Block:English Baseball in London in 1871

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English Baseball


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"Base-ball" was mentioned in a story entitled "Along Fleet Street" that appeared in a children's magazine: "Arthur wanted to know where the old Fleet Prison used to stand, and if it was the veritable place where Mr. Pickwick went to, and if it wasn't where he met Mr. Jingle, and whether people did not play racquet and base-ball there, and pay for their own lodgings, etc."

Sources

"Along Fleet Street," by "Old Merry," appearing in "Merry & Wise: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine for Young People," London, April, 1871, p. 245

Block Notes

This suggestion that baseball is mentioned in The Pickwick Papers is a somewhat creative leap. The text of Dicken's novel mentions that an open area within the Fleet Street prison served as an impromptu 'racket ground', and describes: "…a number of persons…playing at ball with some adventurous throwers outside, others looking on at the racket-players, or watching the boys as they cried the game." The "playing at ball" reference is a bit ambiguous, but more likely was meant to indicate rackets rather than baseball.

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