1857.23

From Protoball
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Chronologies
Scroll.png

Prominent Milestones

Misc BB Firsts
Add a Misc BB First

About the Chronology
Tom Altherr Dedication

Add a Chronology Entry
Open Queries
Open Numbers
Most Aged

Princeton Freshmen Establish Nassau Base Ball Club

Salience Noteworthy
Tags College
Location New Jersey
City/State/Country: Princeton, NJ, United States
Game Base Ball
Immediacy of Report Retrospective
Age of Players Youth
Text

"In the fall of '57, a few members of the [College of New Jersey, now Princeton University] Freshmen [sic] class organized the Nassau Baseball [sic] Club to play baseball although only a few members had seen the game and fewer still had played. [A description follows of attempts to clear a playing area, a challenge being made to the Sophomores, and the selection of 15 players for each side.] After each party had played five innings, the Sophomores had beaten their antagonists by twenty-one rounds, and were declared victorious." The account goes on to report that the next spring, "baseball clubs of all descriptions were organized on the back campus and 'happiness on such occasions seemed to rule the hour.'" The account also reflects on the coming of base ball: "in seven years [1857] a new game superseded handball in student favor - it was 'town ball' or the old Connecticut game."

 

Sources

Source: "Baseball at Princeton," Athletics at Princeton: A History (Presbrey Company, New York, 1901), page 66. Available on Google Books. Original sources are not provided. 

Warning

Caution: The arrival of the New York style of play was still a year into the future.

Comment Edit with form to add a comment
Query

Query: [1] "The old CT game?" Wasn't that wicket? 

Edit with form to add a query



Comments

<comments voting="Plus" />