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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S.J. Res. 79 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. J. RES. 79

       To designate June 19, 1993, as ``National Baseball Day''.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                April 2 (legislative day, March 3), 1993

 Mr. Lautenberg (for himself and Mr. Bradley) introduced the following 
joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION

 
       To designate June 19, 1993, as ``National Baseball Day''.

Whereas the seeds of modern baseball were planted on the Elysian Fields of 
        Hoboken, New Jersey, on the warm spring afternoon of June 19, 1846;
Whereas, on that historic date, one of baseball's earliest and most influential 
        teams, the Knickerbockers, invited a group known as the New York Club to 
        join them for a ``game of ball'' under a unique set of rules that the 
        Knickerbockers had recently devised;
Whereas the game the Knickerbockers conceived so excited and captivated the 
        imagination of sports enthusiasts that other ``base ball clubs'' soon 
        began to assemble;
Whereas these early clubs organized and modeled themselves on the example set by 
        the Knickerbockers, and adopted their written ``Rules of Play'';
Whereas in the months and years that followed, many of these early clubs joined 
        the Knickerbockers for ``regular play'' at the Elysian Fields and at 
        other locations in and around New York City, New York;
Whereas these men and teams were ``amateurs'' in the noblest sense of the word, 
        since they played for the sheer joy they found in this new and 
        captivating game;
Whereas, over the next decade, the Elysian Fields grew into the first great 
        center of baseball activity in the United States, and began to attract 
        players and spectators from across the Nation;
Whereas Alexander Joy Cartwright, Jr. was the guiding force behind the 
        Knickerbockers, and is the American who, perhaps, best deserves the 
        title of ``Father of Modern Baseball'';
Whereas as the game of baseball spread north and south along the east coast of 
        the United States it became known as the ``New York Game'';
Whereas today this game is known simply as ``baseball'', a game which, unlike 
        any other, has had a profound influence on generation after generation 
        of Americans;
Whereas for millions of Americans, baseball is part of their earliest childhood 
        memories, including the crack of a bat, the smell of a glove, and the 
        endless summers spent on sandlots in every community across this great 
        Nation in a uniquely American rite of passage;
Whereas, for many Americans, their first real heroes wore pinstriped baseball 
        uniforms, and these heroes taught generations of young Americans 
        important values and inspired their first dreams of glory;
Whereas, in every American generation since 1846, baseball has been an important 
        bond between millions of parents and their children who have shared 
        countless afternoons at the ballpark;
Whereas today, baseball binds one generation of Americans to the next through a 
        shared experience which has become central to our cultural identity as a 
        Nation;
Whereas it is often said that to understand America, one must first understand 
        the game of baseball; and
Whereas the designation of a ``National Baseball Day'' will provide an 
        opportunity to celebrate America's ``national pastime'' and to reflect 
        upon a game that has become a metaphor for our Nation's values and a 
        living symbol of our cultural heritage: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That, in recognition of the 
fundamental role that the game of baseball has played in shaping our 
American experience, and as a tribute to those who first pioneered the 
game, June 19, 1993, is hereby designated as ``National Baseball Day''. 
The President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation 
calling upon the people of the United States to observe such day with 
appropriate ceremonies and activities.

                                 <all>
```