1839 Olympics item in REA

[Archive]

Posted By: Hal Lewis

Wow! Even PRE-DATES the Knickebockers!!

Here are some tidbits on that famous Philly team:

In the book Peverelly's National Game, there is a reproduction of a story and box score from the August 11, 1860 Clipper (sports newspaper) of a game between the Olympic and Excelsior clubs. The story is headed TOWN BALL IN PHILADELPHIA, and says, "The Olympic Club dates its existence back to 1832, so that properly speaking it is the parent Town Ball organization in the city of Philadelphia."

The Olympic Ball Club played town ball - as it was called locally - across the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey to avoid Philadelphia's strict laws. [3] The founding of the club is usually given as July 4, 1833, when Philadelphia enthusiasts joined with Camden players. Contemporary accounts describe Philadelphia town ball as played with eleven men on a side for either two or eleven innings. If two innings were played, the rule was "all-out, all-out", meaning that every player on a side had to be put out before their inning was over (similar to cricket). The other option was "one-out, all-out" - in which one man being put out retired the side. Typical games were high-scoring with the victorious side often topping 75 runs.

In Baseball in Blue & Gray, George B. Kirsch reports that even when Philadelphia was switching over to the modern "New York game", the old style was still being played in rural areas. In November 1860, members of Athletic of Philadelphia traveled to Mauch Chunk PA for two contests, one of Town Ball and the other of New York-style baseball. The Olympics - archrivals of the Athletics - switched to baseball around that time, but by 1864 the club had dropped out of major match play, and many of the members went back to playing Town Ball.

And as Rob Lifson mentions in the auction, TownBall was just a different name for baseball back then. The Knickebbockers may have changed a few rules, but the concept was the same for sure.