Evening journal., 1911-04-26
HOBOKEN The
CRADLEOF BALL
Great National Game Vas Born
There Away Back in
lS45
IS OUTGROWTH OF THE
OLD GAME OF "ROUNDERS"

AS Faneuil Hall in Philadelphia was
the cradle of liberty, so is Hoboken,
N. j., the cradle Of baseball. The
great national pastime was born in
that city away back in 1S45.
Authenticated records do not state
what teams participated in the first
game. Neither has the Oldest inhabit-
ant and the survivor of the Mexican
War been able TO agree upon this
point Throught many long, hard
winters, when they were not posing
for their pictures to be.used in patent
medicine testimonials, they have sat
around the stove down at fire head
/ quarters and argued this question, but
never have come TO an agreement.
Baseball was an outgrowth of the
old pastime Of FOUNDERS" which was
played back in 1926. and which has
been played by men now but little
past the meridian of life. To this
generation, however, FOUNDERS" Is
unknown.
The first ball that was used in n
! game was made of sections of an old
overshoe. wound with wooden string
and covered with coarse cowhidc.
None Of the players wore a glove, the
catcher standing about thirty feet
back of the plate and picking up the
balls on the bounce.
Rail Must BE Pitched, Not Thrown.
Here is the set of rules used:
The bases shall be from home TO
second base. forty-two PAGES; from
first to third base, forty-two PAGES
equidistant.
The game to consist OF twenty-onc
counts, or aces, but at the conclusion
an equal number of hands must be
played. (This meant that tho first
team reaching a score of twenty-onc
in a limited number Of innings won)
Tho ball must be pitched and not
thrown. for the bat.
A bali knocked outside Of range of
first or third base is a foul.
Three balls being struck at and
missed, the last one caught, is a hand
out; If not caught it is considered fair
and the batter must run.
A ball being struck or tipped and
caught either flying or on the first
bound is a hand out.
a player running the bases shall be
out If the ball is In the hands of an
adversary on the base, OF the runner
/ is touched by It before he makes his
base; Il being understood. however.
that In no instance Is the ball to be
thrown at him
A player running. who shall prevent
an adversary from catching or get
ting the ball before making his base,
is a hand out.
II two hands are already out play
er running home at the time the ball
is struck cannot make an ace If the
striker is caught out.
Thee hands out, all out
Players must take their strike in
regular turn.
No ace or base can be made on
foul strike.
A runner cannot be put out in max
ing one base when a balk is made
But one base allowed when the bail
bounds out of the field when struck.
After a few games the rules were
changed so that the first baseman did
not have to touch the runner in order
to put him out.
The first game was played between
two teams. chosen promiscuously
/ from crowd that gathered on a
vacant lot. But on June IA, tS46, a
regular game between two teams that
really had names was played at
hlysian Fields, \. Y. The clubs were
the knickerbockers and the New York
Citys. No tally record of this game
can be found in any book or at the
county morgue, so It is presumed that
the score was forgotten and there
we're no fatalities
\ Salaried Team In 1857.
For thirteen years the game was
permitted to drift along and then, I'm
1901, a league was formed in New
York. No salaries were paid, how
ever, and II was truly Fourth Of
July" league.
Soldiers played the game on the
fields of battle during the Civil War
and returning home, fascinated with
the sport, gave it a new lease on life
So speedily did the game advance
that in the early SOS umpires began
70 call balls on pitchers who could
not put them over.
In 1865 bold New Highlander start
ed a factory for making baseballs
They were much superior TO the old
interest in the game.
Gloves Came in 1856.
Three years later a salaried team
was put on the field in Cincinnati.
This grew into the famous Cincinnati
Red Stockings who, in 1s69-1s7O. plav-
ed eighty games without a defeat set
ting a record in the pastime that has
never been equaled.
When Nat Hicks, catcher. slipped
on mask and moved up behind the
plate, In 1876, his relatives began 10
doubt the validity OF his life insurance
policy with a suicide clause attached.
The breat pad followed a few years
later.
Not until 1886 were gloves used for
the left hands by any other player
/ than the catcher. That was the year
, Kansas City broke into the National
League and, incidentally, finished next
to last with a percentage Of .247.
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