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1778.4 + (Caveat:</strong& … Caveat: It is unknown whether this was a ball game, rather than prisoner's base, a form of tag played by two teams, and resembling the game "Capture the Flag."Note: "Long Bullets" evidently involved a competition to throw a ball down a road, seeing who could send the ball furthest along with a given number of throws. Another reference to long bullets is found at <a>http://protoball.org/1830s.20</a>. t;http://protoball.org/1830s.20</a>. )
1847.7 + (Note -- Actually, an earlier account of California ballplaying was recorded a month before this, in San Diego. See [[1847.15]]. )
1857.3 + (Note" add info on the significance of this club?)
Resolute Club of Boston v Aurora Club of Chelsea on 13 May 1871 + (Note: </strong&g … Note: The Clipper printed this correction two weeks later:"The Aurora Club of Chelsea, Mass, is composed of White and not colored men as was inadvertently stated in the late issue."Note: The article does not specify where these clubs played this match.Can we confirm that the Resolute Club comprised African American players?played this match. Can we confirm that the Resolute Club comprised African American players?)
1440c.1 + (Note: This drawing is listed as "contemporary" on the premise that it was meant to depict ballplaying in the 1400s.)
Pythian Club of Philadelphia v Mutual Club of Washington on 12 August 1871 + (Note: This match between two African American clubs was later described as the US colored championship match, and, is reported as being played the same day as the account was printed. This may be a typo.)
1751.1 + (Note: This match is also reported in item #1751.3)
1751.3 + (Note: This match is also reported in item#1751.1)
1821.8 + (Note: This entry was formerly listed for 1844 from prior sources. The location of the village play in not given.)
1837.8 + (Note: A dollar fine for "pitching dollars?")
1850.6 + (Note: Is the author hinting that boys commonly bet on their ball-games? Isn't this a rare mention of barn-ball?)
1805.4 + (Note: … Note: So, folks . . . was this a baserunning ball game, some version of prisoner's base (a team tag game resembling our childhood game Capture the Flag) with scoring, or what?John Thorn [email of 2/27/2008] has supplied a facsimile of the Post report, and also found meeting announcements for the Diagoras in the Daily Advertiser for 4/11 and 4/12/1805.David Block (see full text in Supplemental Text, below) offers his 2017 thoughts on this entry: Email from David Block, 2/19/2017:"Gents,Just a quick note to follow up on John's blog post from last week about the 1805 "bace" game. My opinion on whether that game was baseball or prisoner's base has gone back and forth over the years. As of now I tend to lean 60-40 to baseball. Other than the example from Chapman that John cited, I've never come across a use of the term bace to signify either game. Even if I had it wouldn't mean much as the word "base" has been used freely over the years for both of them. The mention of a score in the 1805 article is significant. Rarely are scores indicated in any of the reports of prisoner's base (prison base, prison bars, etc.) that I've come across. Usually they just indicate one side or the other as winner. There are a couple of exceptions. I know of one English example from 1737 where a newspaper reported on a match of prison-bars between eleven men from the city of Chester against a like number from the town of Flint in Wales. "The Cheshire gentlemen got 11, and the Flintshire gentlemen 2," it noted. I've also seen another English report from 1801, also of prison-bars, where one side was said to have "produced a majority of five prisoners." Still, George's example is American, where I suspect that, even at that early date, baseball was probably the more popular game of the two.Regarding "baste," I have seen at least two dozen examples of the term "baste-ball" used in England in the 18th and 19th centuries. It's clear from context that this was an alternate spelling of base-ball, along with bass-ball. I don't doubt the same was true for the few instances of baste-ball's use in America."My opinion on whether that game was baseball or prisoner's base has gone back and forth over the years. As of now I tend to lean 60-40 to baseball. Other than the example from Chapman that John cited, I've never come across a use of the term bace to signify either game. Even if I had it wouldn't mean much as the word "base" has been used freely over the years for both of them. The mention of a score in the 1805 article is significant. Rarely are scores indicated in any of the reports of prisoner's base (prison base, prison bars, etc.) that I've come across. Usually they just indicate one side or the other as winner."Best to all, David"John Thorn email of Feb., 25, 2024: "Hi, George. I found this thesis invaluable for my understanding of early ball play in New York, and thus for EDEN. Do you have it? Here's a Dropbox link [omitted] in case you don't. Once upon a time we had wondered about the location of the Gymnastic Ground, near Tyler's. I found this pretty compelling (before this pleasure ground was Tyler's, it was Brannon's):Some idea of the garden during Brannon's tenure can be gotten from scattered sources. In 1842, for a suit in the Court of Chancery involving the ownership of the Church Farm, a group of elderly men and women gave depositions describing this part of the city as they recalled it in the eighteenth century. Several testified that the garden was enclosed by a fence; one testified that Brannon maintained a ball alley; and another owned that between 1789 and 1793, during his days as a student at Columbia College (then located on Church Street between Barclay and Murray), he and "the collegians were in the habit of frequenting . . . Brannon's Garden." [“Chancery Reports (Sandford), 4:716, 724, & 730.]I also have bound volumes of these chancery reports, which to my knowledge have not been digitized; I suppose I could check!Also, I append an item possibly missed by all of us, from the New-York Herald (New York, New York) May 4, 1805Note that the Columbia College clubs' game of bace is here rendered as basse. The mention of "hands in" fully persuades me that this is a game of bat and ball."the game report first appeared in the New-York Evening Post of May 1, and next in The Herald of May 4.David Block agrees he mention of "hands in" fully persuades me that this is a game of bat and ball." the game report first appeared in the New-York Evening Post of May 1, and next in The Herald of May 4. David Block agrees )
1818.4 + (Note: … Note: The original source of the 1818 reference may have been lost. Bob reports that Dean Sullivan thesis cited Harold Peterson's The Man Who Invented Baseball (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973), page 24. However, Peterson gives no source. A dead end?), page 24. However, Peterson gives no source. A dead end?)
1700c.2 + (Note: This book is in the form of a chronology. Barber gives no source for the wicket report.)
1850s.50 + (Note: … Note: This describes a scrub form of tutball/rounders. It suggests that all hitting was forward, thus in effect using a foul line, as would make sense with a single fielder.The claim that tutball and stoolball used the same rules is surprising; stoolball is fairly uniformly described as having but two bases or stools, and using a bat.y described as having but two bases or stools, and using a bat.)
1844.6 + (Note: Understanding the author's intent here is complicated by the fact that he was Canadian, Sam Slick was an American character, and the novel is set in Britain.)
1494c.1 + (Note: We need better sources for the Columbus story.)
1824.6 + (Note: see item #[[1829c.1]] below for Holmes' Harvard ballplaying.)
1788.2 + (Note: "Nines seems an unusual name for a ball game; do we find it elsewhere? Could he have been denoting nine-pins or nine-holes? John Thorn, in 2/3/2008, says he inclines to nine-pins as the game alluded to.)
1864.58 + (Note: … Note: A few days earlier, Richard had noticed the use of "battery" in a July 26 game report: see Supplementary Text, below.The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, page 86, citing the Chadwick Scrapbooks, had the first use of "battery" as 1868 (third edition). first use of "battery" as 1868 (third edition). )
1733.1 + (Note: A bat had been described in Willughby's c.1672 account of hornebillets. See [[1672c.2]].)
1841.15 + (Note: … Note: Melville is willing to identify the sport as the one that was played mostly in the CT-central and MA area . . . but it is conceivable that the writer intended to denote cricket instead? From Bruce Allardise, December 2021: The original article is in the New Orleans Times Picayune, May 31, 1841, which references a reminisce in a {April 1841} Cleveland OH newspaper article. [bsa]eminisce in a {April 1841} Cleveland OH newspaper article. [bsa])
1550c.2 + (Note: it would be interesting to see the original reference, and to know how 1550 was chosen as the reported year of play. Note: Derrick would have been about 10 years old in 1550.)
1816.1 + (Note: those streets intersect a half block from the Hall of Fame, right?)
1744.2 + (Note: … Note: we may want reassurance that the "Base-ball" poem appeared in the 1744 version. According to Thomas L. Altherr, "A Place Leavel Enough to Play Ball," reprinted in David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, the 1767 London edition also has poems titled "Stoolball" [p. 88] and Trap-Ball.[p. 91]. According Zoernik in the Encyclopedia of World Sports [p.329], rounders is also referred to [we need to confirm this, as Rounders does not appear in the 1760 edition or the one from 1790.]. There was an American pirated edition in 1760, as per Henderson [ref #107]; David Block dates the American edition in 1762. He also notes that a 1767 revision features engravings for the four games.ion features engravings for the four games.)
1850s.1 + (Note: the dates and circumstances and locations of these cases are unclear in Millen. One refers to plugging.)
1550c.1 + (Note: the inconsistencies among the preceding cricket entries in Protoball (see [[1478.1]]) need to be resolved . . . . or at least addressed)
1761.1 + (Note: Princeton was known as the College of New Jersey until 1896.)
1787.1 + (Note: Princeton was known as the College of New Jersey until 1896.)
Ogden Club grounds + (Ogden Park</stro … Ogden Park, also known as Ogden Skating Park, was a recreational facility on the near north side of <a title="Chicago" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago">Chicago</a> around the 1860s and 1870s. It was home to the Ogden Skating Club. It was on a piece of land east of where Ontario Street (at that time) T-ed into Michigan Avenue. Today's Ontario Street continues several blocks eastward, through the site of that old park.The first newspaper references to the park and the skating club appear in local newspapers in 1861, where its location was termed "the foot of Ontario Street". City directories for 1867 and 1869-70 give the location of "Ogden Skating Park" as "Ontario, corner Seneca." Seneca Street was one block east of St. Clair Street and two blocks east of Pine Street, which later became part of the extended Michigan Avenue. Seneca ran between Ontario Street and Illinois Street. It was erased as the land was developed. References to the park appear to cease after 1870. It was, of course, inside the burn zone of the <a title="Great Chicago Fire" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chicago_Fire">Great Chicago Fire</a> in the fall of 1871.With no skating possible in the summer, baseball games were played at the park. Most of them were between local amateur ball clubs, but there were occasional professional games. On July 31, 1869, the park was the neutral site for a match between the <a title="Cincinnati Red Stockings" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Red_Stockings">Cincinnati Red Stockings</a> and the <a title="Rockford Forest Citys" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockford_Forest_Citys">Rockford Forest Citys</a>. The Reds won 53-32. The game was close until Cincinnati score 19 in the sixth inning and 10 in the seventh.[Chicago Tribune, August 1, 1869, p.4] Several players on the teams, including Rockford pitcher <a title="Albert Spalding" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Spalding">Albert Spalding</a>, would later become stars for Chicago.During 1870 the park was rented to the professional, then-independent baseball club, the <a class="mw-redirect" title="Chicago White Stockings (1870–89)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_White_Stockings_(1870%E2%80%9389)">Chicago White Stockings</a>, as a practice field and for a number of regulation games, usually against local or lesser-known opponents, or sometimes even college teams.Most of the ball club's "legitimate" games (as the Chicago Tribune termed them), against national professional teams (many of which would turn up in the <a title="National Association of Professional Base Ball Players" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Professional_Base_Ball_Players">National Association</a> the following year) were held at the <a title="Dexter Park (Chicago)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_Park_(Chicago)">Dexter Park</a> race track near the stockyards.Overall, the White Stockings played about half their games at each venue, during a home season that ranged from late May to mid-November. [wikipedia] Stockings played about half their games at each venue, during a home season that ranged from late May to mid-November. [wikipedia])
F. Sanford + (A "Sandford" was listed as third … A "Sandford" was listed as third baseman in a July 1866, game. See http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038519/1866-08-01/ed-1/seq-3/.Listed as secretary at club's founding, but may have been replaced by Henry F. Roll later in the year. See <a href="http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038521/1866-12-01/ed-1/seq-5.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038521/1866-12-01/ed-1/seq-5.pdf</a>rica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038521/1866-12-01/ed-1/seq-5.pdf</a>)
Lightfoot Club of Lamar House, Knoxville + (A "colored" club.)
In Sacramento in 1854 + (A "game of ball" was played on 2nd street above the Columbia Hotel." Sacramento Transcript, April 1, 1851. The ball game is not specified.)
Daybreak Club of Jackson + (A 1937 newspaper article claimed that a baseball game was played in Jackson on July 4, 1845. No source for this is given. See Morris, "Baseball Fever," citing the Jackson Citizen Patriot, Sept. 19. 1937)
Whacks + (A 2017 web search for <whacks london street game> returns only the Gomme source.)
Ontario Club of Oswego + (A BBC is mentioned in the Oswego Palladium, July 29, 1859, along with 2 cricket clubs and a wicket club.)
White Stockings Club of Sycamore + (A Blackhawks Club existed in 1872. See Sycamore True Republican, Jan. 20, 1906)
Chelsea Club of New York + (A Chelsea Jr. club mentioned in the New York Clipper, July 27, 1867)
1st Nine v 2d Nine on 29 November 1873 + (A December 19 challenge notice describes the "FBBClub of Co. H 6th U. S. Cavalry.)
In Providence in 1828 + (A Dick Hefferline appears on the 1820 census for Providence. The reference is undoubtedly prior to 1828.)
Grant Base Ball Club of Philadelphia + (A Grant club is said to have existed in 1865. See Philadelphia City Item, Oct. 7, 1865, Tholkes RIM. See Protoball 19C clippings. Aka U.S. Grant)
Hancock Club of Boston + (A Hancock club of Boston played the MA game and was established in 1857. See Lovett, James D’Wolf; Old Boston Boys and the Games They Played; Little, Brown & Company; 1908, cited in Kittel Protoball article on the MA game.)
Club of Amman + (A Palestine national baseball/sof … A Palestine national baseball/softball federation was formed in 2017, according to the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WSBC) website, headquartered in Ramallah. The city and area were once part of Jordan. The area is now governed by the Palestinian National Authority. by the Palestinian National Authority.)
Fox River Base Ball Club of McHenry + (A Puzzlers BBC was formed in 1876 in McHenry. McHenry Plaindealer, Aug. 30, 1876)
Marble City Club of Lemont + (A South Lemon Reapers club was defeated 49-11 by the Lockport Sleepers in 1874. See Will County Courier, Aug. 19, 1874)
Mt. Vernon Base Ball Club of Morgan Park + (A bb game was played in "Prospect … A bb game was played in "Prospect Park" on July 4, 1875. See Chicago Tribune, June 27, 1875. Is this the Prospect Park that is now located in Morgan Park? Or a separate community? There was a PP in what is now Clarendon Hills, and another near Bloomingdale.rendon Hills, and another near Bloomingdale.)
Lowell Club of Boston v Medford on 16 October 1861 + (A brief account of this game, and a photo of the ball used in the game, is in the Boston Globe, Dec. 25, 1910.)
Olympic Club of St. Louis + (A club of Washington University students? See St. Louis Post Dispatch, Nov. 17, 1968)
Pesapallo + (A diagram of the game can be found at https://sites.psu.edu/ballgamesoftheworld/ball-and-bat-games/ Pesapallo was a demonstration sport at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. [ba])
Union grounds, Cincinnati + (A drawing of the Union grounds is in the Our Game blog, April 8, 2019)
Playground Ball + (A full explanation of Playground … A full explanation of Playground Ball can be found in the Pensacola News Journal, May 5, 1908. The game was designed to be playable in limited spaces. 10 players a side. The batter can run to either first or third. 5 inning games. A tally for each time a batter gets on base safely. Each side of the diamond 35 feet long. Pitcher 30 feet away from the batter. Bats are mere sticks no more than 2 inches in diameter. [ba]mere sticks no more than 2 inches in diameter. [ba])
Washington Club of Brooklyn + (A junior club? See list of 1858 Brooklyn junior clubs at Chronologies 1858.47.)
Massapoag Club of Sharon v Olympic Club of Boston on 29 June 1857 + (A lengthy article on this game is in the Boston Globe, March 27, 1888)
1838.12 + (A more detailed newspaper account … A more detailed newspaper account says that Fisher Ames' 12-year-old son, who was playing "ball" with some other boys, threw a ball at Moor, who then attacked the boy. The father rushed over and split Moor's skull with a "club."Fisher Ames (1800-85) beat the murder rap. The son was probably Charles Ira Ames. [ba]Bill Humber furnished the following account, from a local doctor: "Hazleton Moore.... was drunk and joined in the game of ball in front of the store. Something Ames said or did provoked him and instead of throwing the ball to him he threw it at him, when Ames rushed towards him and struck him with the club in the head. He ... died the next day. The inquest... resulted in the acquittal of Ames on my evidence, that the blow need not have been fatal had M's skull not been extraordinarily thin."Another account, from 1890: "It was in 1837 that Hazleton Moore was killed. I was there at the time. Ames was a very passionate man, and his first blow might be excused on that ground, but he struck him twice, the second blow when he was lying insensible on the ground. The Americans.... bribed Moore's wife to say away, and her absence at the trial helped to get Ames off. She acted badly."say away, and her absence at the trial helped to get Ames off. She acted badly.")
1862.11 + (A note identifies this section as having been written in 1862, along with one that prohibits shaking carpets on public lands, including streets, lanes, alleys, etc.)
1860.20 + (A political cartoon of the day sh … A political cartoon of the day showed Lincoln playing ball with other candidates. It can be viewed at <a href="http://www.scvbb.org/images/image7/">http://www.scvbb.org/images/image7/</a>. Thanks to Kyle DeCicco-Carey for the link.t; Thanks to Kyle DeCicco-Carey for the link.)
1830s.16 + (A previous Protoball entry, liste … A previous Protoball entry, listed as #1840s.16: "He [Abraham Lincoln in the 1840s] joined with gusto in outdoor sports foot-races, jumping and hopping contests, town ball, wrestling . . . " Source: a limited online version of the 1997 book edited by Douglas L Wilson and Rodney O. Davis, Herndon's Informants (U of Illinois Press, 1997 or 1998). Posted to 19CBB on 12/11/2007 by Richard Hershberger. Richard notes that the index to the book promises several other references to Lincoln's ballplaying but [Jan. 2008] reports that the ones he has found are unspecific.. Note: can we chase this book down and collect those references?Earlier versions of this find were submitted by Richard Hershberger (2007) and John Thorn (2004). tted by Richard Hershberger (2007) and John Thorn (2004). )
Rounders - Britain + (A relatively complete description … A relatively complete description of "roundstakes", or "rounders," as played in Eastern Massachusetts in about 1870, is found at [[roundstakes]]. The account is shown in that item's "Supplemental Text."--An aside: Plugging in Rounders? About baserunning, Gomme (page 145) writes in 1898: "As soon as (the batter)has struck the ball, he runs from the base to the first boundary stick, then to the second, and so on. His opponents in the meantime secure the ball and endeavor to hit him with it as he is running." Protoball has found scant evidence that rounders included retiring baserunners by hitting them with the thrown ball. On May 7 2022, however, John Thorn posted this excerpt from Wickets in the West by R. A. Fitzgerald, published in 1873 and covering the 1872 cricket tour of the US:"To sum it up, (base ball) is an improvement on our old schoolboys' game of rounders, without, however, the most attractive part to the English schoolboy -- the 'corking'. We can see still, and we are not sure that we cannot still feel, the quiver of the fat boy's nether parts, as the ball, well-directed, buried itself in his flesh." Putting baserunners out via a thrown ball, recalled as "corking" in this English account, has been called "plugging," "soaking," "burning," etc., in America. In about 1810, Block notes, the French game [[Poisoned Ball]] used the tactic, and the German [[Giftball]] (Poison ball) seems to have, as well. --son ball) seems to have, as well. --)
1859.1 + (A research note by Jim Overmyer o … A research note by Jim Overmyer on why the game occurred in Pittsfield appears as Supplemental Text below. For a stern critique of the student time spent away from studying, see The Congregationalist [Boston], September 2, 1859, cited at https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/amherst-and-williams-play-the-first-intercollegiate-game-of-baseball-1859-b1c0255f6338, posted January 15, 2018. 255f6338, posted January 15, 2018. )
Excelsior Club of Baltimore v Potomac Club of Washington in 1859 + (A search of online newspapers shows no record of any 1859 game.)
Athlete Jr Base Ball Club of Philadelphia2 + (A separate Jr club from the one organized on June 3, 1866 located in the Twentieth Ward.)
1848.10 + (A team size of 12 and three-game match are consistent with some Mass game contests.)
21st Century Townball + (A video of the game is at: A video of the game is at: <a href="http://ds.uhs.csufresno.edu/video/websiteMedia/townball16.mp4">http://ds.uhs.csufresno.edu/video/websiteMedia/townball16.mp4</a> [loads slowly 9/8/2107]--Some particularly interesting variants from baseball include [note that key cricket characteristics are retained]: [] No foul balls [and no foul territory][] Plugging of runners is allowed[] Basepath distance progresses from from 42' to 110'feet sequentially[] Batters defend a "zone" as cricket batters defend a wicket[] Optional running except for third strike.[] No set batting order -- can vary inning to inning et [] Optional running except for third strike. [] No set batting order -- can vary inning to inning )
Waggles + (A web search for "waggles england" in 2017 returns only the 1898 Gomme citation of the game.)
D. Eagan + (AKA D. Eagan)
Hit the Bat + (AKA Roll-the-Bat, Cherry, Rollabat. Cf. Sullivan, "Roll-the-Bat," Southwest Folklore 4 (1980) pp. 84-86; Cohen, The Games We Played (2001), p. 77)
Symmes2 + (AKA Symms)
1860.45 + (About 20% of the games covered in … About 20% of the games covered in available 1860 newspaper accounts of base ball in Syracuse depict "old-fashioned base ball" as played by a set of five area clubs. The common format for these games was a best-two-of-three match of games played to 25 "tallies" [not runs]. A purse of $25 was not uncommon. Teams exceeded nine players. However, no account laid out the details of the playing rules, or how they differed from those of the National Association. An 1859 article suggested that the game was the same as "Massachusetts "Base Ball," giving the only firm clue as to its rules. ng the only firm clue as to its rules. )
Barn Ball (House Ball) + (Abraham Lincoln is said to have played barn ball with enthusiasm in Springfield c. 1858. Nicholas Young remembered playing barn ball in the Mohawk Valley in the 1850s.)
In St. Louis in 1860 + (According to "Baseball Pioneers" the Morning Star BBC played town ball for several years prior to 1860. )
Morning Star Club of St. Louis + (According to Jeff Kittel in "Baseball Pioneers" the Morning Star BBC played town ball for several years prior to 1860. )
Star Club of Newark2 + (According to Newark Daily Advertiser of 8/21/1866, the players were members of the Young Men's Catholic Association. This is a different club from the 1861 Star Club of Newark)
1781s.4 + (According to Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, "lazzarone" referred to "the homeless idlers of Naples who live by chance work or begging." )
Judge's Spring + (According to http://nashvillehistory.blogspot.com/2014_05_01_archive.html, Judge's Spring (or McNairy's Spring), was located at approximately 7th Ave. and Jackson St. in Nashville.)
Brilliant Stars Club of Elizabeth + (According to the New Brunswick Daily Fredonian of 9/17/1869 - this was a "colored" club)
1860.42 + (According to the WSOT article, the Excelsior lineup included Creighton as pitching and third batter, Brainerd at 2B, and Leggett as catcher. Mr. Welling of the Knickerbockers served as umpire.)
Banana Ball + (According to this article, "banana ball" debuted in 2021: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/introducing-banana-ball-the-savannah-bananas-attempt-to-change-baseball/)
1854.13 + (Actually, Mr. Calthrop may have come along about 95 years too late to make that claim: see #[[1760s.1]] above.)
1827.2 + (Adams' use of a frame-within-a-fr … Adams' use of a frame-within-a-frame device is interesting to baseball history buffs, but the authenticity of the recollected game is hard to judge in a work of fiction. Mumford's lot was in fact an early Rochester ballplaying venue, and Thurlow Weed (see entry #[[1825c.1]]) wrote of club play in that period. Priscilla Astifan has been looking into Adams' expertise on early Rochester baseball. See #[[1828c.3]] for another reference to Adams' interest in baseball about a decade before the modern game evolved in New York City.re the modern game evolved in New York City.)
Club of Hamburg, Germany + (Additional sources for same report, with some detail. The Maine club involved reported as the Gorham Base Ball Club.)
1855.16 + (Adelman bases his analysis on the … Adelman bases his analysis on the premise that base ball's predecessor games were played mainly be juveniles. This premise can be questioned. Even discounting play by university youths up to 1845, adult play in the military and elsewhere was hardly rare before the Gothams and Knickerbockers formed in New York around 1840, as many entries in this chronology indicate. dicate. )
1853c.15 + (Adelman does not mention that until 1854 there were few other known clubs for the KBBC to challenge to match games. )
1862.9 + (Admission had occasionally also been charged for "benefit" games for charities or to honor prominent players.)
Pythian Club of Philadelphia v Mutual Club of Washington on 18 June 1871 + (African American Clubs)
Club of Columbus + (African American ball club.)
Club of Madison + (African American ball clubs.)
Unique Club of Brooklyn v Excelsior Club of Philadelphia on 3 October 1867 + (African American base ball.)
Young Americas Club of Manhattan v Golden Stars Club of Manhattan in September 1871 + (African American base ball.)
Club of Smyrna + (African American club.)
Colored Union Club of Williamsburg + (African American club.)
Pythian Club of Philadelphia v Mutual Club of Washington on 2 September 1871 + (African American club.)
In Albany in 1882 + (African American clubs.)
Unexpected Club of Rochester + (African-American team. Frederick Douglass' son Charles played for them.)
Bachelors Club of Albany + (African-American team)
Star Club of Los Angeles + (African-American. First inter-racial game in Los Angeles?)
1859.65 + (After the Eckford Club contradict … After the Eckford Club contradicted the claim that several players were resigning and moving to other clubs, the Clipper issued a retraction on December 3: "...we are pleased to learn that it is not correct, for we do not approve of these changes at all." e do not approve of these changes at all." )
Hamilton Club of Brooklyn + (Aka Hamilton Club of Bedford?)
Spencer Club of Boston + (Aka King Philip BBC?)
Melpomene Base Ball Club of New Orleans + (Aka Melpomenia)
Randall Club of Philadelphia + (Aka S. J. Randall Club. Named for a politician.)
Irwin Club of Philadelphia + (Aka William B. Irwin club. Men of a fire company.)
In New Bedford in 1868 + (Almost forgotten for 30 years!)
Softball Cricket + (Also played on the Isle of Man, the West Indies and the U.S.)
Manchester Mirror printers v Other Manchester printers on 6 April 1858 + (Also see The Peterborough Transcript, April 14, 1858 [ba])
Cassidy + (Also spelled "Cassady" and "Cassiday.")
Castrin + (Also spelled "Castrine")
1811.1 + (Altherr explains that Kingston Academy is British. This book appears to be a reprint of the 1805 London publication above at [[1805.3]].)
Sunrise Club of Paterson v Amateur Club of Paterson on 4 July 1866 + (Amateur Club was formerly the Empire Club)
Club of Saltillo + (American soldiers may have played … American soldiers may have played baseball in Saltillo in 1847. On January 30, 1847, Adolph Engelmann, an Illinois volunteer, reported: “During the past week we had much horse racing and the drill ground was fairly often in use for ball games.” [cited in Our Game blog]ames.” [cited in Our Game blog])
Excelsior Club of Baltimore + (An 1866 club called itself the Ex … An 1866 club called itself the Excelsior of West Baltimore. Baltimore American, Aug. 10, 1866.An Excelsior BBC played the Peabody for the city junior championship in 1867. Baltimore American, July 30, 1867.The Baltimore Daily Exchange, July 13, 1859, reports that in the past week the Excelsior BBC was formed, with W. D. Shurtz as president.This club may have been preceded in Baltimore by the "Urche" club. See McKenna, "Baltimore Baseball: The Beginning, 1858- 1872" the "Urche" club. See McKenna, "Baltimore Baseball: The Beginning, 1858- 1872")
Wright's Grove + (An 1868 image fsrom the CHS is in protopix. It was called Timothy Wright's Grove in the 1850s, after the co-owner of the Chicago Tribune.)
Alamo Plaza + (An 1869 game was played at the Arsenal Grounds. See San Antonio Express, Oct. 17, 1965)
Williams Hall + (An 1888 photo of Williams Hall and College Hall is in the MSU archives. See https://onthebanks.msu.edu/Object/162-565-2041/78-williams-hall-and-college-hall-circa-1888/)
In New Haven in 1843 + (An Etna Wicket Club of New Haven mentioned in NY Clipper, Nov. 21, 1857)
Peabody Club of Baltimore + (An Excelsior BBC played the Peabody for the city junior championship in 1867. Baltimore American, July 30, 1867.)
Irving Club of Williamsburg + (An Irving Jr. Club is mentioned in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 16, 1867)
Ivanhoe Club of Brooklyn + (An Ivanhoe (jr) Club of Bedford (Brooklyn) is mentioned in the New York Dispatch, July 8, 1866)
In Indianapolis in 1859 + (An ad for organizing a cricket club in the Indianapolis Star, July 26, 1864)
Club of Houston + (An article in PSOT April 27, 1861 says this club was formed on the 4th.)
Union Club of St. Louis + (An article on early St. Louis bas … An article on early St. Louis baseball in "The Sporting News" Nov. 2, 1895 says the Union Club defeated the Empire BBC 15-14 in Dec., 1859, hen lost to the Empire 15-14 on New Years Day, 1860. The two clubs played four times 1860-61, the Union winning two 53-15 and 30-17, and losing two 9-21 and 20-24. [ba]d 30-17, and losing two 9-21 and 20-24. [ba])
Cyclone Club of St. Louis + (An article on early St. Louis baseball in "The Sporting News" Nov. 2, 1895 says the Cyclones lost an early game to the Morning Star BBC 21-36.)
Star Club of Bloomfield + (An extensive article on the Stars can be found in Samuel Pierson, "Thumbing the Pages of Baseball History in Bloomfield" (1939). They played at "The Green, on a diamond situated just north of Monroe Place." [ba])
1821.7 + (An interesting aspect of this dra … An interesting aspect of this drawing is that there appear to be four defensive players and only two offensive players . . . unless the two seated gentlemen in topcoats have left them on while waiting to bat. One might speculate that the wicketkeepers are permanently on defense and the other pairs alternate between offense and defense when outs are made. Another possibility is that all players rotate after each out, as was later seen in scrub forms of base ball.Also note the relative lack of open area beyond the wickets. Perhaps, as in single-wicket cricket, running was permitted only for balls hit forward from the wicket. wicket. )
Hornie-Holes (also Kittie-Cat) + (An obscure poem reportedly recite … An obscure poem reportedly recited during this game seems to suggest it was played in Scotland. See Alice Bertha Gomme, The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (London, D. Nutt, 1894), page unspecified. t; (London, D. Nutt, 1894), page unspecified. )
1858.7 + (An oddity: in a July intramural c … An oddity: in a July intramural contest, batter Bickham claimed 58 runs of his team's 190 total, while the second most productive batsman mate scored 30, and 5 of his 10 teammates scored fewer than 6 runs each. One wonders what rule, or what typo, would lead to that result.le, or what typo, would lead to that result.)
Aipuni + (Andrews' 1865 "Dictionary pf the … Andrews' 1865 "Dictionary pf the Hawaiian Language" p. 279 contains the following:"Ki-ni-ho-lo. s. kini and holo, to run. the name of a particular game of ball, similar to base ball."Other sources say the more common name for a ball game is kinipopo. [ba]r sources say the more common name for a ball game is kinipopo. [ba])
1851.2 + (Angus Macfarlane's research shows … Angus Macfarlane's research shows that many New Yorkers were in San Francisco in early 1851, and in fact several formed a "Knickerbocker Association." Furthermore he discovered that several key members of the eastern Knickerbocker Base Ball Club -- including de Witt, Turk, Cartwright, Wheaton, Ebbetts, and Tucker -- were in town. "[I]n various manners and at various times they crossed each other's paths." Angus suggests that they may have been involved in the 1851 games, so it is possible that they were played by Knickerbocker rules . . . at a time when in New York most games were still intramural affairs within the one or two base ball clubs playing here.>)
1851.8 + (Another game in Sacramento was covered in April of 1854. John Thorn suggests that "the above 'game of ball' may be inferred to be baseball (I think).")
Soak Ball + (Anson also mentions: "I longed .... to be playing soak ball, bull pen or two old cat..." during this time (schoolboy days--he was born in 1852 and raised in Marshalltown, IA).)
Alert Club of Washington v Unique Club of Chicago in September 1871 + (Any indication as to why the second game report for this African American club cites a score for 8 innings?)
Targette + (Any new evidence on the nature and extent of targette play?)
1855.19 + (Articles published later in the & … Articles published later in the New York Clipper, the Spirit of the Times, the New-York Daily Times, and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle announced the first appearance in print of 18 new clubs in the Greater NYC region during 1855.> announced the first appearance in print of 18 new clubs in the Greater NYC region during 1855.)
1853.7 + (As a way of teaching nature [each … As a way of teaching nature [each chapter introduces several birds, insects, and "wild plants"] this book follows a group of boys and girls of unspecified age [post-pubescent, we guess] through a calendar year. The bass-ball/rounders reference above is one of the few times we run across both terms in a contemporary writing. So, now: Is the author denoting are there two distinct games with different rules, or just two distinct names for the same game? The syntax here leaves that distinction muddy, as it could be the former answer if the children played bass-ball and rounders separately that [June] day. Richard's take on the bass-ball/rounders ambiguity: "It is possible that there were two games the party played . . . but the likelier interpretation is that this was one game, with both names given to ensure clarity." David Block [email of 2/27/2008] agrees with Richard. Richard also says "It is possible that as the English dialect moved from "base ball" to "rounders," English society concurrently moved from the game being played primarily played by boys and only sometimes being played by girls. I am not qualified to say."being played by girls. I am not qualified to say.")
Rockford Club of Rockford + (As listed in the Box score of the … As listed in the Box score of the Chicago game (Trib, 8-24-70), the Rockford nine consisted of:Armstrong, Graham, Williams, Winn, Wright, Abraham, Pender, Kingman and Thomas.Rockford had 83 "colored" residents in 1870, per the census.lt;p>Rockford had 83 "colored" residents in 1870, per the census.)
1828.17 + (As of 2018, we do not know the lo … As of 2018, we do not know the location, game type, or rules for this game.It is interesting that the man identified his position as short stop, perhaps indicating that predecessor baserunning games in New England had already developed skill positions' decades before the Knickerbocker club formed. efore the Knickerbocker club formed. )
In Wellington on 17 November 1888 + (As of 2021, we know of two earlie … As of 2021, we know of two earlier game reports of games in NZ.See [[https://protoball.org/Marton_Base_Ball_Club]] (1881 game).See [[https://protoball.org/Hicks-Sawyer_Minstrel_Co._side_1_v_Hicks-Sawyer_Minstrel_Co._side_2_in_November_1888]] (unsourced 1888 game).Lyttleton is a nearby port city. The Hicks-Sawyer "negro" minstrel troupe toured New Zealand and Australia 1888-89. This troupe had its own baseball club, which played numerous games against the local clubs. Cf. Sydney Referee, Aug. 30, 1888; Melbourne Age, Feb. 23, 1889; Adelaide South Australian Register, April 8, 1889; Broken Hill Barrier Miner, April 20, 22, 1889. [ba];South Australian Register, April 8, 1889; Broken Hill Barrier Miner, April 20, 22, 1889. [ba])
London Base Ball Club v Club of Delaware Township on 12 September 1856 + (As of April 2021 this game is also listed under "predecessor games." The Delaware is a club of Delaware Township, 10 km west of London,)
1874.2 + (As of February 2017, data on earl … As of February 2017, data on early ballplaying in the Chattanooga area are sparse. They include five accounts of soldierly play during the Civil War and brief mentions of area base ball clubs after the warProtoball believes "shinny" to be a game resembling field hockey and ice hockey, and not a baserunning game.Protoball has only two other reports of the game of "baste" in a Princeton student's diary in 1786 and in a biography of Benjamin Harrison on his teenage activities in the Cincinnati area. A good guess is that baste was a variant spelling of "base," a base ball precursor.The Cleveland Banner is a newspaper in Cleveland TN. Banner is a newspaper in Cleveland TN. )
1840s.31 + (As of Jan 2013, this is one of th … As of Jan 2013, this is one of three uses of "gool" instead of "goal" in ballplaying entries, all in the 1850s and found in western MA and ME. [To confirm/update, do an Enhanced Search for "gool".] One of these, at [[1850s.33]] uses "gool" as the name of the game. See also Supplemental Text, below.;Supplemental Text, below.)
1738.1 + (As of January 2023, this appears to be one of Protoball's ten earliest reports of ballplaying in the United States, and the third to appear in what is now New York City. It may be the first know legal action taken against ballplaying.)
Bete-Ombro + (As of January 2023, this is all we know about Bete-ombro. The second rule, above, would seem to distinguish it from cricket.)
1858.73 + (As of July 2022, Protoball lists over 260 base ball clubs from that era. Bruce Allardice adds, 7/30/2022: "the [Boston Post's] 25 number seems to come from the number of clubs that attended the 1858 convention.")
Bace + (As of June 2019, Protoball has only 3 references to “base,” one in the 1300s and two in 1805.)
1813.3 + (As of June 2022, Protoball is not aware of accounts of ballplaying in Hawthorne's works. For a reference to his note on 1862 ballplaying near Alexandria VA, see [[1862.47]]. )
1867.22 + (As of March 2021, this appears to … As of March 2021, this appears to be the earliest reference to a right -- in the form of special tickets -- to exclusive seating being bestowed to reporters. Peter Morris discusses press coverage arrangements in Morris, A Game of Inches (Ivan Dee, 2006), section 14.5.3, pp 403 ff. He cites two Henry Chadwick sources of press areas in June and August 1867 at the Brooklyn Union Grounds and then the Capitoline and Irvington grounds. then the Capitoline and Irvington grounds. )
Magnolia Ball Club of New York + (As of September 2014, we have no … As of September 2014, we have no evidence as to the playing rules this club employed. Thus, we don't yet know whether the game played resembled the Knickerbocker game, codified in 1845, or not. The depiction of stakes for bases, if accurate, might suggest to some that the game was related to what in 1858 was described as the Massachusetts game -- however, the Mass game then used overhand deliveries to batsmen. ;p> )
Slaball + (As of September 2017, we find no other mention of a game by this name in English-language web searches.)
Strike-Out + (As of Spring 2022, we are seeking … As of Spring 2022, we are seeking additional information on local "strike-zone-on-wall" games.One sees strike zones displayed on school-yard and other walls in many geographical areas.What names were used for such games in different areas? Did any involve actual base-running?Are such games known outside the US? Did most use standard tennis balls? such games known outside the US? Did most use standard tennis balls?)
1868.8 + (As of mid 2023, the Protoball Chr … As of mid 2023, the Protoball Chronology includes about 40 entries alluding to Rochester NY from 1825 to 1868. Nearly half have been generously contributed by crack Rochester digger Priscilla Astifan. Most of the games reported appear to be base ball-like games, but 8 refer to cricket, wicket and trap ball. Ten entries refer to soldierly play during the Civil War.Priscilla reported on 5/18/2023: "I haven't yet found any notice in the available newspapers of the game being played or not. But at least the intention was interesting." the intention was interesting." )
Eckford Club of Brooklyn v Eckford Club of Brooklyn on 15 April 1862 + (As per the newspaper report, each side featured 10 players and five first nine players, per side. Sprague pitched for "Wood's Side." )
1830c.30 + (Ashtabula (1850 population: 821 s … Ashtabula (1850 population: 821 souls) is about 55 miles NE of Cleveland OH and a few miles from Lake Erie. The town of Jefferson OH is about 8 miles inland [S] of Ashtabula."The Sentinel" is presumably the Ashtabula Sentinel. ;is presumably the Ashtabula Sentinel. )
Brown Square + (Astifan, "Baseball in the 19th Ce … Astifan, "Baseball in the 19th Century" says Brown Square was the site of Rochester's first match game.Other early games were played at Jones Square, Franklin Square, and the Babbitt Tract.The 1860 Rochester map shows Jones Square bounded by Jones Avenue on the south, bounded by Schuyler on the east, about where the modern Jones Square is.Franklin Square in 1860 was on the east side of the river, bounded by Andrews on the south, Bowery on the north, and bisected by Chatham (north/south running street)."Mumford's meadow" was the site of a (predecessor?) baseball game c. 1825. See chronologies. The site of this meadow is shown in the linked-to pdf.eball game c. 1825. See chronologies. The site of this meadow is shown in the linked-to pdf.)
Gazelles Club of Evanston + (At a guess, this club played their home games on the campus, what would be known as "Oak Grove" or "University Grove" near the modern-day college library.)
In Burma in 1909 + (At a guess, this is the original … At a guess, this is the original of the note in Spalding's The National Game about American oil workers playing baseball in Burma. The Spalding phot collection, NYPL, has a photo of what may be this team, said to be employees of the Rangoon Oil Co., in "Yenamgyat, Upper Burmah." This location is probably Yenangyaung. This location is probably Yenangyaung. )
In Rochester in 1841 + (At or near Rochester)
1861.25 + (At the time the 40th was stationed at Camp Sedgwick, near Fairfax, VA.)
White Stockings Club of Chicago + (Attached image is that of Colonel Norman Gassette (1839-91), first club president, a prominent Chicago lawyer and politician. Club vice president was Willard F. Wentworth (1838-1910), a former city treasurer.)
University Base Ball Club of Chapel Hill + (Augustus W. Graham, son of former … Augustus W. Graham, son of former senator Graham, wrote his father on Sept. 10, 1867 from Chapel Hill that his university club defeated the Crescent of Raleigh "last Saturday" 54-36, for the championship of the state. See the Papers of William A. Graham, vol. 7 See the Papers of William A. Graham, vol. 7)
Club of Austin + (Austin had 4,051 residents in 1890.)
Eckford Club of Brooklyn v Harlem Club of New York on 20 August 1859 + (Balls Pitched Pidgeon (Eckford): 44-28-28-24-51-15-10-30-65 - 295 Thompson (Harlem): 19-31-25-17-23-36-41-44-14 - 250 (E. Miklich))
Rough and Ready Club of Brooklyn v Baltic Club of Brooklyn on 15 September 1858 + (Baltic of New York? [ba])
Oakland Club of South River + (Baltimore American, Aug. 4, 1869)
1855.37 + (Barre MA (1855 pop. about 3000) is about 60 miles W of Boston. Hardwick, Hubbardstown, Oakham, New Braintree and Petersham are 8-10 miles from Barre. Poor Dana MA was disincorporated in 1938.)
1859.50 + (Barre MA (1860 pop. about 3000) is about 60 miles W of Boston and about 8 miles NE of Hardwick MA.)
Club of Barton v Club of Burlington on 9 August 1861 + (Barton is the name of the township Hamilton is in. See Club of Barton entry. [ba])
In Clinton Circa 1859 + (Baseball was played at Hamilton in 1860.)
Newark Club of Newark v Olympic Club of Newark on 13 July 1855 + (Based on current research, this a … Based on current research, this appears to be the first game played between two New Jersey clubs by New York rules. The two teams played previously on June 13th, but based on the available information, they didn't use New York rules. For this game, the short article and rough box score show nine players on a side and a 31-10 score. The total of 31 runs is in excess of the Knickerbocker's 21, but it may be that the Newark Club batted first and went beyond 21 before the side was retired. In addition a New York Clipper article, date unknown, said that the Newark Club won with "ten runs to spare" and there could also be a number of explanations why the game went on after the Newark Club scored 21 runs. The next potential game by New York rules between New Jersey clubs was the Newark Club's 27 - 19 win over the Newark Juniors on 9/5/1855. Here again there were nine players on a team and the score is closer to what we might expect by Knickerbocker rules.rbocker rules.)
Franklin Club of Detroit v Franklin Club of Detroit on 15 August 1857 + (Beaubien Farm was a cricket club grounds. A game reported in the Detroit Free Press Aug. 23, 1857 is of two 10 on 10 intersquad games, with the scores 21-11 and 21-19. )
Enterprise Club of Bedford + (Bedford was and is a neighborhood of Brooklyn)
1862.12 + (Beecher is here lauding exercise that is both vigorous and inexpensive.)
Pastimes Club of Richmond v Picked nine on 30 July 1867 + (Benefit game for the Masonic Educational Committee Fund. $115 surplus over expenses donated on 19 August.)
Everett Club of Hackensack + (Bergen County Democrat and New Jersey State Register, 7/6/1866)
Quickstep Club of Bergen + (Bergen merged into Jersey City in 1870.)
1856.25 + (Berkshire MA is about 5 miles NE of Pittsfield and about 10 miles E of New York state border. This may have been a wicket match. One wonders why a Friday match would have been held.)
1849.10 + (Beth Hise [email of 3/3/2008] rep … Beth Hise [email of 3/3/2008] reports that the wearing of colored ribbons was a much older tradition.Note: One may ask if something got lost in the relay of this story to Wisconsin. We know of no wicket in England, and neither wicket or cricket used nine-player teams.et in England, and neither wicket or cricket used nine-player teams.)
1859.73 + (Bill Hicklin, 10/5/20 points out … Bill Hicklin, 10/5/20 points out that "Militia regiments in that period, especially in major East Coast cities and in the South, were as much social clubs as anything, organized mostly to hold balls and banquets. Compare the New York volunteer fire companies of the 1840s. A 'Road Trip to New York' would have been right up their alley."Protoball had asked: Was it common for southern soldiers to travel to the north in 1859? Bruce Allardice: "This was not common. The cost was too great. The Richmond Grays were individually wealthy and could afford it. Drill competition between companies in various cities was common in 1859."From Bruce Allardice, 10/5/20: "The unit was a famous unit of the Virginia volunteer militia, its members being among Richmond's 'elite.'. Captain Elliott became a Confederate army Lt. Colonel. The unit served in the war as part [Company A] of the 1st Virginia Infantry CSA." Bill Hicklin, 10/5/20, adds that it fought "right through to Appomattox."Why the soldiers headed to a cemetery? Tom Gilbert pointed out, 10/5-6/20, that Green-wood Cemetery was even then a popular visitor attraction. "Green-wood cemetery in Brooklyn not only welcomed tourists but solicited them. The cemetery was designed with the goal of attracting the public. It imported the grave of Dewitt Clinton for that purpose. All of this predated the famous baseball grave monuments of course."From Richard Hershberger, 10/4/2020: "Richmond is rich with abortive early connections with baseball. In actual practice, baseball took off in Richmond in the summer of 1866, right on schedule for its location, regardless of prior contact with the game."Note: When base ball got to Richmond it really swept in: as of October 2020, Protoball shows no clubs prior to 1866, but 24 clubs prior to 1867. Some other Chronology entries touching on early base ball in Richmond include [[1857.36]], [[1861.1]], [[1863.99]], and [[1866.17]]. [[1866.17]]. )
1871.20 + (Bill Hicklin, 3/9/2016: … Bill Hicklin, 3/9/2016:"It's one of the commonplaces of the old origins debate that led to the Mills Commission that Henry Chadwick was foremost among those arguing that baseball evolved directly from rounders, and indeed he said so many times. In opposition stood those patriotic Americans such as Ward who claimed an indigenous heritage from the Old Cat games."med an indigenous heritage from the Old Cat games.")
Charter Oak Club of Jersey City + (Black Club)
Keystone Club of Jersey City + (Black Club)
Liberty Club of Jersey City + (Black Club)
Lincoln Club of Jersey City + (Black Club)
Oneida Club of Jersey City2 + (Black Club)
Oriental Club of Bergen + (Black Club)
Bachelor Club of Newark + (Black club)
1861c.3 + (Blair, whose grandfather was Lincoln's Postmaster General, lived in Silver Spring, MD, just outside Washington. Blair was born in 1858 or 1859.)
1809.1 + (Block adds: "Other games besides … Block adds: "Other games besides baseball, of course, could have borne the label Ball on that occasion, but none seem obvious. Cricket, football, trap-ball, stool-ball, golf, and various games in the hockey family ,including bandy, hurling, and shinty, all had a presence in the British Isles in that era, but there is no reason the passing multitude in London that day would have considered any of them a "novelty." nsidered any of them a "novelty." )
1850c.12 + (Block notes that the graphic is lifted by the same publisher's 1850 book, Frank and the Cottage).)
1755.3 + (Block points out that this diary … Block points out that this diary entry is (as of 2008) among the first four appearances of the term "base ball," [see #1744.2 and #1748.1 above, and #1755.4 below]. It shows adult and mixed-gender play, and indicates that "at this time, baseball was more of a social phenomenon than a sporting one. . . . played for social entertainment rather than serious entertainment." [Ibid, page 9.]William Bray is well known as a diarist and local historian in Surrey. His diary, in manuscript, came to light in England during the 2008 filming of Ms Sam Marchiano's award-winning documentary, "Base Ball Discovered." (As of late 2020, ITunes lists this documentary at https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/base-ball-discovered/id385353782. Its charge is $10. Another route is <a href="https://www.mlb.com/video/base-ball-discovered-c7145607">https://www.mlb.com/video/base-ball-discovered-c7145607</a>)As of 2019 the diary was missing again -- Block tells the sad story in Pastime Lost (U Nebraska Press, 2019), p. 37. p. 37. )
1749.2 + (Block points out that this very e … Block points out that this very early reference to base-ball indicates that the game was played by adults -- the Prince was 38 years old in 1749, further weakening the view that English base-ball was played mainly by juveniles in its early history.The location of the game was Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. Comparing the 1749 game with modern baseball, Block estimates that the bass-ball was likely played on a smaller scale, with a much softer ball, with batted ball propelled the players' hands, not with a bat, and that runners could be put out by being "plugged" (hit with a thrown ball) between bases. ith a thrown ball) between bases. )
Havana Base Ball Club + (Bob Tholkes found an item in the Washington (DC) Evening Star, Sept.10, 1867: "The Havana base ball club challenged and played its first match with the Matanzas club on Sunday last, but with no result. Another game is to come off there to-day.")
Matanzas Base Ball Club + (Bob Tholkes found an item in the Washington (DC) Evening Star, Sept.10, 1867: "The Havana base ball club challenged and played its first match with the Matanzas club on Sunday last, but with no result. Another game is to come off there to-day.")
In Alexandria in 1842 + (Bob Tholkes wonders: Is "town ball" the southern name for "base ball?")
1869.13 + (Bob Tholkes' thorough 2016 paper … Bob Tholkes' thorough 2016 paper [cited above] throws welcome light on the nature of elite base ball in period immediately following the Civil War, a period also associated with the rise of "Base Ball Fever" during which local clubs, representing individual companies, affinity groups, etc., formed clubs, some of which playing at sunrise [as early as five o'clock AM], prior to the work day. day. )
1867.25 + (Bob Tholkes, 5/6/2021: "Bob Tholkes, 5/6/2021: "Didn't know there was a funeral announcement."Richard Hershberger, 5/6/2021: "I don't know of any report of the association meeting or otherwise showing any sign of life after the war."In a 5/9/2021 search, Protoball doesn't find one after 1866 either.Note: Protoball has an 1868 clipping of a throwback game (28 innings, score 24-23) played by Mass rules. See https://protoball.org/Clipping:The_Mohawk_Club_reverts_to_amateur. 3) played by Mass rules. See https://protoball.org/Clipping:The_Mohawk_Club_reverts_to_amateur. )
1860.38 + (Box score provided; it is consistent with the National Association rules. Assuming that "Alleghany" is an alternative spelling for "Allegheny," this game occurred in a town absorbed into Pittsburgh PA in 1907.)
Charter Oak Club of Jersey City2 + (Box scores confirm this is a white club.)
Active Club of Brooklyn + (Box scores of the Active Jr. against the Washington Market BBC (undated) can be found in National Chronicle, April 17, 1869 )
1621.1 + (Bradford explained that the issue … Bradford explained that the issue was not that ball-playing was sinful, but that playing openly while others worked was not good for morale.Note: From scrutinizing early reports of stoolball, Protoball does not find convincing evidence that it was a base-running game by the 1600s.nvincing evidence that it was a base-running game by the 1600s.)
1762.2 + (Brian Turner, 8/31/2014, notes that the wording of this order could be taken to mean that the game itself was seen as a form of cricket, and was not a distinct game. )
1851.10 + (British sailors played rounders on the ice in Melville Bay, Greenland, Aug. 20, 1857. See Lloyd, "The Voyage of the Fox in the Arctic Seas")
Savannah Base Ball Club + (Bruce Allardice adds this note on … Bruce Allardice adds this note on the social makeup of the Savannah BBC [19CBB posting of 2/5/2016]: "George G. Kimball was born in 1843 in ME, died 1923, attended Bowdoin (ME) College. Journalist.William Forrestal May (1845-1920) was born in CT.“Flanders”–only Flanders in 1870 Savannah a mulatto.Edwin L. Beard was born in NY c. 1840.Peter S. Neidlinger (1853-97) a clerk who was born in Savannah of German immigrants.Peter Schaefer (1841-1902) was born in Germany.Charles Rossignol (born c 1850) was born in GA, as was William Nungezer Nichols (1852-1930)Frank Wagner Dasher (1852-88) was born in GA, of NY parents.From the above, it’s pretty clear that the team was not highly gentrified but was at least half transplants."rents. From the above, it’s pretty clear that the team was not highly gentrified but was at least half transplants.")
Clipping:Traditional Easter Ballplaying . . . Where Fast Day Play was Born? + (Bruce Allardice notes that "town corporation" was a British term for what we would call a city council. )
Clipping:An interracial game + (Brunson, "Black Baseball" says this Albion Club organized in 1868, but presents no cite prior to 1872. [ba])
1850s.49 + (Buckland is about 45 miles north … Buckland is about 45 miles north of Portland.The ages of players is not clear.As of Jan 2013, this is one of three uses of "gool" instead of "goal" in ballplaying entries, all in the 1850s and found in western MA and ME. [To confirm/update, do an enhanced search for "gool".] One of these [[1850s.33]] uses "gool" as the name of the game.1850s.33]] uses "gool" as the name of the game.)
In Buffalo in 1856 + (Buffalo Evening Post, April 4, 1851 ran an ad about a meeting to form a cricket club. Same July 15, 1856 mentions a proposed Albion Cricket Club. Same club as the Amateur?)
1844.18 + (By "plebeian," the writer presumably meant "not upper-class.")
1860.83 + (By 1860, most Massachusetts Rules games were being played to 75 runs, instead of the 100 specified in the rules adopted in 1858. A match for the state championship was abandoned, unfinished, after four days' play.)
Hansong YMCA Team Club of Seoul + (By 1920 there was a Korea baseball championship. See www.projectcobb.org.uk)
Lawrence Base Ball Club of Cambridge + (Cambridge had 26,060 residents in 1860.)
1864.18 + (Camp Sedgwick was in northern VA. FORT Sedgwick was near Petersburg, and not built after the Battle of the Wilderness. [ba])
1861.19 + (Camp Seminary was located near Fairfax Seminary in Alexandria VA, near Washington DC. One may infer that the 2nd NJ remained at winter quarters in Alexandria VA at this time, providing protection to Washington. )
Sacramento Base Ball Club v Union Club of Sacramento on 22 February 1860 + (Can we determine Spalding's sources for this account? Is the game account clear that New York rules were used?)
Mechanics Ball Club of Waltham + (Can we determine if this game was played by Mass game rules?)
Red Rover Base Ball Club of San Francisco + (Can we discover more about this club's foundation, history, and fate? )
1857.30 + (Cannot confirm this source. The rules described appeared in the New York Clipper, October 10, 1857.)
1844.16 + (Canton, NY is about 15 miles SE o … Canton, NY is about 15 miles SE of Ogdensburg NY. Its population in 2000 was a bit over 10,000.Ogdensburg [1853 population "about 6500"] is about 60 miles [NE] down the St. Lawrence River from Lake Ontario. It is about 60 miles south of Ottawa, about 120 miles north of Syracuse, and about 125 miles SW (upriver) of Montreal.miles SW (upriver) of Montreal.)
Whitney + (Catcher)
Flour City Club of Rochester v Niagara Club of Buffalo on 3 September 1858 + (Caution: Protoball has them playing in Buffalo that day, with a different score.)
Bonafon + (Center Field. Also spelled "Bonaf … Center Field. Also spelled "Bonaffon" and "Bonnaffon" in other sources. The Nashville City Directory lists "FV Bonnaffin" as a clerk for the quartermaster at a railroad depot. In 1867, "F.V. Bonnaffon" was stationed under the Nashville quartermaster in Kentucky.der the Nashville quartermaster in Kentucky.)
Marion Club of Brooklyn + (Cf Marion Base Ball Club of South Brooklyn. [ba])
1860.6 + (Chadwick emigrated from western E … Chadwick emigrated from western England, and is reported to have been familiar with rounders there.His claim that American base ball had evolved from English rounders was long refuted by fans of the American game.In 1871 Chadwick identified Two-Old-Cat as the parent of American base ball. See [[1871.20]] [1871.20]] )
Was Baseball Really Invented in Maine? + (Chapter 1 deals with baseball in Maine from statehood well into the 20th century and he does tie some of the early stories to newspaper documentation.)
When Towns Had Teams + (Chapters 1 and 2 deal with early Maine baseball.)
Chatham Club of Chatham + (Chatham was known as "Chatham Four Corners" until 1869.)
Chicopee Club of Groton v Riverside Base Ball Club of Nashua on 19 June 1869 + (Chicopee of Groton (Senior club) Riverside of Nashua (Junior club))
1859.6 + (Chris Hauser, in an email on 9/26/2007, estimates that this notice appeared in the New York Anglo-African, and was referenced in Leslie Heaphy's Negro League Baseball.)
1840.16 + (Chron serial#1840.16 was formerly assigned to stories of Abe Lincoln's ballplaying as a young man; see #[[1830s.16]] for that item.)
1859.19 + (Cilley himself does not attribute the 1859 injuries to plugging.)
1857.17 + (Clark then cites "a well-traveled … Clark then cites "a well-traveled myth in the American baseball community . . . that the first baseball played in Australia was by Americans on the gold fields of Ballarat in 1857 . . . . No documentation has ever been produced for a Ballarat gold fields game [also page 5]." a Ballarat gold fields game [also page 5].")

In Clarksburg Circa 1850 + (Clarksburg had 895 residents in 1860.)

1823c.9 + (Clay's book, which seems to make no other reference to ball-playing, was accessed 11/15/2008 via a Google Books search for <life of cassius>.)
Club of Fox Lake, WI v Club of Courtland on 4 June 1859 + (Club is of Fox Lake, WI not IL)
Excelsior Club of Ridgewood + (Club was formed about 7/1/1865)
Riverside Club of Nashua + (Club was organized October 1867, and reorganized March 11, 1868.)
In Apia on 16 October 1917 + (Collins, "Sea-tracks of the Speejacks" (1923) p. 48 has a photo of Americans and Samoans playing baseball in Pago Pago. Pago Pago is in American Samoa.)
Keystone Club of Newark + (Colored - African-American Club, played in 1866, 1867 and 1868)
Arlington Club of New Brunswick + (Colored Club)
Hamilton Club of Newark + (Colored or African-American Club, played matches in 1865 and 1866)
Robert Morris BBC of Philadelphia + (Composed of the members of the Robert Morris Hose Company. This department was founded on March 14, 1831 and was located on Lombard Street above 8th Street.)
1861.47 + (Contents of the 1860 Beadles publ … Contents of the 1860 Beadles publication include:[] a description of the game of rounders[] the 1845 Knickerbocker Rules (14 sections on field rules)[] A listing of 22 clubs formed 1845-1857[] The 1858 establishment of the NABBP[] The NABBP Rules of 1860 (38 sections)[] The 1858 Rules of the Massachusetts Game (21 Sections)[]Rules for the Formation of a ClubThe 1861 edition is reported to include player averages (runs per game)> []Rules for the Formation of a Club The 1861 edition is reported to include player averages (runs per game))
Clipping:A late example of the Massachusetts game + (Copied from another posting)
1778.7 + (Corlear's Hook was a noted ship landing place along the East River. Today there's a Corlears Hook Park on the site.)
Quickstep Club of Paterson v Active Club of Newark on 24 June 1864 + (Correcting score from Daily Register of 6/25)
Oina + (Corrections and addition to this … Corrections and addition to this account are encouraged. If readers know of Romanian speakers willing to help, some central questions include:[] What are the major playing rules?[] Does the game remain widely popular?[] What is know of the origins and history of the sport?lt;/p> [] What is know of the origins and history of the sport?)
1855.21 + (Craig Waff reported that, as far as he could tell, this was the first game in which the size of the assembled crowd was reported.)
1867.9 + (Creation of phantom jobs for ballplayers was a commonplace in baseball's amateur era.)
Pottsville Cricket Club in July 1858 + (Cricket Club in Pottsville 1858-66, and perhaps earlier. A "Ball Club" is mentioned in the same newspaper in 1843, but this might refer to "foot ball" (soccer).)
In Hanover in 1793 + (Cricket said to have been played at Dartmouth in the 1830s. See https://www.dreamcricket.com/articles/history-of-american-cricket/history-of-american-cricket-part-ii--1800-to-1850/)
In Worcester in 1860 + (Cricket said to have been played at Holy Cross College in Worcester prior to the Civil War. See Dream Cricket website.)
1870.6 + (Critics of the game had long insisted that low-scoring games were indicated play of higher quality.)
In GA in 1835 + (Curry attended school in Lincolnton, GA 1833, 1835-37, and the Willingdon Academy in SC in 1834.)
1867.23 + (Custis Lee, General Lee's son, had served on Lee's staff during the war. General Smith was superintendent at VMI. The flags referred to were probably foul-line flags used to mark the foul lines on fields not enclosed.)
1840s.45 + (Cutting is listed as a member of the Class of 1871, and thus probably had little direct knowledge of early campus sports. His impressions to round ball and perhaps wicket may have been relayed informally from older persons on campus.)
1862.50 + (D. P. Hopkins and Benjamin Frankl … D. P. Hopkins and Benjamin Franklin Ezell (1839 MS - 1913 TX) were members of Norris' Frontier Battalion which in March 1862 was stationed at/near Kerrville, TX. The Hopkins diary was published in the San Antonio Express, 1-13-1918. The March 15, 1862 entry (on page 23 of the Express) mentions this game, and mentions that the troops made their own ball out of yarn socks. [ba] made their own ball out of yarn socks. [ba])
1855c.10 + (Damon added: "[[Aipuni]], the Hawaiians called it, or rounders, perhaps because the bat had a larger rounder end.t was a a forerunner of baseball, but the broad, heavy bat was held close to thee ground.")
1820s.22 + (Danforth, born in 1822, became a judge. Williamstown MA is in the NW corner of the commonwealth, and lies about 35 miles E of Albany NY.)
1858.59 + (Dansville NY (2010 population about 4700) is about 40 miles S of Rochester in western NY. Per the Dansville Historical Society, the facility in question was a water cure (hydropathy) center called Our Home on the Hillside.)
In Peekskill in 1845 + (Date is approximate.)
1799.1 + (David Block (BBWKI, page 183; see … David Block (BBWKI, page 183; see also his 19CBB advice, below) notes that Cooke was in correspondence with her cousin Jane Austen in 1798, when both were evidently writing novels containing references to base-ball. Also submitted to Protoball 8/19/06 by Ian Maun.Cooke, like Austen, did seem to believe that readers in the early 1800s might be familiar with base- ball.rs in the early 1800s might be familiar with base- ball.)
BC2400c.1 + (David Block [Baseball Before We Knew It, page 303 (note 1)] writes that Piccione’s identification of seker-hemat with baseball is “apparently speculative in nature.”)
1847.11 + (David Block explains, 2/27/2008: … David Block explains, 2/27/2008: "Clearly, the writer had curling confused with ice hockey, which was itself an embryonic sport that the time." Or maybe he confused it with ice-hurling, which actually employs a ball. From Richard Hershberger, 12/8/09: "What makes this so interesting is that the response speaks of "bass ball" played on ice. This is a decade before such games were commonly reported, suggesting that the [later] practice by organized clubs was borrowed from older, informal play on ice."ubs was borrowed from older, informal play on ice.")
Pize Ball + (David Block in Pastime Lost posit … David Block in Pastime Lost posits that "pize-ball" and "tut-ball" were regional names for English baseball. I would toss in that "pize-ball" may well be a rounded-down form of dialectical "pizin-ball" i.e. poison-ball, which calls to mind the French la balle empoisonnee or Poison Ball: a very similar game where, again, the ball was swatted with the hand. --W C HicklinFrom Gomme, p. 45:"Pize BallSides are picked ; as, for example, six on one side and six on the other, and three or four marks or tuts are fixed in a field. Six go out to field, as in cricket, and one of thesethrows the ball to one of those who remain "at home," and the one "at home" strikes or pizes it with his hand. After pizing it he runs to one of the " tuts," but if before he can get to the " tut " he is struck with the ball by one of those in the field, he is said to be bumt^ or out. In that case the other side go out to field — ^Addy*s Sheffield Glossary. See " Rounders." that case the other side go out to field — ^Addy*s Sheffield Glossary. See " Rounders.")
1844.14 + (David Block observes: "David Block observes: "<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">the sentence describing the boy's skill at taking evasive action when threatened by soaking seems significant to me. I don't recall ever seeing this skill discussed before, and, although long obsolete, it must have stood as one of the more valuable tools of the base runner in the era of soaking/plugging ." era of soaking/plugging ." )
1856.13 + (David Block reports that these rules are generic, not restricted to one club. This may be the first publication specifically devoted to base ball.)
1830s.13 + (David Block's forthcoming 2019 book may address the rules of English Base-Ball in this period.)
1830c.39 + (David Block, 5/3/2021, on the ide … David Block, 5/3/2021, on the idea that ballplaying clubs were though to be extinct in 1837: "Not quite extinct."Tom Gilbert, 5/4/2021: "We knew -- largely indirectly -- that there were adult bb clubs and a thriving bb scene in NYC in the 1830s and probably earlier, but it is great to see confirmation, and by a contemporary source. This also underlines the importance of Stevens's Elysian Fields in helping to preserve the incipient sport from being snuffed out by rapid urban development, in a sort of incubator.<div>(And the connection between the gymnastics movement and the baseball movement is closer than might appear. We can identify Knickerbocker bbc club members, Excelsiors and others who exercised at NYC and Brooklyn gyms, including I believe Fuller's)."</div><div> </div><div>Stephen Katz, (19CBB posting 5/4/2021) points out that ironically, 1837 is also the year claimed for the establishment of the Gothams. See Wheaton letter at [[1837.1]]</div><div> </div><div> </div> 37.1]]</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> )
1820.1 + (David Block, David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 188, adds that it is unusual among chapbooks as "more space and detail are devoted to "playing ball" than to cricket, which at the time was a more established game." While the text does not explicitly mention or show base-running, David Block thinks of this as an early account of English base ball. this as an early account of English base ball. )
1848.1 + (David also feels that a new rule appeared in the 1848 list that a runner cannot score a run on a force out for the third out. David Block posting to 19CBB, 1/5/2006.)
1661.1 + (David further asks: "could it be that this is the source of the term putting "English" on a ball?")
American Base Ball Club of Brooklyn + (Days of exercise - Mondays and Thursdays Home Grounds - Harlem Cricket Grounds)
In Newtonville in 1823 + (Debate as to the location and exact date, with Bangor, ME the alternative. See 1823C.4, 1820S.12)
Gotham Club of New York + (Despite the conflicting views as to the pedigree of the team, for the time being all players and games from either the 1837 or 1853 incarnations of the Gothams appear on the page of the 1837 team. http://fast.protoball.org/Gothams_Club_of_New_York)
Gothams Club of New York + (Despite the conflicting views as … Despite the conflicting views as to the pedigree of the team, for the time being all players who appeared with either the 1837 or 1853 incarnations of the Gothams, as well as the 1851-1852 Washingtons, appear on this page. The 19thcbaseball website says this club played two games against the Knickerbockers in 1852. No score is given.inst the Knickerbockers in 1852. No score is given.)
Athletic Club of Brooklyn + (Did not play first match until May 25, 1868. Brunson, "Black Baseball" says there was a colored Athletic Club of Brooklyn)
Keystone Club of Jersey City2 + (Different from other (black) club of that name.)
Club of St. Louis + (Do we know how long this club played? )
California Base Ball Variant + (Do we know if this variant persisted in California? What do we know about the Cuban variant, and its fate?)
Richmond Club of Richmond v Spottswood Base Ball Club of Richmond on 23 November 1866 + (Do we know that this high-scoring game followed Association rules?)
1845.33 + (Do we know when this late-season … Do we know when this late-season intramural match was played? (Craig Waff's Games Tab lists Hoboken games on the 7th, 10th, 15th, and 18th of November 1845. The game on the 10th used eight players on a side and ended in at 32-22 score. See:https://protoball.org/Knickerbocker_Base_Ball_Club_of_New_York_v_Knickerbocker_Base_Ball_Club_of_New_York_on_10_November_1845Club_of_New_York_on_10_November_1845)
1784.1 + (Does it sound like hand ball ("fives") may be the troublesome type of play?)
Zephyrs of East Lexington + (Does this imply that the Mass Game was sometimes played with a square bat?)
1781.2 + (Dr. Lewis has written a essay on … Dr. Lewis has written a essay on early ballplaying at Harvard College; see Harry Lewis, "Protoball at Harvard: from Pastime to Contest," Base Ball Journal (Special Origins Issue), Volume 5, number 1 (Spring 2011), pages 41-45.s Issue), Volume 5, number 1 (Spring 2011), pages 41-45.)
1860.51 + (Dunkirk NY is about 45 miles SW of Buffalo on the shore of Lake Erie. Jamestown NY is about 60 miles S of Buffalo.)
1861.34 + (Duplicate of 1861.16?)
1862c.54 + (Duplicate of 1862.27)
1862.27 + (Duplicate of 1862C.54)
1863.95 + (Duplicate of 1863.29)
1811.3 + (Dyde's Hotel was "next door to the Park Theatre, facing the Park." W. Harrison Bayles, "Old Taverns of New York" (NYC, 1915), pp. 396-97. The "Park" referred to is presumably City Hall Park.)
Eutaw Club of Boiling Springs v Eagles Club of Paterson on 10 June 1867 + (Eagle Club won by two runs)
Omaha Trotting Park + (Earlier games of the Omaha BBC were played at 9th and Farnam; the Public Square; the corner of 20th and Cummings. See The Omaha Herald, April 25, July 18, Aug. 16, 1867)
Young Southern Base Ball Club of Nashville v Trix Club of North Nashville on 12 November 1868 + (Earlier in the year, the Trix of North Nashville played the Trix of South Nashville for the right to use that name.)
1865.24 + (Earliest comment on need for more than one pitcher on a club. From a 19cbb post by Robert Schaefer, Nov. 9, 2003)
1860.85 + (Early slow-ball pitcher Phonney M … Early slow-ball pitcher Phonney Martin claimed in a retrospective letter to have originated "twist" or drop pitching in 1862; this is apparently an exaggeration, but his description of how it was done using the pitching restrictions of the day is apropos:"This was accomplished by the first two fingers and thumb of the hand holding the ball, and by bending the fingers inward and turning the ball around the first two fingers I acquired the twist that made the ball turn towards me...This conformed to the rules, as the arm was straight in delivering the ball, and the hand did not turn outward." (quoted in Peter Morris, A Game of Inches, 2010, p.97n Peter Morris, A Game of Inches, 2010, p.97)
Ad Astra Club of Atchison + (Eberle, "Baseball Takes Root in Kansas" suggests the Ad Astra was the renamed 1867 club.)
Eckford Club of Brooklyn v Mutual Club of New York on 10 October 1864 1 + (Eckford catcher Waddy Beach listed as committing 14 passed balls.)
Eckford Club of Brooklyn v Gothams Club of New York on 31 August 1858 + (Eckford pitcher Frances Pidgeon hit two homeruns and Eckford shortstop John Grum hit one. (E. Miklich))
Eckford Club of Brooklyn v Union Club of Morrisania on 30 July 1863 + (Eckford pitcher Joe Sprague struck out nine Union batters. (E. Miklich))
Mutual Club of New York v Eckford Club of Brooklyn on 13 August 1863 + (Eckford scored 15 runs in their 6th innings.)
Stonewall Base Ball Club of Edgefield + (Edgefield is a neighborhood in the East Nashville area of Nashville, TN.)
1860.11 + (Edgefield is a residential area of Nashville on the east side of the Cumberland River. Now an historic neighborhood.)
1795.6 + (Editor's footnote #73 (1919?): "' … Editor's footnote #73 (1919?): "'Played at ball.' Sevier and son beat their antagonists four games. There were not enough (players?) for town-ball, nor for baseball, evolved from town-ball, and not yet evolved. There were not enough for bullpen. The game was probably cat-ball."Revolutionary War veteran John Sevier was nearly 50 years old in August 1795. He became Tennessee's first governor in the following year. His son John was 29 in 1795. > )
Hat Ball + (Edward Eggleston's 1882 novel "The Hoosier School-Boy" (stories of his growing up in southern Indiana c. 1850--he was born in Vevay, IN in 1837) contain a long explanation of "hat-ball." See chapter VII.)
Eckford Club of Brooklyn v Atlantic Club of Brooklyn on 21 July 1862 + (Eight thousand people made an app … Eight thousand people made an appearance for the second match in the Silver Ball series and 1,500 were admitted inside the Union Grounds.As per the New York Sunday Mercury, "The chalk line, for foul balls, was extended beyond the bases into the field, on each side, so that there could be no mistake as regarding foul balls - the umpire and spectators alike having a fair view of the ball when it struck near the line." As per the written rules for the 1862 season, the foul ball lines were to marked on the field from home base to the first and third bases. Foul Ball posts, six to eight feet high, were to be placed on the imaginary foul ball line, 100 feet behind first and third base as per the 1860 rules. These posts generally had a flag or banner with colors representing the home club. ***The foul ball lines were not required to be marked on the playing field until the written rules for the 1861 season. This does not suggest that it was not done earlier. In fact it probably was and as is the case in the development of base ball, this rule was instituted to overcome controversial umpire calls.The Umpire of the Match was Andrew T. Pearsall of the Excelsior Club. He was the regular first baseman for the Excelsior Club of Brooklyn from 1859-1860. He graduating from Columbia’s medical school in 1861 and since the Excelsior Club did not play any matches in 1861, reportedly 91 of their members joined the Union army, Pearsall became a physician in Brooklyn. He disappeared during the winter of 1862, without leaving a forwarding address to friends or his former baseball club. Mr. Pearsall turned up as a Brigade Surgeon on Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s staff. “While leading Union prisoners through the streets of Richmond, VA, he reportedly recognized one of the prisoners as a former member of the Excelsiors. The two spoke and Pearsall asked about Leggett, Flanley, Creighton and Brainard.” Pearsall’s whereabouts made its way to back to the Excelsior’s and he was immediately and unanimously expelled from the club./p>)
In Dorchester in 1775 + (Ephraim Tripp was a member of the MA militia. See his Rev War pension application. [ba])
1886.1 + (Erastus Wiman, Owner of the American Association's New York Metropolitan Club commissioned a silver trophy for the championship of the 1887 season of the American Association. )
Club of Evansville + (Evansville had 11,484 residents in 1860 and 21,830 in 1870.)
1860.35 + (Evansville is in southernmost IN, near the Kentucky border.)
Champion Club of Bergen + (Evening Journal - July 1, 1870)
1865.11 + (Fanciful, but containing a reminder that the Atlantic were the champion club of 1864, and apparently forgetful of the Club's matches with the Gotham in 1857 and 1858, which ended with the Gotham's ending of the series.)
1862.14 + (Fast Day in MA was traditionally … Fast Day in MA was traditionally associated with ballplaying. The 22nd MA, organized in Lynnfield MA (about 15 miles N of Boston), was camped at Falmouth VA in April, as was the 13th NY. The 13th was from Rochester and would likely have known the old-fashioned game. PBall file: CW-126.uld likely have known the old-fashioned game. PBall file: CW-126.)
Rough and Ready Club of South Elgin + (Fayville (an abandoned post office) was about where the Blackhawk County Forest Preserve now is located, south of South Elgin.)
1805c.7 + (Fellowes, born in 1791, attended Exeter starting in 1803, and graduated from Bowdoin in 1810. The verse is about the Exeter Academy, and thus the poet is recalling events from c1805. See #[[1741c.1]] for the first of several "urge the ball" usages.)
1865.21 + (Few and far between in prior year … Few and far between in prior years, festivals or tournaments mushroomed in 1865, for example:Portland, ME—at July 4 celebration. Open to all teams in ME, considered for state championship. 4 teams entered, knockout competition. 2 games at a time in the morning, championship game in the afternoon. 9 innings. Cash prizes for 1st and 2nd. Portland Daily Evening Advertiser coverage on July 6 indicated that the only out-of-town team was subject to “expressions of strong sympathy against them.”Altoona, PA- per a reprint in Fitzgerald's City Item (Philadelphia) on 7/22, Altoona Tribune was promoting a baseball carnival—Athletics, Mountain Club of Altoona, and Alleghany Club of PittsburgWash DC- Games on 8/28 between the Nationals and Athletics, 8/29 between the Nationals and the Atlantic of Brooklyn, “a festival such has never before been offered in Washington”. Washington Daily National Intelligencer, 8/28Wash DC- Oct. 9-11 tourney had the Excelsior of Brooklyn, the Nationals, and the Enterprise of Baltimore. Round robin, one game per day. Wilkes Spirit of the Times, 10/21Wilkes Spirit of the Times on Oct. 21 printed a letter from Chicago describing problems encountered at a tourney in Rockford, IL. 5 teams, two days, two games each day. > letter from Chicago describing problems encountered at a tourney in Rockford, IL. 5 teams, two days, two games each day. )
1847.17 + (Finder David Block's comment, 11/2015: "Hard to know what to make of this. Maybe he spied a game that resembled baseball (theque?). And what is gould? I've never heard of it before.")
1810s.5 + (Finder Kyle DeCicco-Carey notes that Croswell was an 1780 Harvard graduate who worked in the college library 1812-1821.)
1856.35 + (Finder Richard Hershberger adds t … Finder Richard Hershberger adds that this account "has a couple interesting features. The New York game by 1856 was well into its early expansion phase, but we see here where it still wasn't really all that widely known, even in Brooklyn. Pearce also cuts through the nonsense about what baseball's, meaning the New York game, immediate ancestor was, and what it was called."There was in the 1880s a widespread collective amnesia about this, opening the way for Just So stories about Old Cat and such. Pearce correctly calls the predecessor game "base ball," just like they had at the time it was played."Note: Pearce was born in 1836, and thus was nine when the Knickerbocker rule replacing plugging/soaking/burning had appeared. Eleven years later, lads in Brooklyn had evidently made the adjustment. n had evidently made the adjustment. )
1867.16 + (Finder Richard Hershberger also n … Finder Richard Hershberger also notes, 6/3/2016:The distinction between baseball as a developed version of rounders and baseball as a development from rounders is subtle, but I think it is important. In the first, baseball/rounders is perceived as a family of closely related games, some more and some less developed. In the second, baseball is a single game defined by an official set of rules, descended but distinct from rounders. The former emphasizes the similarities, the latter the differences. This is a necessary precursor to the later claim that baseball is completely unrelated to rounders. This is a late example of the formula that baseball and rounders are the same game, albeit baseball a more developed form. You can find such statements in the 1850s, but by 1867 the more typical version was that baseball developed from rounders. Here is English commentary on the [1874] American baseball tourists: "Baseball is an American modification, and, of course, an improvement of the old English game of rounders..." New York Sunday Mercury, August 16, 1874, quoting the London Post of August 1, 1874g the London Post of August 1, 1874)
1849.15 + (Finder Richard Hershberger lists … Finder Richard Hershberger lists the following followup comments and questions (his full email is shown below):"There is a lot to digest here. Just a couple of quick thoughts for now:The Knickerbockers couldn't catch a break! I'll have to look up when they first managed to win a game. I don't have ready access to the Knickerbocker score book. What appears there for this day? Is this the first appearance of George Wilkes in connection with baseball? Sadly, the genealogy bank run of the Gazette is missing the June 16 issue. Is there another run out there? You notice how early and how often baseball was characterized as "old fashioned"? I would not take the use here as relating to the rules used. There was a baseball fad in New York in the mid-1840s. It had died out by 1849, with the Knickerbockers the only unambiguously recorded organized survivor. Here we have an informal late survival. died out by 1849, with the Knickerbockers the only unambiguously recorded organized survivor. Here we have an informal late survival. )
1850s.42 + (Finder Tom Altherr asks whether there are other known examples of town ball lacking outfielders. One possibility is that the use of a soft ball and young batsmen combined to make long hits so rare as not needing an outfield.)
White + (First Base)
Eckford Club of Brooklyn v Union Club of Morrisania on 17 September 1856 + (First Eckford match against an organized club. (E. Miklich))
Club of the Tuscarora Indians + (First Indian tribe club?)
First Interracial game + (First Interracial game, played between a White (Haole/Foreigner) and Polynesian (Native/Hawaiian) team, in the then independent nation of Hawaii. See protoball entry. See also 1867 game in Honolulu.)
1865.20 + (First appearance of players' physical information, a staple of newspaper articles for many years.)
47th New York Infantry v 48th New York Infantry on 4 July 1865 + (First baseball game in Raleigh?&l … First baseball game in Raleigh?Both units had a baseball history. The 48th was photoed playing baseball in Fort Pulaski in 1862, the only verified photo of CW soldiers playing baseball. The 47th included among their members Ed Pinkham, who later played professionally.eir members Ed Pinkham, who later played professionally.)
National Club of Washington v Washington Club of Washington on 20 May 1862 + (First game of the 1862 season for the National and first game ever for the Washington.)
Mt. Vernon Club of Alexandria v Old Dominion Club of Alexandria on 4 September 1866 + (First match game ever in the city of Alexandria, VA. Also, first game ever for both the Old Dominion and Mt. Vernon Clubs. )
In Savannah in 1845 + (First mention of base ball in Savannah, GA.)
In Cincinnati in 1856 + (First notice of Town ball in Cincinnati.)
Shangai Base Ball Club of Shanghai + (Fisler's brother was a noted US ballplayer. )
In Keene in 1854 + (Fitzwilliam is southeast of Keene)
1862.6 + (Flagg and Wright reportedly had played avidly at Phillips Exeter Academy. See entry #[[1858c.57]] above.)
Royal Poinciana Hotel Club of Palm Beach + (Flagler had done the same with hi … Flagler had done the same with his Ponce de Leon hotel in St. Augustine. By 1890 a baseball park had been constructed (with A. G. Spalding advising on the construction) and the black hotel employees played a team from the neighboring Alcazar Hotel. See Graham, "Flagler's St. Augustine Hiotels," p. 14.m, "Flagler's St. Augustine Hiotels," p. 14.)
1865.8 + (Florence is recalled as one of th … Florence is recalled as one of the centers of Anti-Slavery activism in those times. The next earliest known instance of integration occurred in 1869 in Oberlin, OH, also a center of Anti-Slavery activism (see Ryczek, When Johnny Came Sliding Home, 1998, page 102). Further instances of early integration might be found in communities that held similar views.Brian notes in 2014 that juvenile clubs were apparently less unlikely to engage in integrated play, even prior to the Civil War. The son of Frederick Douglass, for instance, is known to have played on a white junior club in Rochester NY in 1859. Luther Askin also played on such juvenile teams prior to the Civil War.o played on such juvenile teams prior to the Civil War.)
1470c.1 + (For "stow ball," see Aspin, "Ancient Customs, Sports, and Pastimes of the English" (1832) p. 218.)
1847.21 + (For a concise 2017 overview of th … For a concise 2017 overview of the Knickerbocker club by John Thorn, including its use of Elysian Fields after being 'driven' from the Murray Hill grounds , see https://sabr.org/journal/article/new-yorks-first-base-ball-club/. -first-base-ball-club/. )
DuPage Club of Danby + (For a game with Naperville at Danby, see the Naperville Clarion July 27, 1870.)
Capitol City Club of Madison + (For a general overview of Madison baseball, see Jeff Sackman, "The Capital City Base Ball Club of Madison," online at http://www.jeffsackmann.com/pdfs/Sackmann-Early-Baseball-in-Madison.pdf)
Atlanta Base Ball Club v Gate City BBC of Atlanta on 12 May 1866 + (For a modern article on this game and the clubs, see https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/may-12-1866-atlantas-first-recorded-game-of-base-ball/)
In Dingwall in 1870 + (For a much more extensive treatment of this game, see https://baseballgb.co.uk/?p=16856)
1744.1 + (For a recent review of the 1744 c … For a recent review of the 1744 cricket rules and their relevance to base ball, see Beth Hise, "How is it, Umpire? The 1744 Laws of Cricket and Their Influence on the Development of Baseball in America," Base Ball (Special Issue on Origins), Volume 5, number 1 (Spring 2011), pages 25-31.Volume 5, number 1 (Spring 2011), pages 25-31.)
Beep Baseball + (For a review of a six-team beep ball tournament in Woburn MA in July 2017, see Supplemental Text, below. It was written by Joanne Hulbert, who runs the Boston SABR Chaptre. )
1855.23 + (For a succinct account of the evo … For a succinct account of the evolution of the 1854 rules, see John Thorn, Baseball in the Garden of Eden (Simon and Schuster, 2011), pages 82-83.One might speculate that someone in the still-small base ball fraternity decided to publicize the young game's official rules, perhaps to attract more players.As of mid-2013, we know of 30 clubs playing base ball in 1855, all in downstate New York and New Jersey. ase ball in 1855, all in downstate New York and New Jersey. )
Mississippi Valley BBC of Vicksburg + (For an excellent blog post on this club, see https://championhilz.wixsite.com/website/single-post/2020/04/14/The-Mississippi-Valley-Baseball-Club?fbclid=IwAR2X4xo4xCykcasYqEq9ivsksnhN4szhUEij7T4UaRAjOvteWV4NHiLGwbY)
In Worcester in 1822 + (For another mention of Round Ball in Worcester, see Chronologies 1850c.46 [ba])
Alleghany v Pittsburgh in Allegheny on 9 October 1857 + (For more details on this non-Knic … For more details on this non-Knickerbocker-rules game, see http://protoball.org/Alleghany_Club_v_Pittsburg_Club_on_9_October_1857undefined---In August 2017, in response to a query from the Baseball HOF, we revisited this unusual find. Bruce Allardice later reported (email of 8/12/2017): "Larry:There were RR connections east. But the traffic was more in riverboats west. ...Bruce"Bruce's general point was that in 1857, Pittsburgh was more regularly connected to Ohio Valley locations than those in the eastern USA.The players were Allegheny: Bolling, Barrand, Stephens, McClellan, Haslett, Lynch, Cutler, Falkner, Miller, Stubbs, Ludwick, Miller, McChesneyFor Pittsburgh: Lesley, Tatland, Parks, Cappy, Anderson, Reece, Elliott, Vierheller, Cochrane, Noble, Vick, Freyvogel and Reece urgh: Lesley, Tatland, Parks, Cappy, Anderson, Reece, Elliott, Vierheller, Cochrane, Noble, Vick, Freyvogel and Reece )
Young America Club of Grafton + (For more on Grafton, MA's baseball history, see http://graftonhistoricalsociety.org/baseball/)
Hornebillets + (For more on Willughby's ca 1672 manuscript, see http://protoball.org/1672c.2 )
1706.2 + (For more on cat-and-dog, see http://protoball.org/Cat-and-Dog.)
Crescent Club of Sycamore + (For more on early Sycamore baseball, see the Sycamore True Republican, Jan. 20, 1906. The old Crescent Club formed an association that year, to keep the memories of the club alive.)
Corinthians Club of Corinne + (For more on early baseball in Cor … For more on early baseball in Corinne, see Gerlach, "The Best in the West? Corinne, Utah's First Baseball Champions" (Utah Historical Quarterly, 1984). He says the club organized in March 1870 and had its first game March 25th against the Pioneer BBC.rst game March 25th against the Pioneer BBC.)
1867.2 + (For more on one early African American club, the Pythian Club, see J. Casway, "Philadelphia's Pythians; The "Colored" Team of 1866-1871," National Pastime, (SABR, 1995), pp. 120-123.)
Pioneer Base Ball Club of Portland + (For more on this club, including a team photo, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Base_Ball_Club_(Oregon))
1856.1 + (For much more on George Wright, see the multi-part profile from John Thorn's Our Game blog in September 2016. The initial segment is at http://ourgame.mlblogs.com/2016/09/20/who-was-george-wright/. )
1841.12 + (For same, see 1841.15)
Baseball on Ice + (For some sketchy reports of ice-b … For some sketchy reports of ice-bound base-running games see Chronology entries. A clippings search for "ice" turns up a few more.[[1844.6]], Novel Cites "the Game of Bass in the Fields" [[1847.11]], Alabama: "Bass Ball," or "Goal," or "Hook-em-Snivy," on the Ice?[[1860.67]], A GAME OF BASE BALL ON THE ICE[[1861.5]]-- 15,000 Watch Ice Base Ball in Brooklyn: Atlantic 37, Charter Oak 26.1867 -- Clipping: Ice Baseball on the East River --------- More from Richard Hershberger, 2/11/2023:<div dir="ltr">"The earliest game on ice that I know of:</div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="ltr">"The Enterprise Base Ball Club of this city [Rahway, N.J.], played a game on the ice, on Milton Lake, on Tuesday–the first of the kind we ever heard of." Porter’s Spirit of the Times December 24, 1859</div><div dir="ltr">Perhaps worth discussing, there was ample precedent in England for playing cricket, and even hockey!, on ice. Baseball on ice was an obvious variant."</div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="ltr">[TO DO 2/13-- Search Ice Cricket!]</div> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"> </h1>t;div dir="ltr"> </div> <div dir="ltr">[TO DO 2/13-- Search Ice Cricket!]</div> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"> </h1>)
Active Club of Paterson v Quickstep Club of Paterson on 24 August 1864 + (For the Junior Championship of Paterson)
1854.9 + (For the context of the Van Cott l … For the context of the Van Cott letter, see Bill Ryczek, "William Van Cott Writes a Letter to the Sporting Press," Base Ball, Volume 5, number 1 (Spring 2011), pp. 111-113. Bill ponders (page 112) what might have moved Van Cott to distribute his letter to the three newspapers: "Possibly it was to recruit more members for the three clubs, though that was unlikely, since membership was rather exclusive and decidedly homogeneous [ethnically] . . . . Was he trying to encourage the formation of additional clubs, or was he attempting to generate publicity for the existing clubs and members? The Knickerbockers, baseball's pioneer club, had made virtually no attempt to expand the game they had formalized." expand the game they had formalized.")
Clipping:Types of football + (For the evolution of American Foo … For the evolution of American Football, rugby and soccer, see "Evolvements of Early American Foot Ball" by Melvin Smith. For a history of Football as played during the Civil War and before, see Shearman, "Foot-ball: its History for Five Centuries" (1885), which describes the game as sort of a scrum. Winslow Homer has an illustration (see protopix) of soldiers playing football. The game of foot ball was banned in England and Scotland by King Richard II (1389), James II (1458) and Elizabeth I (1571), among others.A search of newspaper.com database 1861-65 reveals no less than 800 mentions in US newspapers of the word football (and variants). Many of these mentions are political, not sporting. [ba]<h1 class="gb-volume-title" dir="ltr"> </h1>. [ba] <h1 class="gb-volume-title" dir="ltr"> </h1>)
West Side cricket grounds + (For the exact location, see https … For the exact location, see https://chicagology.com/prefire/prefire128/ The "Bull's Head" was a tavern on the south edge of the Cricket Grounds 1848-75. The Washingtonian House, on the same site, was listed as 568 W. Madison on the 1887 Chicago Directory.The Chicago Tribune, June 3, 1900, has a lot on the Bull's Head Tavern and the area. Says the old cattle yard was in the rear of the se corner of Madison and Ogden Aves. In 1861 the Union Park House (hotel) was built across the street from the Bull's Head. In the "old days" there was little west of Reuben (Ashland) Street.ld days" there was little west of Reuben (Ashland) Street.)
1864.48 + (For various reasons, umpires enforced the new rules only inconsistently. See Supplemental Text.)
1858.4 + (Formation of the NABBP, according … Formation of the NABBP, according to the New York Clipper, was really a "misnomer" because there were "no invitations to clubs of other states," and no one under age 21 can join." "National indeed! Truth is a few individuals wormed into the convention and have been trying to mould men and things to suit their views. If real lovers of the game wish it to spread over the country as cricket is doing they might cut loose from parties who wish to act for and dictate to all who participate. These few dictators wish to ape the New York Yacht Club in their feelings of exclusiveness. Let the discontented come out and organize an association that is really national - extend invitations to base ball players every where to compete with them and make the game truly national." with them and make the game truly national." )
Liberty Club of Charleston + (Formed from employees at Headquarters of the 2nd Military District.)
1758.1 + (Fort Ticonderoga is about 100 miles N of Albany NY at the southern end of Lake Champlain. Ipswich MA is about 10 miles N of Salem MA.)
In Barre in 1848 + (Found by Brian Turner, for an article to be submitted to Base Ball.)
In Boston in 1831 + (Found by Brian Turner, for an article to be submitted to Base Ball.)
In Dedham in 1837 + (Found by Brian Turner, for an article to be submitted to Base Ball.)
In Epsom in 1860 + (Found by Brian Turner, for an article to be submitted to Base Ball. Turner also cites the dairy of Charles' father, who recorded playing "ball" in 1860 and 1861. Turner speculates that "goal" is used as a synonym for "base.")
In Rockland in 1857 + (Found by Brian Turner, for an article to be submitted to Base Ball.)
In Kingston on 4 April 1817 + (Found by Brian Turner. in an article to be submitted to Base Ball.)
Excelsior Club of Brooklyn + (Founded as the "Jolly Young Bachelors' Base Ball Club" but soon renamed. Cf. Gilbert, How Baseball Happened, 77.)
1864.44 + (Four clubs, all in Ontario, were represented-- the Young Canadian Club (Woodstock); Maple Leaf Club (Hamilton); Barton Club (Barton); and Victoria Club (Ingersoll))
BC 3500000 c.1 + (Four of our metacarpal bones are aligned in the back of our hands. This fifth is between our wrist and or thumb knuckle. )
1853.19 + (Four years later, the Olympic Clu … Four years later, the Olympic Club's written rules show similarity to the Dedham rules for the Massachusetts Game that appeared in 1858. Best-of-three and best-of-five formats are later seen in matches in MA and upstate NY; the "best-of" format may have been common in the game or games that evolved into the Mass Game. ==2021 Note: earlier, we had asked, "Do we know any more about the Aurora Club?"On 10.6/2021, the ever-vigilant Richard Hershberger wrote:<div dir="ltr">"Protoball 1853.19 reports an upcoming game between the Aurora and Olympic Clubs of Boston, and asks if we know anything more about the Auroras. </div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="ltr">The Boston Daily Bee of July 30, 1853 reports on the club's commencing exercises on the Boston Common and claims 60 members. They are a morning club, which likely explains the name, meeting at 4:30 a.m.</div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="ltr">The Boston Daily Bee of September 10, 1853 reports the results of the game with the Olympics, the O's winning 45-35 rounds in three successive games. This may hint that a game was to 15. You will be relieved to know that the Auroras paid the wager of ten boxes of Havana cigars.</div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="ltr">The Boston Herald of September 18, 1854 reports that the Auroras are commencing their exercises for the season. The late date and the subsequent disappearance of the club suggests that they were in reality moribund.</div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="ltr">Richard Hershberger"</div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="ltr">==</div> <div dir="ltr"> </div> <div dir="ltr">Richard Hershberger"</div> <div dir="ltr"> </div> <div dir="ltr">==</div> )
1859.37 + (Fox Lake is 75 miles northeast of Milwaukee. Sounds like they played the MA game, no?)
-2600c.1 + (Fox places the setting for the Gi … Fox places the setting for the Gilgamesh story in what is now southern Iraq.John Fox observes (Fox, p. 37) that this ancient piggy-back ball game also is seen in Egypt's Middle Kingdom a few centuries later, and in ancient Greece, where it was known as ephedrimos.He also reports that "the actual balls used in [Egyptian] games have turned up with some frequency in Egyptian tombs . . . . Stitched leather balls, bearing an uncanny resemblance to modern-day hacky-sacks, were stuffed with straw, reeds, hair, or yarn. Balls made of papyrus, palm leaves, and linen wound around a pottery core have turned up as well." (Fox, p. 39)Note: In 2020, it was reported that around 1000 BCE stuffed leather balls were possibly used by Uighurs in what is now norther China, plausible in an ancient form of equestrian polo. t form of equestrian polo. )
1830s.29 + (Franklin County PA is in south central PA, on the Maryland border. Its population in 1830 was about 35,000.)
1847c.1 + (Fred adds: "I wouldn't trust the precision of the date 1847, though it was about that time." Fred sees no evidence that Chadwick played between this scrub game and 1856. )
Undaunted Club of Fredericktown MD v Kent Club of Galena on 15 September 1866 + (Fredericktown MD (1860s populatio … Fredericktown MD (1860s population not determined) is near the northern end of the Delmarva Peninsula and about 25 miles south of the US Rte 95 corridor. Galena MD (1860s population not determined; current population about 600) is about two miles south of Fredericktown.about two miles south of Fredericktown.)
1867.27 + (From Bob Tholkes, 11/2/2021: "F& … From Bob Tholkes, 11/2/2021: "First reference I've seen in '67 for sale of season tickets...seller not named, though likely the Nationals. Innovation?" Note: Peter Morris' fine A Game of Inches: The Story Behind the Innovations That Shaped Baseball (Ivan R. Dee, 2006), section 15.1.1, notes that the White Stockings charged $10 for a season ticket in 1870. Like the 1867 Washington offering, the Forest Cities of Cleveland in 1871 noted that a $10 season ticket would admit both a gentleman and lady, but the club also sold season tickets for individual entrants at $6.eman and lady, but the club also sold season tickets for individual entrants at $6.)
1854.23 + (From Brian Turner, 11/3/2020, on … From Brian Turner, 11/3/2020, on the nature of "gould":"As best I can tell based on examples I've put together for an article I'm doing for Base Ball, "gould" (AKA "gool") are regional pronunciations of "goal." The region in which those terms occur includes western Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, mostly in rural communities where (I surmise) old-time game names may have survived into the 19th century. Peter Morris has identified two instances associated with Norway, Maine, where "gool" is used as synonymous with "base" as late as the 1860s, but when one of those the incidents was recalled in the 1870s, it's clear that the use struck the lads of Bowdoin attending the game as risible. The use of "goal" for "base" is consistent with Robin Carver's 1834 inclusion of the term in The Book of Sports. One must be cautious about anointing every use of "goal" or "gool" or goold" as synonymous with base and therefore "base ball," since, like base by itself, goal can be used to describe other sorts of games. By itself, "base" can refer to Prisoner's Base, a running game that seems to resemble tag. So too "goal" by itself. a running game that seems to resemble tag. So too "goal" by itself.)
1842.11 + (From David Block: "Unless I'm for … From David Block: "Unless I'm forgetting something, this may be the earliest example we have of baseball or rounders being played outside of Britain or North America. (I don't count the 1796 description of English baseball by J.C.F. Gutsmuths because there is no evidence that the game was actually played in Germany.)at the game was actually played in Germany.))
1872.13 + (From Richard Hershberger, 10/13/2 … From Richard Hershberger, 10/13/2022:<div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a"><div dir="auto">"150 years ago in baseball: Reporter J. W. Brodie takes a potshot at Henry Chadwick. Recall that Chadwick was the dominant baseball reporter of the 1860s. Here in 1872 his influence is past its peak, but just barely. He is still a big deal: so much so that it is hard to get contrasting viewpoints, partly because Chadwick wrote for multiple papers, and partly because many other reporters were heavily influenced by him. Brodie is the notable exception, willing to call him out, though not quite willing to explicitly name him.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a"><div dir="auto">The issue here is the tournament that William Cammeyer is sponsoring, with $4,000 to be divided between the Red Stockings, Athletics, and Mutuals. Chadwick has not yet fully reconciled himself to the idea of professional baseball. It isn't clear why playing for prize money is any worse than playing for gate receipts, but Chad has been grumbling about it. Here Brodie mocks "the venerable Brooklyn organist."</div><div dir="auto"> </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a"><div dir="auto">Things will get worse for Chadwick before they get better. When the National League forms in 1876, he will be cut out. A lot of bad stuff you see about the early NL to this day is actually just modern writers taking Chad's complaints at face value. In the 1880s his colleagues will openly mock him as an old fogey. Then he will gradually slide into elder statesman territory. He won't have real influence, but people will usually be polite about it."</div></div>e into elder statesman territory. He won't have real influence, but people will usually be polite about it."</div> </div>)
1838.14 + (From Richard Hershberger, 2/11/20 … From Richard Hershberger, 2/11/2023: This appears not to be in Protoball. This is from "An Unwhipped Schoolboy" by "T. S. F." originally from the New York Mirror, reprinted in the York, Pennsylvania Gazette of June 19, 1838. It is a morality tale of the virtues of corporal punishment. Mr. Strap runs a school where they do not whip the students. Young Jim Gosling is a problem child. Mr. Strap assures Mrs. Gosling that he can get the boy into shape through sweet reason. She gives him one month. Here is his first day: "On arriving at the school, Jim was let loose among the rest of the boys, to play. He got into a game of marbles, but his antagonists soon perceived that he “cheated,” and turned him out. He then took to the top, but the “fellows,” found that he had brought into the arena a great, long-pegged thing, that cut their little, handsome tops to pieces. No reader that has ever been a boy, need be told that this play, consists in one top’s being spun in a circle, while the rest are spun down at it—sometimes splitting the mark in two. Jim’s top with his accurate aim, split two or three, and the boys protested against such unequal chances. One of them said it was like the horse crying “every one for himself!” when he danced among the chickens. By-and-by he was taken in to a game of ball; but, in five minutes, a round stone instead of the ball, was flung with such violence at one of the small boys, as to knock him down and inflict upon him a severe contusion. Jim protested that it was a mistake. Mr. Strap ''reasoned'' with him. He begged pardon and was forgiven."Richard adds: "It [the story] goes downhill from there, and when the month is up Mr. Strap has reformed his thinking and embraced whipping. Personally, while Jim clearly is a total jerk, the other children seem pretty well adjusted. But of interest here is that the "game of ball" involves throwing the ball at players. They may have been other games that did this, but this likely was baseball."Note: The term "Games of ball" sometimes apparently referred to what we might see as hand ball, base-running games like cricket, wicket, and stool ball, and field games like bandy and what we know as lacrosse. None is known to have involved featured throwing at participants. )
1846.21 + (From Richard Hershberger, email o … From Richard Hershberger, email of 9/2/16: "I believe this is new. At least it is new to me, and not in the Protoball Chronology.""The classic version of history of this period has the Knickerbockers springing up forth from the head of Zeus and playing in splendid isolation except for that one match game in 1846. This version hasn't been viable for some years now, though it is the nature of things that it will persist indefinitely. This Herald item shows the Knickerbockers as a part of a ball-playing community."Richard points out that the "novices" who played base ball were unlikely to have been regular Knick players, whose skills would have been relatively advanced by 1846 (second email of 9/2/16). Note: Jayesh Patel's Flannels on the Sward (Patel, 2013), page 112, mentions that the Star Club was founded in 1843. His source appears to be Tom Melville's Tented Field. In 1846, Brooklyn showed a few signs of base ball enthusiasm: about two months later (see entry [[1846.2]]) a Brooklyn Base Ball Club was reported, and in the same month Walt Whitman observed "several parties of youngsters" playing a ball game named "base" -- see [[1846.6]]. lt;br/> )
Hittera Ball + (From Tom Altherr, 12/11/2020: "M … From Tom Altherr, 12/11/2020: "Maddeningly, no time reference is other than before 1891."Note: The Addy/Sheffield source is also described in David Block, Pastime Lost (Nebraska Press, 2019), page 184. Note: In January 2021Tom adds that it would be helpful to confirm that the Hittera reference does not offer a simple typo that uses "Hittera" in place of the word "Hitter" or "Hitters." He adds: "just checked my OED and several other slang/dialect dictionaries. No mention of Hitter-a-Ball. Addy is our only source so far. I just looked in Joseph Wright's dictionary of English dialects and he includes the game as "hitter-a-ball" and attributes it to Addy's reference. He also references knur and spell and that it was played in Derbyshire. "Hitter-a-ball" makes more sense than "hittera," wouldn't you agree? So I agree with David that what we have here is a record of an actual game with no more corroboration than one reference. Anyone want to take a trip to Derbyshire? As of early January 2021, Protoball has no prior reference to "Hittera" at all. reference to "Hittera" at all. )
In Upton in 1820 + (From a letter to the Mills Commis … From a letter to the Mills Commission: "Mr. Lawrence considers Round Ball and Four Old Cat one and the same game; the Old Cat game merely being the they could do when there were not more than a dozen players, all told. . . . Mr. Lawrence says, as a boy, he played Round Ball in 1829. So far as Mr. Lawrence's argument goes for Round Ball being the father of Base Ball it is all well enough, but there are two things that cannot be accounted for; the conception of the foul ball, and the abolishment of the rules that a player could be put out by being hit by a thrown ball. No one remembers the case of a player being injured by being hit by a thrown ball, so that cannot be the reason for that change. The foul rule made the greatest skill of the Massachusetts game count for nothing – the batting skill – the back handed and slide batting. Mr. Stoddard told me that there were 9 of the 14 Upton batters who never batted ahead."Henry Sargent Letter to the Mills Commission, June 25, 1905.tter to the Mills Commission, June 25, 1905.)
1846.22 + (From finder Richard Hershberger:& … From finder Richard Hershberger:"This is consistent with Peverelly's account, which has the proto-Knickerbockers playing at 27th street 1842-43, moving to Murray Hill (which is what, around 34th Street?) in 1844, and throwing in the towel and going to New Jersey in 1845. My guess is that this provoked the formation of the club, since the Elysian Fields ground needed to be paid for, with the club the vehicle for doing this."aid for, with the club the vehicle for doing this.")
1863.19 + (From online sources we do learn t … From online sources we do learn that Young was born in Amsterdam NY, was picked for an all-upstate NY cricket team to play an all-NYC team in 1858, and that he joined the 32nd NY Regiment. The history of 27th NY Regiment, which sprang from the general area of Binghamton, does not mention ballplaying. al area of Binghamton, does not mention ballplaying. )
1830c.35 + (From the Sotheby site: … From the Sotheby site: [H]ere is the earliest known card of a bat and ball game, and the only example known. Included within a set of children’s educational game cards typical of those popular in the early part of the nineteenth century, it pictures three boys engaged in a game that is clearly an antecedent and close cousin to the sport that has evolved into baseball. The cards in the series measure 2 1/8" by 2 5/8" and each of the group of seventeen offered here features a different rhyming riddle. The bat and ball game shown here is akin to other known woodcut images depicting primitive baseball-like scenes dating from the period 1815-1830, most of them also showing an oddly-shaped end to the bat typical of the time before there was such a thing as a commercially manufactured bat. Significantly, the few other such known images all originated in books or pamphlets. The image presented here is the only example known to exist on a card.The curved bat is suggestive of the bat used for the game of wicket in the US. John Thorn indicates that this card was owned by our late SABR friend Frank Ceresi. Frank is not unlikely the source of the estimate of "around 1830" as when the card appeared. urce of the estimate of "around 1830" as when the card appeared. )
In Lafayette in 1869 + (From the context, this reference might be to a croquet-like game)
1863.17 + (From the reference to plugging, it's probable that the Massachusetts rules game was played.)
In Pittsburgh Circa 1838 + (Future Congressman John Buchanan Robinson (b. 1846) wrote that he played town ball and shinny as a boy in Pittsburgh/Allegheny.)
Forreston Club of Forreston + (Galena Daily Gazette, June 4, 1870 has the Eagles of Freeport playing a Mt. Morris picked nine at Forreston. [Foreston])
Pennsylvania Club of Philadelphia v Pennsylvania Club of Philadelphia on 26 November 1859 + (Game in West Philadelphia )
Hamilton Club of Philadelphia v Equity Club of Philadelphia on 23 October 1860 + (Game in West Philadelphia )
Olympic Club of Philadelphia v Hamilton Club of Philadelphia on 6 November 1860 + (Game in West Philadelphia )
Captain Lawrence's Team v Captain Lovejoy's Team in April 1858 + (Games reported in the Waltham Sentinel, April 23, Oct. 29, 1858)
Litchfield v Hartford in Bristol on 20 May 1834 + (GenealogyBank Search: wicket )
Chippawa v Penetergushene in Chippawa on 29 May 1815 + (GenealogyBank Search: wicket-- and Newspapers.com to locate an earlier story of the match.)
1854.10 + (Geneva NY is about 45 miles east … Geneva NY is about 45 miles east of Rochester NY and about 55 miles west of Syracuse, at the northern end of Seneca Lake. "The Public Schools of Geneva, NY before 1839", an article in History of Ontario County, New York (G. Conover, ed.), 1893, describes Walnut Hill School as follows:"The Walnut Hill School, an institution designed for the especial work of educating boys, was established in 1852 and was located at the south end of Main street, on the site now in part occupied by the residence of Wm. J. King. Of the history of this once popular school, but little reliable data is obtainable, though it is known that the course pf study was thorough and the discipline excellent. During most of its career its principal was Rev. Dr. T. C. Reed, who was assisted by three competent teachers. The school was discontinued in 1875." competent teachers. The school was discontinued in 1875." )
1850s.48 + (George Little (born 1838) attended the U. of AL 1855-59. [ba])
In Germantown on 9 September 1857 + (Germantown PA was "absorbed" by Philadelphia in 1854, and is today a neighborhood of Philadelphia. [ba])
1858.34 + (Given the absence of the term "ba … Given the absence of the term "base ball" in this period, one may ask whether "trap and base ball" was a variant of "trap ball." In fact, the phrase appears in an 1862 in a description of a fete held in August 1859, presumably near Windsor, where, after a one-innings cricket contest, "archery, trap and base ball [and boat races] were included in the diversions. Gyll, Gordon W. J., History of the Parish of Wraysbury, (H. G. Bohn, London, 1862), page 55. Available on Google Books [google "trap and base ball"].able on Google Books [google "trap and base ball"].)
Union grounds at the corner of South Halstead and West Harrison streets + (Given the change in street names, Is this correct? Or is the location the Excelsior grounds near Union Park (corner of Lake and May)? [ba] )
Mutuals, Eastern Club of Gloucester + (Gloucester was the fishing capita … Gloucester was the fishing capital of the U.S. in 1870. Of the 12,000 population, almost 1/4th (2,682, per 1870 census, and of these almost all males) fished, and were often out to sea and thus absent from the town. This means that Gloucester did not have the kind of resident young male population that other cities of similar size had, and retarded the growth of baseball. [ba]d, and retarded the growth of baseball. [ba])
Tut-Ball + (Gomme, writing in the 1890s, repo … Gomme, writing in the 1890s, reports that tut-ball was played at Shiffnal, a school for young ladies around 1840. (The town of Shiffnal is northwest of Birmingham.) She also wrote that "A game of ball, now only played by boys, but a half century ago by adults on Ash Wednesday, believing that unless they did so they would fall sick in harvest time. This is a very ancient game, and was elsewhere called "Stool-ball' indulged in by the clergy as well as laity to avert misfortune."She cites other sources as noting the similarity of tut-ball and stool-ball. Query: One wonders whether some observers may have used “Tut-Ball” generically, to signify any game with “tuts,” or bases.Seelochan Beharry, "The Prehistories of Baseball" p. 31 quotes a 1924 description of Tut Ball, which emphasizes that the ball was struck by the hand, with the "tut" being an older word for the ring around which stones were placed as base markers. tones were placed as base markers. )
1836.10 + (Granby CT is about 15 miles N of Hartford CT, on the MA border.)
Kent Base Ball Club of Grand Rapids + (Grand Rapids is in Kent County, MI. Its population was 14,000 in 1870.)
Clionians Club of Newburyport, MA v Granite State Club of Portsmouth, NH on 7 August 1867 + (Granite State of Portsmouth NH are a junior club)
1840.44 + (Granville MA -- 1850 population about 1300 -- is about 22 miles NW of Hartford, very near the MA-CT border. Hartford's population in 1840 was about 9500.)
1856.34 + (Great Barrington, MA (1860 population about 3900) is about 20 miles south of Pittsfield MA and near the SW corner of the state.)
Wide Awake Club of Green Island + (Green Island was incorporated in 1853. It had 3,136 residents in 1870. It is no longer an island. [ba])
Excelsior Club of Greenpoint + (Greenpoint was annexed by Brooklyn in 1855. [ba])
Maple Leaf Club of Guelph + (Guelph had 6,878 residents in 1871.)
Halifax Baseball Club + (Halifax had 29,000 residents in 1871.)
Young Wayne Club of New York v Hamilton Club of Boston on 28 May 1859 + (Hamilton Club of Brooklyn? [ba])
Eastern Base Ball Club v Western Base Ball Club on 30 September 1864 + (Hamilton Evening Times, Sept. 29, 1864 reports this game was played at the Maple Leaf club's grounds in Hamilton. [ba])
Manhattan 30+ v Lexington on 8 July 1859 + (Hamilton Square in NJ? Rather than in Manhattan?)
Young Canadians Club of Hamilton + (Hamilton had 26,000 residents in … Hamilton had 26,000 residents in 1871.Bill Humber's presentation at the 2021 Frederick Ivor-Campbell Conference included his analysis of baseball players on Canadian clubs 1854-73. He concluded that the players were NOT US transplants, but rather Canadian born or raised. This argues for the indigenous growth of baseball in Canada.Prior to 1860, Protoball has found 6 clubs in Canada (as of 4/21/21), compared to 660 in the United States. Canada had 3.1 million residents at this time, 1/10th the US population of 31.4 million.Hamilton Semi-Weekly Spectator, May 15, 1858 reports on the election of officers of this club.-Weekly Spectator, May 15, 1858 reports on the election of officers of this club.)
Club of Barton v Maple Leaf Club of Hamilton on 29 June 1864 + (Hamilton is/was in Barton Township.)
Young America Club of Harlem + (Harlem became part of NYC in 1873. NYC's 12th Ward, ED 2 had 3,949 residents in 1855, exclusive of Ward's Island.)
Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York v Gothams Club of New York on 3 June 1851 + (Harlem became part of NYC in 1873.)
1862.10 + (Harrisburg PA is in central PA, about 90 miles W of Philadelphia. )
Eureka Club of Ansonia + (Hartford Courant, Sept. 3, 1867)
1820c.27 + (Haswell was 87 years old when this account was published in 1896.)
1842c.9 + (Haverford is about 10 miles NW of downtown Philadelphia.)
Ice Cream + (Haverford is known to be a place … Haverford is known to be a place where cricket held some popularity. One might wonder if Ice Cream (was that treat popular prior to electrification?) was meant to blunt the beginnings of America's Base Ball Fever appeal?Special thanks to Bruce Allardice for spotting this. ruce Allardice for spotting this. )
Kentucky Town Ball Club of Newport v Kentucky Town Ball Club of Newport on 3 October 1858undefined + (Headlined as "Town Ball in Cincinnati,' but game probably in Newport KY with the Kentucky TBC of Newport playing.)
1861.20 + (Heartsill joined Lane's Texas Ran … Heartsill joined Lane's Texas Rangers early in the War at age 21. He was taken prisoner in Arkansas in early 1862, and exchanged for Union prisoners in April 1863. He then joined Bragg's Army in Tennessee, and was assigned to a unit put in charge of a Texas prison camp of Union soldiers. There are no references to ballplaying after 1863.are no references to ballplaying after 1863.)
1086.1 + (Henderson doesn't exactly endorse … Henderson doesn't exactly endorse the idea that the cited game, "bittle-battle," is a ball game [or if it is, could it be a form of soule?] He says that one [unnamed] author claims that bittle-battle is a form of stoolball. I saw only two Henderson refs to stoolball, ref 72 [Grantham] and ref 149 [London Magazine]. One of them may be Henderson's source for the 1086 stoolball claim. I don't see a Henderson ref to the Domesday text itself, but then, it probably isn't found at local lending libraries.Henderson labels this claim "highly conjectural." [ba]The Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect [1875] reportedly gives "bittle-battle" as another name for stoolball. It is believed that "bittle" meant a wooden milk bowl and some have speculated that a bowl may have been used as a paddle to deflect a thrown ball from the target stool, while others speculate that the bowl may have been the target itself. while others speculate that the bowl may have been the target itself.)
BC1460.1 + (Henderson's source may be his ref … Henderson's source may be his ref #127-- Naville, E., "The Temple of Deir el Bahari (sic)," Egyptian Exploration Fund. Memoirs, Volume 19, part IV, plate C [London, 1901]. Also, Batting the Ball, by Peter A. Piccione, "Pharaoh at the Bat," College of Charlestown Magazine (Spring/Summer 2003), p.36. Seealso <a href="http://www.cofc.edu/~piccione/sekerhemat.html">http://www.cofc.edu/~piccione/sekerhemat.html</a>, as accessed 12/17/08.t.html">http://www.cofc.edu/~piccione/sekerhemat.html</a>, as accessed 12/17/08.)
1859.59 + (Henry Chadwick, the father of bas … Henry Chadwick, the father of baseball statistics, primarily measured runs and outs in his early work. One of his few additions was the clear score, which counted the number of games where a batter made his base every time he batted, and made no outs, either as a batter or a base runner.o outs, either as a batter or a base runner.)
In West Newton + (Henry Wallace was the famed editor of a Farmer's Journal.)
1855.1 + (Hershberger: "Make of this what you will.")
1830s.19 + (Hillsboro NH is about 25 miles NW of Manchester NH.)
1835.4 + (Hiram Hungerford Waldo (1827-1912) was born in Elba, Genesee County, NY. He moved to Rockford in 1846 and became a member of that city's Forest City BBC.)
In Hobart on 22 September 1855 + (Hobart is on the southeast, not northern, coast of Tasmania. And Tasmania was named Van Diemen's Land until 1856.[ba])
Columbia Club of Hoboken + (Hoboken was created in 1855. It had 9,662 residents in 1860. [ba])
Empire Club of Newark v Newark Club of Newark on 28 May 1856 1 + (Home/Away designation is random.)
Union Club of New Brunswick v Liberty Club of New Brunswick on 19 August 1857 + (Home/Away designation is random.)
Alert Club of Jersey City v Lone Star Club of Jersey City on 26 September 1857 + (Home/Away is assigned randomly.)
Columbia Club of Hoboken v Union Club of Hoboken on 9 September 1856 + (Home/away designation is random.)
1852.15 + (However, Angus finds no evidence of actual matches until June of 1857; Email of 1/16/2008.)
Fear Not Club of Hudson City + (Hudson City merged into Jersey City in 1870.)
Metropolitan Jrs v Alamode on 18 November 1858 + (Hudson City, NJ has been annexed into Jersey City: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_City,_New_Jersey)
Metropolitan Jr. v Alamode on 18 November 1858 + (Hudson City, NJ has been annexed into Jersey City: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_City,_New_Jersey)
Stacey Base Ball Club Home Grounds + (I do not know exactly which "tres … I do not know exactly which "trestle work" this notice refers to. Contemporary sources refer to trestle work over what is now 4th and 5th Ave. (approaching the Cumberland River), as well as Charlotte Ave. If the Staceys indeed played near 5th Ave., their grounds might well have been located within Sulphur Spring Bottom, a popular location for base ball and other activities.location for base ball and other activities.)
Stonewall Club Home Grounds + (I do not know where the railroad engine house was in Edgefield.)
Rock City Base Ball Club of Nashville v Stonewall Base Ball Club of Edgefield on 25 May 1867 + (I don't know if the Stonewall Club made up the difference in the Rock City lineup, or if they were actually playing the field with seven players.)
Club of New Orleans + (I have not been able to find news … I have not been able to find newspaper mentions of baseball games in New Orleans prior to 1858. The first mention of a Landwehr BBC I've found is in 1884. It is possible the source refers to a Squirrel Tales BBC headed by captains Schneider and Lauer. The Fenian BBC was formed in 1875.[ba]auer. The Fenian BBC was formed in 1875.[ba])
Stratford Park + (I have not been able to locate th … I have not been able to locate this site. However, there is in South Richmond (formerly Manchester) a neighborhood called Stratford Hills.The Richmond Daily Dispatch, March 7, 1872, says the park was at the southern end of Manchester. Same Oct. 31, 1878 traces a parade that marched from Stratford Park to Cowardine Ave, then to Hull St. Then to Bridge Ave. and the Free (9th st.) Bridge over the James. [ba] and the Free (9th st.) Bridge over the James. [ba])
First African-American Games + (I reviewed the Anglo-African of J … I reviewed the Anglo-African of July 23 and 30, 1859 and found no reference to the Henson-Unknown game. The only reference to baseball was a 7-30 reference to a game in Ohio played by Congressman Joshua Giddings.The Dec. 10 issue does report the Nov. 15th game. [ba]t;The Dec. 10 issue does report the Nov. 15th game. [ba])
1850s.4 + (I've checked New Orleans newspape … I've checked New Orleans newspapers 1855-1860 and found no mention of these asserted clubs, let alone that they played baseball. The first mention of a Landwehr BBC I've found is in 1884. The Fenian was formed in 1875. It is possible the source refers to a Squirrel Tales BBC headed by captains Schneider and Lauer. [ba]d by captains Schneider and Lauer. [ba])
1845c.24 + (If Fuess implies that these observations were made by Crapo, they could date to c. 1845, when the future legislator was a student at Phillips Andover at age 15. Crapo, from southern MA, was a member of the Yale class of 1852. )
1836c.12 + (If dated correctly, this find wou … If dated correctly, this find would seems to be a very early use of "south-paw" to denote a left-hander, although it is not explicitly claimed that the term had been used in 1836. One source (Dickson. Baseball Dictionary, 3rd ed., page 791) indicates that the first use of "south-paw" in a base ball context was in 1858, although a 2015 web search reveals that the term itself dates back to 1813. t the term itself dates back to 1813. )
1810c.10 + (If these 1800-era memories were composed in around 1880, we should be cautious. Wow, leaping again! Do we need a History of Leaping website?)
Onondaga Longball + (If you know more about this game, or similar ones, please contact Protoball.org.)
Rundbold + (If you know of a source of written rules for Rundbold, or know Danish and can fill in the knowledge gaps via YouTube, please advise Protoball.)
1861.24 + (If, held, the planned match on Ap … If, held, the planned match on April 27 did not reach (or was not printed by) Wilkes' Spirit. Texas had already seceded and joined the Southern Confederacy by the time the Houston BBC formed. The beginning of the war after Fort Sumter was fired upon on April 12 presumably ended such communication.See Protoball Pre-Pro, the Houston Ball Club, for more on this club.rotoball Pre-Pro, the Houston Ball Club, for more on this club.)
1845.8 + (Important in its confirmation that pitchers in this baseball predecessor game were trying to retire batters, not acting as "feeders")
Club-ball + (In 1363 King Edward III of Englan … In 1363 King Edward III of England ordered that all men should, in their leisure time, practice archery (valuable for national defense) and forbade the "hurling of stones, loggats, quoits, handball, football, club ball, cambuc, cockfighting, and other games of no value.” "club ball" and "cambuc" are not further defined, but it has been suggested that cambuc is a game similar to modern field hockey. [ba]at cambuc is a game similar to modern field hockey. [ba])
1777.4 + (In 1778, a court-martial reviewed a claim that interned soldiers outside Boston possessed some dangerous weapons, and in defense "Burgoyne introduced into evidence a set of 'hickory sticks designed to play at bat and ball'." )
White Lot south of the White House + (In 1791, the first plan for the p … In 1791, the first plan for the park was drawn up by Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant. The Ellipse was known as "the White Lot" due to the whitewashed wooden fence that enclosed the park.During the American Civil War, the grounds of the Ellipse and the incomplete Washington Monument were used as corrals for horses, mules, and cattle, and as camp sites for Union troops. In 1860, the Ellipse was the regular playing field for the DC baseball team the Washington Senators and was the site of the first game between the Senators and the Washington Nationals. In 1865, the Nationals hosted a baseball tournament with the Philadelphia Athletics, for which viewing stands were built and admission was charged.Black baseball teams such as the Washington Mutuals and the Washington Alerts often used the White Lot until Blacks were banned from using the Ellipse in 1874.Wikipedia, accessed 07/13/2022 (Entered by Gene Draschner)t;p>Wikipedia, accessed 07/13/2022 (Entered by Gene Draschner))
1825.15 + (In 1825 the City of Baltimore banned "play and bandy or at ball" on Sunday. See Baltimore Commercial, April 9, 1925. See also Baltimore Gazette, Nov. 20, 1827. This partially confirms John W. Oliver's story.)
1864.15 + (In 1864 the unit was facing the upcoming battle of the Wilderness, not Chancellorsville (which occurred in 1863). [ba])
Gate City BBC of Atlanta + (In 1867 the Gate City BBC claimed … In 1867 the Gate City BBC claimed the championship of the state and issued a challenge to other state BBCs. See Savannah Daily News and Herald, May 29, 1867. They lost to the Dixies of Athens in 1868, and lost to the Savannahs 27-23 at the state fair in Macon in 1869. See Atlanta New Era, Nov. 21, 1869.In addition to the ballgames listed, the following were reported in the New York Clipper and elsewhere:March 14, 1867 in Atlanta: Gate City 106, Atlanta Club 31March 25, 1867 in Atlanta: Gate City 77, Lookout of Chattanooga 40May 21, 1867 in Chattanooga: Gate City 71, Mountain City of Chattanooga 52Dec. 13, 1867 in Atlanta: Gate City beat the University Club of Athens (the Dixie) 34-14.April 15, 1868 at Macon: Gate City 42, Olympic of Macon 13Nov. 1869 at Macon: Gate City 23, Savannah 27At State Fair, Oct. 1870: Gate City 74, University of Athens 19Gate City 50, Champion of Covington 7Nov. 2, 1870 in Columbus: Gate City 29, Montgomery County (AL) 13 thens 19 Gate City 50, Champion of Covington 7 Nov. 2, 1870 in Columbus: Gate City 29, Montgomery County (AL) 13 )
Bradley Base Ball Club of Fort Union + (In 1874 a club of Co. H, 8th US Cavalry at Fort Union played a club from Duffy's wagon train, for 2 kegs of beer. See the Leavenworth Daily Commercial, Aug. 28, 1874.)
National Club of Lansingburgh + (In 1900 Lansingburgh became a part of neighboring Troy.)
National Club of Mexico City v Telephone Club of Mexico City on 23 July 1882 + (In 1900 Mexico City was the count … In 1900 Mexico City was the country's largest city, with 344,000 inhabitants. Other cites in Mexico were Guadalajara (2nd with 101,000), Puebla (3rd with 91,000), Leon (4th with 63,000), Monterrey (5th with 62,000), Merida (7th with 43,000), Oaxaca (12th, 35,000), Orizaba (15th, 32,000) Durango (16th, 31,000) and Veracruz (18th, 29,000). [ba]h, 31,000) and Veracruz (18th, 29,000). [ba])
1796.1 + (In 2011, David Block added to his … In 2011, David Block added to his assessment of Gutsmuth in "German Book Describes das Englische Base Ball; But Was it Baseball or Rounders?," in Base Ball Journal (Special Issue on Origins), Volume 5, number 1 (Spring 2011), pages 50-54. He notes the absence of the use of bats in base-ball in England, except in this single source, while rounders play commonly involved a bat.his single source, while rounders play commonly involved a bat.)
1853.4 + (In 2013, David Block notes that t … In 2013, David Block notes that the 1858 edition of this book includes a different image, where a fifth player appears, and three of them hold bats: see below: "In the newer [1858] edition, all five of the boys are standing around a tree . . . . The bats, especially in the 1858 illustration, appear to be flat-faced, though not as broad as a cricket bat. There are no visible wickets or bases . . . It is impossible to know what sort of game(s) the artists were trying to represent, although my impression is of some sort of fungo game, with one player hitting the ball in the air and the others trying to catch or retrieve. The one who succeeds gets to bat next. Just a guess. (Email from David Block, 2/7/2013.)))
1847.20 + (In 2022, Bruce Allardice is collecting single wicket games in the US for the PrePro data base.)
1858.52 + (In August 1858, the local Mattatu … In August 1858, the local Mattatuck club hosted "the great contest" between New Britain and Winsted. The mills were shut down and brass bands escorted the clubs from the railway station to the playing field. New Britain won, and 150 were seated at a celebratory dinner. Local wicket was to die out by about 1860. The Waterbury Base Ball Club began in 1864. Waterbury is about 30 miles SW of Hartford CT. Winsted is about 30 miles north of Waterbury, and New Britain is about 20 miles to the east.d New Britain is about 20 miles to the east.)
Eagle Club of San Francisco v Pacific Club of San Francisco on 18 February 1866 + (In Base Ball Pioneers, Angus McFarlane indicates this was a championship match for the state of California.)
1860.93 + (In December 2021, Tom Gilbert ask … In December 2021, Tom Gilbert asked: "I assume that this means that a groomed clay surface gave the barehanded catcher a better shot at stopping a bounced fast pitch than grass (which might cause skidding, bad hops etc.), a paramount defensive consideration in baseball 1860-style." But where did this habit come from?Members of the 19CBB list-serve responded. John Thorn thought the bare alley came from cricket, which prefers a true bounce for balls hitting the ground before reaching the wicket. Steve Katz noted that no rule is to be found on the practice in the 1860 NABBP rules. Tom Gilbert added that some 1850's base ball was played on cricket fields may have suited base ballers too. Matt Albertson pointed out that the alley was actually a base path for cricket, so that grass may have been worn away for the whole span. Steve Katz found a Rob Neyer comment from 2011, citing Peter Morris' 2010 edition of A Game of Inches (which -- now try not to get dizzy here -- credits Tom Shieber's find from the 1860 Clipper, evidently sent out by Tom earlier.) Peter noted: "Shieber's theory accounts for how how these dirt strips originated, but it doesn't explain why the alleys were retained long after catchers were stationed directly behind the plate. I think the explanation is simple: since it is very difficult to maintain grass in well-trodden areas represented the groundskeepers' best effort to keep foot traffic off the grass."Tom Shieber (note to 19CBB, 12/9/2021) recalled: <div>"I believe I sent in the NY Clipper note about the path between catcher and pitcher to SABR-L back in the 1990s! I have never been particularly good about mining old SABR-L posts, but perhaps someone else knows how to do this if they want to try to track this down?</div><div> </div><div>Anyway, I believe the theory I forwarded regarding the path was that if a baseball diamond was set up on an existing cricket pitch, the most logical way to do so was to put the pitcher at one end of the wicket, the catcher on the other end, and home plate ~45 feet from the pitcher. This works out quite well, as the length of the wicket was (and is) 66 feet. And, as noted, it allows for the area behind home to be quite level and give a true bounce to the ball so the catcher can more readily field his position. This is, of course, just a theory, but I believe it is the most plausible put forth. The theory that the path came about because pitchers and catchers wear it out by walking back and forth is clearly incorrect.</div><div> </div><div>As noted, the theory does nothing to explain why the path remained well after baseball took off and baseball clubs began using facilities used primarily (or only) for baseball alone. While paths can be seen in images of baseball diamonds well into the 20th century, they were not universal. Many major league parks did not have such a path. My guess is that the path quickly became a “tradition” and that’s why it remained long after the cricket connection, though I certainly can’t say I am particularly satisfied with this theory.</div><div> </div><div>That's what I recall. Best, Tom"</div><div> </div><div>Peter Morris added that his 2007 book, Level Playing Fields:How the Groundskeeping Murphy Brothers Shaped Baseball notes how later field management practices dealt with grass that was disturbed by player foot traffic.</div> gt; notes how later field management practices dealt with grass that was disturbed by player foot traffic.</div> )
Excelsior Club of Spring Hill + (In Feb. of 2023 a marker was dedi … In Feb. of 2023 a marker was dedicated at Spring hill to the Cuban spring Hill students who introduce baseball to Cuba. See https://www.shc.edu/from-the-hill-to-havana-how-spring-hill-college-launched-cubas-national-pastime/ "Next month, Cuba celebrates Spring Hill College and three of its graduates, Nemesio Guillo, his older brother Ernesto, and Enrique Porto who brought baseball from The Hill to Havana. Representatives from the city of Mobile, Havana’s sister city, will take part in a ceremony dedicating a ballpark built to honor the country’s baseball history. A marker describing the relationship between Spring Hill College and baseball in Cuba will serve as the centerpiece of the park. Blake Stein, a 2005 graduate of Spring Hill will represent the College. He is a former pitcher and MLB player and currently serves as an Assistant Principal at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School.“As a new addition to the Spring Hill community, I have enjoyed learning about the almost 200-year history of the College and meeting our incredible students,” said Spring Hill’s President, Mary H. Van Brunt, PhD. “This is another example of how the College and its alumni have had such a profound and global impact through their experience on the Hill.”After graduating in 1864, The Guillo brothers headed back home and the sport they learned at Spring Hill spread quickly across Cuba. In 1868 they founded the country’s first baseball team, the Habana Base Ball Club. The sport had become a large part of the culture not just for the game but for what it represented to Cubans, both nationally and internationally.After forming the nation’s first baseball team, the duo, along with the first Latin American professional baseball player in the United States Esteban Bellán, played against a group of American sailors, which ended with the Cubans triumphant after delivering a “sovereign beating” to the hometown opponents. Word spread of the victory in the country, as did enthusiasm for the sport."e sport.")
Fungo + (In January 2017 Neil Seldman and … In January 2017 Neil Seldman and Mark Schoenberg contributed this definition of a fungo bat (email of 1/25/2017:Fungo bat A fungo bat is a specially designed bat used by baseball and softball coaches for practice. The etymology of the word fungo (pronunciation: /ˈfʌŋɡoʊ/) is uncertain, but the Oxford English Dictionary suggests it is derived from the Scots fung: to pitch, toss, or fling.[23] A fungo is longer and lighter than a regulation bat, with a smaller diameter. The bat is designed to hit balls tossed up in the air by the batter, not pitched balls.[24] Typical fungo bats are 35 to 37 inches (89 to 94 cm) long and weigh 17 to 22 ounces (480 to 620 g). Coaches hit many balls during fielding practice, and the weight and length allow the coach to hit balls repeatedly with high accuracy. The small diameter also allows coaches to easily hit pop-ups to catchers and infielders along with ground balls due to better control of the barrel of the bat. [Source: Wikipedia, retrieved January 2017.]-- Neil Seldman President, Institute for Local Self-Reliance Note: Protoball welcomes additional information on known local fungo games. Note: Protoball welcomes additional information on known local fungo games. )
1863.27 + (In March 1863 the much-reduced 105th NY was consolidated with the 94th NY. The new unit acted as provost guard (military police) near Falmouth, VA in April 1863.)
1869.3 + (In March 2019 we learned of an ea … In March 2019 we learned of an earlier inter-racial game game in Ohio: see [[1869.14]].These may be the first inter-racial games involving African-Americans. But there was an inter-racial game involving a Polynesian team in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1867. See 1867.17, see Honolulu in Pre-pro baseball, and see the Our Game blog article. l, and see the Our Game blog article. )

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