The Portland daily press., 1900-07-26
EARLY BASEBALL.
What Is Known as to the Genesis of the
so-Caned National Sport.
(From the Youths Companion.)

(From the Youths Companion)
Somewhere about 1916 the first recorded
match was played by a club just or
gained in New York city and called the
Knickerbocker. Baseball or "base''
or FOUNDERS had been played before by
boys of all ages but this club, formed
doubtless because of the growing interest
in the sport. is ndoubtedly the first or
ganization which really made the game
a study and carried on regular practice
and arranged regular matches.
The game in New York was in many
respects different from the one played
in Boston, but our present 'Old cat' is
the basis of both. Boys had played "old
cat' all over the country for forty years
before the KnickerbOckers ever thought
OF forming themselves into club and
making rules for the sport.
In New York there were usually nine
on slde;' but one good spOrtsman-full
of the JOY of the game he must have
been, tOO-says that in Boston they usu-
ally played with six or eight men to a
side. Then he goes on to say that 1.-The
pitching or tossing Of a ball toward
the batsman is never practiced Tin New
England) except by the most juvenile
players; and he who would occupy the
post of honor as catcher must be able to
CdbCu ca SIbly Il 5WllOly u611YSICu Dali OF
he Will be admonished OF his expeFtn ess
by a request of some player to butter his
fingers -
In New York at this time the ball had
to be pitched and could not be thrown
and SO the BostOnians not only put the
New Workers to contempt, but really an
t1c1pated the present rule on that point,
And it seams also that the catcher stood
at from three to ten PAGES behind the
striker, as the batsman WIS called; al
though there are some daring examples
on record of catchers who stood as near
the striker as they could without coming
within the radius Of the swinging bat,
usually welded with one hand.
This bat, by the way, was interest ng
in itself. 1t was most likely to be the
stout handle OF rake or of a pitchfOrk,
cut to length of from three to three
and One-half feet. The ball with which
the Boston men played was from five and
One~haH to six ounces in weight, and two
and One-half to three and One-quarter
inches in diameter. it was made of yarn,
tightly wound round a lump of cork or
India rubber and covered with smooth
calfskln IN quarters las we quarter an
Orange), THE seams closed snugly and
not raised, lest they blister the hands of
the catcher and thrower."
So far the games seem to have been
more or less similar in New York and
Boston, the two centres OF the sport, and
VI course IL SuOulu De DOrn0 IN nina 6naG
the elements OF the game, such as the
striking, running of bases, and SO on,
were in all places the same. But the
Knickerbockers were the pioneers in the
development of the game, and to them
belongs the particular honor of the begin
nings of the system, Soon other clubs were
formed, and the number gradually grew.
just before the Civil War there were, per-
haps, two or three good clubs in Brook
Ign, New York, Boston and a few other
cities.
The war, of course, brought the game
to stop; but after 1865 baseball started
portant and SO popular that in 1868 the
first acknowledged professional teams
were organized and the National Baseball
Association formed. And then began the
really great American game.