The Origins of Baseball

The origins of baseball are somewhat fuzzy and surrounded by plenty of controversy in the early years. Many games like baseball had the tools of the trade involved in them. the bat, ball and running were all staples of games found in Great Britain and other parts of Europe. Contests like rounders, cricket, stoolball all were first developed in England. As settlers from Europe left and came to the United States, they brought what they could remember and a hybrid game was started called base ball, goal ball, round ball,sometimes it was just called base. In early days ,they ran around the base in the opposite direction than the current game. like the game of brannboll from the Nordc countries. A player could be out if they were hit by the ball when not on the base and a few version allowed for a strikeout of the batter

In the southern part of England in the mod 18th century there appear to have been a children’s game where a striking of  ball and running a circuit of bases was being played. This was later identified as rounders. This is known as English colonists took the book A Little Pretty Pocket book of Base-Ball was discovered. Now that those traveling to the United States had a rule book, the games began. The game was definitely changed when adults began playing the game. after time, they were always attempting to find a loophole in the rules. So, it was constantly being updated to keep up with the game. The hotbed in the mid 19th century appears to have been around New York City.  These games were being discouraged and sometimes forbidden by the religious sects of the United States as sinful in nature.

Aside from obvious differences in terminology, the games differed in the equipment used (ball, bat, club, target, etc., which were usually just whatever was available), the way in which the ball was thrown, the method of scoring, the method of making outs, the layout of the field and the number of players involved. Very broadly speaking, these games can be roughly divided into forms of longball, where the batter ran out to a single point or line and back, as in cricket, and roundball, where there was a circuit of multiple bases. There were also games (e.g. stool-ball, trap-ball) which involved no running at all.

There were many differences in the new game and the old games of Europe. They included the ball (today’s is much harder than the earlier ones), the bat(today’s are refined pieces of wood where they used wht they could fine), the way the ball was thrown(earlier was underhand and you old them where to place it),the scoring, the ways to make outs(earlier if you caught it in the air or on one bounce you were out), the layout of the field (the first field had 126 feet between bases) and the number of players involved. Of course, they had no professionals players. It was the local barber, attorneys, longshoremen, businessmen, police and firemen among others.

 

 

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