1833c.12

America's First Interclub Ballgame, in Philadelphia

Salience	Prominent
Tags
Location
City/State/Country:	Camden, NJ, United States
Modern Address
Game	Town BallTown Ball
Immediacy of Report
Age of Players	AdultAdult
Holiday
Notables
Text	[A] In Philadelphia PA, the Olympic Club and an unnamed club merged in 1833, but only after they had, apparently, played some games against one another. "Since . . . there weren't any other ball clubs, either formal or informal, anywhere else until at least 1842, this anonymous context would have to stand as the first ball game between two separate, organized club teams anywhere in the United States." The game was a form of town ball. [B] Richard Hershberger describes the Olympic's opponent as "a loose of collection of friends who had been playing (town ball) together for two years," and considers it a match game in that "both sides had existence outside of that game." He dates one of the games to July 4, 1833, as the Olympic club had been formed to play a game on the holiday.
Sources	[A] John Shiffert, Base Ball in Philadelphia (McFarland, 2006), page 17. [B] Richard Hershberger, "In the Beginning-- Olympics vs. Camden", Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century (SABR, 2013), pp. 1-2.
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External Number
Submitted by	Bob Tholkes
Submission Note	2/23/2014
Has Supplemental Text

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