (TN) Observer Aug. 27, 1874 notes a game between Fayettteville and Meridianville “last Friday” at Meridianville, won by Fayetteville 48-22
</p><p>Meridianville AL (pop. about 6000 now)is about 100 miles N of Birmingham near the TN border and about 80 miles SW of Chattanooga TN.
</p> +
D
<p>The <em>Birmingham Iron Age</em>, June 4, 1879, reports the Dunham Base Ball Club of that city was recently organized. They’ve already challenged Springville, and any other Birmingham club. The article gives the names of the players. Same July 2, 1879 says the Dunham club will play a picked nine on July 4th in Birmingham.</p>
<p>The team was undoubtedly named after Bradford Dunham (1838-1908), a local railroad superintendent. It's captain was William Rufus King "Billy" Stanford (1849-1937), a Confederate army veteran and owner of a boilermaking shop.</p>
<p>Birmingham's current population of about 1.1 million makes it the largest city in Alabama. The city was only founded in 1871, and a population of about 3000 is reported in 1880.</p>
<p> </p> +
C
<p>The <em>Selma Times Argus</em>, Dec. 23, 1870 mentions a Demopolis BBC.</p>
<p>The <em>Birmingham Iron Age</em>, August 17, 1875, reports on a game “last Wednesday” at Demopolis between a Mississippi team and the Demopolis club, won by the Mississippi team 15 to 14, for the championship of the two states.</p>
<p>Demopolis AL (pop. about 7500 now, about 1500 in the 1870s)is about 100 miles SW of Birmingham and about 35 miles E of the Mississippi border.</p> +
<p>The Cullman Southern Immigrant, July 4, 1878: “Local News…Our town is afflicted with a base ball club.”
</p><p>Cullman AL is about 50 miles N of Birmingham. Its population in 1880 was about 425.
</p> +
<p>Greenville <em>Advocate</em>, May 23, 1867 reports the formation of the Greenville BBC, with J. L. Pinney as president. Same June 6, 1868 reports on a game between two nines of that club.</p>
<p>The <em>Selma Times and Messenger</em>, July 23, 1867: "They have a Base Ball Club in Greenville."</p>
<p>The Montgomery Advertiser, June 13, 1867, gives the names of the members of the Greenville club.</p>
<p>The Greenville club sent a delegate, local lawyer J. A. Padgett, to the 1868 Alabama state baseball convention. See Mobile Register, April 27, 1868.</p>
<p><em>National Chronicle</em>, May 8, 1869 report from the club secretary, says the club was "organized since 1865." Gives club officers.</p>
<p>Greenville AL (pop. about 7200 now) is about 120 miles S of Birmingham and about 45 miles SW of Montgomery.</p> +
E
<p>The Gadsden Times May 21, 1869, reports on a meeting held on the 17th to organize a base ball club. Same, May 28, 1869, the Etowah Base Ball Club will play a match game on the 20th instant, on the play ground near Captain Barret’s.
</p><p>Gadsden AL (pop. 103,000: 1880 population under 1700) is about 60 miles NE of Birmingham.
</p> +
C
<p>The Red Stockings of Decatur are to play the Florence Base Ball Club at Tuscumbia on the 29th. Nashville Union and American, July 28, 1875.
</p><p>Florence AL (1870 population about 2000) is in the NW corner of the state. Tuscumbia is across the Tennessee River and about 5 miles S of Florence. Decatur is also on the river ans about 40 miles E of Florence and Tuscumbia.
</p> +
J
<p>The Fayetteville (TN) Observer Aug. 12, 1875 says the Hornets of Fayetteville have been challenged by the Huntsville base ball club. Same, Aug. 19, 1875 says the Hornets beat the “John Read” team of Huntsville 34-18 on “Tuesday evening.”
</p><p>Huntsville AL (population in 1870s was steady at about 4,900) is about 85 miles N of Birmingham and about 20 miles S of the Tennessee border. Fayetteville TN ( current pop 7000) is 30 miles N of Huntsville.
</p> +
D
<p>The New York <em>Clipper</em>, Nov. 10, 1866, prints a letter asking about base ball rules from the "Dramatic Base Ball Club, Mobile."</p>
<p>The <em>New York Clipper</em>, Dec. 15, 1866, Feb. 3, 1867 gives the box score of a practice game between two nines of the Dramatic Club. The players are connected to the Mobile theaters.</p>
<p>The “Dramatic” Base Ball Club of Mobile played a match against the “Lone Star” of New Orleans in April, 1867, losing 92-7. [See Savannah <em>Daily News</em>, April 11, 1867, New Orleans <em>Times</em>, April 11, 13, 1867 (citing the Mobile <em>Register</em> of the 11th), NYC April 27, 1867]</p>
<p>In May of 1868 the Dramatic played the Montgomery Club a 3-game series for the state championship. See <em>New York Clipper</em>, May 16, May 30, 1868. The May 4th game, in Mobile. attracted 4-5,000 spectators. The Dramatic won 67-32, but lost the two games played in Montgomery.</p>
<p>The 1869 city directory lists "M. Marks" as president of the Mobile Dramatic BBC, and John A. Payne as captain, 1st nine. John A. Payne was a former Confederate naval officer. An M. H. Marks was a clerk for a local "arts" association.</p>
<p>Mobile AL is on the Gulf of Mexico and near the Mississippi border.</p>
<p>Mobile's population was about 30,000 to 32,000 in the late 1860s. In 1860 it was the 4th largest CSA city and the 27th largest in the US. Mobile's cotton exports had been second only to New Orleans in the 1840s.</p> +
P
<p>The Memphis Appeal, May 15, 1867 reports that the “Pelham” Base Ball Club was organized at Montgomery “last Thursday.” The Memphis Avalanche, May 31, 1868 reports that Montgomery has ten baseball clubs.</p>
<p>The Montgomery Weekly Advertiser, June 4, 1867 reports that on June 3 the Pelham lost to the Montgomery BBC 52-30. Gives a box score.<br/> Montgomery AL (pop. about 205,000 -- 103rd in the US) is in central Alabama, about 95 miles S of Birmingham and 160 miles NE of Pensacola FL. Montgomery's population in the late 1860s was about 10,000.</p> +
K
<p>The <em>Columbian Register</em> Jan. 9, 1869, quotes the <em>Norwich Advertiser</em> as saying that missionaries had brought baseball to Alaska. They formed a team on St. Paul's Island in July 1868, called the "Knock down and Skin 'em". Team members were missionaries (some from Hawaii) and local Aleuts. The island is in the Bering Sea, and is used today as a stop for the fishing fleets (tv-ized in the show "Dangerous Catch").</p>
<p>St. Paul Island (current pop. about 550, 86% of them Alaska natives) is in the Bering Sea about 500 miles from the Alaskan coast.</p>
<p>The jpg of the article is attached. Among those listed on the team is Daniel Webster (bc 1836, alive in Oakland CA in 1896; died and buried St. George's Island) of New London, CT, longtime foreman of the seal fur factories on St. Paul's; Frank Morgan of Groton (Thomas Franklin Morgan (1848-97), son of Captain Ebenezer "Rattler" Morgan (1817-90) of the bark Peru), and Jeremiah Potts of New London (bc 1838, alive 1882), an ensign on the USS Suwanee, which was touring the area at the time.</p>
<p> </p> +
C
<p>The Fairbanks <em>Daily Times</em>, May 28, 1916, has a long article on Anchorage, a new town founded less than a year before. It notes that Anchorage has a baseball grounds, on which last July 4th the town boys played the town girls.</p>
<p>Freedman, "Diamonds in the Rough" p. 14 says that Anchorage was a tent city in 1915. Yet employers asked new residents whether they could play baseball. An Anchorage-Seward baseball rivalry started in 1916.</p>
<p>Photos of baseball in Anchorage in 1915 can be seen at https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/exhibits/home-field-advantage-baseball-in-the-far-north/baseball-in-the-far-north/</p>
<p>Anchorage AK is about 300 miles S of Fairbanks.</p> +
<p>The Juneau "Alaska Mining Record" July 19, 1899: "The Fourth of July was celebrated in Kodiak in fine style; there were boat races, baseball games..."
</p><p>Kodiak AK (1900 pop. about 350) is off the southern coast of Alaska.
</p> +
<p>Johanson, "The Golden Days of Baseball" says that Juneau beat Douglas on July 4, 1892</p>
<p>The Juneau "Daily Alaska Dispatch" June 12, 1901 says Juneau beat Douglas last Saturday 11 to 4. Same June 24, 1901 has Juneau beating Douglas 22 to 11.</p>
<p>Douglas city is near Juneau, and now is a part of Juneau. Douglas had 1722 residents in 1910.</p>
<p>Douglas city played in the 1903 state tournament. The Juneau "Daily Record-Miner" May 17, 1904.</p> +
<p>The Juneau "Daily Alaska Dispatch" May 9, 1905 has the Fort Seward baseball team playing Juneau. See also Seward Gateway, June 27, 1908.</p>
<p>Fort Seward is/was at Port Chilcoot, in Haines, in the southeast islands. It had 255 residents in 1910. Chilcoot was a major port of entry for miners traveling to the gold fields.</p> +
<p>The Juneau "Daily Alaska Dispatch" January 12, 1909: "Valdez has also suffered from an attack of baseball fever..." The baseball team evidently created a ball diamond last year, and are now raising funds to improve it. Same March 31, 1911: "The Valdez baseball team has reorganized..."</p>
<p>In 1903 Valdez was reported as organizing a baseball team. See Skagway's <em>Daily Morning Alaska</em>, June 30, 1903. Same Sept. 28, 1904 reports that a team from Cos. E and F, 3rd Infantry, defeated a team from Valdez 11-2 in a 5-inning game played at the town. See also same, June 6, 1904.</p>
<p>Valdez teams often played the nines of nearby Fort Liscum. Cf same, June 27, 1907. A photo of Valdez playing Fort Liscum during this era is online.</p>
<p>Valdez AK (1910 pop. about 800) is about 150 miles E of Anchorage. It was incorporated in 1901.</p> +
<p>The Juneau "Daily Record-Miner" May 17, 1904 reports in a lengthy article titled "Baseball in Alaska" on the several teams that played in last year's state tournament, including teams in Whitehorse, Dawson (which won last year), Skagway, Juneau, Treadwell, Douglas City and Ketchikan.</p>
<p>Treadwell is near Douglas and Juneau in Alaska's southeast islands. Treadwell had 1,222 residents in 1910. Treadwell mine was a big part of Douglas.</p> +
<p>Salt Lake City Herald, Aug. 15, 1886: "Sitka, in far-away Alaska, has a base-ball club."
</p><p>Sitka, AK is in the Alaskan panhandle and about 800 miles NW of Seattle WA. Its population in 1900 was about 1,100.
</p> +
<p>The Juneau "Daily Alaska Dispatch," April 8, 1907, mentions a 6-team Klondike League, which includes teams in Juneau, Skagway, Dawson, Fairbanks, Douglas City and Whitehorse. This appear to have been a semi-pro league, as the article mentions that the league is importing players from the lower '48.</p>
<p>The Fairbanks Daily News, June 18, 1908, says the Chena baseball team challenges the California team of Fairbanks to a 9 inning game in Chena, Sept. 21st. Chena is adjacent to modern Fairbanks.</p>
<p>Same June 14, June 18, 1908 says the N.C. and A.B. teams of Fairbanks have been playing. The June 18th issue says the N.C.'s beat the A.B.'s 4 to 1 at Willow Park.</p>
<p>Fairbanks had 3,541 residents in 1910. It was founded in 1903.</p> +
<p>The Fairbanks Daily News, June 18, 1908, says the Chena baseball team challenges the California team of Fairbanks to a 9 inning game in Chena, Sept. 21st.</p>
<p>Chena is adjacent to modern Fairbanks.</p> +
<p>The Juneau "Daily Alaska Dispatch" April 17, 1901, says Dawson has plans for an outdoor carnival in July. "Baseball will probably be made a big feature..." in the sporting events of the carnival. This may refer to Dawson, Alaska.</p>
<p>On Dominion Day, July 1, 1902, the Commercials of Dawson played baseball against the Bonanzas of Grand Forks, losing to the home team 21-12. See "Yukon Daily Morning Sun", July 2, 1902.</p>
<p>On May 24, 1902, they lost to the Dawson BBC. See games listing.</p> +
<p>Johanson, "The Golden Days of Baseball" says that Juneau beat Douglas on July 4, 1892</p>
<p>The Juneau "Daily Alaska Dispatch" May 21, 1900 says Skagway's "boys" 15-17 challenge the Juneau boys to a baseball game. Same June 12, 1901 says Juneau "whalloped" Douglas last Sunday 11 to 4. Same July 17, 1901 has the Ketchikan club challenging Juneau, the state champions. The Juneau "Alaska Mining Record" April 5, 1899 says our newsboy union's members are playing baseball on the muddy street "in front of the post office..." The Fairbanks "Daily News-Miner," June 1, 1910, reports than in the annual three-cornered baseball tournament at Whitehorse, the Juneau club won over Whitehorse, Skagway and Douglas Island.</p>
<p>Juneau is Alaska's capitol. The article implies that the tournament had been played the year before.</p>
<p>Juneau AK (1900 pop. about 1,850) is on the Alaska panhandle and about 750 miles SE of Fairbanks.</p> +
<p>The Dyea <em>Trail</em>, June 25, 1898, headlined "A Great Game of Ball," reports that Dyer is to play Skagway "tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock on the beach..." <br/>The article gives a roster of both teams.</p>
<p>The Juneau "Daily Alaska Dispatch" May 21, 1900 reports that the Skagway "boys" (ages 15-17) challenge Juneau boys to a game. The Fairbanks "Daily News-Miner," June 1, 1910, reports than in the annual three-cornered baseball tournament at Whitehorse, the Juneau club won over Whitehorse, Skagway and a team from Douglas Island.</p>
<p>Skagway AK (1900 pop. 1,800) is about 110 miles N of Juneau.</p>
<p>Whitehorse (Yukon Terr., Canada) is about 110 miles N of Skagway.</p>
<p>Douglas Island is across the strait from Juneau.</p> +
<p>The Juneau "Daily Alaska Dispatch" July 17, 1901, says the Ketchikan BBC challenges Juneau, the state champs, to a game. The Fairbanks Times, May 14, 1911 says that Juneau is to play baseball against Ketchikan on July 4th.</p>
<p>Ketchikan is a town in the southeast Island chain of Alaska. It had 1,613 residents in 1910.</p> +
N
<p>The Prescott Weekly Arizona Miner, June 12, 1874, reprints a "Letter from Camp Grant" dated May 26th, which says the Neversink BBC of this post and the Summer nine of Bowie intend to play a match game at Camp Grant June 7th.</p>
<p>Same Oct. 28, 1871, reports baseball was played by the "boys in blue" at Camp Date Creek recently. It is unclear where this camp was located. </p>
<p>Camp Grant had 242 residents in 1880.</p> +
L
<p>The Prescott Weekly Arizona Miner, January 15, 1875, reports that a game was recently played at Camp McDowell, between the Light Foot club of the 8th US Infantry and the Shamrock club of the 5th Cavalry, won by the Light Foot 14-10 in a five inning game.
</p><p>Camp McDowell is/was in Maricopa County, AZ, near modern Phoenix.
</p> +
C
<p>The Prescott Weekly Arizona Miner, May 19, May 26, 1876, reports on a match game of base ball for the championship of the Arizona Territory, between the Champion BBC of Prescott and the Whipple BBC of Fort Whipple (near Prescott). The Champion "have received additional players from the "Red Stockings" of Boston." The game was played May 21 at 2 o'clock on the Plaza in Prescott, and the Champion won 49 to 22. The May 26th article has a box score of the game.
</p><p>Prescott AZ is about 100 miles N of Phoenix.
</p> +
I
<p>The Prescott Weekly Journal Miner, Jan. 15, 1875, mentions the Independence BBC of Camp Lowell. Camp (Fort) Lowell is/was on the outskirts of Tucson.</p>
<p>Tucson was the Territorial Capital 1867-77. It had 7,007 residents in 1880.</p> +
B
<p>The Prescott Weekly Journal Miner, Nov. 10, 1876, reports on a game in Prescott, "on the plaza," between the Champion BBC of Prescott and the Brayton BBC of Camp Verde, won in 9 innings by the home team, 32 to 29. Camp Verde is in Yavapai County.
</p><p>Prescott AZ (1870 pop. about 675, 1880 pop. about 1,850) is about 40 miles W of Camp Verde in central AZ. Wiki: "The Marvel Comics superhero characters Manu Vailahi, Warpath and John Proudstar are from a reservation in Camp Verde."
</p><p><br/>
</p> +
T
<p>The Tombstone Epitaph, March 6, 1882: "Base Ball. A match game of base ball is shortly to be played between the Tombstone and San Pedro nines.... As yet the clubs have not been fully organized..."</p>
<p>Tombstone AZ (1880 pop. about 3,400; 1890 pop. about 1,875)is about 75 miles SW of Tucson AZ. We don't have a specific location for a "San Pedro," but the San Pedro Valley is in the Tombstone vicinity.</p> +
P
<p>The <em>Weekly Phoenix Herald</em>, June 15, 1878: "We suggest that nine of our best base-ball players challenge the club at [nearby Fort] McDowell, and play a match game on the 4th of July."</p>
<p>Same, Nov. 14, 1879 announces the formation of the Phoenix BBC, with S. E. Patton as president and captain. Gives the names of the players. Samuel Eason Patton (1850-1933) was a prominent local architect.</p>
<p>The Phoenix Weekly Republican, Nov. 21, 1879, says this club practiced on "the plaza."</p>
<p>It appears that baseball was played in Phoenix in 1878, but the team wasn't formed until Nov. 1879.</p>
<p>The Arizona Sentinel [Yuma], Dec. 20, 1879: "We see the Tucson Base Ball Club has challenged the Phoenix club for a match game on New Years Day." The Tucson "Arizona Citizen," Dec. 13, 1879 says the Tucson BBC has challenged the Phenix [sic] BBC "for a prize of $100," under the latest rules, and using a "dead" ball.</p>
<p>Phoenix AR (1880 pop. about 1,700) and Tucson AZ (1880 pop. about 7,000) are separated by about 120 miles and don't know much about snow.</p> +
Y
<p>The "Arizona Sentinel" [Yuma] Feb. 21, 1874 says "some of the prominent young gentlemen of Yuma" played "A Match Game of Base Ball" recently. The "Arizona Sentinel" [Yuma], April 22, 1876, says the Yuma City BBC played a game last Saturday against a team from Fort Yuma, California.</p>
<p>Yuma AZ (1870 pop. about 1150; 1880 pop. about 1,200) is on the CA border in the SW corner of AZ, and about 20 miles N of the Mexican border. In 1873 Yuma was formed out of the settlements of Arizona City and Colorado City, near Fort Yuma.</p> +
C
<p>The Daily Miners Register [Colorado City, CO] Aug. 1, 1866 [also Weekly Alta Californian, July 14, 1866], prints a letter from Prescott, Arizona Territory, which says that Prescott has a base ball club.
</p><p>Prescott AZ (1870 pop. about 700) is about 90 miles N of Phoenix.
</p> +
<p>The May 28th, 1867 edition of Arkansas Gazette reports of the formation of a base ball club in Washington, AR. [Washington AR is about 30 miles NE of Texarkana.]
</p> +
<p>Caleb "KB" Hardwick is interested in early Arkansas ballplaying , including the beginnings of professional play in the state. </p>
<p>He maintains a website for the Arkansas Baseball Encyclopedia at <a href="http://arkbaseball.com/tiki-index.php">http://arkbaseball.com/tiki-index.php</a>, and has made presentations on early AR ball-playing to SABR's Robinson-Kell Chapter. See also <a href="http://arkbaseball.com/tiki-index.php?page=Caleb+Hardwick">http://arkbaseball.com/tiki-index.php?page=Caleb+Hardwick</a>. </p> +
S
<p>Beebe—The Beebe Striped Stockings played a picked nine from Newport and elsewhere in the county on the 16th of August. Newport Weekly News, August 25, 1877, cited in J. Dewitt Yingling, “The Day Baseball Came to Beebe,” White County Genealogist v. 33 p. 76.
</p><p>Beebe AR (pop 7300) is about 40 miles NE of Little Rock and 55 miles SW of Newport.
</p> +
C
<p>—“State News…Des Arc has a base ball club.” [Little Rock Arkansas Gazette, June 17, 1880]
</p><p>Des Arc (pop. 1900)is about 50 miles NE of Little Rock.
</p> +
<p>The Ouachita Telegraph (Monroe, LA) Aug. 29, 1879 reports that the Morehouse Bluffers of Bastrop defeated the Hamburg, Arkansas base ball club 19-18
</p><p>Hamburg AR (pop. 3000) is about 120 S of Little Rock near the SE corner of the state.
</p> +
<p>Little Rock Daily Arkansas Gazette, February 4, 1877, reports that the natives of Hot Springs have “commenced the organization of base ball clubs.”
</p><p>Hot Springs is about 50 miles SE of Little Rock.
</p><p>[NOTE: We have an account of ball being played at Hot Springs in 1869. See game #9 on the Early Games list.
</p> +
S
<p>A Stonewall Base Ball Club was organized in Jacksonport in April 1869. Frank W. Lynn, editor of the Jacksonport Herald, was club president. On July 3, 1869, they played a game with the Batesville Club at Batesville, losing 32 to 3. See Pat Allen Bailey, “A Century of Baseball in Jackson County,” The Stream of History, vol 7 nos 3-4 (July/Oct. 1969), pp. 7-13.
</p><p>Jacksonport AR is now a town of about 230 souls at the confluence of the White and Black Rivers. It is in the NE part of the state, about 90 miles NE of Little Rock. Batesville is about 25 miles to the NW of the town.
</p> +
L
<p>The Little Rock Arkansas Gazette, August 15, 1873, reports that the Capitols of Little Rock played the Lone Stars of Lonoke, at Lonoke, yesterday, with the Capitols winning 93 to 9.
</p><p>Lonoke, AR, is about 25 miles E of Little Rock and now has a population of about 4500.
</p> +
C
<p>The Memphis Appeal, July 8, 1868 reports that the young men of Marion, Arkansas have formed a baseball club with 32 members.
</p><p>Marion AR is in the NW corner of the state and about 10 miles NW of Memphis TN.
</p> +
<p>The September 17th, 1867 edition of Arkansas Gazette reports of the formation of a base ball club in Pine Bluff, AR. [Pine Bluff AR is about 45 miles SE of Little Rock.]
</p> +
S
<p>On July 3, 1869, the Stonewalls of Newport, Jackson County, played the Independents of Batesville, Independence County. The game only lasted three innings, with the Batesville team winning thirty-two to three. The captain of the Stonewalls complained that the pitcher for the Independents threw too hard! [Pat Allen Bailey, “A Century of Baseball in Jackson County,” The Stream of History, vol 7 nos. 3-4 (July/October 1969), 7-13. Duane Huddleston, “A History of Batesville’s First Baseball Team, the Independents, and its 1869 Record,” Independence County Chronicle 9 (July 1968), 43-49.]
</p><p>Newport is about 90 miles NE of Little Rock. Batesville is about 30 miles NW of Newport.
</p> +
C
<p>The Little Rock Arkansas Gazette April 28, 1875, notes that “Osceola has a base ball club.
</p><p>Osceola AR is in the northeasternmost corner of AR, 150 miles NE of Little Rock and about 40 miles N of Memphis TN. Its population is about 8900.
</p> +
<p>The Little Rock Daily Arkansas Gazette, September 23, 1875: “State News… Ozark has a base ball club.”
</p><p>Ozark AR (pop. 3500) is about 100 miles NW of Little Rock.
</p> +
R
<p>Rattlers of Prescott will play a game today, June 9th, against the Little Rock Blues, at the Little Rock Fair Grounds. Little Rock Daily Arkansas Gazette, June 9, 1878.</p>
<p>The <em>Arkadelphia Southern Standard</em>, May 30, 1878 mentions the formation of the Prescott Blues BBC.</p>
<p>Prescott AR (pop. 3900) is about 100 miles SW of Little Rock aznd about 45 miles NE of Texarkana.</p>
<p> </p> +
<p>The R. E. Lee club of Russellville traveled to Little Rock in July 1876 to play the local clubs. [Arkansas Baseball Encyclopedia, website at www.arkbaseball.com]</p>
<p>The <em>Daily Arkansas Gazette</em>, Aug. 21, 1875, mentions the R. E. Lee BBC of Russellville, and clubs in Atkins, Harrison, Bellefonte and Monticello.</p>
<p>Russellville (pop. 28,000) is about 70 miles NW of Little Rock and about 80 miles E of Fort Smith.</p> +
C
<p>The Batesville North Arkansas Times, May 15, 1869, says “Our sister towns of Jacksonport and Searcy have their Base Ball Clubs…”
</p><p>Searcy AR is about 50 miles NE of Little Rock and about 40 miles south of Batesville and Jacksonport.
</p> +
K
<p>Van Buren had a base ball club in 1868, that was scheduled to play in a base ball tournament at the State Fair. See Little Rock Morning Republican, September 9, 1868. This town had a Ku Klux Klub in 1869. [Arkansas Baseball Encyclopedia, website at www.arkbaseball.com] See also The <em>Fayetteville Weekly Democrat</em>, Sept. 4, 1869, Fort Smith <em>New Era</em>, June 29, 1870, for a mention of this club.</p>
<p>Van Buren AR is about 150 miles NW of Little Rock in the NW corner of the state. It is about 5 miles NE of Ft. Smith.</p> +
C
<p>The Daily Arkansas Gazette, May 23, 1875, notes “They have caught the base ball fever in Monroe County. Laurenceville and Indian Bay each have a club.”
</p><p>Laurenceville is about 70 miles E of Little Rock; one website calls it "a populated place in Monroe County." Indian Bay is listed the same way.
</p> +
<p>The May 2nd, 1857 edition of the Arkansas Gazette printed the following resolution:</p>
<p>“We publish below a resolution passed by the Little Rock Ball Club. We hope the ladies, weather permitting, will honor them with their presence. We are authorized to say, that the parties we pitted against each other at the last meeting will contend for the palm at the next meeting. It was a close thing before, and both sides are sanguine of success: A meeting of the members of the Little Rock Ball Club, on Saturday, the 25th of April, the following resolution was adopted:</p>
<p>Resolved: A general invitation is hereby extended to the citizens of Little Rock, and the ladies in particular, to attend and see the games of the Club, on Saturday evening next, the second of May, at 3 o’clock. By order of the club, I. T. Cates, secretary"</p>
<p>If the Little Rock Ball Club was indeed a baseball club or even a baseball predecessor club, it would be the earliest mention of any sort of club in the state.</p>
<p>BA note--The game was wicket. See http://www.arkbaseball.com/tiki-index.php?page=Little+Rock+Ball+Club+%281857%29. The Secretary of the club was undoubtedly Isaac Thomas Cates Jr. (1836-57), whose father Isaac T. (1804-53) was a prominent merchant.</p> +
A
<p>The Arkansas Gazette revealed the members of the Little Rock base ball clubs. Bruce Allardice checked available census reports to determine if they were local players.
</p><p>Of the five directors of the "Accidental" team, four (Frank Compton, Will Field, Al Wassell, and G. F. Kirkwood) were born in Arkansas, and the fifth, Geo R. Brown, was a New York born reporter. The club itself seems all Arkansas-born in the 1850s. Thus, native southerners were playing the Association game in 1875 if not before.
</p> +
P
<p>The Arkansas Gazette provided roster information on Little Rock clubs in 1875. Bruce Allardice used local census data to trace local origins.
</p><p>He reports that the "Phenix" team, headed by Peyton D. English (Alabama-born) seemed to comprise older men, some of whom were southern-born and some northern-born.
</p> +
S
<p>St. Johns College had a base ball club in 1871. Report from Bruce Allardice, September 13, 2010.
</p> +
O
<p>The Little Rock Morning Republican, May 8, 1871: “Clark County… Arkadelphia boasts a base ball club…”</p>
<p>The <em>Arkadelphia Southern Standard</em>, June 10, 1871, gives the box score of a base ball game between the two nines of the Ouchita BBC. Same May 27, 1871 mentions at intersquad game to be played at Maddox Old Field.</p>
<p>Arkadelphia is about 70 miles SW of Little Rock and 70 miles NE of Texarkana.</p> +
M
<p>The Little Rock Daily Republican July 15, 1873 notes a game “the other day” between the Augusta “Modocs” and “the Dent Farm club, from the county. The Modocs were the victors.”
</p><p>Augusta AR is about 65 miles NE of Little Rock. Its population is about 2600.
</p> +
I
<p>On July 3, 1869, the Stonewalls of Newport, Jackson County, played the Independents of Batesville, Independence County. The game only lasted three innings, with the Batesville team winning thirty-two to three. The captain of the Stonewalls complained that the pitcher for the Independents threw too hard! [Pat Allen Bailey, “A Century of Baseball in Jackson County,” The Stream of History, vol 7 nos. 3-4 (July/October 1969), 7-13. Duane Huddleston, “A History of Batesville’s First Baseball Team, the Independents, and its 1869 Record,” Independence County Chronicle 9 (July 1968), 43-49.]</p>
<p>Batesville is 80 miles NE of Little Rock. Newport is about 30 miles SW of Batesville.</p> +
A
<p>When Jack Brenner, a University of Washington English professor, traveled to Bulgaria as a Fulbright lecturer in 1988, he was astonished to see a group of young men playing baseball on a soccer field in Sofia. By that time, the Akademic Baseball Club had already be formed and Brenner began working with the club, led by Yuri Alklay and Georgi Dimitrov, who had roughly translated the rules of the game into Bulgarian. Brenner's involvement must have been very welcomed, as Alkalay, Dimitrov and their teammates were using a vegetable crate as a catcher's mask before the American secured the group proper equipment."
</p><p>Josh Chetwynd, Baseball in Europe (McFarland, 2008), page 199.
</p> +
E
<p><span>originally “San Francisco” club, name change NYSM 600415</span></p>
<p>NYSM 600212 [RH]</p>
<p>The Eagle Club played games in June and September 1860. The games appear on the Protoball Games Tabulation [Calif. Table] compiled by Craig Waff.</p> +
C
<p>The San Francisco Bulletin, March 20, 1871: "Monterey is to have a base ball club."
</p><p>Monterey CA (current pop. about 28,000) is about 115 miles S of San Francisco.
</p> +
<p>The San Francisco Bulletin, Aug. 20, 1879, notes that the Calavaras BBC of the San Joaquin Valley was admitted to the Pacific Base Ball Convention.
</p><p>The San Joaquin Valley (county pop. 1880 about 24,000) is about 30 miles SW of Fresno.
</p> +
A
<p>The San Francisco Bulletin Sept. 3, 1870 reports that the American BBC of Marysville will soon play the Capitol Club of Sacramento.</p>
<p>The American and Marysville clubs played each other. Marysville Daily Appeal, Jan. 15, 1869.</p>
<p>Marysville CA (current pop. about 12,000) is about 45 miles N of Sacramnto.</p> +
C
<p>The Los Angeles Herald, March 18, 1876 reports that Riverside played San Bernardino recently.</p>
<p>The Riverside Press, Sept. 14, 1878: "The base ball players will meet ... (this) Saturday afternoon at one o'clock, for practice..."</p>
<p>The Riverside Press, Nov. 16, 1878 says Riverside's club beat Colton "recently."</p>
<p>Riverside CA (1890 pop. about 4,500) is about 55 miles E of Los Angeles.</p> +
<p>The Riverside Press, Nov. 16, 1878 says Riverside's club beat Colton "recently."
</p><p>Colton CA (1890 pop. about 1,300) is about 10 mies NE of Riverside and 55 miles E of Los Angeles.
</p><p><br/>
</p> +
<p>The San Francisco Bulletin, Feb. 20, 1877: "Mokelumne Hill, Calaveras County, is happy at last. A base ball club has been established at that center of mining industry."
</p><p>Mokelumne Hill CA (current pop. under 700)is about 50 miles SE of Sacramento.
</p> +
<p>The San Francisco Bulletin, Dec. 5, 1866: "Santa Cruz items... A base ball club has been organized in Santa Cruz."
</p><p>Santa Cruz CA (1860 pop. 950; 1870 pop. about 2,500) is about 30 miles S of San Jose and about 70 miles SE of San Francisco.
</p> +
<p>The San Francisco Bulletin, May 24, 1867: "Santa Clara Items" notes that a student at Santa Clara College broke his right arm "while playing base ball in the square last Tuesday."</p>
<p>Same, January 14, 1867 notes that two clubs from Santa Clara County attended a state baseball convention in San Francisco. See Originals, Eureka.</p>
<p>Same, Nov. 25, 1869 says recently the Phoenix Club of Santa Clara beat the Nemean Club of the University of the Pacific.</p>
<p>Same April 28, 1870 says the students of Santa Clara College are to play St. Mary's College, in San Mateo.</p>
<p>Santa Clara CA (current population about 115,000) is near to San Jose and about 45 miles SE of San Francisco.</p> +
<p>Jeffrey Maulhardt, "Baseball in Ventura County" p. 7 says the Ventura Club (the first in the county) organized in October 1873 and played its first game, against a local pick-up group, Nov. 29, 1873.
</p><p>Ventura County CA is about70 miles NW of Los Angeles.
</p> +
<p>The Nevada Journal, April 13, 1860 reports that the Nevada BBC played an intersquad game, 12 a side, on Tuesday (April 10), score 100-95. Unlikely this game under NY rules.</p>
<p>Same June 13, 1860 reprints a new city ordinance making it illegal to play baseball in the city--$25 fine or 5 days in jail.</p>
<p>The Nevada Democrat, April 18, 1860 published the rules of this club. Among others, the "thrower" had to be 35 feet from the "striker."</p>
<p>The Marysville Daily Appeal, March 24, 1863 reports that a base ball club has been organized in Nevada. "They meet on... Aristocracy Hill, near the residence of Dr. Hurst."<br/><br/></p>
<p>The New York <em>Mercury</em>, June 3, 1860, notes that a base ball club has been formed at Nevada, California. Nevada (now Nevada City) is about 60 miles northwest of Sacramento.</p>
<p> </p> +
<p>The New York <em>Mercury</em>, Sept. 16, 1860, reports there will be a 6 inning match game played on the 15th inst. at Princeton, CA between the Princeton and Mariposa clubs for a $100 purse.</p> +
<p>The NY Mercury, Sept. 16, 1860, reports there will be a 6 inning match game played on the 15th inst. at Princeton, CA between the Princeton and Mariposa clubs for a $100 purse. The Mariposa Gazette, Feb. 26, 1861, mentions that the Princeton BBC once beat Mariposa by a forfeit. The Mariposa Gazette, June 10, 1862, ad for "Joe Myers' Crib" (liquor and cigar store) mentions that the "Crib" has associated with it a "Base Ball Grounds" and race track. Princeton (modern Mount Bullion) is a now defunct community named for the Princeton mine.
</p> +
S
<p>The Stockton Base Ball Club played games in May and September of 1860. The October game appears in the Protoball Games Tabulation [Calif. Table] compiled by Craig Waff.
The New York Mercury, March 18, 1860, reported that the Stockton club had organized with 40 members and elected T. K. Hook as president. Given the time lag of communications in those days, it is probable that the Stockton club organized at least a month prior to word reaching New York.
</p> +
E
<p>Bill Swank, Baseball in San Diego (Arcadia, 2005), p. 11-13, mentions that the Extempore and an unnamed team were formed in May 1871. Other teams formed there during the next two years were the Young Eagle, Young America, Desperates, Lone Star, Coronado and Loma.</p>
<p>The Extempore Club (of "Old Town") played the New San Diego Club (Ullman's, of "New Town") on May 26, 1871. The latter won 48-35. See McGrew, "City of San Diego" p. 99.</p>
<p>San Diego's 1870 population was about 2,300.</p> +
N
<p>San Francisco <em>Daily Evening Bulletin</em>, Dec. 18, 1871: "San Rafael has a base-ball club. Ne Plus Ultra."</p>
<p>I'm putting in Ne Plus Ultra as the team name, but the newspaper could just be using the phrase "ne plus ultra" to describe the team. San Rafael CA (1870 population about 850) is about 18 miles N of San Francisco.</p>
<p></p>
<p>San Francisco <em>Chronicle</em>, Oct. 19, 1869 reports a club has been formed in San Rafael. Same club?</p> +
A
<p>San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin, July 18, 1870 says the Actives of San Bernardino are challenging the Phoenix of Los Angeles.
</p><p>San Bernardino CA (1870 pop. about 1300) is about 55 miles E of Los Angeles.
</p><p><br/>
</p> +
K
<p>The San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin Oct. 9, 1871, mentions the Vallejo base ball club. Same Oct. 8, 1872 says the Kearsarges of Vallejo beat the Grizzlies of Oakland 50 to 21 on "Saturday last."
</p><p>Vallejo CA (1880 pop. about 6,000) is about 20 miles NE of San Francisco.
</p> +
A
<p>The San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin May 12, 1873 says the Actives of Napa lost to the Silver Star of San Francisco 55 to 20 on Saturday.
</p><p>Napa, CA (1870 population about 1,900) is about 40 miles N of San Francisco.
</p> +
Y
<p>"In 1959 the Hamilton Young American and the Toronto Young Canadian baseball clubs competed in Canada's first intercommunity baseball game using the New York rules."
</p><p>In 1860, a Buffalo paper wrote that the Hamilton Club was the first in the Canada to adopt Association rules. Buffalo Daily Courier, August 29,1860.
</p><p>D. Flaherty and F. Manning, The Beaver Bites Back? American Popular Culture in Canada (McGill-Queens Press, 1993), page 155.
</p><p>Query: Can we find the original source for this cite?
</p>
<a id=".3D"></a><h1><span class="editsection">[<a title="Edit section: =">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline">=</span></h1>
<p>From William Humber's "Early Baseball in Canada" manuscript, 9/14/12:
</p><p>The earliest formal baseball organization in Canada appears to be the Hamilton Young Canadians (later Maple Leafs) established in April 1854, playing on grounds between Bond Street (today’s Park Street) and Bowry (today’s Bay Street South) near the site of the newly built Central School. The team as described in the city’s directory of 1862-63 indicates that William Shuttleworth was President. Born in either 1833 or 1834 he is listed in census records as a salesman and owned a dry goods business until retiring in 1883. He later moved to Geneva, New York to live with his son James, and died there in 1903. James listed in the 1881 census as William’s 10 year old son was no doubt named after William’s late brother Jim, a fellow baseball enthusiast, who according to Bryan D. Palmer in Culture in Conflict had died in 1869 and was paraded to his grave site by his fellow shoemakers and other working-class men.
</p><p>The New York Clipper, July 20, 1861: "Maple Leaf" Base Ball Club organized at Hamilton, Canada West, on the 15th [? newspaper blurred here] inst. Articles gives the names of the club's officers. [Bruce Allardice]
</p> +
E
<p>The <em>New York Clipper</em>, Sept. 1, 1860: "Base Ball in Canada." Says the Excelsior BBC was "recently organized" in Montreal. The club will practice on the grounds of the Montreal Cricket Club. Article gives the names of the officers of the club. The <em>New York Mercury</em>, Sept. 16, 1860, says that the Excelsoir organized August 1st under the Massachusetts rules, with Alexander McIntosh elected president.</p>
<p>Montreal <em>Herald</em>, Aug. 17, 1860 says the Excelsiors will practice at the field belonging to Mr. Belchin, above the Montreal Cricket Club.</p>
<p>The <em>New York Clipper</em>, June 26, 1869 quotes the Montreal Star of the 10th: "The preliminary steps were taken last night towards the forming of a base ball club in this city." Presumably, under the New York rules. See also Quebec <em>Morning Chronicle</em>, June 14, 1869.</p> +
V
<p>The NY Clipper, Aug. 25, 1860: "Base Ball in Canada... The Grenville and Victoria Clubs of Prescott, C.W. played a match on the 11th inst. which, owing to the superior batting and fielding, was won by the Grenville, they having scored 32 to their opponents 11."
Same, June 22, 1861: "Base Ball at Prescott, C.W. ... The Grenville club of Prescott, C.W. reorganized on the 4th of June last..."
</p> +
C
<p>The New York <em>Clipper</em>, Aug. 9, 1862, reports on the formation of a base ball club in Brantford, C.W. [Canada West]</p>
<p>Brantford is in Ontario, about halfway between Hamilton and Woodstock.</p> +
Y
<p>"In 1859 the Hamilton Young American and the Toronto Young Canadian baseball clubs competed in Canada's first intercommunity baseball game using the New York rules."</p>
<p>D. Flaherty and F. Manning, The Beaver Bites Back? American Popular Culture in Canada (McGill-Queens Press, 1993), page 155.</p>
<p>Query: Can we find a primary source for this game?</p>
<p>Yes. It was reported in the Spirit of the Times (Porter's), June 11, 1859. Hamilton (the home team) won, 68-41. Are the Young Canadians the "Canadian Pioneers" club mentioned in the "field" section?[ba]</p> +
O
<p>Portland Oregonian, Sept. 11, 1872 mentions the Olympics BBC of Victoria, British Columbia, playing the Washington BBC of Olympia, WA.</p>
<p>Victoria <em>Weekly British Colonist</em>, Sept. 18, 1866 announces the formation of this club "last evening" under the NY rules. Mr. Gillon, president, E. McQuade, Secy.</p>
<p>The Victoria <em>Evening Telegraph</em>, Sept. 13, 1866 says this club formed "last night" at the Gymnasium, View Street, elected a Mr. Gillan as president, and adopting the NY rules.</p>
<p>Victoria BC (1871 pop. about 3,300) is about 110 kilometers SW of Vancouver BC and about 120 miles NW of Seattle WA.</p>
<p>ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT VICTORIA OLYMPICS: From: <a class="external free" title="http://www.vdba.ca/pages-added/beginning-of-baseball-.php" href="http://www.vdba.ca/pages-added/beginning-of-baseball-.php" rel="nofollow">http://www.vdba.ca/pages-added/beginning-of-baseball-.php</a> The Victoria Olympics were playing as early as 1866. There was baseball played in Beacon Hill in Victoria in as early as 1863, and this site has a photograph of a game and notes it as being 1862: <a class="external free" title="http://www.beaconhillpark.ca/beacon_hill_park_photos.htm" href="http://www.beaconhillpark.ca/beacon_hill_park_photos.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.beaconhillpark.ca/beacon_hill_park_photos.htm</a></p> +
G
<p>Canadian Encyclopedia, article on Baseball, says baseball came to Winnipeg in 1874. The Winnipeg Free Press, July 6, 1874: "Base Ball--The Selkirk Cricket Club will in a few days test the ability of the Garry Base Ball Club to play the game of the latter." This newspaper for 1874 contains various other mentions of this Garry BBC.</p>
<p>Winnipeg Manitoba (1871 pop. about 240; 1881 pop. about 8,000) is about 70 miles N of the US border. Fort Garry is now in downtown Winnipeg.</p> +
M
<p>The Hamilton Evening Times, Sept. 24, 1864, reports that the Maple Leaf of Guelph played West Flamboro at Guelph on the 19th, with Flamboro wiinning 22-12. The article has a box score of the game. The same newspaper, July 27, 1864 reports that the Maple Leaf BBC of Hamilton was to play Guelph on Friday, at Hamilton.</p>
<p>Canadian Encyclopedia, article on Baseball, says the Maple Leaf BBC of Guelph was the best team in Canada in 1869.</p>
<p>Guelph, Ontario (1871 pop, about 6,800) is about 90 miles NW of Buffalo NY and about 80 kilometers W of Toronto ON</p> +
Y
<p>Canadian Encyclopedia, article on Baseball says the Young Canadians of Woodstock, Ontario existed in 1863.
The New York Clipper, June 22, 1861, article headlined "Baseball at Woodstock, C.W." reports on a game between the Young Canadians of Woodstock and a picked nine of the town of Woodstock.
The New York Mercury, July 15, 1860, reports on a game at Woodstock between the Young Canadians and the Olympic.
</p>
<p>The Hamilton Evening Times, Aug. 20, 1864, reports that the Young Canadians of Woodstock beat the Maple Leaf of Hamilton "on Monday Last" 30-2 "for the Silver Ball and the Championship of Canada." Same Aug. 24, 1864 reports that the Young Canadians of Woodstock, the Maple Leaf of Hamilton, the Barton Club of Barton, and the Victoria Club of Ingersoll formed the "Base Ball Association of Canada" at a meeting in Woodstock on Aug. 15th, electing C. L. Wood of Woodstock president of the new association.</p>
<p>Woodstock Ontario (1871 pop. about 4,000) is about 130 kilometers SW of Toronto and about 105 miles W of Buffalo NY.
</p> +
E
<p>Winnipeg Free Press, April 16, 1878, announces that on the 4th Emerson organized the Emerson BBC. The club intends to challenge the Ridge, Pembina and neighboring cities.
</p><p>Emerson was/is a railroad town south of Winnipeg on the border with North Dakota. It was founded in 1873, by American-Canadian railroad interests.
</p> +
P
<p>The Winnipeg <em>Manitoba Free Press</em>, June 22, 1876, under the headline "Base Ball Match." Star Club of Burnside vs. Portage la Prairie BBC at Burnside on the 12th, with the Star winning 31 to 12.</p>
<p>Same, May 29, May 31, 1876 reports on a game on the Queen's Birthday, in Portage la Prairie, between the two nines of the PLP Club. The W. J. Ferguson nine was beating the Robert Ferguson nine 35-19 after 8 innings, when a dispute ended the game.</p> +
S
<p>Winnipeg Free Press, June 22, 1876, under the headline "Base Ball Match." Star Club of Burnside vs. Portage la Prairie BBC at Burnside on the 12th, with the Star winning 31 to 12.</p>
<p>Burnside is just west of Portage la Prairie.</p> +
C
<p>News of two early base ball clubs in Chile is reported in this article:
</p><p>"Dear Mercury -- The folowing is the score of a game of bse-ball, played on the Race Course grounds in <this?> place, between the officers of the U.S. flag-ship Powhatan and the Chalaca Base Ball Club, the latter composed of American residents of Callao.
</p><p>"It may be interesting to know that this is the first match game of base ball ever played in South America, and it promises to be the forerunner of many morer, as the Americans seem determined to show off the beauties of their national sport to the uninitated Peruvians and Chilanos. Along the coast many clubs are forming, Valparaiso [Chile] boasting of two. It will pleasantly break the monotony of the life our officers on the Pacific stations lead, and give them a much needed opportunity for exercise. Cricket is played in all parts of the world where there are Englishmen -- why not base ball where there are Americans?"
</p><p>The account includes a box score showing that the ship's officers won, 35-30.
</p> +
S
<p>There is "proof baseball existed in China as early as the 1860s. . . . The [Shanghai] rowing club was founded on May 1, 1863 . . . . And details about a loan the club took out that year make it clear that the Shanghai Base Ball Club was in existence already – a full decade before the date generally accepted for the first baseball game in Japan."</p>
<p>The [Shanghai] <em>North China Herald</em>, Feb. 10, 1866, mentions that the Shanghai Volunteers (a military unit of volunteers, of Europeans and Americans resident in Shanghai) have a rowing club, a cricket club, and "base ball club."</p>
<p>Same, April 14, 1866, notes that the Shanghai Base Ball Club has been given 2,000 tis. from the recreation fund--and the cricket club, 6,657 tis. This club is also mentioned in the Aug. 4, 1866 and Nov. 15, 1870 issues. The first notice of a specific game mentioned in that newspaper is in 1873.</p>
<p>"A Record of the Principal Sports at Hongkong and the Open Ports..." (1877) p. 228 gives the roster of the Shanghai BBC, F. Reid, President, L. F. Fisler, Sec/Treas. Gives the box scores of games May 7, 1876; Oct. 9, 1876 vs. Shanghai Cricket Club; and Nov. 25, 1876 vs. the US Navy.</p>
<p>A Hong Kong club played a Shanghai Club in Shanghai. See Protoball Clippings.</p>
<p> </p> +
D
<p>From Protoball Entry #1862.8 – Base Ball in Colorado Territory
</p><p>"The first baseball games in Colorado Territory occurred in March 1862, when the Base Ball (two words back then) Club was formed. The first recorded contest happened on April 26, 1862."
</p><p>Rocky Mountain News, March 13 and April 29, 1862. Cited in Brian Werner, "Baseball in Colorado Territory," in Thomas L. Altherr, ed., Above the Fruited Plain: Baseball in the Rocky Mountain West (SABR Convention Publication, July 2003), page 71. Werner identifies the game as the New York game.
</p><p>Richard Hershberger, email of 1/19/2009, writes that on April 29 the [Denver CO] Daily Evening News reported on intramural game played by the Denver Base Ball Club, a likely reference to the games cited by Werner. He also notes that a March 12 issue of the Evening News referred to a "game played yesterday [that] went off well, considering that there were but two or three persons engaged who had ever played the game before, according to the New York rules, and it will take but a few more meetings to enable them to become proficient."
Bruce Allardice: The New York Clipper, June 7, 1862, "Baseball in Denver City, C.T." [Colorado Territory], says "They have quite a good club in Denver, we are informed." The article reprots on games played March 29th, and gives the names of the palyers on the two nines.
</p> +
C
<p>The Colorado Banner [Boulder] Aug. 16, 1877 says that a Boulder Base Ball Association was organized last Friday.
</p><p>Boulder CO (1870 pop. about 350; 1880 pop. about 3,100) is about 35 miles NW of Denver.
</p> +
G
<p>The Golden Weekly Globe, March 29, 1873: "The stated meetings of the Golden Base Ball Club occurs on the evenings of the first and third Thursdays in each month, at Dougherty's Hall."
</p><p>Golden CO (1870 pop. about 600; 1880 pop. about 2,700) is about 12 miles W of Denver.
</p> +
B
<p>The Leadville Daily Herald, April 23, 1882, says there will be "a meeting of the Leadville Base Ball and Athletic association at the county court rooms on next Thursday evening." Same May 6, 1882 has a lengthy article on this club adopting its constitution.
Duane Smith, "The Leadville Blues: Colorado's best 'base ball' Team," Colorado Central Magazine, July 1997, tells how Leadville hired ex-major leaguers for their team and how the team dominated play in that state in 1882.
</p><p>Leadville CO (1880 pop. about 14,800; current pop. about 2,600)is about 100 miles SW of Denver.
</p> +
C
<p>The Colorado Springs Gazette, July 15, 1876: "The Greeley and Fort Collins base ball clubs are to be united, and a picked nine is to be selected from the organization to go to Central and take part in the great base ball tournament."
</p><p>Fort Collins CO (1880 pop. about 1,400) is about 65 miles N of Denver.
</p><p>Greeley CO (1870 pop. about 500; 1880 pop. about 1,300)is about 25 miles SE of Fort Collins.
</p> +
V
<p>The Denver Rocky Mountain News, March 28, 1866, announces that the BBC of Valmont has challenged the Colorado BBC of this city.</p>
<p>See also <em>New York Clipper</em>, July 21, 1866</p>
<p>Valmont CO (current pop. under 60)is within Boulder CO (1870 pop. about 350)and is about 4 miles NE of central Boulder.</p> +
O
<p>The Denver Rocky Mountain News, June 26, 1867 says the Occidental BBC of Denver was organized last evening.
</p><p>Denver's pop. in 1860 and 1870 was about 4,800.
</p><p><br/>
</p> +
I
<p>The Colorado Springs Gazette, June 7, 1873: "The Base Ball Club played their first game on Saturday afternoon last." This may be the "IXL" team of Colorado Springs that played the Valleys of Pueblo in 1874. Same, July 25, 1874.</p>
<p>Hadix, "Baseball in Colorado Springs" p. 7 says the IXL club may have been sponsored by the local IXL Creamery.</p>
<p>Colorado Springs CO (1870 pop. about 1,500; 1880 pop. about 4,200) is about 70 miles S of Denver.</p> +
V
<p>The Colorado Springs Gazette, July 25, 1874: The "IXL" team of Colorado Springs played the Valleys of Pueblo "Saturday last," with Pueblo winning.
</p><p>Pueblo CO (1880 pop. about 3,200) is about 120 miles S of Denver.
</p><p>Colorado Springs CO (1870 pop. about 1,500; 1880 pop. about 4,200) is about 70 miles S of Denver and about 45 mies N of Pueblo.
</p><p><br/>
</p> +
C
<p>The Daily Miners Register [Central City, CO] July 17, 1867 reports on a contest between the newly organized Black Hawk, CO team and the team of Central City. The game was played in Black Hawk (a town adjacent to Central City) on "Bobtail Hill" "last Saturday." It was called after two innings wth Central City leading 37 to 1. The article notes that the majority of Black Hawk players "had enver played the game" before. Same, July 4, 1867, notes that base ball had been played that day during the 4th of July celebration in Central City.</p>
<p>Central City CO (1860 pop. about 600;1870 pop. about 2,400) is about 35 miles W of Denver. It was founded in 1860. By 1870 the Star BBC of Central City was challenging Denver's teams for the Territorial championship. See the Central City <em>Register</em>, Sept. 25, 1870, June 11, 1871.</p> +
B
<p>The Daily Miners Register [Central City, CO] July 17, 1867 reports on a contest between the newly organized Black Hawk, CO team and the team of Central City. The game was played in Black Hawk (a town adjacent to Central City) on "Bobtail Hill" "last Saturday." It was called after two innings wth Central City leading 37 to 1. The article notes that the majority of Black Hawk players "had never played the game" before, and that the team had only been organized 10 days prior to the game.</p>
<p>This may be the Lilies Club. The <em>Central City Daily Register</em> Sept. 18, 1870 has the Stars beating the Lilies of Black Hawk 42-28, yesterday on "Bobtail Hill." Gives a box score. The Lillies are mentioned in The New York Clipper, Oct. 8, 1870.</p>
<p>Black Hawk CO (1870 pop. about 1,100) is about 35 miles W of Denver and 1 mile E of Central City CO.</p> +
C
<p>The Denver "Rocky Mountain News", Aug. 22, 1871, mentions that a team from Greeley has entered a base ball tournament.
</p>
<p>This may be the "Calamity" base ball club of Greeley, which played Fort Collins' Standards in 1874. See the Fort Collins "Standard," June 17, 1874.</p>
<p>Greeley CO (1870 population about 500) is about 50 miles N of Denver.
</p> +
<p>The Denver "Rocky Mountain News", Feb. 16, 1872: "Longmont has the next thing to smallpox--a base ball club."
</p>
<p>This may be the "Blue Caps" club, which played the Fort Collins Standards in 1874. See the Fort Collins <em>Standard</em>, June 10, 1874.</p>
<p>Longmont CO (1880 pop. about 800) is about 35 miles N of Dennver.
</p> +
U
<p>See Peverelly, page 96.</p>
<p>Norwich Bulletin, April 11, 1861 reports a meeting of the Uncas BBC. Same, May 1, 1865.</p>
<p>Tholkes RIM shows an 1860 game of this club</p>
<p>Many of the early match games were played at Williams Park, aka Chelsea Parade Green, near the Free Academy, at the conjunction of Washington and Broadway Streets. The city had 14,048 residents in 1860 and 16,653 in 1870.</p> +
C
<p>Peverelly, page 97, notes this club's existence in 1865.</p>
<p><em>Norwich Morning Bulletin</em>, June 7, 1861, says the Chester Club was just organized, with 25 members. Hartford Courant July 29, 1865 says "Capt. Frank Chester... introduced the New York game into Norwich."</p> +
<p>Peverelly [page 95] reports that the Charter Oak club played Collinsville on 8/17/1864, winning 28-7.
</p><p>Collinsville CT is about 15 miles W of Hartford.
</p> +
Y
<p>Peverelly [page 95] reports that the Charter Oak Club played Yale on 11/2/1864, winning 44-32.</p>
<p>The Yale "College Courant," Dec. 9, 1865, reports that the 1st division, Sr. Class defeated the 2nd division 25-20. Same Oct. 23, 1867 says Yale defeated the Liberty of Norwalk 29-12, and Columbia 46-12, at Hamilton Park.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This club entry will be used for all the Yale nines that played 1865-70.[ba]</p> +
O
<p>Peverelly [page 97] reports that the Uncas Club played the Oceanic, of Mystic Bridge, on 7/19/1866, winning 75-36.
</p><p>Mystic CT is on Long Island Sound and is about 50 miles SW of Harford.
</p> +
P
<p>Peverelly [page 97] reports that the Uncas Club played the Pequod Club of New London CT on 11/1/1866. Aka Pequot.</p>
<p>Played the first reported match game of a New London club.</p>
<p>New London is on Long Island Sound and is about 40 miles SW of Hartford. It had 9,576 residents in 1870.</p> +
O
<p>Peter Morris et al., editors, "Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870", p. 34, mentions that the Osceola BBC of Stratford was organized June 18, 1866. The Tigers of the same town were organized Aug. 10, 1866.
</p><p>Stratford CT (1870 pop. about 3,000)is about 15 miles W of New Haven.
</p> +
Q
<p>Peter Morris et al, editors, "Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870" has a section on this team.</p>
<p>West Meriden CT (1870 pop. 10,500) is about 18 miles S of Hartford.</p> +
N
<p>Peter Morris et al, editors, "Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870" has a section on the West Meriden team which merged with the Nationals of Meriden in January 1867.
</p><p>Meriden CT (current pop. about 60,000.) is about 20 miles S of Hartford.
</p> +
A
<p>Peter Morris et al, editors, "Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870" mentions the West Meriden team defeating the Active and Athletic of Cheshire in 1866.</p>
<p>The Waterbury <em>Daily American</em>, June 16, 1866 says the Active Club is of the Episcopal Academy of Cheshire.</p>
<p>Cheshire CT (current pop. about 29,000) is about 25 miles SW of Hartford and 15 miles N of New Haven.</p> +
F
<p>Peter Morris et al, editors, "Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870" mentions Meriden beating the Forest City Club of Middletown in 1867.</p>
<p>Middletown CT (1870 pop. about 6,900) is about 15 miles S of Hartford.</p> +
M
<p>Peter Morris et al, editors, "Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870" has a section of this team. The team played at Hotchkiss Field (near the home of Julius Hotchkiss) and Douglas Park. In 1870 they moved to a park at the corner of Washington and Berlin Streets. In 1871 they moved to a park bounded by River, Eastern, Silver, and State Terrace Sts., where the 1872 pro team played. This site is currently the Maplewood Terrace Housing Development.</p>
<p>Middletown CT (1870 pop. about 6,900) is about 15 miles S of Hartford.</p> +
L
<p>Peter Morris et al, editors, "Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870" mentions the Mansfields of Middletown playing the Lincolns of New Britain two games in 1866.
</p><p>New Britain CT (1870 pop. about 9,500) is about 10 miles SW of Hartford.
</p> +
Y
<table style="width: 745px;" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="246">
<p>Yale (junior class) 47</p>
<p>“62” (sophomore class) 25</p>
<p>(WSOT: “The honor of introducing this manly game into the number of college sports at Yale, belongs to the Junior Class. At the beginning of the present term, a Club numbering twenty-five members was organized in this class under the name of the Yale Base Ball Club. Soon after, this example was followed in the organization of the “62” Base Ball Club, by the Sophomore Class. A challenge sent by the first nine of the latter Club to the first nine of the former was accepted.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="246">
<p> WSOT 11-5-59</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Item A. "Base ball clubs were started in College a little over a year ago, and during all last fall the game was played, by the Sophomore and Junior classes, with a perfect vengeance. With the former, every afternoon, week in and week out, from the beginning of the first term, down to Thanksgiving, used to find the ball-ground pretty plentifully sprinkled with players and students, till about five minutes to four, when, suddenly, the field would be vacant."</p>
<p><br/> Item B. "The honor of starting the first Base-Ball Club at Yale belongs to a member of Sixty-one – the member from Chittenango [NY]. During the first year (Junior) of the existence of the Club, the game was practiced with zeal and success – almost to the exclusion of boating. The subsequent year brought less favor. Fifty-two of the Class attached themselves to the first Base-Ball Club."</p> +
C
<p>From Protoball Entry #1860c.11 – Man Played Base Ball in CT Before the War
</p><p>"I am a native of Hartford, Conn., and have, from early boyhood, taken a great interest in all Out Door Sports that are clean and manly. As a boy I played One, Two, Three, and Four Old Cat; also the old game of "Wicket." I remember that before the Civil War, I don't remember how long, we played base ball at my old home, Manchester, Harford County, CT."
</p><p>Letter from Philip W. Hudson, Houston Texas, to the Mills Commission, July 23, 1905.
</p><p>Note: From context, one might infer that Hudson was playing the New York game, not the Massachusetts game, before the Civil War.
</p> +
A
<p>From Protoball Entry #1860.56 – Three Hartford CT Base Ball Clubs on the Move</p>
<p>The Alligator, Rough and Ready, and Independent Base Ball Clubs announced meetings on a late October day. Hartford Daily Courant, October 27, 1860. Accessed via subscription search, May 21, 2009.</p>
<p>Same Oct. 11, 1860 has the Alligator Club playing the High School (Rough and Ready) BBC an 8 on 8 game at the park, to 25 tallies.</p>
<p>We do not know if these clubs played by Association rules.</p>
<p>Query: Hartford was wicket country; but do we know of any earlier base ball clubs in the area?</p> +
R
<p>1860.56 – Three Hartford CT Base Ball Clubs on the Move</p>
<p>The Alligator, Rough and Ready, and Independent Base Ball Clubs announced meetings on a late October day. Hartford Daily Courant, October 27, 1860. Accessed via subscription search, May 21, 2009.</p>
<p>Hartford Courant, Oct. 11, 27, 1860 has the Alligator Club playing the High School (Rough and Ready) BBC an 8 on 8 game at the park, to 25 tallies.</p>
<p>We do not know if these clubs played by Association rules.</p>
<p>Query: Hartford was wicket country; do we know of any earlier base ball clubs in the area?</p> +
I
<p>1860.56 – Three Hartford CT Base Ball Clubs on the Move</p>
<p>The Alligator, Rough and Ready, and Independent Base Ball Clubs announced meetings on a late October day. Hartford Daily Courant, October 27, 1860. Accessed via subscription search, May 21, 2009.</p>
<p>We do not know if these clubs played by Association rules.</p>
<p>Query: Hartford was wicket country; do we know of any earlier base ball clubs in the area?</p>
<p>The <em>Hartford Courant</em>, May 19, 1860 reports that last evening at the City Hotel, the Independent BBC organized, and elected W. O. Sherwood as president. The club will play a game this evening "on Lafayette St.--old battle ground." </p>
<p>The Morris book says this club later was reorganized into the Charter Oak Club. Gershom Hubbell is said to have brought the NY game with him to Hartford when he moved there, from Bridgeport, in 1860.</p> +
C
<p>See Peverelly, page 95, and M. Wright, The NABBP, page 122ff.</p>
<p>The <em>Hartford Courant</em>, July 2, 1862, reports that this club organized "Monday last" but had been playing for several weeks on "the park." Gershom B. Hubbell was elected president of the club. [ba]</p> +
<p>See Peverelly, page 96, M. Wright, The NABBP, page 129.</p>
<p>Waterbury is about 25 miles SW of Hartford. It had 10,826 residents in 1870.</p> +
N
<p>"In 1973, four clubs were established in the Croatian coastal town of Split due to 'intense contact with . . . Italian clubs,' wrote Roger C. Panaye."
</p><p>Josh Chetwynd, Baseball in Europe (McFarland, 2008), page 187. Chetwynd here references Roger C. Panaye, European Amateur Baseball: 25 Years. He cites another source as claiming that the first Split club, Nada, formed in 1974.
</p><p>Split is about 150 miles W of Sarajevo on the Adriatic.
</p> +
H
<p>"Baseball thus appeared in Cuba as early as the end of the U.S. Civil War and was thriving there only a few years later. Bats, balls, leather gloves, and rules for playing the new North American pastime were first carried to Havana by a pair of brothers, Nemesio and Ernesto Guillo . . . when the teenagers returned from a half-decade of high schooling at Alabama's Spring Hill College in 1864. Within mere days they were organizing rudimentary contests . . . in downtown Havana. Less than four years later, the Guillo brothers . . . had formed the Havana Base Ball Club."</p>
<p>Peter C. Bjarkman, Diamonds Around the Globe (Greenwood Press, 2005), page 2. A key source for this story is an interview with one of the brothers in Diaro de la Marina, January 6, 1924.</p>
<p>Eric Ender's "Timeline of International Baseball, at ericenders.com, notes that in December 1878, "the first baseball league outside the United States is formed on Havana." [League profits were reportedly used to support an independent Cuba, leading Spain to briefly ban baseball on the island.]</p> +
D
<p>The Diamond State Base Ball Club was organized in Wilmington, Delaware, on October 2, 1865 in the office of attorney and first club president, Levi C. Bird.</p>
<p>The Diamond State Club of Wilmington, Delaware, is listed on page 507 in <em>The Book of American Pastimes</em>, by Charles Peverly. The delegates to the National Convention were S.H. Edgar and W.D. Mendenhall.</p>
<p>The modern Diamond State Baseball Club has a website which has lots on the history of this club. It says the home grounds in 1866 were at the Northwest corner of Delaware Avenue and Adams Street (near the cemetery). The next year the home grounds were at the terminus of the city railway (see Wawasset grounds).</p> +
W
<p>The <em>New York Clipper</em>, April 14, 1866, reports the formation of the Wawasset Base Ball Club of Wilmington on the 2nd inst, with C. H. Lounsbury elected president..</p>
<p>The <em>New York Clipper</em>, June 23, 1866 reports that the Wawasset defeated the Itasca (of Philadelphia?) June 6th 55-31.</p>
<p>The <em>Philadelphia Inquirer</em>, July 12, 1867 and Aug. 2, 1867, reports on a three game match for the state championship of Delaware between the Diamond State BBC and Wawasset clubs of Wilmington. The Wawasset BBC won the first game, the 2nd was won by Diamond State 40-29 on July 11, and the third game, in Wilmington on Aug. 1, resulted in a forfeit by Diamond State when they tried to bring in some Philadelphia ringers and the umpire refused to let them play.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> +
L
<p>The Georgetown (DE) Union, Oct. 27, 1865, reported that the Lenapi BBC of New Castle will play the Diamond State BBC of Wilmington on Nov. 4th at New Castle.</p>
<p>New Castle DE (1870 Pop.--1916. 1900 pop. about 3400) is about 6 miles S of Wilmington and on the Delaware River.</p> +
N
<p>The Derby Baseball Club was a team established for Britain's pro league of 1890. However, a group of men in Derby were said to have assembled of their own volition to play baseball during the summer of 1889, and no earlier group of domsetic players is known in England (or Britain).
</p> +
<p>Birmingham Amateur Base Ball Club is believed to be the first official club to be organized in England (and Britain), although a group of men were said to have assembled in Derby in the summer of 1889 to play baseball.
</p> +
C
<p>A baseball game was played in Fernandina early in 1870. See “First Baseball Team in Fernandina,” Nassau County Genealogist, vol. 2 no. 1 (Fall 1994), p. 25.</p>
<p>Fernandina was the site of Fort Clinch. During he Civil War Union troops played rounders in and about the town. See Ofeldt, "Fort Clinch..." (2020) p. 68.</p>
<p>Fernandina Beach, FL, is about 25 miles NE of Jacksonville on the Atlantic Coast.</p> +
I
<p>Fernandina Express, Sept. 9, 1882 mentions the Island City BBC of that town. Same 4-22-82, 4-29-82 mentions the Daisy Cutters, Transit and Osceola BBCs of that town.
</p><p>Fernandina Beach FL is about 25 miles NE of Jacksonville.
</p> +
M
<p>Fernandina Express, April 22, 1882 mentions the Fernandina Daisy Cutters challenging the Maple Leaf of Jacksonville.
</p> +
A
<p>The Titusville "Florida Star," July 5, 1883 says the Stars of Enterprise will play the Athletics of Titusville. Same 9-6-83 reports on a game between the Athletics of Titusville and the Awkwards of City Point, won by Titusville 28-4. Gives roster of both teams.</p>
<p>Titusville FL (current pop. about 44,000)is about 40 miles E of Orlando near the Atlantic coast.</p> +
S
<p>The Florida Star [Titusville] Oct. 4, 1883 reports on how the Magnolia BBC of Titusville travelled to New Smyrna to play the Stars of Enterprise, billed as a match between Volusia and Brevard Counties. Same July 5, 1883 mentions the Stars of Enterprise.
</p><p>Enterprise is in Volusia County and about 40 miles N of Orlando.
</p> +
R
<p>The Fernandina "Florida Mirror" June 19, 1886 says the Royal Nine of Darien are to play baseball against the Daisy Cutters of Fernandina.
</p><p><br/>
</p> +
C
<p>The Titusville "Florida Star," May 3, 1883: "La Grange, Fla. April 24, 1883--Editor Star: ...The young men of this place have also formed a [baseball] club."</p> +
<p>The Titusville "Florida Star," May 24, 1883: "The young men of Rockledge ... are organizing a base ball club."
</p><p>Rockledge FL (current pop. about 25,000) is about 50 miles E of Orlando on the Atlantic Coast.
</p> +
<p>The Titusville "Florida Star," July 19, 1883: "Brooksville has organized a base ball club."</p>
<p>Brooksville (fd 1856: 512 residents in 1890) is about 40 miles N of Tampa.</p> +
<p>The Deland "Florida Agriculturist" Oct. 6, 1880 reports that the "young boys" of DeLand have formed a baseball club, with Mark Terry as captain.</p>
<p>The Titusville "Florida Star," Aug. 30, 1883: "The DeLand Echo says that the young men of that place have at last decided to organize a base ball club."</p>
<p>Deland FL is about 20 miles SW of Daytona Beach.</p> +
<p>An article suggests that the new Tallahassee club (the Leon BBC) play a club that has been formed in Jacksonville. See <em>Semi-Weekly Floridian</em>, February 8, 1867.</p>
<p>In later years Jacksonville hosted big league teams looking for winter practice. The <em>Sporting Life</em> Feb. 29, 1888 headlines a "Florida League" of 8 clubs which is "assured" of forming, in an article signed "Burbridge." This is George V. Burbridge (1854-99), son of Jacksonville mayor and Confederate army Colonel John Q. Burbridge. George, a Notre Dame grad, had played minor league baseball up north, and promoted both his opera houses and local baseball.</p>
<p>Sporting Life March 20, 1889 reports that the Philadelphia Phillies, then at Jacksonville, beat a local team featuring future big leaguer George Stallings. See also same, Jan. 24, 1890 and Feb. 26, 1890.</p>
<p>At the time (1867) and for decades thereafter Jacksonville was Florida's largest city. Jacksonville had 6,912 residents in 1870.</p> +
<p>The Titusville "Florida Star," Aug. 30, 1883: "The Gainesville Advocate says: We now have organized a base ball club..."</p>
<p>The Tampa Weekly Tribune, July 13, 1878, reports that the Osceolas of Fernandina were to have played Gainesville on the 5th.</p>
<p>Gainesville FL (1890 pop. about 2,800)is about 70 miles SW of Jacksonville.</p> +
A
<p>The Titusville "Florida Star," Oct. 11, 1883 says the Awkwards of City Point will play the Athletics of Titusville next Saturday.
</p><p>City Point is in Brevard County.
</p> +
C
<p>The West Palm Beach <em>Tropical Sun</em>, Nov. 28, 1895: "The East and West Side Ball teams will cross bats on the Poinciana diamond today."</p>
<p>The <em>Miami Metropolis</em>, July 2, 1897: "There will be a grand baseball match at West Palm Beach tomorrow (Saturday) between the team of that town and a nine from Miami." Same July 9, 1897 reports that Miami won the game, and implied that's to be expected, as West Palm Beach is a mere town while Miami is a city.</p>
<p>West Palm Beach was incorporated in 1894.</p>
<p> </p> +
<p>The <em>Miami Metropolis</em>, July 2, 1897: "There will be a grand baseball match at West Palm Beach tomorrow (Saturday) between the team of that town and a nine from Miami." Same July 9, 1897 reports that Miami won the game, and implied that's to be expected, as West Palm Beach is a mere town while Miami is a city.</p>
<p>"The Tropical Sun" [West Palm Beach] Dec. 2, 1897 says the local team traveled to Miami and was defeated by Miami 14 to 13.</p>
<p>Miami was incorporated in 1896. It had about 800 residents at this time.</p>
<p>See Lemon City and Cocoanut Grove entries, as these towns are now part of Miami.</p> +
<p>"The Tropical Sun" [Juno] July 14, 1892 reports that Lemon City beat Cocoanut Grove 18-17 on July 4th. The game was played on a field 1.5 miles outside Lemon City.</p>
<p>The article further states that these teams have just been organized in the last month.</p>
<p>Both towns are near Biscayne Bay in south Florida. Lemon City, also known as Little Haiti, and Cocoanut Grove, are within modern Miami. Both towns were annexed by Miami in 1925.</p> +
<p>"The Tropical Sun" [Juno] July 14, 1892 reports that Lemon City beat Cocoanut Grove. Both towns are near Biscayne Bay in south Florida.</p> +
<p>Susan Gillis, "Fort Lauderdale: The Venice of America," p. 33 says that Fort Lauderdale first established a baseball team in 1909. The city wasn't incorporated until 1911.
</p> +
<p>Shenandoah Herald, May 28, 1879: “A serious row occurred at Madison, Fla. Tuesday evening, between two colored base ball clubs."</p>
<p>Madison, FL is about 1000 miles east of Jacksonville and about 50 miles east of Tallahassee.</p> +
<p>The Memphis Appeal, June 18, 1867 reports that “forty citizens” of Monticello have formed a baseball club.
The Jacksonville "New South" Aug. 5, 1874 says that Jefferson County (of which Monticello is the county seat) will play Savannah in a match game of baseball.
</p><p>Monticello is about 25 miles NE of Tallahassee.
</p> +
S
<p>The <em>New York Herald</em>, June 13, 1868 reported that the young men of Pensacola had formed the Seminole Base Ball Club.</p>
<p>Scott Brown's "Baseball in Pensacola," p. 16 quotes the Pensacola Tri-Weekly Observer July 4, 1868 as saying the Seminole and Bay City clubs are to play a game on Seville Square in that city.</p> +
C
<p>“The National Game. At St. Augustine between two nines of the 7th Infantry, played on Friday, September 13th." St. Augustine Examiner, September 21, 1867, cited in East-Florida Gazette, vol. 17 no. 1 (May 1997), p. 3.
</p> +
L
<p>In early 1867 the Tallahassee Semi-Weekly Floridian noted the formation of the Leon Base Ball Club, which has "sent North and procured Bats and Balls and instructions how to use them. A few evenings since, they repaired to their play ground in the suburbs of the city, and engaged in their first game."</p>
<p>Tallahassee, the capitol of Florida, is in Leon County. It had 2023 residents in 1870, making it the 4th largest city in the state.</p> +
C
<p>Quesada, Baseball in Tampa Bay, pp. 7, 16, says that baseball teams were organized by Tampa residents in the 1880s. And Tampa had a team in the first short-lived Florida State League in 1892. For more on this 1892 team, see the Leesburg entry.</p>
<p>Tallahassee <em>Sentinel</em>, May 8, 1875: "A Base-Ball Club has been organized in Tampa."</p>
<p>"Tampa Bay History" vol. 23 (2009) p. 46 says that Thomas Crichton, son of a former mayor of Tampa, organized a ball team there in 1878. Unfortunately, no exact cite for this is given.</p>
<p>The "Sporting Life," Jan. 24, 1891: "Ocala, Fla., Jan. 17--Editor Sporting Life--The Tampa base ball champions of southern Florida in the past few years crossed bats with the Ocala "Greats" last Friday..." with Ocala winning 9 to 1. This implies Tampa baseball had been going on for years prior to 1891--to the mid 80s or so--and perhaps earlier.</p> +
<p>The Fernandina Express, Sept. 9, 1882, mentions the Island City BBC of Fernandina playing the Ocala club of Ocala.</p>
<p>Ocala FL is about 75 miles NW of Orlando.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For more on the 1892 Ocala team in the Florida League, see Leesburg.</p> +
<p>From Protoball Entry #1859.4 – Base Ball Club Forms in Augusta GA: Town Ball Played Also – or Instead?</p>
<p>"Baseball Club formed in Augusta in 1859," unidentified clipping at the Giamatti Research Center, Cooperstown, September 15, 1985. Per Millen note # 42.</p>
<p>"Town Ball. – On the 24th ult., the young men of Augusta, Ga., met on the Parade Ground, and organized themselves in two parties for enjoying a friendly game at this hearty game." They played two innings, and "W.D.'s side scored 43, squeezing the peaches on P. B.'s, who managed only 19. Source: The New York Clipper (date and page omitted; date inferred from Mears scrapbook placement). Facsimile from page 25 (column 3, third story) of a Mears Collection scrapbook, provided by Craig Waff, September 2008.</p>
<p>Query: Is there any indication that Association rules were used by the reported club? Why would a newspaper call the modern game "town ball?"</p>
<p>NOTE -- Because of uncertainty in the rules used in this game, the fact that it was termed "town ball," and further doubt about the year it was played, we are in October 2012 designating the February 1860 game in Macon as Georgia's first game played by Association rules. Perhaps more definitive evidence can be found.</p>
<p>This game report is from the <em>Augusta Daily Constitutionalist</em>, Nov. 26, 1859.</p>
<p>The <em>Augusta Constitutionalist</em>, Dec. 21, 1859, has an ad for the regular meeting of the "Base Ball Club of Augusta" that evening, at the Clinch Rifles Drill Room. Signed W. C. Barber, Secy. and Treas.</p> +
<p>Atlanta Daily Constitution, July 22, 1879, says the Milner base ball club played the Barnesville club July 19, with Barnesville winning 8-6.
</p><p>Barnesville GA (current pop. 6700)is about 50 miles S of Atlanta. Milner GA is about 5 miles NW of Barnesville.
</p><p><br/>
</p> +
F
<p>The Macon Weekly Telegraph, Sept. 7, 1875, says “The Farmers Base Ball Club from the vicinity of Bolingbroke came down yesterday to play a match game with the Star Juniors of this city.” The Star won 24-19. The article notes that the Star had beaten the Farmers in Bolingbroke “a short while since.”
</p><p>Bolingbroke is an unincorporated community just north of Macon GA and is about 70 miles SE of Atlanta.
</p> +
A
<p>The <em>Thomasville Times</em>, Oct. 23, 1875: “Boston Department… six of our base ball club visited Thomasville last week and scored twenty-four more than the Tocwottons. The Aucillas will play a Bainbridge club on the grounds of the Red Clouds at Cairo, this week.”</p>
<p>Boston GA (current population about 1300) is 210 miles S of Atlanta. Boston is about 12 miles from the FL border and about 30 miles NE of Tallahassee FL.</p> +
R
<p>The Carolina base ball club of Charleston has not decided to accept a challenge of the “Rebel Club, of Brunswick, Ga.” Augusta Chronicle Aug. 31, 1877.
</p><p>Brunswick GA (1880 population about 2900)is on the Atlantic coast about 55 miles N of Jacksonville FL and about 200 miles SW of Charleston SC.
</p><p><br/>
</p> +
<p>The Thomasville Times, Aug. 14, 1875, reports “Cairo still improves. She has a base ball club and a fumbling club. The base ball club has twenty-five members. They will appear in uniform today at two o’clock.” Same, Oct. 23, 1875 says the “Aucillas” of Boston “will play a Bainbridge club on the grounds of the Red Clouds at Cairo, this week.”
</p><p>Cairo GA (current population about 9600) is about 200 miles S of Atlanta and about 30 miles N of Tallahassee FL.
</p> +
E
<p>The Columbus Daily Sun, June 16, 1866 notes that 18 young men have enrolled in the baseball club. July 28, 1866 gives their names, and July 29, 1866 reports that the baseball club is “flourishing” with 30 members. July 28, 1866 reports on a game between two nines of the baseball club, captained by local merchants Charles Etheridge and Thomas Spear. The teams played on the city’s “old race track.” The Sun August 11, 1866 reports on a game between the two nines of this club, now named the “Empire.”
</p><p>Columbus GA (about 9600 inhabitants in 1860, about 7400 in 1870) is on the AL border and about 100 miles S of Atlanta.
</p> +
C
<p>“Baseballing at Oxford, GA. –A match game of base ball came off last Saturday, at Oxford, GA., between the Conyers Club and the senior nine of Emory College.” Emory won 72-11. Augusta Chronicle, April 30, 1874.
</p><p>Conyers GA (current population 10,500) is about 20 miles E of Atlanta. Oxford GA is about 10 miles SE of Conyers, and until 1915 was the home of Emory College.
</p> +
<p>The Augusta Chronicle, April 27, 1876, reports that “The Champion Base Ball Club, of Covington, will play a match game with the Oconee Club, at Monroe, Dalton County, next Saturday.”</p>
<p>The Covington Enterprise, Oct. 16, 1868 reports the Champion BBC of Covington is to play the Excelsiors of Oxford.</p>
<p>Covington GA (current pop. about 13,000) is about 30 miles SE of Atlanta.</p> +
V
<p>The Dixies of Greensboro played the Varieties of Crawford “yesterday” in Atlanta, with the Dixies winning 10-9. Atlanta Daily Constitution, July 26, 1879.
</p><p>Crawford GA (current population about 800)is about 80 miles E of Atlanta. Greensboro is about 25 miles S of Crawford.
</p> +
L
<p>The Augusta <em>Chronicle</em>, April 26, 1879, reports “The young men of Crawfordville have organized the Little Alecks base ball club.”</p>
<p>Crawfordville GA (current pop. about 600) is about 90 miles E of Atlanta and about 50 miles W of Augusta. The team may be named for "Little Alec" Stephens, a prominent GA politician from that area who was VP of the Confederacy.</p> +
C
<p>The Atlanta Daily Constitution, June 18, 1876 reports that the Athletics of Rome beat the Crawfords of Dalton 32-21 on June 17th.
</p><p>Dalton GA (1870 pop: 1800, 1880 pop: 2500) is in the hilly NW corner of Georgia, about 80 miles NW of Atlanta.
</p> +
P
<p>The Atlanta Constitution, June 14, 1876, reports a game between the Pastime of Decatur and the Champion of Covington, June 10 at Decatur, won by Covington 28-11.
</p><p>Decatur GA (1880 population about 640) is about 5 miles NE of Atlanta.
</p> +
C
<p>"Fairburn has a base ball club..." Palmetto S<em>hield</em>, May 8, 1873</p>
<p>The Fairburn Base Ball Club played the Alert of Atlanta, in Fairburn May 28th. Atlanta won 15-8. Atlanta Daily Constitution, May 30, 1878.</p>
<p>Fairburn GA (current pop. 13,000) is about 15 miles SW of Atlanta.</p> +
<p>The <em>New York Clipper</em>, July 25, 1868 gives the box score of a game played on the 16th between a Macon picked nine and the club of Fort Valley.</p>
<p>The Macon Georgia Weekly Telegraph, August 29, 1871, has a lengthy article on a game played the 18th at Oglethorpe between the “Fort Valley nine” and the Pastime of Oglethorpe, won by the latter 35-23.</p>
<p>Fort Valley GA (current population about 9800) is about 95 miles S of Atlanta and about 65 miles E of Columbus GA on the AL border.</p> +
D
<p>The Dixies of Greensboro played the Varieties of Crawford “yesterday” in Atlanta, with the Dixies winning 10-9. Atlanta Daily Constitution, July 26, 1879.
</p><p>Greensboro GA (current pop, 3200) is about 75 miles E of Atlanta. Greensboro is about 25 miles S of Crawford.
</p> +
C
<p>The Macon Telegraph, September 27, 1867 reported on a match between the Young America Base Ball Club of Macon and the Griffin Base Ball Club, won by Griffin 55 to 40.
</p><p>Griffin GA (current population about 23,000) is about 35 miles S of Atlanta in central GA.
</p> +
<p>The Macon Telegraph, November 29, 1867 announced that Hawkinsville has organized a baseball club.
</p><p>Hawkinsville GA (current population about 7500)is about 120 miles S of Atlanta and about 40 miles S of Macon.
</p> +
<p>The Fairburn Base Ball Club is to play the Henderson Base Ball Club on June 26th. Atlanta Daily Constitution, June 25, 1879.</p>
<p>We do not find listings for a city of Henderson GA. This may be Henderson District in Houston County, just south of Perry, GA, or a community near Savannah.</p> +
S
<p>The Augusta Chronicle, July 12, 1876 notes a match game of base ball last Tuesday, between the Stonewalls of Henry County, and the Sooners of Rockdale County, at Oak Hill. The Stonewalls won 23-16.
</p><p>Henry County GA (1880 population about 14,000) is about 25 miles SE of Atlanta.
</p> +
O
<p>The <em>Augusta Daily Constitutionalist</em>, Sept. 24, 1859: "There is a Base Ball Club in Macon, Georgia." Same, Augusta Weekly Constitutionalist, Sept. 28, 1859.</p>
<p>The Macon Telegraph, February 11, 1860 reported that the Olympic Base Ball Club played a game “last Saturday." The two nines of this club were under captains Collins and Rogers. These men are George Tyler Rogers (1838-91), a grocer, and Dr. Appleton P. Collins (1835-86). Numerous articles in the Macon Telegraph report on the Olympic's games—perhaps because one of the team’s organizers, Dr. Richard H. Nisbet (1832-1870), was a cousin of the newspaper’s editor, James T. Nisbet. A member of the city’s leading family, the Nisbets, Dr. Nisbet had been educated at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and perhaps been exposed to the game there.</p>
<p>As of October 2012, this appears to be the first modern game played in Georgia.</p>
<p>This club reformed post-Civil War. It was reported to have "expired" in 1866 (Macon Telegraph, March 11, 1866) but seems to have revived, as its reported playing games 1867-70. The <em>New York Clipper</em>, May 16, July 18, 1868 gives the box score of two games the Olympic played.</p>
<p>Macon GA (1860 population: about 8,300) is in central Georgia, about 85 miles SE of Atlanta.</p> +
C
<p>"A meeting of the young men of this city will be held at Perkins Gallery tomorrow evening, to organize a base ball club."
</p><p>[It seems plausible that this was the Active BBC, or possibly the Forest City BBC. See other 1867 entries.]
</p> +
K
<p>The <em>Marietta Journal</em>, May 17, 1872, notes a match game played “last Wednesday evening” at Glover’s Grove, between the Kennesaw club of Captain Green and the Junior Club of Captain Pitner.</p>
<p>Marietta GA (1870 population about 1900 souls) is about 20 miles NW of Atlanta.</p> +
C
<p>The “Sophomores” Base Ball Club of the University of Georgia defeated a Mercer University baseball club 73-11 on May 23, 1868. The Mercer club had been in existence only two months.[Macon Telegraph, July 3, 1868]</p>
<p>Washington Gazette, Oct. 8, 1869 mentions the Mercer BBC of Mercer University.</p>
<p>The University of Georgia is in Athens GA. Mercer College was founded in Penfield GA and moved to Macon in 1871. Penfield is about 25 miles S of Athens.</p> +
<p>Atlanta Daily Constitution, July 22, 1879, says the Milner base ball club played the Barnesville club July 19, with Barnesville winning 8-6.
</p><p>Milner GA (current pop. about 500) about 50 miles S of Atlanta and about 5 miles NW of Barnesville.
</p> +
O
<p>The Augusta Chronicle, April 27, 1876, reports that “The Champion Base Ball Club, of Covington, will play a match game with the Oconee Club, at Monroe, Dalton County, next Saturday.”
</p><p>Monroe GA (current pop. about 13,000) is about 40 miles E of Atlanta. Covington GA is about 18 miles SW of Monroe.
</p> +
C
<p>The Columbus Daily Enquirer, Oct. 26, 1870, “Fun at the Fair: We also learn that the Atlanta, West Point, and Montgomery Base Ball Clubs will contest with the Independents of our city for the premium offered to the best “base ballists.””
</p><p>The county, located about 170 miles SW of Atlanta and about 80 miles W of Savannah, had a population of about 3500 in 1870.
</p> +
<p>The Athens Federal Union, May 25, 1869 reported a shootout between two young men of Newnan, in front of the Newnan church, over a baseball dispute.
</p><p>Newnan GA (1870 population about 1900)is about 35 miles SW of Atlanta.
</p> +
S
<p>The Augusta Chronicle, July 12, 1876 notes a match game of base ball last Tuesday, between the Stonewalls of Henry County, and the Sooners of Rockdale County, at Oak Hill. The Stonewalls won 23-16.
</p><p>Oak Hill GA is about 30 miles SE of Atlanta. It may have been annexed into another jurisdiction.
</p> +
P
<p>The Macon Georgia Weekly Telegraph, August 29, 1871, has a lengthy article on a game played the 18th at Oglethorpe between the “Fort Valley nine” and the Pastime of Oglethorpe, won by the latter 35-23.
</p><p>Oglethorpe GA (1870 population -- 400) is about 110 miles S of Atlanta and about 60 miles E of the Alabama border at Columbus GA.
</p> +
C
<p>“Baseballing at Oxford, GA. –A match game of base ball came off last Saturday, at Oxford, GA., between the Conyers Club and the senior nine of Emory College.” Emory won 72-11. Augusta Chronicle, April 30, 1874.
</p><p>Conyers GA (current population 10,500) is about 20 miles E of Atlanta. Oxford GA is about 10 miles SE of Conyers, and until 1915 was the home of Emory College.
</p> +
P
<p>The Atlanta Daily Sun, Wednesday May 8, 1872, under the headline “That Base Ball Match,” quotes the Rome Commercial account of a game “Sunday Last” between the Atlanta Osceolas and the Rome “Pastimes.”
</p><p>Rome GA (1870 population about 2700) is near the NW corner of the state and about 60 miles NW of Atlanta and about 60 miles SE of Chattanooga TN.
</p> +
<p>The Weekly Sumter Republican, July 19, 1878, ran an item from Schley County dated July 13: “The young men of this county met and organized a base ball club this evening… They unanimously voted the [team] name of Phil Cook.”
</p><p>Schley County GA (1880 pop. 5300) is about 110 miles S of Atlanta and anout 45 miles SE of Columbus GA.
</p> +