Welcome to Protoball: Difference between revisions
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=== (User Feedback Requested) === | === (User Feedback Requested) === | ||
Protoball is seeking input from current and potential site users on initiatives that might make protoball.org more responsive to their research interests. | |||
In the past decade or so, due to major data contributions from several origins researchers, the site has expanded to include sourced accounts of over 1500 chronology entries, | In the past decade or so, due to major data contributions from several origins researchers, the site has expanded to include sourced accounts of over 1500 chronology entries, many thousands of early games of modern base ball, about 6000 early clubs, a registry of nearly 300 different baserunning games, a few hundred key reference works on early ballplaying, etc. Dave Anderson, Protoball’s site wizard, has found innovative ways to search and display this somewhat unruly mound of basic data. (Try playing with favorite search terms at http://protoball.org/Special:EnhancedSearch.) | ||
Five of us are working to identify and prioritize ways to better meet user needs (within Protoball’s rather unimpressive budget). | |||
We’d appreciate your candid ideas about ways to make Protoball a better tool for baseball historian and writers. Please send your ideas and views of the site’s limitations to <a href="mailto:comments@protoball.org">comments@protoball.org</a> | We’d appreciate your candid ideas about ways to make Protoball a better tool for baseball historian and writers. Please send your ideas and views of the site’s limitations to <a href="mailto:comments@protoball.org">comments@protoball.org</a> or to Lmccray<at>mit.edu. | ||
* Bruce Allardice | * Bruce Allardice | ||
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The Protoball [[Chronologies]] cover the evolution of ballgames from [[Chronology up to 1700|Ancient Times]] to [[Chronology: 1866 - 1871|1870]], just before the first professional baseball league began. At present, data for 1862 through 1870 are still pretty sparse, though. | The Protoball [[Chronologies]] cover the evolution of ballgames from [[Chronology up to 1700|Ancient Times]] to [[Chronology: 1866 - 1871|1870]], just before the first professional baseball league began. At present, data for 1862 through 1870 are still pretty sparse, though. | ||
Our [[Pre-pro Baseball]] feature is a working database of several thousand clubs and games before | Our [[Pre-pro Baseball]] feature is a working database of several thousand clubs and games, mostly in the Origins Era (before 1872). Its interactive maps may help you visualize the spread of baseball over time. It is designed so that individual club pages can link to a club's games, players, and field locations. For an example, see the Knickerbocker Club [[Knickerbocker_Base_Ball_Club_of_New_York|here]]. | ||
The [[The Craig B. Waff Games Tabulation|Games Tabulation]] (version | The [[The Craig B. Waff Games Tabulation|Games Tabulation]] (version 2.0) is a record of over 1300 ballgames in various parts of the US from 1845 to 1860. It was compiled by the late [[Craig Waff]]᾿s careful and path-breaking research. More recently, Bob Tholkes has tabulated key data from over 5000 early games, mostly from the 1860s. | ||
<div class="float_left" style="width: 210px;"> | <div class="float_left" style="width: 210px;"> | ||
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We offer an [[Special:EnhancedSearch|Enhanced Search]] for complex full-text searches on much of the information on the site. You can save your searches, pick out important articles, and share them with other researchers. | We offer an [[Special:EnhancedSearch|Enhanced Search]] for complex full-text searches on much of the information on the site. You can save your searches, pick out important articles, and share them with other researchers. | ||
On a whim, we have collected information on as many baserunning games as we can find on our [[Glossary of Games]]. About half of them preceded the rise of the modern "New York" game ob bae ball in the 1850s. | |||
</div> | </div> | ||
Revision as of 07:10, 16 September 2018
Supporting Researchers and Writers on Baseball’s Origins.
Reconsidering Protoball.org
(User Feedback Requested)
Protoball is seeking input from current and potential site users on initiatives that might make protoball.org more responsive to their research interests.
In the past decade or so, due to major data contributions from several origins researchers, the site has expanded to include sourced accounts of over 1500 chronology entries, many thousands of early games of modern base ball, about 6000 early clubs, a registry of nearly 300 different baserunning games, a few hundred key reference works on early ballplaying, etc. Dave Anderson, Protoball’s site wizard, has found innovative ways to search and display this somewhat unruly mound of basic data. (Try playing with favorite search terms at http://protoball.org/Special:EnhancedSearch.)
Five of us are working to identify and prioritize ways to better meet user needs (within Protoball’s rather unimpressive budget).
We’d appreciate your candid ideas about ways to make Protoball a better tool for baseball historian and writers. Please send your ideas and views of the site’s limitations to comments@protoball.org or to Lmccray<at>mit.edu.
- Bruce Allardice
- Ralph Carhart
- Jan Finkel
- Larry McCray
- Bob Tholkes
Current Resources
The Protoball Chronologies cover the evolution of ballgames from Ancient Times to 1870, just before the first professional baseball league began. At present, data for 1862 through 1870 are still pretty sparse, though.
Our Pre-pro Baseball feature is a working database of several thousand clubs and games, mostly in the Origins Era (before 1872). Its interactive maps may help you visualize the spread of baseball over time. It is designed so that individual club pages can link to a club's games, players, and field locations. For an example, see the Knickerbocker Club here.
The Games Tabulation (version 2.0) is a record of over 1300 ballgames in various parts of the US from 1845 to 1860. It was compiled by the late Craig Waff᾿s careful and path-breaking research. More recently, Bob Tholkes has tabulated key data from over 5000 early games, mostly from the 1860s.
1859 Base Ball Players’ Pocket Companion
The Glossary of Games provides a short description of 335 baseball-like games. The Glossary includes baseball's likely predecessor games and later games that derive from baseball.
The Bibliography is a list of publications you can use to explore the origins of ball games and baseball in depth. Some of these publications are available online. For sources that are in Protoball's Buzz McCray Collection, we can, via email and phone, help you determine what their content is.
A listing of fellow origins enthusiasts and contributors can be found in our Diggers section. You can read news about them and their work in the now-discontinuedNext Destin'd Post. Several Diggers have contributed informal Essays relating to baseball's origins.
We offer an Enhanced Search for complex full-text searches on much of the information on the site. You can save your searches, pick out important articles, and share them with other researchers.
On a whim, we have collected information on as many baserunning games as we can find on our Glossary of Games. About half of them preceded the rise of the modern "New York" game ob bae ball in the 1850s.
Articles
Here are 3 of our latest articles:
- The New Dominion Club of Ottawa: The First Organized Ballclub in Canada’s Capital - by Steve Rennie in November 2024
- How Early Baseball Can Be Compared To A Theatrical Production - by Cody Belles in December 2023
- Protoball Interview With Richard Hershberger - by Lawrence McCray in December 2021
Here are 3 randomly selected articles:
- Origins Newsletter -- February 2021 - by SABR Origins Committee in February 2021
- The Big Tours - by Larry McCray in September 2014
- Judgment! - by Richard Hershberger in July 2014
Conditions of Use
Users are encouraged to freely use information on this web site. When that information is found to be useful in drafting published work, we ask that they acknowledge the Protoball Project in their writing, and supply the site's URL -- http://protoball.org -- when possible, in their citations.
Further Information
For more information about the evolution of Protoball Project, its policies, and resources, see our About page.
Contact Larry McCray of the Protoball Project at with any questions or contributions.
Features in Development
Please tell us if you see that new features could make the site more useful to you. Would a User Forum for site-user commentary make sense? Should we highlight "Most Wanted" data?
