Origins of baseball
From ArticleWorld
In early 14th century England, children and townsfolk played what are known as “folk” games. Often these games had not written rules and the names of such games often varied from region to region, even town to town. In addition, members of government and clergy often discouraged “folk” games. Fortunately, the games were still played and passed down. Over time, games early games like stoolball, poison ball and base came to be referenced by authors in poetry and other text. Because of this, correlations can be made between early “folk” games and modern day baseball.
Stoolball
- Developed in the 11th century. Also known as stob-ball and stow-ball.
- Primary goal was to defend a tree stump (stob-ball and stow-ball) or a stool (stoolball).
- In the beginning, the object was defended by a bare hand. Eventually, the hand was replaces by sticks, bats, and any other long wooden device.
- Early play-If the stool was successfully defended, the defending team was given a point but the batter was out if the ball hit the stool. No running.
- Later play- Same premise as above but includes running either between two stools or around a number of stools.
Origin reference
Since little is know about the origins of baseball, its beginnings are always in dispute. In 1796, a German author named Johann Guts Muths described “English baseball” as having players, bases and outs. Another reference to modern day baseball was made in a 1791 Massachusetts document forbidding the play of baseball “within 80 yards of the new meeting house.” Yet another dispute as to the origins of baseball is who actually invented it. Though a panel decided in 1907 that Doubleday was the man who invented it, no evidence has ever surfaced to corroborate that fact.
Alexander Cartwright
In 1845 Alexander Cartwright wrote was known as the “Knickerbocker Rules” for a Manhattan baseball team called the Knickerbockers. Those rules eventually evolved into many of the rules used in modern baseball and because of this, Alexander Cartwright is known as the “father of modern baseball.”