The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1910-07-08

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and organized a club, first trying
seven players. then nine.
Baseball, under the name Of the
New York game" became popular
at once and was played widely through
the eastern states, the rules, however,
varying in almost every district SO
that 1t was difficult to arrange
matches. Each team was forced to
concede some rules to the other, and
lengthy conferences preceded inter-
city matches before the rules could be
agreed upon. In some towns 81 "aces"
Cor, as we call them, "runs") consti-
tuted a game. In others, especially
where cricket had been played, 100
rounds" or tallies constituted a game
and frequently many days were re-
Quired to complete a match.
The Kn~ickerbocker club of New
York, framed a complete code of rules
in 1916, the basic principles laid down
in the rules being the same as those
now, prevailing. The rules placed the
bases AZ PAGES apart and 81 "aces"
constituted a game. The new game
had taken we'll in Brooklyn, which
was the center Of athletic activity, and
the Knickerbocker rules prevailed
among the Brooklyn clubs. The Hud-
son river towns and cities adopted the
game, and adapted the rules to suit
their own views. It was played en-
tirely by amateurs, and while called
baseball" in some places 1t continued
to be called the New York game" or
New York" until it was introduced
into Boston by the Tri-Mountain team
in 1858.
Boston, having been a cricketing
center. objected to the New York
rules, changed them and played the
Massachusetts game" in which 100
runs constituted a game. The records
of games played in Boston and Cam
bridge show that sometimes five days
were required to complete a match.
Harvard teams engaged in the "Massa-
chusetts game" o o after its introduce
ton in Boston and became leaders in
the new pastime.
With the organization Of the Ma
tional Baseball association in 1858, the
game began to approach uniformity.
The rules were amended and codified
and baseball quickly succeeded cricket
as the popular sport. From the first,
local patriotism played an important
part in the sport. Matches played for
as high as $1,000 a side were frequent.
Brawls, clashes between partisan
crowds, and assaults upon umpires
are recorded even in those days.
In 1860 baseball had become almost
national in scope, and the rules were
constantly modified as the play de-
veloped necessities for restricting GER
tain practises. The game spread west
ward rapidly, and made much better
progress in western cities than in
the east. The Civil war, however, ar
rested the development of the new
game for a time. 1t was played dur
ing the war in camps all ove the
south, regiments and companies hav-
ing their teams. Sergeant Dryden of
an Iowa regiment relates that during
the long waits in the trenches before
Vicksburg, the Union and Confederate
soldiers jokingly challenged each other
to play baseball, and that during the
brief truces the men of his company
and the enemy played catch from line
to line. @
1--WE were throwing and catching
the ball belonging to our company
team n day." he relates, when
firing commenced afresh and the men
dived into their holes. There was a
big fellow named Holleran who, after
we had got under cover, wanted to
go owe and whip the Johnny Reb'
who had stolen our ball. The next
morning during a lull in the firing, that
'Reb' yelled to US and in a minute the
baseball came flying over the works,
SO we played a game on our next re.
lief"
The returning soldiers gave the
game new impetus in 1865, and within
a few years the west became the i'm
portant factor in the development of
baseball. Chicago. Rockford and Free
port, ILL.,, Cincinnati, Youngstown. O.,
and many of the small cities produced
famous clubs. while in the east. Provi-
dence, Troy. Lynn. Mass, Hornells-
vile, N. Y, and cities scarcely heard
from since became prominent because
Of their teams.
The first move toward professional
izing the game was made in 1864,
when Al ]. Reach. afterwards famous
as a player and manufacturer Of sport
ing goods. was paid a salary to play
with the Philadelphia club. In the
late sixties the Cincinnati Cricket
club. of which Harry Wright was the
leading spiril, organized a professional
baseball team called the Red Stock
ings. which toured the country, ad-
vertising the Queen city and demon
strating the commercial possibilities
Of the game.
In 1871 q nov was made which
came near bringing baseball into dis.
grace and preventing its growth. This
was the Organization Of the National
Association Of Professional Baseball
Players. This body established itself
In power, the players governing the