1858.24

Editorial Rips Base Ball "Mania" as a "Public Nuisance"

Salience	Noteworthy
Tags	Newspaper CoverageNewspaper Coverage
Location	New EnglandNew England
City/State/Country:	Boston, MA, US
Modern Address
Game	Base BallBase Ball
Immediacy of Report	Contemporary
Age of Players
Holiday
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Text	"Ball Clubs," The Happy Home and Parlor Magazine, Volume 8, December 1, 1858 [Boston MA], page 405. The author thinks base ball "has become a sort of mania, and on this account we speak of it. In itself a game at ball is an innocent and excellent recreation but when the sport is carried so far as it is at the present time, it becomes a pubic nuisance." His case: [1] gambling imbues it, [2] the crowd is unruly and intemperate, [3] profanity abounds, [4] its players waste a lot of time, [5] it leads to injury, and it distracts people from their work. "For these reasons we class ball-clubs, as now existing, with circus exhibitions, military musters, pugilistic feats, cock-fighting &c; all of which are nuisances in no small degree."
Sources	Posted to 19CBB August 14, 2005 by Richard Hershberger.
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