Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1904-07-13
THE FIRST BASEBALL GAME.
Such a Novel Event That 1t Was IL
lustrated in Weekly Paper.

Such Novel Event That Tt Was IL
Illustrated in Weekly Paper.
The first newspaper report Of base
ball game that l remember reading
was an account Of a game played at
Hoboken, n j., in 1850 1t appeared
in an illustrated weekly and was such
a novel and interesting event that the
weekly gave double-page illustration,
writes James L. Steele, in Outing.
There were no baseball schedules in
those days, and nobody lay awake
nights Matching up reasons why Har-
ward should not play Princeton and
why Yale should play Pennsylvania.
Ali that was needed was an occasion
such as a Fourth Of July celebration,
"a county fair, a house-raising or some
other event Of that nature. The occa-
sion for this particular game was the
entertainment given to team Of Eng
fish crlcketers then touring this coun-
try and defeating Omitted States
twenty-twos" with commendable reg
ularity. We had evolved a game from
the old English FOUNDERS" which we
called baseball, and we wanted to show
our cousins what high old game it
was.
1t may have been the ''humors of
the day" editor who wrote the report,
which was as follows:
Baseball differs from cricket espe-
cially in there being no wicketa The
bat is held high in the air. When
the ball has been struck, the outs try
to catch it, in which case the striker
is out or, if they cannot do this, to
strike the striker with it when he is
running, which likewise puts him
out
Instead of wickets, there are, at
this game, four or five marks called
bases, one Of which, being the one at
which the striker stands, is called
home
''As at cricket, the point Of the game
is to make the most runs between
bases; the party which counts the
most runs wins the day"
The fact that the reporter thought it
necessary to explain how the game
was played indicates the extent Of the
public knowledge Of baseball at that
time, and even be wasn't quite sure
whether there were four bases or five.
When he says base runner may be
put out by hitting him with the ball
he makes no mistake, for that was an
70 nd
good play on the part of base run
ner to draw a throw from the pitcher,
To- usually the runner would dodge the
throw and gambol around the bases,
while the fielders were hurrying after
the ball.
This rule was abolished as soon as
the game became popular, for base
man, instead of touching a runner
with the ball would often "soak" him
at short range, which generally
brought forth unprintable remarks
from the soakee.
The artist in illustrating this game
was not far behind the reporter. The
picture shows us several hundred
spectators and, with the exception of a
few ladies and gentlemen seated in
carriages, the only person sitting down
in the entire assemblage is the umpire;
and, as if to show the perfect tranquil
ity Of his mind and his contempt for
foul tips, he leans gracefully back in
his chair with his legs crossed. The
basemen, instead of playing off," are
standing, each with one foot on his
base, and base runner Is glued to
third" although the pitcher is about
to deliver the ball. In short, the gen.
eral aspect of the field is enough to
give modern baseball captain nervous
prostratiOn.