On This Day in History
Ryan Miller
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1991 14:44:41 GMT
Subject: On This Day In History (June, 19)
>
>On my way into work this AM I heard that Hoboken, NJ is
>hosting a parade to celebrate the playing of the first
>modern-day baseball game on June 19, 1846. Seems like
>the town is trying to steal away some of the thunder
>good ole' Abner Doubleday.
>
>They were discussing the rules used that day and one of
>them really grabbed my attention. You were not allowed
>to throw to the base for an out. You had to HIT the
>runner with the ball!
(Continuation of earlier string)
As pointed out, Doubleday had little to do with the development of baseball
as we know it today. The story of Abner Doubleday "inventing" baseball in
Cooperstown was largely fabricated by the Mills Commission in 1907. There
is no evidence that Doubleday ever visited Cooperstown--in 1839, he was
attending West Point and did go on to become a Civil War hero.
The fabrication was brought about over debate in the early 1900s as to
whether baseball was a truly American creation; certain patriotic
individuals sold their point and the Doubleday "myth" lives even today.
As Allan Bourdius mentions, Albert Spalding had a big part in it.
Baseball is derived from mostly British games, as Jon Lyons wrote, "town
ball" and "rounders" had similarities to baseball. Other names for like
bat and ball games include: "old cats," "stoolball," and "goalball."
The earliest evidence of the term "baseball" is in a certain account by
a Reverend Wilson protesting the playing of "baseball" on Sundays (ca. 1700)
in England. Similar bat and ball games had been played since the middle
ages in western Europe. For the energetic imagination, one could
picture cave men hitting rocks with sticks--likely two of their most
important tools. Who really knows how old the initial fundamentals are.
In the 1840s, baseball was mostly played by gentleman "clubs" in vacant
lots. In 1845, Alexander Cartwright and his associates established the
Knickerbocker Base Ball Club. On September 23, 1845, they adopted
Cartwright's rules which are the basis for the game today. These 20
rules established the diamond, 90 feet base paths, and defined terms
such as fair, foul, and strike, and the concept of three strikes
for an out and three outs for an inning. The main difference was that
winning was defined as the first team to score 21 runs.
The first inter-club match recorded was that between the Knickerbockers
and the "New York Nine" on June 19, 1846 in Hoboken N.J. Cartwright
was an umpire (normally a bank clerk) in the game and fined J.W. Davis
six cents for swearing at him. The "Nine" won 23-1 in four innings.
That was the "New York" game, in New England they played a slightly
different form where a base-runner was out by being hit with the ball.
The "New York" game was the one that caught on and has become baseball
today.
There were still quite a few differences. The balls were softer and
gloves didn't come into use until the 1870s. As David Tate pointed
out, pitchers had a "box" to throw from and they delivered underhanded.
In 1862 "balls" were introduced and in 1863 the pitcher was restricted
to a 12 foot by three foot box which was changed to six by six feet in
1867. The "rubber" came into use in 1890 and the "box" remained until
1893. It was some time after that the "mound" came into use, but I'm
unclear when--at least I don't have any information giving a date.
Another key difference was that the ball was pretty "dead" in the
early days. Home runs were more of a phenomenon than an offensive
weapon into the 1910s. When the "lively" ball came into use, home
runs became more common. The Babe Ruth era changed the face of
baseball and made it truly "our national pastime."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Ryan Miller | "The Cubs are playing him around
HP Ft. Collins, CO | towards center."
ry...@hpfcla.fc.hp.com | - Harry Caray
P.S. Sorry this is late, I don't get time to read this every hour, or
every day, sometimes it's only once a week.
Jonathan Arnold
> early days. Home runs were more of a phenomenon than an offensive
> weapon into the 1910s. When the "lively" ball came into use, home
> runs became more common. The Babe Ruth era changed the face of
> baseball and made it truly "our national pastime."
This is an interesting popular myth that I thought Bill James did a pretty
good job of laying to rest. It is his opinion that the balls were not, in
fact, made any differently, but rather the fact that they started to use
newer balls much more often than before that made the big difference
starting in the early '20s. Before that, a ball would get used nearly the
entire game, becoming warped, worn, and, above all, disgustingly tobacco
stained - to the point of barely being able to see it!
JD
----------
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Bus. Phone: (603)894-5336 | Open BBS dedicated to the
Home Phone: (617)335-5457 | fine art of Baseball.
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Ryan Miller
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1991 03:14:42 GMT
Subject: Re: re: On This Day in History
Message-ID: <87Z14...@magflds.MV.COM>
>> Another key difference was that the ball was pretty "dead" in the
>> early days. (etc.)
>
>This is an interesting popular myth that I thought Bill James did a pretty
>good job of laying to rest. It is his opinion that the balls were not, in
>fact, made any differently, but rather the fact that they started to use
>newer balls much more often than before that made the big difference
>starting in the early '20s. Before that, a ball would get used nearly the
>entire game, becoming warped, worn, and, above all, disgustingly tobacco
>stained - to the point of barely being able to see it!
>
Jonathan is correct. I should have explained that better. The balls were
dead because of mis-use and not because they were made differently. They
even had a rule that would stop play for a certain amount of time so players
could hunt for the ball if it were lost.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Ryan Miller
HP Fort Collins, CO
ry...@hpfcla.fc.hp.com