The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-05-24
For The Cecil Wing.
A WORD ABOUT BASE BALL.
BY BALL AND BAT.

The sportive energy pent up within us,
which during the winter has spent itself in
projecting harmless parlor eroquet, or less
harmless, billiard balls, seeks wider sphere
for the display of its active powers. Out
door sports are in order: croquet for the
ladies, base ball for the men and boys. Of
the latter game we would say few words.
While cricket belongs to England, we
Americans have adopted base ball as our
national game, and already it is reckonsd
along with the eagle, the flag, Brother
Jonathan's hat, carpet sack, &C., as part
of the public property. Unfortunately the
origin of base ball is in much doubt and
obscurity. We suppose, however, that it
has grown up with the spirit of modern
institutions. No ancient oracle foretold it.
Homer makes no mention of it as being a
mania among the Gods or Olympus; and it
would be constituting the text rather too
freely to represent the athletic Greeks as
competing at the Olympic games for the
championship Of Greece in we'll matched
game Of base ball. after having previously
contended in boxing, wrestling, &c. 1t
probably grew out of that old fashioned
game our fathers played, town ball, which,
if not founded on strict CIRCULATION"
rules, afford no lack of fun and healthy
exercise. To trace the development of
that primitive game into the present per-
feet one, were like recording the events
that gave rise to our national constitution
"a work for the pen of the historian. The
philosopher, indeed, might find food for
reflection, in such record, because he
would discover penetrating every esh of
it, that genuine pluck, and "push Esprit,
which characterzes all our Yankee institu-
tions, as constrastsd with the more staid
and conservative ones of England. The
Atlantic B. B. c., of Brooklyn (still in
existence, and bearing an active part in
our annual championship contests) is prob
ably one of the Oldest organizations Of this
kind in the United States. Its history
dates back some twenty or thirty years.
1t was early an institution" and member
ship in it is like membership in the Seven
eth n. Y. or Fifth Maryland military regi-
ments, was esteemed dignite speciale. To
one versed in base ball matters, the first
rules adopted by that club are curiosity,
so marked is the difference between them,
and the general regulations for the game
as now played. We all remember the blaze
of excitement that swept over the land in
1866 when the Athletic and Atlantic clubs,
representing the rival cities of Philadel-
phia and New York, stepped into the arena
to contend like two untried giants in
game before, but little known. We read of
ideas suddenly evolved which have moved
world; the gold fever, coil on the BRAIN"
tho Grecan bend, Dolly Warden, &C., are
notable instances. This new game eclipsed
all former innovations in the rapdity with
which it spread and sprang into popularity.
A chord was struck which gave respon-
sive throb in the American heart, for was
not latent principle of cur life laid bare?
The game may have been new before, but
it was So no longer. Every city, town, vii
lage in the land had its a." first nine, it's
"crack" club, &c. The school boy soon
understood its intricate details much better
than his multiplication table. All joined
in the sport. Quack medicine vendors
were in despair, for old men, on the shady
side of eighty, who before were bent dou-
BILE with age, rheumatism, &C., could now
send a ball to "left," run their bases, and
turn double somersault on the home
stretch. The physician forgot to bleed his
patients, the lawyer his clients, even the
minister did not deem "fly catch" as
detracting from the dignity Of the cloth.
The unparalleled success of the Red
Stockings a few years later, was like the
brilliancy that attends the flashing meteor,
suddenly bursting into the darkness Of
night. The late achievements of the Bal
timore's, Boston's &C., which prove that
the game is now well nigh perfect, are too
fresh in the memory to need recalling. A
word as to the merits of the game. Con-
sidered in itself, the game is beautiful
Founded on strict rules, it combines the
rigidity of mathematical precision with
such diversities as enthrall the reason, and
delight the Imagination. What sight more
pleasing than green field on which eigh-
teen players, dressed in becoming suits,
with skill and grace are contrasting well
fought game. How intently the spocta-
tors watch-how they applaud when some
extraordinary "stop" or "catch - attests
the proficiency which faithful practice
will produce. Even a well played game by
"scrub nine is not lacking in points of
interest. Base ball playing generally is to
be commended, because it is healthy
exercise for the body. There are many in
our cities and tewns-not idlers, but hard
workers-who need such exercise as it
affords. The scholar, the merchant, the
lawyer, the man cramped up in some room
fetid with life destroying air, needs game
now and then, to force open the vesicles of
his lungs, and enlarge the flabby cells of
his muscular tissue. Let dignity be laid
aside for the time-true dignity will suffer
no i'll effects, as consequence. Educators
throughout the country are loud in their
praise of work, which under the guise
of play, is in reality aoork, well calculated
to bring about muscular development in
even proportion with intellectual growth.
There is one feature connected with the
game-more especially professional, which
all should repudiate, viz. gambling and
betting. 1t is a shame that SO noble game
should be prostituted to such dishonest
practices. Hence the question has been
raised, whether base ball playing should be
encouraged or not. Now all must admit
the morality of the game itself-the only
question is, whether it, like many other
good things, should be abandoned, because
woful consequences may follow. Now we
are not an adherent of that easy-going
philosophy, which would overlook such
gambling and betting as necessary adjuncts
of ball playing. We believe that gambling
and betting must be frowned and forced
down by an enlightened public opinion and
law But should a noble game harmless