The mirror., 1919-04-03
HISTORY OF BASEBALL
A Retrospective Analysis Of the National Game from
It's Inception to the Present Date
Chautauqs.a Circle, by Mr.. F.. X.

which has held good to this day.
The pitchers box was only forty
five feet from the home plate and
was twelve feet wide, which al
lowed the thrower. as the pitcher
was then called, to pitch the ball
from a difficult angle and which
confused the batter. Cartwright
laid out his field by pacing off
forty-fve steps, which was ninety
feet. Suppose he had made it
eighty-five feet! Think of how
many more infeld hits would have
been beat out and how many more
stolen bases there would be, as the
shorter distance between bases
would cut down close plays. Then
again, if the bases had been made
ninety-two feet apart, only the
fastest runners could beat out an
infeld hit or steal base. The
pitcher had to deliver the ball in a
certain manner, with the arm al
most perpendicular with the body.
In 1845 baseball had become so
popular that the boys, after talking
the matter over, decided to form a
club and on September 13. 1915,
they met and organized the Knick-
erbockers, the first baseball club in
existence and the real beginning of
baseball.
The first field was laid out on
Manhattan Island, and later Ely
sian Field, Brooklyn.
In 1846 many teams took up the
''New York; game, as it was
called to distinguish it from the
Massachusetts, game. 1t was in
this year that a team calling them
selves the New York Nine formed,
and sent a challenge to the Knick-
erbockers. The resulting game,
which was played in Hoboken, N.
Y. was the first game played by
two organized teams. The New
York Nine won by 81 to aces in
four innings, 21 runs being all that
was required to win, as stated pre-
viously.
No more games of Importance
were played until June 3. 1851,
when a team known as the Wash
ington Club. which had organized
the year before and played on the
Old Red House grounds in York
vile. issued a challenge to the
Knickerbockers, which was accep-
ted. The day the game was played
the Knickerbockers appeared in
uniforms of blue trousers, white
shirts and straw hats, which as
tonished the people attending. Can
you imagine team today playing
the game with straw hats on2 The
Knickerbockers won the contest,
21 to IL, in eight innings. A couple
of weeks later these two teams
met in Hoboken and played the
first ten-inning game in the history
of baseball, the Knickerbockers
being victorious, % to 20.
The Washington Club, after
changing its name to that of Goth
am Club, again hurled a challenge
at the Knickerbockers, and on
June 81, 1852, the teams clashed
on the Red House grounds, which
were located on what is now One
Hundred and Sixth street and Sec
ond avenue, New York, and again
made new record by playing the
first sixteen inning game, which
Gotham won by 81 to Is score.
In 1848 the rule was made that
the first baseman must hold the
ball to make a put-out, instead of
trying to hit the runner with the
ball before he reached the base.
The game took new aspect in
1857 when the rules were changed
to make the game nine inning
affair instead of 21 aces. At a
convention in New York the
National Association of Ball Players
was formed, twenty-five clubs be-
ing represented by three delegates