Baseball Before We Knew It

by Block, David

• ISBN13: 9780803262553
• ISBN10: 0803262558
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-03-01
• Publisher: Bison Books

Summary

"To quote from no less an expert than John Thorn, Block has created a knowledge base for the origins of baseball on which all future research will rely. That's a big claim, but if you readBaseball Before We Knew It, you'll know it's correct." John Shiffert,www.baseball19to21.com"Baseball before We Knew Itis a magnificent piece of work that puts an end to the myths and errors that have clouded our understanding of where and how our national game began and developed. This definitely settled, we are now also clear about the source and cause of the previous notionsaltogether a masterpiece of research agreeably presented."Jacques Barzun, author ofFrom Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life1500 to the Present "Baseball before We Knew Itis an important book, erudite, entertaining and truly groundbreaking. David Block goes beyond debunking the game's creation myths to creating a knowledge base upon which all future research will rely. This brilliant book takes a place on my shelf alongside Seymour, Voigt, and Henderson."John Thorn, editor ofTotal Baseball "A well-researched, fascinating book that examines the history of our national pastime from its earliest origins through its evolution into the modern game."--Tom Tarapacki,Polish American Journal "An amusing and comprehensive look at the surprisingly long and complex lineage of our national pastime. The book is dizzyingly detailed in spots, with exhaustive descriptions of dozens of old English ballgames, but as the author plumbs the murky depths of the game's origins, he turns up bizarre footnotes and conspiracies and unravels the agendas of earlier baseball historians."American Heritage "Not content with merely demolishing the credibility of Abner Doubleday and Cooperstown once again, Block discerns baseball's true origins in a British children's game of the early 18th century. Masterfully researched and extraordinarily well-documented, this book includes and invaluable 60-page, chronological bibliography of baseball mentions from 1450 to 1861."College & Research Libraries News "A well researched, expertly written, inherently interesting, reader engaging, in-depth study of baseball and its historical roots. . . . No personal, academic or community library Sports History collection can be considered complete or comprehensive without the inclusion of David Block'sBaseball Before We Knew It!" --Midwest Book Review It may be America's game, but no one seems to know how or when baseball really started. Theories abound, myths proliferate, but reliable information has been in short supplyuntil now, whenBaseball before We Knew Itbrings fresh new evidence of baseball's origins into play. David Block looks into the early history of the game and of the 150-year-old debate about its beginnings. He tackles one stubborn misconception after another, debunking the enduring belief that baseball descended from the English game of rounders and revealing a surprising new explanation for the most notorious myth of allthe Abner DoubledayCooperstown story. Block's book takes readers on an exhilarating journey through the centuries in search of clues to the evolution of our modern National Pastime. Among his startling discoveries is a set of long-forgotten baseball rules from the 1700s. Block evaluates the originality and historical significance of the Knickerbocker rules of 1845, revisits European studies on the ancestry of baseball which indicate that the game dates back hundreds, if not thousands of years, and assembles a detailed history of games and

Author Biography

David Block is a long-time collector of early baseball books and memorabilia, and is a passionate, lifelong fan of the game and its history.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	x
Foreword	xiii
Tim Wiles
Preface	xix
Acknowledgments	xxiii
Uncertainty as to the Paternity	1	(21)
Rounders, Schmounders	22	(10)
Abner and Albert, the Missing Link by Philip Block	32	(18)
Was Abner Graves Telling the Truth?	50	(17)
Rules of Baseball: The Prequel	67	(13)
How Slick Were the Knicks?	80	(14)
In the Beginning	94	(11)
Stools, Clubs, Stobs, and Jugs	105	(19)
Traps and Cats	124	(10)
It's Starting to Look Familiar	134	(18)
Baseball before We Knew It	152	(11)
Early Baseball Bibliography: Roots of the Game in Pre---Civil War Literature	163	(60)
Appendix 1. Constitutions and By-Laws	223	(2)
Appendix 2. Some Comments on Sporting Journals of the 1850s	225	(4)
Appendix 3. ``A Place Leavel Enough to Play Ball''	229	(23)
Thomas L. Altherr
Appendix 4. The Letters of Abner Graves	252	(5)
Appendix 5. Dr. Adam E. Ford's Letter to Sporting Life	257	(3)
Appendix 6. Battingball Games by Per Maigaard	260	(15)
Appendix 7. Nine Surviving Descriptions of Baseball-like Games Written and Published before 1845	275	(12)
Notes	287	(36)
Principal Sources Consulted	323	(2)
Index	325