Batter Up! Baseball at the Library of Congress
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Batter Up!
Baseball at the Library of Congress
Researcher and Reference
Services Division
July 31, 2018
“Men Playing a Game.” MS Royal 10 E. iv, f. 94 b. Last quarter of the 13th century or 1st quarter of the 14th century. British Library. https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=6549
Jehan de Grise and his workshop. Manuscript illustration from Romance of Alexander, 1338–1344. Reproduction. Courtesy of The Bodleian Libraries, The University of Oxford, MS. Bodl. 264, fol. 22r. https://bit.ly/2Ly3fLQ
A Variety of Bat and Ball Games Proliferated in the 18th and 19th Centuries The Book of Games; or, A History of Juvenile Sports. The Young Florist…. (Boston, Russell, Odiorne and Co., 1833). London: R. Phillips, 1812. https://lccn.loc.gov/20014719 https://lccn.loc.gov/11033925
Alexander Doubleday, Inventor of Baseball?
Portrait of Brig. Gen. Abner Doubleday, officer of the Federal Army
(Maj. Gen. from Nov. 29, 1862). https://www.loc.gov/item/2018666414/
Alexander Doubleday, Inventor of Baseball?
Portrait of Brig. Gen. Abner Doubleday, officer of the Federal Army
(Maj. Gen. from Nov. 29, 1862). https://www.loc.gov/item/2018666414/
John Rhea Smith, head-and-shoulders portrait, right profile. Saint-Mémin, Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de, 1770-1852, artist Philadelphia : between 1798 and 1803. https://www.loc.gov/item/2007675956/
1786: First
handwritten reference
to baseball, here
called “baste ball.”
Diary of John Rhea Smith, Nassau Hall, College of New Jersey.
Princeton, 1786.
“A fine day play baste ball in the
campus but am beaten for I miss both
catching and striking the Ball.” (Diary
entry from March 22, 1786)
Mention of “baste-ball.” Diary of John Rhea Smith, Nassau Hall, College of New Jersey.
Princeton, 1786.1787: First printed reference to Base-
Ball published in America
A Little Pretty Pocket-book…. Printed at Worcester, Massachusetts, by
Isaiah Thomas, 1787. Reprint of the London edition originally
published by John Newbery in 1744. https://lccn.loc.gov/22005880A Little Pretty Pocket-book…. Printed at Worcester, Massachusetts, by Isaiah Thomas, 1787. Reprint of the London edition originally published by John Newbery in 1744. https://lccn.loc.gov/22005880
1791: First homegrown
instance of the game of
base-ball being referred
to by that name in
America.
Pittsfield (Mass.) bylaw of 1791. Printed in The History of Pittsfield (Berkshire County), Massachusetts,
From the Year 1734 to the Year 1800. Compiled and Written, Under the General Direction of a Committee,
by J. E. A. Smith. By Authority of the Town, 1869 (pp. 446–447). https://lccn.loc.gov/01011561.1791: First homegrown
instance of the game of
base-ball being referred
to by that name in
America.
Bylaw to prevent damage to new meeting house windows: no ball games within eighty yards of the
building. #XVIII. A #10 of the Town of Pittsfield, Original Papers. September 5, 1791.
http://www.pittsfieldlibrary.org/baseball.html1791: First homegrown
instance of the game of
base-ball being referred
to by that name in
America.
Bylaw to prevent damage to new meeting house windows: no ball games within eighty yards of the
building. #XVIII. A #10 of the Town of Pittsfield, Original Papers. September 5, 1791. Berkshire
Athenaeumn http://www.pittsfieldlibrary.org/baseball.html1791: First published rules
(in German) of “Ball with
free station (or English
Base-ball).”
GutsMuths, Johann Christoph Friedrich. Spiele zur Übung und Erholung des Körpers und
Geistes: für die Jugend, ihre.... Schnepfenthal : Erziehungsanstalt, 1796. https://bit.ly/2uB21J3April 25, 1823: “I was last Saturday much pleased in
witnessing a company of active young men playing the
manly and athletic game of 'base ball' at the Retreat in
Broadway (Jones’). I am informed they are an organized
association, and that a very interesting game will be
played on Saturday next at the above place, to
commence at half past 3 o'clock, P.M. Any person fond of
witnessing this game may avail himself of seeing it
played with consummate skill and wonderful dexterity. It
is surprising, and to be regretted that the young men of
our city do not engage more in this manual sport; it is
innocent amusement, and healthy exercise, attended with
but little expense, and has no demoralizing tendency.”
National Advocate, April 25, 1823, page 2, column 4.New York with the city of Brooklyn in the distance. New York : Jos. Laing & Co., c1855. https://www.loc.gov/item/2005693035/
The New York Herald, October 16, 1859. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030313/1859-10-16/ed-1/seq-1/
Washington Course, Charleston, S.C., 1857. https://www.loc.gov/item/2003669687/
John C. Heenan, the champion of America,
c1860. https://www.loc.gov/item/2009631013/
John C. Heenan knocking his opponent off his feet in the ring,
c1860. https://www.loc.gov/item/2001697745/The New York Herald, September 29, 1859 (Morning Edition), Page 10. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030313/1859-09-29/ed-1/seq-10/
“Our National Winter Exercise – Skating.” Illus. in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, Jan. 13, 1866. https://www.loc.gov/item/96513041/
[Detail] The cricket match played at Hoboken on October 3-6, 1859, between the
All England Eleven and the United States Twenty-Two…. Harper’s Weekly 3, no.
[Members of cricket ball-team posed for a group 146 (1859 Oct. 15): 664. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/99472667/
photograph; some are holding cricket bats.] Between
1855 and 1865. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017896630/“From the foregoing description and comparison of the two
games, the reader will see that base ball is better adapted for
popular use than cricket. It is more lively and animated, gives
more exercise, and is more rapidly concluded. Cricket seems
very tame and dull after looking at a game of base ball. It is
suited to the aristocracy, who have leisure and love ease; base
ball is suited to the people…. In cricket, those actually engaged,
except three—the bowler, the batman and the wicket-keeper—
do little or nothing three-fourths of the time; and for half the
day, sometimes longer, nine out of one side are not on the field
at all. In the American game the ins and outs alternate by quick
rotation, like our officials, and no man can be out of play longer
than few minutes.”
The New York Herald, October 16, 1859.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030313/1
859-10-16/ed-1/seq-1/“How Baseball Began.” The Daily Examiner (San Francisco), Nov. 27, 1887: 14. https://lccn.loc.gov/sn83045402
“The ball was made of a
hard rubber center, tightly
wrapped with yarn, and in
the hands of a strong-
armed man it was a terrible
missile, and sometimes had
fatal results when it came in
contact with a delicate part
of the player’s anatomy.”
“How Baseball Began.” The Daily Examiner (San Francisco), Nov. 27, 1887: 14. https://lccn.loc.gov/sn83045402Doc Adams (front row, second from left) poses with members of the 1862 Knickerbockers in this [composite] photograph. https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2018/05/baseball-americana-baseballs-magna-carta/
New York and Environs. Engraved by R. Kupfer, N.Y. Printed by H. Peters [c1867]. https://www.loc.gov/resource/pga.01837
The Hoboken Ferry [horse drawn carriages parked next to a ferry terminal]. New York, N.Y.: George Stacy, ca. 1865. https://www.loc.gov/resource/stereo.1s04981/
The Elysian Fields (marked as 62 on map detail)
New York and Environs. Engraved by R. Kupfer, N.Y. Printed by H. Peters [c1867].
https://www.loc.gov/resource/pga.01837A baseball match at the Elysian Fields, Hoboken. Illus. in: Harper's weekly, v. 3, no. 146 (1859 October 15), pp. 664-665. https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.17524/
The American national game of base ball. Grand match for the championship at the Elysian Fields, Hoboken, N.J. New York: Currier & Ives, c1866. https://www.loc.gov/item/90708565/
The Social Side of Baseball
Come, base ball players all and listen to the song
About our manly Yankee game, and pardon what is wrong;
If the verses do not suit you, I hope the chorus will,
So join with us, one and all, and sing it with a will.
Peverelly, Charles A. The Book of American Pastimes. New York:
The Author, 1866. https://lccn.loc.gov/05029208The Social Side of Baseball
Come, base ball players all and listen to the song
About our manly Yankee game, and pardon what is wrong;
If the verses do not suit you, I hope the chorus will,
So join with us, one and all, and sing it with a will.
CHORUS.
Then shout,Come, base
shout for ball players
joy, and all welkin
let the and listen to the song
ring,
In praises of our noble game, for health ’tis sure to bring;
Come,About
my our manly
brave Yankee
Yankee boys,game,
there’sand pardon
room enough what
for is
all,wrong;
So join in Uncle Samuel’s sport—the pastime of base ball.
… If the verses do not suit you, I hope the chorus will,
Come, base ball players all and listen to the song
About our manly Yankee game, and pardon what is wrong;
So join with us, one and all, and sing it with a will.
If the verses do not suit you, I hope the chorus will,
So join with us, one and all, and sing it with a will.
…
Now we’ll sing to the Gothams—they hold a foremost rank;
They have taken many prizes, and they seldom draw a blank;
Their players are hard to beat, with Van Cott in the race,
And Wadsworth is bound to die on the very first base.Champions of America. [carte de visite] Photo by Charles H. Williamson. Brooklyn, 1865. https://www.loc.gov/item/92514548/
Champions of America. [carte de visite] Photo by Charles H. Williamson. Brooklyn, 1865. https://www.loc.gov/item/92514548/
The New York Herald Reports on the First base Ball
Convention, Held January 22 & February 25, 1857
“A convention of the Base Ball Clubs of this city and the
vicinity was held . . . for the purpose of discussion and
deciding upon a code of law which shall hereafter be
recognized as authoritative in the game.”
The New York Herald. January 23, 1857: p. 8.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030313/
1857-01-23/ed-1/seq-8/
The New York Herald. March 02, 1857: p. 8.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030313/1857-03-
02/ed-1/seq-8/Daniel “Doc” Adams. “Laws of William Grenelle. “Rules for Match Games William Grenelle. “Laws of Base Base Ball.” Manuscript, December of Base Ball.” Manuscript, January 1857. Ball.” Manuscript, January–February 1856. Courtesy of Hayden Trubitt. Courtesy of Hayden Trubitt. 1857. Courtesy of Hayden Trubitt.
“Laws of Base Ball,” Sec. 3
Bases (four bases, ninety feet between bases)
William Grenelle. “Laws of Base Ball.” Manuscript, January–February 1857. Courtesy of
Hayden Trubitt. https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/baseball-americana/about-this-
exhibition/introduction/baseballs-magna-carta/new-fundamental-rules/“Laws of Base Ball,” Sec. 26 Number of Players and Eligibility William Grenelle. “Laws of Base Ball.” Manuscript, January–February 1857. Courtesy of Hayden Trubitt. https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/baseball-americana/about-this- exhibition/introduction/baseballs-magna-carta/new-fundamental-rules/
“Laws of Base Ball,” Sec. 25 Number of Innings per Game William Grenelle. “Laws of Base Ball.” Manuscript, January–February 1857. Courtesy of Hayden Trubitt. https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/baseball-americana/about-this- exhibition/introduction/baseballs-magna-carta/new-fundamental-rules/
The Fashion Race Course in 1856 (Converted to Baseball Field
and Site of Baseball’s First All-Star Game in 1858)
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. New York, NY, June 28, 1856: p.
44. https://lccn.loc.gov/2005204305The First All-Star Game, Held in 1858 at the Fashion Race Course in 1858
New York Clipper, July 25, 1858, front page. Illinois Digital
Newspapers Collection. https://bit.ly/2K68h0mWilliam McWhorter Ex-Slave Age 78. Federal Writers' Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 14, South Carolina, Part 3, Jackson- Quattlebaum. https://www.loc.gov/resource/mesn.143/?sp=103
“The national game. Three ‘outs’ and one ‘run.’” [New York : Currier & Ives], c1860. https://www.loc.gov/item/2003674584/
“The national game. Three ‘outs’ and one ‘run.’” [New York : Currier & Ives], c1860. https://www.loc.gov/item/2003674584/
Wanted a substitute. Oliver Ditson & Co., 1863. https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.35356/
Union prisoners at Salisbury, N.C. / drawn from nature by Act. Major Otto Boetticher; lith. of Sarony, Major & Knapp, 449 Broadway, N. York. https://www.loc.gov/item/94508290/
“First Nine of the Cincinnati Red Stockings.” Chromolithograph. Cincinnati: Tuchfarber, Walkley & Moellmann, 1869. https://www.loc.gov/item/97519104/
“Presentation of a champion bat to the “Red Stocking” base-ball club, Cincinnati, Ohio, on its return home. 1869 July 24.” Illus. in: Harper‘s weekly, v. 13, no. 656 (1869 July 24), p. 477. https://www.loc.gov/item/2008676718/
The National Association of Base ball
Players “made the playing rules and
governed the game until 1871, when
the first National Association of
professional base ball players was
organized, and since that time the
professional element has formulated
the playing rules and governed the
game.”
Excerpt from “History of Base Ball. Mr. A. G. Spalding Tells or Origin and Development.” The Anderson
Intelligencer, January 25, 1905. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026965/1905-01-25/ed-1/seq-6/"Panorama of New York and vicinity.” The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1866. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/5e66b3e8-7797-d471-e040-e00a180654d7
Detail of “Panorama of New York and Vicinity” showing the
“Massachusetts Game” [left] and the “New York Game” [right].
"Panorama of New York and vicinity.” The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and
Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. The New York Public Library Digital
Collections. 1866. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/5e66b3e8-7797-d471-e040-e00a180654d7Detail of “Panorama of New York and Vicinity” showing the
“Massachusetts Game” [left] and the “New York Game” [right].
"Panorama of New York and vicinity.” The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and
Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. The New York Public Library Digital
Collections. 1866. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/5e66b3e8-7797-d471-e040-e00a180654d7The Massachusetts Game? "Panorama of New York and vicinity.” The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1866. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/5e66b3e8-7797-d471-e040-e00a180654d7
The New York Game? "Panorama of New York and vicinity.” The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1866. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/5e66b3e8-7797-d471-e040-e00a180654d7
A Manual of Cricket and Base Ball. Boston: The Base Ball Player’s Pocket Companion. Boston: Mayhew and Mayhew and Baker, 1858. https://lccn.loc.gov/16025758 Baker, 1859. https://lccn.loc.gov/97207827
Massachusetts Game vs. New York Game Massachusetts Game New York Game Square Field Diamond Field Four bases/stakes, plus striker’s point Four bases Batter stood between home and 1st stake Batter stood at home One out, all out (side retired after single out) Three outs to retire side Ball thrown overhand Ball pitched underhand No foul territory Foul territory Ten to fourteen players on a field Nine players per side Shorter distance between bases Longer distance between bases Balls caught on fly an out Balls caught on fly or first bound an out Hitting a runner with the ball is an out No “soaking”: tag outs and force outs Ball small and light (2 to 2 and ¾ oz.) Ball bigger and heavier (6 to 6 and ¼ oz.) Runners could stray from baseline Runners must stay within baseline Large run totals (first to 100 wins) Smaller run totals (first to 21 wins; later 9 innings)
Why Did The New York Game Win Out?
"Panorama of New York and vicinity.” The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and
Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. The New York Public Library Digital
Collections. 1866. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/5e66b3e8-7797-d471-e040-e00a180654d7“The Invention of the Invention of Baseball”: The Doubleday Myth
Portrait of Brig. Gen. Abner Doubleday, officer of the Federal Army
(Maj. Gen. from Nov. 29, 1862). https://www.loc.gov/item/2018666414/Major [Robert] Anderson's command at Fort Sumter, Major General Abner Doubleday, Harper’s Weekly, March 23, 1871. 17th Regular Army Infantry Regiment. https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3b07568/ https://www.loc.gov/item/2017659600/
Albert Goodwill Spalding. Bain News Service, June 30, 1910. Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide…. New York: American https://www.loc.gov/item/2018666414/ Sports Publishing Co., 1906. https://lccn.loc.gov/08018379
The Topeka State Journal, July 22, 1907, Last Edition, Page 8 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016014/1907-07- 22/ed-1/seq-8/
Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide…. New York: American Sports Publishing Co., 1904. https://lccn.loc.gov/08018379
A. G. Spalding, “The Origin of the Game of Baseball.” Akron Beacon Journal. April 1, 1905: p. 6. https://lccn.loc.gov/sn84028149
A. G. Spalding, “The Origin of the Game of Baseball.” Akron Beacon Journal. April 1, 1905: p. 6. https://lccn.loc.gov/sn84028149
A. G. Spalding, “The Origin of the Game of Baseball.” Akron Beacon Journal. April 1, 1905: p. 6. https://lccn.loc.gov/sn84028149
A. G. Spalding, “The Origin of the Game of Baseball.” Akron Beacon Journal. April 1, 1905: p. 6. https://lccn.loc.gov/sn84028149
A. G. Spalding, “The Origin of the Game of Baseball.” Akron Beacon Journal. April 1, 1905: p. 6. https://lccn.loc.gov/sn84028149
“Abner Doubleday Invented Baseball.” [Letter by Abner Graves claiming Abner Doubleday as the Inventor of Baseball.] Akron Beacon Journal, April 4, 1905. https://lccn.loc.gov/sn84028149
“Abner Doubleday Invented Baseball. [Except]. Akron Beacon Journal, April 4, 1905. https://lccn.loc.gov/sn84028149
“Abner Doubleday Invented Baseball” [Except]. Akron Beacon Journal, April 4, 1905. https://lccn.loc.gov/sn84028149
Spalding's Base Ball Guide…. New York: American Sports Publishing Co., 1908. https://archive.org/stream/spaldingsbas19071908chic#page/34/mode/2up
Spalding's Base Ball Guide…. New York: American Sports Publishing Co., 1908. https://archive.org/stream/spaldingsbas19071908chic#page/48/mode/2up
Some problems with the Graves account
• Doubleday was not in Cooperstown in 1839
• No mention by Doubleday’s friends or
family that he invented baseball
• Doubleday made only one known reference
to baseball, not connected in any way to
baseball’s origins
• Abner Graves, 71 when he wrote the letter,
was five years old in 1839
• Other statements by Graves about his
personal history are clearly falsifiable
• No other witnesses to Doubleday’s
“invention” were available for questioning
Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday [between 1860 and
1870]. https://www.loc.gov/resource/cwpb.05063/Further Reading Block, David. Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game. University of Nebraska Press, 2005. Katz, Harry, Frank Ceresi, et al. Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress. New York: Smithsonian Books/Harper, 2009. [Updated edition forthcoming in May 2018] Ryczek, William J. Baseball’s First Inning: A History of the National Pastime through the Civil War. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2009. Thorn, John. Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. Thorn, John. Our Game. https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/ -The MLB.com/Blog of Official MLB Historian John Thorn.
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