Baseball is British, oh no!

[George Thompson]

A different version of this story was posted to a baseball history group.  Also ignorant of the fact that there are several other mid-18th century writings that mention "base ball".

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/26664476/

As for whether it was "the same game" as modern baseball: it was, in the sense that the Wright brothers plane is the same as a modern plane.  A book of a few years ago by David Block, Baseball before We Knew It, gives a fairly long excerpt on how "the English game of baseball" is played, from a German-language encyclopedia of the sports and games of the world, published in the 1790s.  (!!!, needless to say.)  The infield-fly rule was not in effect, but there are essential similarities.

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.

----- Original Message -----
From: "David A. Daniel" <dad at POKERWIZ.COM>
Date: Friday, September 12, 2008 9:37 am
Subject: Baseball is British, oh no!
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU


> http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/09/11/baseball.england.ap
> /index.html?cnn=yes
>
> "Easter Monday 31 March 1755
>
> "Went to Stoke Ch. This morning. After Dinner Went to Miss Jeale's to
> play
> at Base Ball with her, the 3 Miss Whiteheads, Miss Billinghurst, Miss
> Molly
> Flutter, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Ford & H. Parsons & Jelly. Drank Tea and stayed
> till 8."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org