Base-Ball: How to Become a Player | Page 6

if base-ball is neither sprung from rounders nor taken bodily from
another English game, what is its origin? I believe it to be a fruit of the
inventive genius of the American boy. Like our system of government,
it is an American evolution, and while, like that, it has doubtless been
affected by foreign associations, it is none the less distinctively our
own. Place in the hands of youth a ball and bat, and they will invent
games of ball, and that these will be affected by other familiar games
and in many respects resemble them, goes without saving.
The tradition among the earliest players of the game now living, is that
the root from which came our present base-ball was the old-time
American game of "cat-ball." This was the original American ball game,
and the time when it was not played here is beyond the memory of
living man. There were two varieties of the game, the first called
"one-old-cat," or one-cornered-cat, and the other "two-old-cat."
In one-old-cat there were a batter, pitcher, catcher, and fielders. There
were no "sides," and generally no bases to run, but in every other
respect the game was like base-ball. The batter was out if he missed
three times and the third strike was caught, or if the ball when hit was
caught on the fly or first bound. When the striker was "put out" the
catcher went in to bat, the pitcher to catch, and the first fielder to pitch,
and so on again when the next striker was retired. The order of
succession had been established when the players went on the field by
each calling out a number, as "one," "two," "three," etc., one being the
batter, two the catcher, three the pitcher, four the first fielder, etc. Thus,
each in order secured his turn "at bat," the coveted position. Sometimes,
when the party was larger, more than one striker was allowed, and in
that case, not only to give the idle striker something to do, but to offer
extra chances for putting him out, one or more bases were laid out, and
having hit the ball he was forced to run to these. If he could be hit with
the ball at any time when he was between bases he was out, and he was
forced to be back to the striker's position in time to take his turn at bat.

This made him take chances in running. No count was kept of runs.
Two-old-cat differed from one-old-cat in having two batters at opposite
stations, as in the old English stool-ball and the more modern cricket,
while the fielders divided so that half faced one batter and half the
other.
From one-old-cat to base-ball is a short step. It was only necessary to
choose sides, and then the count of runs made by each would form the
natural test of superiority. That base-ball actually did develop in this
way was the generally accepted theory for many years.
In 1869 an article in The Nation, from A. H. Sedgwick, commenting
upon the features of baseball arid cricket as exemplifying national
characteristics, said: "To those other objectors who would contend that
our explanation supposes a gradual modification of the English into the
American game, while it is a matter of common learning that the latter
is of no foreign origin but the lineal descendant of that favorite of
boyhood, 'two-old-cat,' we would say that, fully agreeing with them as
to the historical fact, we have always believed it to be so clear as not to
need further evidence, and that for the purposes of this article the
history of the matter is out of place."
Without going further into a consideration that might be greatly
prolonged, I reassert my belief that our national game is a home
production. In the field of out-door sports the American boy is easily
capable of devising his own amusements, and until some proof is
adduced that base-ball is not his invention I protest against this
systematic effort to rob him of his dues.
The recorded history of the game may be briefly sketched; it is not the
object here to give a succinct history:
In 1845 a number of gentlemen who had been in the habit, for several
years, of playing base-ball for recreation, determined to form
themselves into a permanent organization under the name of "The
Knickerbocker Club." They drew up a Constitution and By-laws, and
scattered through the latter are to be found the first written rules of the
game. They little thought that that beginning would develop into the

present vast system of organized base-ball. They were guilty of no
crafty changes of any foreign game; there was no incentive for that.
They recorded the rules of the game as they remembered them from