Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1907-06-27
DISPUTED ORIGIN OF BASEBALL.

Henry Beach Needham in Success
Magazine-Real baseball is over six
ty-one years old. But the origin Of
pute than the etymology of the term
fan" The veteran journalist, Henry
Chadwick, popularity known as the
| father of baseball who is English
| born, contends that baseball while an
American sport, had it's origin in the
game played by the English school
boy called FOUNDERS" THE basic
principle of both games Mr.. Chad
wick argues, is the use of a bat,
ball, and bases" But it is a short bat
and soft ball, and the player on hit
ting the ball endeavors to make cir
cuit--a round-of all the bases-in
our vocabulary, a home run. AS
clencher, Mr.. Chadwick says that,
when debating the question with AL
bert G. Spalding, there entered the
room deyotee of sport, Andrew Peck,
whose name, coupled with that of his
partner, Snyder, was known to most
American boys of twenty years ago in
connection with popular style of ice
skates.
When did yor begin to play base
ball?' inquired Mr. Spalding.
In the latter part of the forties."
replied Mr. Peck, about 1S47 or
l1S4S"
What was the game called them"
why, FOUNDERS" said Mr.. Peck.
But to this day, Mr.. Spalding, proud
Yankee to the core, is unconvinced.
/ Undoubtedly the foreign faint in base
ball bothered him not little for
time, but he disposed of it to his sat
isfaction in the spring of 1889, when
/ he visited Liverpool, after a tour of
the British colonies, with the Chicago
and All-American baseball teams.
Throughout the trip English subjects
had chided him with the antecedent of
the American national game, so he
issued challenge to the champion
rounder club of Great Britain, which
was promptly accepted. BY the
terms of the agreement, the British
champions were to play a one-inning
rounder match 1.-TWO innings make a
full game) with a team of eleven
men picked from the American "base-
/, ballers,' as the Englishmen called
them, and then there was to be a
five-inning game of baseball. AS
/ feeder" (pitcher) for his eleven"
Mr.. Spalding was given a leather
covered sphere about the size of a
golf ball and rather soft The rounder
| batsman faced him with a miniature
Cricket bat-"a cross between a pota-
to-masher and penholder.' A high
ball was 'fouled'-as the Yankees
called it-but the referee declared it
fair hit, and as the batter made a
circuit of the four boundary posts be-
fore the ball was recovered he scored
four runs. The next batsman repeat
ed the trick, and there was a total of
eight runs to the credit of the Eng
lishmen. Then, feeder Spalding re-
sorted to low balls close to the bats
mans body, and only three more runs
wer made before the eleven British
champions wer put out. and the inning
was over. These last runs resulted
from the failure of an American to hit
one of the champions with the ball, as
the rules permit.
In their half of the inning the yam
KEGS were inclined at first to try to
Tine out the ball, and the results
were disastrous. But soon they got
the hang of batting with one hand and
scored eight runs before the eleven
men were retired. This left them
three runs behind
The baseball game was an entirely
different story. Three Englishmen
struck out, and then the Americans
went to bat. Thirty-five men crossed
the plate, and still the side had not
been repaired. Because of physical
exhaustion, both teams were content
that the match be declared of. Thus
the first inning in the baseball game
was never flashed; yet the score
stood IS to 0 in favor of the Ameri-
cans.