Barn Ball (House Ball)

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Game Barn Ball (House Ball)
Game Family Scrub Scrub
Eras Predecessor
Invented No
Description

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.

Sources

D. C. Beard, The American Boy’s Book of Sport (Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1896), pages 341-342.

See also Altherr, "Barn Ball," Base Ball (Spring 2011).

Comment

Abraham Lincoln is said to have played barn ball with enthusiasm in Springfield c. 1858. Nicholas Young remembered playing barn ball in the Mohawk Valley in the 1850s.

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