Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-07-14
BASEBALL GAME
WAS PLAYED IN N. j.
Account Written in Illustrated Week
Iy of Game at HObOken in 1859
Was Humorous.

me first newspaper report of a
baseball game that remember read
ing was an account, says a writer in
Outing, of a game played at Hobo
ken. n. j., in 1859. 1t appeared in
al illustrated weekly, and was such
a novel and interesting event that
the weekly gave a d~ouble-page Illus
tration.
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 Philadelphia.
All that was needed was an occasion
such as a Fourth of July celebration,
a country fair, a h~ouse-raising, or
some other event of hat nature. The
occasion for this particular game was
the entertainment given to a team of
English cricketers then touring this
country, and defeating United States
twenty-twos" with eommendable reg
ularity. We had evolved the game
from the old English FOUNDERS"
which We called baseball, and we
wanted to show Il cousins what a
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, es-
pecially in there being no wickets.
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 be-
tween 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's knowledge of baseball at
that time, and even he wasn't quite
sure whether there were four or five
bases. When he says a base runner
may be put out by hitting him with
the ball he makes no mistake, for
that was an actual fact, and it was
considered a good play on the part
of the base runner to draw n throw
from the pitcher, for usually the run
ner would dodge and throw and gam
boil around the bases, while the field
ers were hurrying after the ball. This
rule was abolished as 500 as the
game became popular, for a baseman,
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
q few ladies and gentlemen seated In
carriages, the only person sitting
down in the entire assemblage is the
umpire; and, as II to show the per
feet tranquility of his mind and his
contempt for foul tips, he leans grace
fully back in his chair with his legs
crossed. The basemen, instead OF
playing off" are standing, each with
one foot on his base, and a base run
ner is GLUED to third although the
pitcher is about to deliver the ball,
In short, the general aspect of the
field is enough to give a modern base
ball captain nervous prostration.