Wicket,baseball,batball in Pittsfield in 1791

Pre-pro Baseball

Pittsfield, MA Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games Greater New York City Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games MA Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games United States Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games

Add a Ballgame

Add a Predecessor Game

Add a Field

Add a Club

Add a Player

Add a Game Official

Base Ball Firsts

Add a Base Ball First

About Pre-pro

Waff's Game Tabulation

Bob Tholkes RIM Tabulation

Awaiting Review

This record has been submitted recently, and has not yet been reviewed. This does not imply that the information is incorrect, but that it is not yet included in official datasets. This notice will no longer appear once the record has been reviewed.

Approve

Date of Game	1791
Game	wicket,baseball,batball
Location	Pittsfield, MA, United States
Modern Address
Field	Add Field Page
Home Team	Add Club Page
Away Team	Add Club Page
Score
Has Source On Hand
Innings
Number of Players
NY Rules
Tags
Description	In Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to promote the safety of the exterior of the newly built meeting house, particularly the windows, a by-law is enacted to bar "any game of wicket, cricket, baseball, batball, football, cats, fives, or any other game played with ball," within eighty yards of the structure. However, the letter of the law did not exclude the city's lovers of muscular sport from the tempting lawn of "Meeting-House Common." This is the first indigenous instance of the game of baseball being referred to by that name on the North American continent. It is spelled herein as bafeball. "Pittsfield is baseball's Garden of Eden," said Mayor James Ruberto. Per John Thorn: The History of Pittsfield (Berkshire County),Massachusetts, From the Year 1734 to the Year 1800. Compiled and Written, Under the General Direction of a Committee, by J. E. A. Smith. By Authority of the Town. [Lea and Shepard, 149 Washington Street, Boston, 1869], 446-447. The actual documents themselves repose in the Berkshire Athenaeum.
Sources
Source Image	[[Image:|left|thumb]]
Has Source On Hand
Comment	Edit with form to add a comment
Query	Edit with form to add a query
Submitted by
Submission Note
First in Location
Players Locality
Entry Origin	Sabrpedia
Entry Origin Url

---

Comments

<comments voting="Plus" />